NBA Commissioner David Stern walks up to the podium — USA Network is televising the 1984 NBA Draft — and announces: “Portland selects Michael Jordan of the University of North Carolina.”
That didn’t happen. The Trail Blazers bypassed taking Jordan and picked Sam Bowie No. 2 following Houston’s decision to draft Hakeem Olajuwon with the No. 1 overall pick.
Chicago took Jordan, and we know the rest of that story.
We also know why Portland choose Bowie. The Blazers had a talented wing player named Clyde Drexler, and they believed they needed a center. Big men played a prominent role in a team’s success in that era of the NBA, and teams drafted more on need than talent.