The 1984 NBA Draft is considered one of the best in league history, given all the talent that was drafted that year and how successful some of the players were. That was the draft that introduced Hakeem Olajuwon to the league and also the GOAT, Michael Jordan.
That year, the Portland Trail Blazers passed on a big opportunity, picking Sam Bowie with the 2nd overall pick of the night and leaving Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls. They wouldn’t miss this opportunity and landed the player that changed the history of the franchise forever.
A lot has been said about that infamous decision and why the Blazers decided to go with Bowie instead of MJ. Many people think the fit between Jordan and Clyde Drexler would have hurt the team, but others disagree with that belief. In fact, Drexler himself said that such an idea was bad given how versatile he and Jordan were.
Talking with Youtuber Dom2K, the Portland Trail Blazers legend revealed that Mychal Thompson claimed that a Jordan-Drexler duo would have dominated the league for many years.
“The thing is both of us could play two or three positions, so we could have found spots to play together. There is no doubt about that. Mychal Thompson, Klay Thompson’s dad, he told the organization that if they picked Jordan and he and Clyde play together, they’re gonna dominate this league for the next 10 or 15 years. And he said that before the draft, so if you’re listening you might wanna listen to him. So the Trail Blazers, instead of listening, they told him, ‘we’re gonna fine you if you say something that absurd to the media once again.'”
“It was that obvious by anyone who knew anything about basketball except the people who drafted. But it would have been great. We would have had a lot of success.”
Instead of creating a big duo with MJ, the Blazers earned an enemy that would beat them several years later in the Finals, preventing Drexler and co. from winning the NBA championship. Jordan made an instant impact on the Bulls, leading them to the playoffs, and making them six-time NBA champions in the 90s.
We’ll never know how he would have fared alongside Clyde, but the Blazers icon believes that would have gone pretty smoothly.
