Michael Jordan is arguably the most recognizable and accomplished Basketball player of all time. He rarely falls below the top two when ranking players individually throughout the history of the league and has a mythical ability to win. He played for a long time and remained at the top during that entire period. It begs the question, when did Michael Jordan play his last NBA game?
When Did Michael Jordan Play His Last Game? He retired a few different times throughout his career, but Michael Jordan’s official last NBA game came on April 16th, 2003. Jordan’s Washington Wizards would face the 76ers in Philadelphia. 40 year old Jordan would score just 15 points in a loss. It is a day that many people will never forget. Jordan was such an icon in the basketball figure and it really felt like there would be no return for him this time.
Jordan did put on a show for fans in his final few seasons and while he didn’t have the type of farewell games that other legendary players have had, he had a decent showing. Though he was the main storyline regardless of the number of points he scored that night.
How Did the Game Go?
Michael Jordan was a member of the Washington Wizards in this game, a jersey that doesn’t look right on him. The Wizards were playing against the Philadelphia 76ers. Philadelphia got the last laugh by defeating them 107-87, sadly it wasn’t even competitive. However, Jordan was able to drop a solid 15 points along with four rebounds and four assists. There also happened to be a lot of other big-name players on the court for this game. Allen Iverson was leading the 76ers to the win here, dropping 35 points in this contest. Larry Huges was on the court for that game as well, along with Tyronn Lue. Probably the biggest surprise that came out of this game was the leading scorer for the Wizards. On a night that Jordan was playing his final game, Kwame Brown led the team with 17 points.
How Was His Final Season?
While people lock in on that final performance as a tell-tale sign that he was regressing from the sport, his season’s stats show a different picture. Throughout his final year out on the court, he averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game all on 44.5 percent shooting from the field. To make these numbers even more impressive, these stats were incredibly close to the averages that LeBron James would have as a rookie the next season. Although there was one more stat that seemed to blow those other ones out of the water. At the age of 40, Jordan played an average of 37 minutes per game! That’s not a typo, he actually averaged 37.0 minutes per contest. If that didn’t impress you, then maybe the fact that he did this on a banged-up knee will change your mind. One of his former teammates, Etan Thomas, spoke about the issues bothering Jordan that year. The key problem was that his knee continuously swelled up and he was forced to get it drained before and after games every now and then. To play long, at that age, with injuries slowing him down and to still be incredibly effective just goes to show how special Jordan truly was. This has to be one of the most underrated NBA seasons of all time.
When did Michael Jordan play his last playoff game?
Michael Jordan never managed to drag the Washington Wizards into the Playoffs, so his final Playoff game was fittingly game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, where he overcame the Jazz in Utah to grab a historic second three-peat for the Chicago Bulls. The game was played on 14th June 1998, Jordan would score 45 points in a dominant performance, culminating in him draining his final shot as a Chicago Bull to win the game.
Why Did Jordan Retire So Many Times?
It’s not every day that you see a player retire three different times and yet still come back with the same exact level of fanfare as they left it. That was the case with Jordan. He first chose to shockingly retire from the NBA during the 1993-94 season to play baseball for the Birmingham Barons, an associated team of the Chicago White Sox. This decision came shortly after Jordan’s father was murdered. His dad had always dreamed of his son playing baseball professionally one day as it was something they both loved. He stayed away until 1995 when he announced that he will be returning to the Chicago Bulls. Those next three years were filled with dominance. Chicago won three straight NBA championships, the second time that they had done so in the same decade. After the third title, he shockingly announced retirement for the second time. This time around nobody is really 100 percent sold on why he did it. Some believe that he wanted to go out on top while others are certain there were some deep-rooted issues with upper management, which seems likely. Fast forward a few more years and boom, Jordan was back. Just not with Chicago, he was ready to play for the Wizards for a few more seasons before retiring a third and final time.
Where Is Jordan Now?
When Jordan retired, he simply kicked back and started to enjoy life. His son Marcus joked that he was playing about 36 holes of golf every single day for a while after that. That was until 2010 when he decided to get himself back into the NBA in one way or another. He purchased the Charlotte Hornets franchise for $175 million in 2010. According to Forbes, it was apparently the best business decision that he has probably ever made in his lifetime. The Hornets now have a net worth that is estimated to be $1.5 billion dollars. Jordan did in fact sell roughly 20 percent of the team, though he is still definitely the majority owner. We also can’t forget about his Nike partnerships. Forbes released numbers that said Jordan earned $145 million from Nike in the year 2019 alone. To put that into deeper perspective, he only earned a total of $93.7 million from his playing time in the NBA both on the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards. He is married and has three kids as well. It’s safe to say that Jordan is kicking back and enjoying life right now with his loved ones.