Wizards Are Out, but Not Down

4-0 Series Loss to Heat Doesn't Dampen Team's Sense of Accomplishment

When the final curtain closed on the Washington Wizards' best season in 26 years, the mood in the locker room was more like the last day of school than a funeral. Anyone expecting a tearful breakdown or an angry outburst after the Wizards were swept in four games to the Miami Heat would have been disappointed.

It was almost as if the Wizards had accepted their fate long ago, that the Heat was the far superior team and that Dwyane Wade was the best player on the court. They seemed content with going farther than anyone expected this season.

Players were still laughing and joking with one another as they calmly got dressed. They boisterously discussed the outcome of the Ronald "Winky" Wright-Felix Trinidad bout, made plans for later that night and slipped through those tan double doors, one by one -- some for one last time.

"If you're going to go out, go out swinging," point guard Steve Blake said after the Wizards' last comeback of the season, a climb out of a 13-point, fourth-quarter hole to take a one-point lead into the final minute, came up short during a 99-95 loss Saturday night at MCI Center. "That's what we did."

The only person who appeared noticeably worked up was President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld, who sauntered through the locker room shaking hands with his players and thanking them for a great season. Afterward, Grunfeld had sweat dripping from his brow and through his shirt as if he had just spent 48 minutes boxing out Alonzo Mourning and chasing down Wade.

"I feel like I played 48 minutes, in fact," Grunfeld said with a laugh. "I believe in these players and I admire the effort and the competitive nature that they have. We're competitive in this locker room and none of us want to lose, and right now we all feel the pain of it. Even until the very end, we fought hard. I think [the final game] was a microcosm of the whole season. It was a never-say-die attitude. And it's something I think we can build on. This is just the first step in the journey. When we reflect on what happened, a lot of positives can be taken from this season."

The Wizards won just 25 games last season, had not been to the playoffs since 1997 and were just two years removed from letting Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player of all time, walk out their door after two miserable seasons in uniform. There was a feeling that an overwhelming culture of losing could never be changed in Washington.

But the Wizards won 45 games -- the most for the franchise since 1979 -- claimed the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, and with just three players on the roster with playoff experience, defeated the Chicago Bulls in the first round after losing the first two games -- the franchise's first playoff series win since 1982. "This season was a learning process for a young team. It was a steppingstone to all of the good things that will happen to this organization," Coach Eddie Jordan said.

Forward Antawn Jamison, whom Grunfeld acquired in an offseason trade with Dallas, helped form the highest-scoring trio in the league with former Golden State teammates Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes. Jamison and Arenas gave the Wizards two all-stars in the same season for the first time since 1987, and Hughes led the league in steals and made the NBA's all-defensive first team. "We're proud," Arenas said.

"We had a great, great year. No matter what anybody says about us that's negative, we deserved everything we got in here. We deserved to be here against Miami. They swept us, okay? Who cares? The year before Detroit won it all, they got swept. We know what it takes now, and from here, we can't go back down."

The season wasn't without its hardships. The Wizards started the season without Kwame Brown (broken foot), Etan Thomas (abdominal strain) and Blake (left ankle). They later lost Hughes for 20 games with a broken right thumb and reserve swingman Jarvis Hayes to a season-ending fractured patella. Jamison fought through right knee tendinitis for most of the second half of the season, missing 14 games and hobbling through the series with the Heat.

Then, they lost Brown to a season-ending suspension during the playoffs and Thomas again suffered the same injury in the second round. "We dealt with a lot of injuries, but we never used that as an excuse," Jordan said. "We wanted to be more competitive as far as wins in this series, but again, it was a learning process for a young team, a team that had to deal with adversity and competed against a team that was sincerely on a mission and had all the parts."

Now, the Wizards will have to look at finding the pieces that will take the team to the next level. Only Jamison, Arenas, Thomas, Hayes, center Brendan Haywood, forward Jared Jeffries and rookie center Peter John Ramos are under contract entering next season. Brown seemingly bought his ticket out of town after skipping two workouts during the playoffs, but the Wizards have no intention of letting the restricted free agent forward leave for nothing. The former No. 1 pick could be packaged in a sign-and-trade deal, but given the supportive words of his teammates late in the season, there is a slight possibility that Brown could remain with the team after an inconsistent, injury-plagued season.

Reserves Blake, Michael Ruffin, Juan Dixon and Anthony Peeler will also be free agents, but Arenas said any plans for the Wizards' future have to begin with signing Hughes, an unrestricted free agent, and Grunfeld concurred. Before Hughes left the building Saturday, Grunfeld wrapped his arm around Hughes and offered words of advice.

Hughes will command a sizeable contract after averaging career highs of 22 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.9 steals. "Obviously, players tell us what to do and Larry's told us that he's an important part of what we do," Grunfeld said. "And, we have other decisions we'll have to make. We have several free agents -- Juan, Kwame, Steve Blake, Anthony Peeler. And, we'll have to make decisions with all those players, but I think our core is very sound, very solid and we'll bring in some pieces to surround that core. Right now, we want to sit back and figure out what direction we want to go in, because this loss hurts."

Thirty minutes after the game, Jamison was the last player remaining in the locker room. He still stood in amazement that the season was over and that the Wizards had come so far. "I'd be lying to say that I thought we could accomplish the things we accomplished. Who would've thought when we had training camp back in Richmond that we would've got swept in the second round?" Jamison said. "I knew we were going in the right direction and we had something special. I think we're laying down the foundation. The goal is always to contend for a championship. It's good to have high standards and we're just going to keep pushing in that direction. This is the start of something that we're going to make last for a long time."