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It has long been considered one of the great mistakes in the history of drafting—not just the NBA draft, but any sports draft in general.
In 1984, Portland held the No. 2 pick in the draft, and passed on Michael Jordan in favor of Kentucky big man Sam Bowie, who would suffer a knee injury that limited him to 10 NBA seasons, in which he averaged 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds. He played just 139 games for the Blazers. Hakeem Olajuwon, considered one of the great big men, went No.1 to the Houston Rockets in the same draft.
Jordan, of course, was chosen at No. 3 by the Chicago Bulls and went on to win six NBA championships and 10 scoring titles, earning a spot as, arguably, the greatest player in the history of the game. But here’s the kicker: even if Portland had not gone with Bowie, they still would have not drafted Jordan. Instead, the pick would have been power forward Charles Barkley.
The Blazers had chosen Clyde Drexler the previous season, and with Kiki Vandeweghe and Jim Paxson already on the roster, Portland’s brass was not looking for more help on the wing. That’s why they went with Bowie, and why they would have taken Barkley has Bowie been gone.
According to Joe Freeman of the Oregonian, who viewed an ESPN documentary about Bowie, former Trail Blazers coach Jack Ramsay said, “I don’t remember Michael Jordan’s name being mentioned.”
As former Blazers front office executive Harry Glickman told the paper, “If you look back at the draft, if we hadn’t selected (Bowie), we wouldn’t have selected Jordan. We probably would have gone with Charles Barkley.”
In 1984, Portland held the No. 2 pick in the draft, and passed on Michael Jordan in favor of Kentucky big man Sam Bowie, who would suffer a knee injury that limited him to 10 NBA seasons, in which he averaged 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds. He played just 139 games for the Blazers. Hakeem Olajuwon, considered one of the great big men, went No.1 to the Houston Rockets in the same draft.
Jordan, of course, was chosen at No. 3 by the Chicago Bulls and went on to win six NBA championships and 10 scoring titles, earning a spot as, arguably, the greatest player in the history of the game. But here’s the kicker: even if Portland had not gone with Bowie, they still would have not drafted Jordan. Instead, the pick would have been power forward Charles Barkley.
The Blazers had chosen Clyde Drexler the previous season, and with Kiki Vandeweghe and Jim Paxson already on the roster, Portland’s brass was not looking for more help on the wing. That’s why they went with Bowie, and why they would have taken Barkley has Bowie been gone.
According to Joe Freeman of the Oregonian, who viewed an ESPN documentary about Bowie, former Trail Blazers coach Jack Ramsay said, “I don’t remember Michael Jordan’s name being mentioned.”
As former Blazers front office executive Harry Glickman told the paper, “If you look back at the draft, if we hadn’t selected (Bowie), we wouldn’t have selected Jordan. We probably would have gone with Charles Barkley.”
