Was Michael Jordan better as a baseball player or as a Wahington Wizard?

Woodbridge905 wrote: ↑we all know that Michael Jordan was his best as a Chicago Bull, where he cemented his legacy as the greatest basketball player of all time.

But what about his other two stints: when he came out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards for two season and when he unexpectedly retired from basketball to play baseball between 1993-1995?

I know we are comparing apples and oranges here, but in your opinion, was Jordan a better player as a baseball player or a basketball player for the Wizard? Now before you say 'basketball player' for the Wizards of course, bear in mind that he couldn't take his team to the playoffs in two straight years. I know he was in his late 30s and hadn't played for two seasons after leading the Bulls to a 6th championship, but still, for a player considered the greatest in his game, he should have at the very least taken the Wizard to a playoff appearance.

What do you guys think? Where was he better?

Kinda strange asking this question in the middle of the summer, but at least we have baseball going on now.

Without a doubt on the Wizards. He could not even crack a major league roster for a meaningful stint in the majors. Easy question actually!!!

DrunkenStupor wrote: ↑Without a doubt on the Wizards. He could not even crack a major league roster for a meaningful stint in the majors. Easy question actually!!!

Ok I have to admit I don't know much about his baseball records. I just know that he got better and better but went back to basketball before he could become something significant in baseball.

Jordan batted .202 with three home runs and 51 RBI in 127 games for the Birmingham Barons.

DrunkenStupor wrote: ↑Jordan batted .202 with three home runs and 51 RBI in 127 games for the Birmingham Barons.

Oh he didn't play for an mlb team? I always thought he did.

I don't follow baseball closely: are these bad or average numbers?

Woodbridge905 wrote: ↑Oh he didn't play for an mlb team? I always thought he did.

I don't follow baseball closely: are these bad or average numbers?

They're pretty garbage numbers. If he was in the big leagues, his number will be much lower.

Jordan was 38-40 when he played for the Wizards still averaged 22 points per game which is probably the highest
NBA scoring average for someone that played that age.

His teammates on the Wizards were terrible.


He was a minor league player in baseball partially because he could not hit the curveball.


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XFactor11 wrote: ↑Jordan was 38-40 when he played for the Wizards still averaged 22 points per game which is probably the highest
NBA scoring average for someone that played that age.

His teammates on the Wizards were terrible.


He was a minor league player in baseball partially because he could not hit the curveball.

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I'm guessing Kareem averaged that in his late 30's.

Oooooh, at age 38 he averaged 23.4ppg but then declined.

Karl Malone averaged the same as Jordan at 38 and 39 then played 1 more year at 40 with LA.

Michael Jordan only played in a MLB pre-season game. He was never good enough to join an MLB club full time.

So I will have to say his stint on the Wizards.

Sure, in terms of actual production, Wizards. But people in the know say he was actually getting better at baseball. You have to consider the fact that you're already batting with a .200 average not having regularly faced 80 to 90+mph fastballs for well over a decade. Plus his relentless drive to succeed. I think he could've been decent.

Wiz

Not only did he never crack the Majors... he couldn't even make it to the AAA level. Danny Ainge was a much better baseball player and that's not saying much.

basketball...its not even close.

Definitely as a Wizard. He was horrible baseball player.

Ok so the consensus is clear, he was a better Washington Wizard player than he was a baseball player. And by a big margin it seems.

And that begs the next question, which I am sure has been asked in the past: if Jordan never left basketball and did play in these two seasons (93/94 & 94/95) , would the Chicago Bulls have won these two titles as well (instead of the Houston Rockets)? Or do you think these two off years is what allowed Jordan to basically restart and win the next 3 seasons? In other words, it would have been impossible for him to win 8 championships in a row, as great as he was.

If he never left basketball in these 2 seasons, Chicago could and may have won 1 or 2 of these titles and then would have taken a toll on his body and there was no guarantee he would win the next 3 that he won (95/96 , 96/97 , 97/98) . Of course, we can never know what would have happened and hindsight is 20/20, but still, I really think these 2 seasons in baseball helped him come back fresh for a second round of 3 NBA rings.


Do you guys agree? or is there someone who genuinely believe that had Jordan never left for baseball-two wasted years basically-he would have won 8 championships in a row? I don't....

Woodbridge905 wrote: ↑Ok so the consensus is clear, he was a better Washington Wizard player than he was a baseball player. And by a big margin it seems.

And that begs the next question, which I am sure has been asked in the past: if Jordan never left basketball and did play in these two seasons (93/94 & 94/95) , would the Chicago Bulls have won these two titles as well (instead of the Houston Rockets)? Or do you think these two off years is what allowed Jordan to basically restart and win the next 3 seasons? In other words, it would have been impossible for him to win 8 championships in a row, as great as he was.

If he never left basketball in these 2 seasons, Chicago could and may have won 1 or 2 of these titles and then would have taken a toll on his body and there was no guarantee he would win the next 3 that he won (95/96 , 96/97 , 97/98) . Of course, we can never know what would have happened and hindsight is 20/20, but still, I really think these 2 seasons in baseball helped him come back fresh for a second round of 3 NBA rings.


Do you guys agree? or is there someone who genuinely believe that had Jordan never left for baseball-two wasted years basically-he would have won 8 championships in a row? I don't....

It depends on what preparation he did for baseball. If he still worked out in the gym and did cardio, that would leave his body in the same state as it would have been if he continued to play in the NBA.

I'm not sure if he would have won two more championships, but it definitely would have put the Bulls in a position go deep into the playoffs.

SweetiePieGumdrop wrote: ↑It depends on what preparation he did for baseball. If he still worked out in the gym and did cardio, that would leave his body in the same state as it would have been if he continued to play in the NBA.

I'm not sure if he would have won two more championships, but it definitely would have put the Bulls in a position go deep into the playoffs.

From what I read (or maybe saw in one of the several Jordan documentaries) is that he was getting better at baseball and for training he was working out differently. Baseball required more explosiveness training. Going back to basketball he needed to adjust even quicker as it was mid-season.

I'm not sure they would have took both from Houston. They certainly would have gone deep in the playoffs and possibly faced them in the finals. Its hard to ignore just how good Hakeem was and that Chicago had nobody to match up against him. For Houston's second run they got a big upgrade in Drexler as well. I think Chicago lost every game to Houston in 92-93 reg. season with Jordan.

Of course nobody knows, but I think Houston could have still won at least 1.