I’m not going to lie. I cried when Goose died in “Top Gun,” I cried at the end of “Beaches” after my mom made me watch it with her, and I cried Wednesday night at the end of Michael Jordan’s final NBA game.

I cry and it doesn’t bother me. It’s a natural human emotion and it feels good to do it every now and then. But my teary eyes and lumpy throat didn’t last long Wednesday, as I was quickly overcome with anger.

I’m angry and disappointed with players from the Washington Wizards, who watched as a 40-year-old Jordan played all 82 games, the only one on the team to do that and single-handedly brought the Wizards into playoff contention late in the season.

But because a handful of young guys on the team didn’t display the same desire, emotion and hustle that Jordan did all season, I had to watch the best player to ever the play the game lose by 20 points in the final game of his career, as his team is left behind the 16 teams that will begin playoff battles this weekend.

The sad thing is that Jordan brought in a good amount of these players while he was in the Wizards’ front office. But who would have thought that Jerry Stackhouse, a former North Carolina Tarheel like Jordan and compared to Jordan early in his career, would be more intimidated and distracted by having Jordan around than taking advantage of the situation.

In an Associated Press article, Stackhouse said that when Jordan goes back upstairs the young guys will relax a little bit and that could be the difference.

The difference between what? Not winning more than 10 games as opposed to the 37 games won each year Jordan was around.

Stackhouse had the wrong idea about playing with Jordan, blaming the circumstances and situations surrounding Jordan’s presence at each game, saying you can’t play basketball like that.

But if Jordan was able to brush all the hype off so easily and still average nearly 20 points a game, how was is it such a problem for other players who are just spectators?

Wizards coach Doug Collins made a good point when he said you have to be tough-minded to play around Jordan because that is how he is, and that’s how his supporting cast was in Chicago.

But players like Stackhouse, Larry Hughes and former No. 1-pick Kwame Brown have all criticized Collins, which criticizes Jordan indirectly as he hired Collins and worked the closest with him.

Now Jordan is gone forever, and it’s these players’ fault.

A few things need to happen for Jordan’s exit to be what it could have and should have been. I’ve got the perfect plan for a true Jordan exit, but it would require Jordan to come back for one more year — something he should have no problem with considering he has done it two other times.

First of all, Stackhouse, Brown, Hughes and a few other players such as Brendan Haywood should be sent to the NBA Development League or at least suspended without pay until they realize they are a disgrace to basketball and that playing with Jordan was a good thing.

The next step is for John Paxson, the new general manager for the Chicago Bulls, to build a re-vamped version of the last championship team in Chicago. Bring Scottie Pippen over from Portland, get Dennis Rodman out of retirement and Jordan will come knocking.

But these men won’t be the players they once were, that’s why Paxson brings in Jason Kidd to run the offense and gets Tim Duncan from San Antonio to round out the starting five.

Steve Kerr and Toni Kukoc are still around, and I’m sure Jud Buechler will be looking for work as well. These guys can join Marcus Fizer on the bench.

This team will at least go to the playoffs and could have a chance to win it all. And it would feel right when Jordan left because he would be in the city he belongs, with players that he once dominated along side of and he would be exiting by way of the playoffs, not the regular season.

The NBA owes a lot to Jordan, so much that I wouldn’t have been bothered if the league bumped the Milwaukee Bucks out of the playoffs to make room for Jordan and the Wizards this season.

I know I’m reaching here, but if I’m going to cry and then tell thousands of people about it, I want it to be for the right reasons, not polluted with anger and disappointment.