“Olajuwon would have been first by anybody who picked, including me,” the former Chicago GM said on Sunday’s documentary premiere.
Former Bulls GM Rod Thorn, who selected Michael Jordan No. 3 overall in the 1984 NBA Draft, said Chicago would have picked legendary Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon over Jordan if they had the chance.
Thorn was general manager of the Bulls from 1978 until 1985.
In an interview on Sunday’s “The Last Dance” documentary on ESPN regarding Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, Thorn said:
Olajuwon would have been first by anybody who picked, including me.
The Bulls almost had the chance. In the preceding 1983-84 season, the Bulls went 27-55, while the Rockets were two games better at 29-53.
But back then, before the NBA’s draft lottery system had come into existence, the league decided its top draft pick via a coin flip between the team with the worst record in the Western Conference and the corresponding squad with the worst mark in the Eastern Conference.
The Indiana Pacers, whose 1984 pick had already been traded to Portland, were one game worse than Chicago at 26-56. That meant they were in a coin flip with the Rockets, rather than the Bulls. Houston won the flip and took Olajuwon, while the Trail Blazers infamously took big man Sam Bowie with the No. 2 pick. That left Jordan available at No. 3 for the Bulls.
As it turns out, everyone but the Blazers ended up happy. Both Jordan and Olajuwon went on to win multiple championships and were eventually inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Jordan averaged 30.1 points (49.7% FG), 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 steals per game over 15 NBA seasons, while Olajuwon tallied 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game in 18 seasons. Between the two of them, Jordan and Olajuwon combined for eight consecutive titles (and each accompanying NBA Finals MVP award) from 1991 through 1998.
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