Kanye West wrote a song about Michael Jordan playing for the Wizards

Photo by Joshua Mellin

As a child of the 90s who loved the Bulls but also grew up in Northern Virginia, it was a pretty big deal when Michael Jordan came out of retirement to join the Washington Wizards. I was one of many who raced to Dick’s once Jordan’s Wizards jersey was in stock, and sought to attend as many games as possible. I was a kid then, and didn’t really comprehend the travesty taking place before my eyes: Michael Jordan, the world’s greatest basketball player, was destroying his legacy thanks to two bum knees and Kwame Brown. In retrospect, it was like sports’ equivalent to Cut the Crap, and nowadays most of us just refuse to acknowledge it even happened.

Not Kanye West, though. During this week’s homecoming at United Center, Chicago’s greatest thing since Michael Jordan debuted a passionate ode about those two tragic years aptly titled, “We should’ve never ever let Michael Jordan play for the Wizards”. Singing in all his auto-tuned glory, Kanye doesn’t blame MJ, but rather Bulls ownership for allowing him to play for Washington: “When a player that made the NBA wants to become an owner of the team that he brought so much glory to // a team he brought so much story to // A team that has his statue in the front of the motherfucking building // But do you know what the owners of that team told MJ? // You’re just a player, homeboy.”

Something tells me the Bulls won’t using this as their entrance music anytime soon.

Here’s the video:

And here are the lyrics (via Medium):

We should’ve never ever let Michael Jordan play for the Wizards
We should’ve never ever let Michael Jordan play for the Wizards
We should’ve never ever let MJ play for the Wizards
Why did that happen?
Why did that happen?

We should’ve never ever let MJ play for the Wizards
We couldn’t stop — we would stop — MJ playing for the Wizards
Why did that happen?

Six championships
The best years of our life
Playing through the flu
Every single night
I believed I could fly
and I wanted to be just like Mike
I believed I could fly
and I wanted to be just like Mike

We should’ve never ever let MJ play for the Wizards
Why did that happen?

Does anybody here know why that happened?

When a player
When a player wants to become an owner
When a player
When a player that’s done more for the league than the league could’ve done for him
When a player that MADE the NBA wants to become an owner of the team that he brought so much glory to, a team he brought so much story to
A team that has his statue in the front of the motherfucking building
But do you know what the owners of that team told MJ?
You’re just a player, homeboy
You can’t get no pay
You can’t own shit
THEY TOLD MICHAEL JORDAN THAT HE COULDN’T OWN SHIT

We should’ve never ever let MJ play for the Wizards
We should’ve never ever let MJ play for the Wizards

Now y’all know why MJ went to play for the Wizards

Because this very team wouldn’t let him be an owner
I’m talking about one of the most important people in our civilization
One of the most influential people in our civilization
They tried to marginalize
And in order to make his point he had to put on a MOTHERFUCKING WIZARDS JERSEY
To let y’all know “Oh yes I am gonna be an owner just like Magic Johnson”

We should’ve never let MJ ever play for the Wizards
Never never never never let him go
Because til I die MJ represents the Bulls

So tonight I’m about to put my 23 on
So tonight I gotta put my 23 on