For good reason, the Washington Wizards of the mid-aughts will always be remembered more for how their time together ended than the run itself. The only time the team won a playoff series was in the year it traded Kwame Brown to the Wizards.
The media had to gather in early 2010 at the home of the team that would go on to finish with fewer than 30 wins. Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton brought guns to the Wizards locker room because of a gambling dispute. The players were going to be suspended for the rest of the season. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison for manslaughter, and never played again.
At the 2010 deadline, antawn Jamison was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and in the off-season, antawn butler was shipped away. Arenas would play 21 more games for the Wizards in the next season and then the Wizards would use the amnesty clause.
The Wizards lost a tire at the end of the run, but that is still a memorable team in the NBA's history. It will be honored by the franchise on November 18 of this year. The Wizards announced that Gilbert Arenas, Jamison, and Butler will be in attendance for a night game against the Miami Heat and will be acknowledged at the end of the game.
The Washington basketball team hasn't won 50 games in a season since Good Times was still on the air. Some professional sports teams have a championship ring. Does that mean that SeattleMariners fans aren't fond of 2001 or that Detroit Lions fans don't care about BarrySanders 2,000 yard season?
Getting to buy a championship t-shirt and hat is great, but it's not always possible. The ultimate victory is not a sign of things to come. Sports fans don't have a championship season to remember, but having their team nationally relevant is worth the ride.
The Wizards were a real rival to the young James. After James compared the rivalry between Stevenson and Jay-Z to that of H.O.V., Jay-Z decided to make a track about it.
All-Star level play is what makes that fun happen. The on-court product was one of the most unpleasant things that the NBA age of iso- basketball had to offer. Those names made a franchise relevant that hadn't made the playoffs in two years.
The Wizards run of the mid-2000s isn't for people who think sports are a zero-sum game. The teams never won more than 45 games in the weak Eastern Conference, and that shows how bad they were. It could be seen as a disappointment if you noticed that Arenas, Jamison, andButler all made all-star teams when they played together, but never in the same year.
There is more to sports than winning titles. It is not possible for fans to get a replica ring in the mail if their team goes all the way in the playoffs. The fans remember how their squad would win more than they lost. The Wizards teams were nationally recognized for the first time since 1997 when they were beaten by the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.
It will be fun to see Arenas, Jamison, and Butler at the same time. It would be a perfect tribute to this era of NBA basketball in the nation's capital if they could convince Soulja Boy to MC the evening and put back on the Stevenson jersey.
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