The 2001–02 NBA season was the Wizards' 41st season in the National Basketball Association. This season is most memorable for the return of All-Star guard and six-time champion Michael Jordan, who came out of his second retirement to play for the Wizards. After finishing 19–63 the previous season, the Wizards won the draft lottery, and selected high school basketball star Kwame Brown with the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft. The team also signed free agent Tyronn Lue, who previously won two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, and acquired rookie center Brendan Haywood from the Orlando Magic, and acquired rookie guard Bobby Simmons from the Seattle SuperSonics. The Wizards hired head coach Doug Collins, who coached Jordan and the Chicago Bulls from 1986 to 1989. Jordan would also reunite with former Dream Team member Christian Laettner from the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Under Collins, the Wizards struggled with a 2–9 start to the season posting an 8-game losing streak in November, but then posted a nine-game winning streak in December, holding a 26–21 record before the All-Star break. However, they lost 14 of their next 17 games, as Jordan suffered a knee injury and was out for the remainder of the season after 60 games. The Wizards finished the season fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 37–45 record, which was an 18-game improvement.
However, they still missed the playoffs even with the help of Jordan, who averaged 22.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and was selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game. In addition, Richard Hamilton finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 20.0 points per game, but only played 63 games due to a groin injury, while three-point specialist Chris Whitney provided the team with 10.2 points and 3.8 assists per game, second-year guard Courtney Alexander contributed 9.8 points per game, and Popeye Jones led the team with 7.3 rebounds per game. Brown failed to live up to expectations, only averaging just 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game off the bench.
Following the season, Hamilton was traded along with Hubert Davis to the Detroit Pistons, while Whitney was traded to the Denver Nuggets, Alexander was dealt to the New Orleans Hornets, Jones re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, and Tyrone Nesby was released to free agency.
Offseason
During the off-season, the team fired head coach Leonard Hamilton and replaced him with Doug Collins.
On July 18, the Wizards signed Tyronn Lue, who would be Chris Whitney's backup during the season. A week later, the team waived forward Michael Smith.
On August 1, the Wizards traded Laron Profit and a 2005 1st round draft pick to the Orlando Magic for Brendan Haywood. Haywood would play with the Wizards for almost nine years, until he was traded in February 2010.
On September 25, the Wizards signed Michael Jordan. At 38 years old, Jordan would be the team's points-per-game leader during the season. He also led the team in assists per game.
On October 8, the Wizards waived small forward Mike Smith.
On October 24, the team released Kornél Dávid.
NBA draft
Roster
Regular season
After retiring from the Chicago Bulls in early 1999, Michael Jordan became the Washington Wizards' president of basketball operations as well as a minority owner in January 2000. In September 2001, after divesting himself of any ownership of the team due to NBA rules, Jordan came out of retirement at age 38 to play basketball for the Washington Wizards. Jordan stated that he was returning for the love of the game, indicating his intention to donate his salary as a player to a relief effort for the victims of the September 11 attacks. Jordan was heading into his return dealing with tendinitis in his wrist and both of his knees, from which he would have fluid drained multiple times throughout the season. In addition, during a pickup game before the season, Ron Artest broke two of Jordan's ribs. The Wizards finished with the third worst record at 19–63 the previous season, their worst season in franchise history, and started the new season with a 2–9 record. However, they would then go on to have a nine-game winning streak and improve their record to 14–12.