Earth-shattering news! Eddie Jordan will be next Wizards coach

...uhhh...maybe not. But looking on the bright side, at least they have someone who can make a draft pick for the team. It was beginning to look like it was going to be Patrick Ewing who was going to make the pick for the Wizards, since their entire front office is still vacant....and Patrick isn't even going to be around next year. That's Wizards basketball for ya!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-wizards-jordan&prov=ap&type=lgns

<b>Source: Eddie Jordan will be next Wizards coach</b>

By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer
June 18, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New Jersey Nets assistant coach Eddie Jordan will be the new coach of the Washington Wizards, The Associated Press has learned.

A source with the Wizards, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Jordan accepted an offer Wednesday after meeting with owner Abe Pollin.

Jordan is expected to be introduced at a news conference Thursday. He will become the Wizards' seventh coach in six seasons.

The Wizards pursued Jordan after higher-profile coaches Larry Brown and Jeff Van Gundy opted to take other jobs. Brown took over at Detroit, while Van Gundy was hired by Houston.

Jordan replaces Doug Collins, who was fired May 30 after back-to-back 37-45 seasons. Collins' dismissal was part of Pollin's house-cleaning after the owner decided not rehire Michael Jordan as president of basketball operations.

Pollin initially said he would let Michael Jordan's replacement pick the new coach, but the strategy changed as the pool of available coaches dwindled. Pollin has said he would like to have a new president of basketball operations in place by next week's draft.

Eddie Jordan spent the last four seasons with the Nets. He was the head coach of the Sacramento Kings for the final 15 games of the 1996-97 season and the entire 1997-98 season, compiling a 33-64 record.

He will try to turn around a franchise that hasn't won a playoff game since 1988, one with a culture of losing to which even Michael Jordan succumbed. The team's image was further damaged by Pollin's messy dismissal of Jordan, who had expected to return to the front office after coming out of retirement to play two seasons before sellout crowds.

Pollin has admitted his decision was unpopular, but he has backed it up with a money-back guarantee, promising season ticket-holders a refund if they aren't happy with his personnel moves this summer.

 

He couldn't take it anymore. He's "taking a break."