'Michael is strictly motivated by his own ego' - Legendary Olympic swimmer on why Michael Jordan returned to play for the Wizards

Michael Jordan's second return from retirement captivated some and puzzled many. While some were hyped that the GOAT would play basketball again, even for the Washington Wizards, many felt he didn't have to. After all, that clutch shot in the 1998 NBA Finals was the perfect ending to his illustrious career.

Ego boost?

Still, people tried to make sense of MJ's return in the 2001-02 season. Even a legendary Mark Spitz swimmer commented like he knew what was going on through Jordan's headspace.

"My twist is that Michael is strictly motivated by his own ego," Spitz said in 2001, per the New York Times. "In his mind, body, and soul, he needs to relinquish himself of that spirit, that feeling, that he can play the game well again. If he remotely thinks he can accomplish what he wants to do -- regardless of what experts think -- he is going to transcend beyond what people think of him today."

In two years of wearing the Washington Wizards jersey, MJ averaged 21.2 points on 43.1 percent, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. It was a decent individual run. But from a team perspective, it was regarded as a mediocre effort. The Wizards were still a bottom-feeding team, even with the GOAT on their side.

Bad decision

A couple of years after Mike finally hung up his jersey for good, he revealed what prompted him to play again. MJ confirmed he was indeed trying to satiate a hunger. He was also trying to gain a front-row view of the talent he had acquired, which Jordan regarded as a wrong move.

"One of the bad decisions I made was to go back and play. Even though I was soothing an itch that I had, I also thought I was being innovative in my job by going down and evaluating the talent firsthand. I thought it would be a good idea to play against them and see what their tendencies were and what we were paying for. But at the same time, I became more critical of them because of the way I played the game and the way I'd approached the game, and the players didn't respond to that..," Jordan said in a one-on-one interview with Marvin R. Shanken in 2005.

Maybe the spectators were right. Jordan should've ended his playing career with that epic shot in Utah. But alas, the "Black Cat" wanted a bit more time under the limelight. He wanted to prove that he could still do it at a high level despite his battered body.