Michael Jordan headed to the NBA in 1984 after his junior year at the University of North Carolina, but it turns out he might not have wanted to leave college then. Jordan’s former Tar Heels teammate Kenny Smith appeared on the Pivot Podcast, where he explained why he was shocked by that decision.
“Michael did not want to leave early,” Smith said. “…I was a freshman. The morning of I get a call from the basketball office. It’s after the season, they’re like, ‘Hey, are you going to come to the press conference?’ I’m like, ‘What press conference?’ They’re like, ‘Michael may announce that he’s going pro.’ And I was shocked… I didn’t even go ’cause I didn’t think he was leaving.
“He had this whole thing about he wanted to have this senior speech ’cause we had this thing at North Carolina, where every senior get to talk for like 30 minutes in front of all the alumni and [everyone],” Smith continued. “It was a big deal. Now it sounds stupid, but it was such a big deal. And we were all like, ‘Man, I can’t wait till my senior speech, man, I can’t wait.’ So I was like, ‘Man, Michael’s coming back. Mike’s coming back.’
“Not Michael, it was Mike then,” Smith added. “Mike’s coming back. He’s not going. I didn’t even go. And I’m looking on TV. They’re like, ‘Michael Jordan is going pro.’ He never said nothing. To us, he said, ‘Man, I decided on the walk over.’ On the walk over, he was like, ‘I’m going to do it.’ ‘Cause coach [Dean] Smith forced him out. Coach was like, ‘No, you got to go. Too good.'”
Smith says it was then-Tar Heels head coach Dean Smith who made Jordan leave. It was common back then for players to spend all four years in college, but Smith didn’t think he should stick around for his senior year because he was too good.
Jordan had averaged 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game as a junior in 1983-84. He was the consensus national college player of the year, and Smith was right in thinking he should go.
The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, and he shone from the get-go. He averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in 1984-85 to win Rookie of the Year. Jordan was also named an All-Star and finished sixth in MVP voting. He was more than ready.
No one would have been too hard on Smith for wanting Jordan to stick around. This was the guy who had hit the game-winner in the 1982 national title game against Georgetown. Jordan staying would improve Smith and UNC’s chances of winning another national title, but he looked at what was best for the young man.
So, Jordan departed UNC with averages of 17.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game over his three seasons. It was clear he was a special talent, but no one could have imagined at this time that he was going to go down as the greatest player of all time.
