If Michael Jordan hadn’t been on the board at No. three total within the 1984 NBA Draft, what participant would possibly the Chicago Bulls have drafted?
Throughout a current look on 106.7 The Fan, former Bulls basic supervisor Rod Thorn mentioned the hypothetical state of affairs, saying he in the end would have gone with Sam Perkins — however not earlier than mentioning a participant the staff wouldn’t have drafted.
“You understand, that’s an excellent query,” Thorn stated on the present, “and the reply is that we might not have taken [Sam] Bowie, as a result of our physician had red-flagged him and stated that he didn’t really feel that his legs would stand as much as an NBA season. So, Bowie, he wasn’t in our sphere.”
Bowie in the end ended up being taken at No. 2 total by the Portland Path Blazers. The Bulls’ docs noticed it accurately as a result of Bowie handled leg accidents over the length of his 10-year profession. And it didn’t assist his legacy being drafted in between No. 1 total draft choose Hakeem Olajuwon and Jordan, who was drafted by the Bulls on the No. three spot. The Blazers in the end handed on Jordan as a result of they already had Clyde Drexler, who performed the identical place.
The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Charles Barkley with the No. 5 choose, and he went on to have a Corridor of Fame profession that featured a league MVP, 11 All-NBA groups and 11 All-Star picks.
Thorn, nevertheless, stated that he wouldn’t have taken Barkley with the No. three choose, both.
“I’d’ve taken Sam Perkins, as a result of I assumed Barkley wasn’t sufficiently big,” Thorn stated. “I simply stated, ‘The man is so small. There’s no means he can do within the NBA what he’s doing within the SEC.’”
“And that may have been a mistake, though Perkins was an excellent participant and had a protracted profession, and was excellent. However Barkley was definitely an all-time participant. So, thank goodness it labored out the way in which it did.”
Perkins, who was the fourth choose by the Dallas Mavericks, put collectively a 17-year NBA profession that featured stops with the Los Angeles Lakers, Seattle SuperSonics and Indiana Pacers.