Eh. I'm as much of a sucker for Jordan folklore as the next guy, but whatever it is he did with the Wizards just doesn't wow me. He's the greatest ever. Of course he can step in at age 39 and still put up numbers. Tim Duncan was an all-NBA caliber player at age 38. That's much more notable to me than the traveling circus Jordan had going.
I don't actually think boredom was what drove Jordan out. I'd be more likely to describe Shaq or Wilt that way. Jordan was just a pathological competitor who had his demons off the court. Perhaps he acted like he had nothing left to prove after three titles in a row, but in the back of his mind he knew there'd always be something to prove. That's what made him him. Jordan burning himself out was a condition of his greatness, a prophecy if you will. I have no problem seeing him as the GOAT, I just struggle to credit him for things that he didn't do.
It may be folklore to you but it's very real to me, I watched it all. Jordan's Wizard years look way worse in retrospect, just staring at season averages, than the reality of the situation. It was actually pretty damn unreal what he did after not playing for years and being old as hell by NBA standards.
His first year with the Wizards he was easily a top 10 player in the NBA until he got injured in February and turned 39 years old. He was carrying a terrible roster of nobodies to a top 4 seed until he injured his knee, 46 games in. He was the only player in the NBA averaging over 25 ppg 6 rebs, and 5 assists. 20 games leading up to the knee injury Jordan was averaging 27.5 ppg, 6.4 rebs., 5.2 assists, 1.3 steals. The last 10 games before injury he was averaging 29.7 ppg, 6.6 rebs., 6.1 assists, and 1.2 steals. Wizards were 26-20 before the knee injury and this is a team coming off a 19 win season the year before. He was a legit MVP candidate before he hurt his knee and one of the favorites.
As a Wizard he had knee tendonitis with swelling that required constant fluid drains, elbow tendonitis, back spasms, and multiple broken ribs.
Wizards were 15-1 in the games Jordan and Rip played together. Considering the first seed in the east that year won 52 games, there is a great chance they would've passed that had they played a full season together.
The injury clearly derailed their season but they still had a 20-game turnaround from the previous season.
He also had 43 and 10 rebounds in a game at 40 years old against the best defense in the league and a team who made the NBA finals. His numbers were pretty incredible after turning 40.
As for you not being able to do hypotheticals, that's a sad way to be as a sports fan. I think most people envision without the two early retirements Jordan would have won more than 6. Just like without the injuries Walton and Bo would have been dominant forces for a long time, had Sabonis come over earlier he would have been dominant, Drazen would have been one of the most prolific shooters ever without the crash etc.
