Michael Jordan’s legacy in the NBA is closely associated with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan and the Bulls won six championships in the 1990s (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998), cementing his legacy in NBA folklore as he was the Finals MVP in all six wins.
The second-best team in the 1990s was the Houston Rockets, who won two championships in 1994 and 1995. Interestingly, the Rockets nearly drafted Jordan in 1984.
How Michael Jordan Almost Ended Up in Houston
Jordan retired from the NBA in 2003, ending his career with the Washington Wizards. Nearly two years after his retirement, the NBA legend spoke with Marvin R. Shanken in an exclusive interview for Cigar Aficionado magazine.
Shanken wanted to know whether Jordan was surprised or disappointed when the Chicago Bulls drafted him third. Upon advice from the legendary coach Dean Smith, Jordan decided to go professional before his senior year with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.
Jordan shared that the team’s inferior record determined the draft pick at the time. A team with a bad record would’ve gotten a higher pick.
“So at the time, Philly was in the third slot. Billy Cunningham was the coach, and he was a Carolina guy. He said based on where we are right now in the third slot, Michael won’t go less than three because we’ll take him at three,” Jordan said.
Even though multiple projections pointed to Jordan going to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Bulls lost many games and got the third pick. Moreover, the Dallas Mavericks, an expansion team, got the fourth pick, pulling the 76ers down to the fifth spot.
“I could have easily gone back to the fifth pick. But then we got assurance from Houston that if they lost the coin flip to Portland, they’d take me, it was a coin flip between the top two teams to determine the first pick. But if Houston won the coin flip, they said they were going to take Hakeem Olajuwon,” Jordan said.
Olajuwon was the Houston Rockets’ priority with Jordan as the fallback option. However, the Portland Trail Blazers didn’t see Jordan as the next best after Olajuwon. They opted for Sam Bowie.
“If Portland had won the coin flip, they would have taken Hakeem, and I would have ended up in Houston. But the coin flip came up Houston, and that put me back to third with Chicago,” Jordan said.
The Trade That Never Was
Interestingly, there was another scenario in which Jordan could have ended up with the Rockets. In his autobiography, ‘Living the Dream,’ Olajuwon disclosed that the Trail Blazers had offered Clyde Drexler and the second pick in the 1984 NBA draft for Ralph Sampson.
Both scenarios would’ve changed the legacy of Olajuwon, Jordan, and the NBA. There are several such what-ifs in the NBA, with the Memphis Grizzlies almost drafting LeBron James being another example of how close history came to changing dramatically.
