By the time the fall of 2002 rolled around, the 39-year-old Jordan was preparing for his final NBA season, his second with the Wizards. Washington was scheduled to play a preseason game in Denver on Oct. 21, and only one question mattered: Was the six-time champion going to suit up? “It was crazy because he wasn’t supposed to play in that game,” said Ryan Bowen, the current Nuggets assistant coach who was then in his fourth NBA season as a forward for Denver. “He’s hadn’t been playing in any preseason games. Then, all of a sudden, we found out during the day that he was going to be playing.”