- Former NBA star Mychal Thompson suggested the Portland Trail Blazers to draft Michael Jordan and pair him with Clyde Drexler
- Thompson used to tease Magic Johnson that the Lakers wouldn’t have won five titles if that had happened
- The Trail Blazers drafted Sam Bowie with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft
The Portland Trail Blazers missed out on Michael Jordan after drafting Sam Bowie with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. Trail Blazers legend Mychal Thompson wanted the team to draft ‘His Airness.’
The organization could have paired Michael Jordan with Clyde Drexler in the backcourt and formed a phenomenal team. Klay Thompson’s father believes if the Trail Blazers had listened to him, Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers wouldn’t have won five NBA Championships in the 1980s.
“Why do you have to bring that up? Way to ruin my day!” Thompson said to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. “Man, I used to talk about this with Magic, Byron, and Michael Cooper in the locker room. I said, ‘Guys, could you imagine if Portland had drafted Michael Jordan and teamed him with Clyde Drexler and Fat Lever?’”
“This might be controversial,” he continued. “I don’t know if I should say this for public consumption. But I used to argue about this with Magic, Byron, and Coop. They were a great three-man backcourt. You can’t get any better than that except in Portland if we would’ve had Drexler, Lever, and Jordan.”
Thompson went as far as saying it would have reduced the Showtime Lakers title tally from five to one.
“That would have been a better backcourt than the Lakers’ backcourt,” Thompson added. “Fat Lever is a triple-double point guard. Clyde Drexler is a Hall-of-Famer. Jordan is Jordan. I would tease Magic, ‘If we drafted Jordan, Showtime still would’ve won a title. But you wouldn’t have won five.'”
Magic, Byron, and Cooper would respond to Thompson with a simple answer.
“They used to always tell me, ‘We had Kareem!’ I had no argument against that.”
Sure, a backcourt of Clyde Drexler, Michael Jordan, and Fat Lever sounds great, but the Lakers still had an advantage with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as their center. Thompson was the starting center for the Trail Blazers during that era.
As good as Thompson was during the prime of his career, he was still no match for the legendary Abdul-Jabbar. The Trail Blazers missed the opportunity as they saw the Lakers win five NBA Championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988) during that era.
Michael Jordan Idolized Mychal Thompson
Nowadays, most remember Mychal Thompson as the father of Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson. But during the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Mychal was a phenomenal player.
So much so that Michael Jordan used to write his first name with Mychal Thompson’s spelling. Thompson revealed it in the same interview with Medina.
“Yeah,” Thompson agreed. “He told that story to my brother, Andy. He said he liked my name in print and started using it with the way I spelled it. But his mother made him stop doing it.”
The 68-year-old felt honored: “I was so flattered and honored. That’s one of the great compliments. The great Michael Jordan wanted to emulate me?! That was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received.”
Michael Jordan went on to become the greatest basketball player of all time. To know he admired Thompson, it’s no doubt that he was flattered. As Thompson mentioned, it was one of the greatest compliments for him.
Michael Jordan Labeled The Idea Of Teaming Up With Clyde Drexler Dumb
The Portland Trail Blazers selected Clyde Drexler with the 14th overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft. He averaged 7.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game in his rookie year. But it was just the start of good things for Drexler.
Later in his career, Drexler became a perennial NBA All-Star and even led them to two Finals in 1990 and 1992, losing both times. However, things could have gone differently if the Trail Blazers had selected Michael Jordan with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.
Drexler earlier revealed that Thompson pitched the idea to pair him with Jordan to the front office. Clyde claimed he and Jordan would have had a lot of success in the NBA if they had played together. While Drexler seemed intrigued by the idea, Jordan labeled it dumb.
“I wouldn’t have had all this opportunity from a business and financial standpoint,” Jordan said in a 1992 interview. “Portland already had Clyde Drexler, so it would have been dumb for me to go there.”
The two superstars never got a chance to play together, but they did face off in the 1992 NBA Finals. Michael Jordan’s Bulls convincingly won the Finals 4-2 against Clyde Drexler’s Trail Blazers.
Jordan averaged 35.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game in the series to win the second NBA Championship and Finals MVP of his career. Drexler put up 24.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. But his numbers were nowhere close to the greatness of ‘His Airness.’
Drexler played until 1997-98, and won one NBA title with the Houston Rockets in 1995, and retired as one of the best offensive players in league history.
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