For any Michael Jordan fan growing up, it was tough for them watch him when he was on the Washington Wizards. He was putting up good numbers for his age, but he didn't look like the MJ we were accustomed to. Washington didn't even make the playoffs in both years he played for them.
One anonymous NBA head coach thinks Kobe Bryant has reached that status in his career now. According to ESPN's Chris Broussard, who interviewed several anonymous executives and coaches, the coach thinks Kobe's reign is over and is now basically second coming of the Wizards version of MJ.
"I'm in total agreement with those who say Kobe's done," he said. "Look, you could put any high-level two-guard on a bad team, let him jack up shots, and get 20 points a night. So Kobe will be able to do that. But they ain't going to win. We don't judge Kobe off scoring 20 points a night. We judge him off dominance, off: 'Will they win 50 games, will they make the playoffs?' But now, we're not even talking about any of that…It's like Michael Jordan in Washington. I, for one, didn't want to see Michael's last tour with Washington. Nobody did. When the Lakers play Philly and other low-level teams, Kobe will do whatever he wants. But when he plays good teams and gets doubled? That's when we'll see that he's not the same player."
Kobe is 36 years old and has two years left on his contract. Many expect that he will be done after his contract expires. If these are his last two years in the league, there are going to be a lot of comparisons to MJ.
If all goes as planned, Kobe will spend his last two years trying to drag a scrub team who has slim-to-none chances of reaching the playoffs. Frustration will be shown, but respect from fans and players will be gleaming.
That's what happened to MJ in his last two years with Washington. Hopefully for Kobe's sake, it doesn't end in that disappointing, disheartening fashion.
