Michael Jordan joined the NBA with, perhaps, the greatest draft class of all time. However, one organization somehow missed the chance to draft an all-time great. The Ringer's Bill Simmons posted a video on his YouTube channel to explain why the '84 draft class is the greatest ever. Additionally, he took jabs at the Portland Trailblazers for selecting Bowie over MJ.
"So, a team that just lost Bill Walton 6 years earlier with repeated stress fractures in his feet, just took another center who missed 2 full college seasons because of stress fractures in his legs." Simmons said.
"I mean, nothing gets fans more fired up than words like perseverance and withstanding all that misery. Screw that Jordan guy and his dunking! Why take a defy the odds guy with a sure thing still on the board? Why even risk it? Why?"
The 1984 class of players is incredible. Three of the top five picks are all Hall of Famers, and two have multiple titles. The celebrated class is well known partly because Michael Jordan was part of it. He was drafted third overall by the Chicago Bulls. MJ helped transform the franchise and became a six-time NBA champion with the Bulls.
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However, the player drafted before him couldn't carve out a decent NBA career. Sam Bowie only spent 10 years in the league because of constant injuries. Bowie couldn't have a healthy career and became known as the player drafted before MJ.
The draft class also included Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Alvin Robertson, Otis Thorpe and Kevin Willis.
Not selecting Michael Jordan was the Blazers' biggest mistake, and they even managed to repeat it years later
Coming into the '84 Draft, Michael Jordan was already a favorite for many teams. They saw his greatness even before he played an official NBA game.
Jordan showed off his talents as a 1984 US men's Olympic basketball team member. There, the 14-time All-Star impressed everyone with his on-court abilities. MJ even managed to get Nike to sign him to a shoe deal before playing an NBA game. That's how great he was. Everyone was high on Jordan. Everyone except the Blazers.
The Blazers had the second pick that year and had a chance to form a dynamic duo with Clyde Drexler and Jordan. However, they still went the traditional route and drafted a big man. Bowie only ended up playing 139 games for Portland. Bowie later joined the New Jersey Nets and the LA Lakers before retiring.
The Blazers, however, made the same mistake back in 2007. They drafted Greg Oden, a big man riddled with injuries his entire career, over Kevin Durant, an all-time great player.
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