Remembering the Trail Blazers Drafting Sam Bowie Before Michael Jordan in 1984

To say sports fans are hyped for Sunday evening is a massive understatement. ESPN will be airing the first two parts of its highly-anticipated documentary, "The Last Dance," which follows the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls during their quest for their sixth NBA championship.

Let's face it, we're all excited to follow Michael Jordan's journey to his final title, but we can't help but think what would've happened if Jordan were drafted to another team. Yes, we're looking at you, Portalnd Trail Blazers, the team that infamously passed up on MJ in order to select Sam Bowie in the 1984 NBA Draft at No. 2 overall.

Who Was Drafted Before Jordan?

With the first overall selection, the Houston Rockets took center Hakeem Olajuwon. We can't raelly fault the Rockets on this selection, as Olajuwon became a 12-time NBA All-Star and the league's Most Valuable Player in 1994. Oh, and he helped Houston win back-to-back championships in 1994 and '95, taking home Finals MVP honors in both appearances, eventually ending up in the Hall of Fame. That's all you could ever hope for from a No. 1 pick, and then some.

As for the Trail Blazers, they happened to lose out on the first overall pick to the Rockets by way of a coin toss. Portland had their eyes set on Olajuwon, and after getting spurned, they opted to go with whom they saw to be the second-best big man in the draft in Bowie. Plus, the Trail Blazers weren't in need of another shooting guard at the time having drafted Clyde Drexler the year before.

Yep, selecting the Kentucky Wildcats center instead of that kid out of North Carolina "made sense."

In hindsight, that proved to be a catastrophic decision. Bowie was named to the NBA's All-Rookie Team in his first season, but he never reached his full potential due to numerous leg injuries. It's not the first time anything like this happened, but this is the most discussed due to Jordan becoming nothing less than the greatest basketball player of all time.

This case ought to prove unequivocally that teams are better off drafting the best player available rather than positional needs. All told, would MJ have the same success in Portland as he did in Chicago? We'll never know. But he sure would have given them more than they got out of Sam Bowie.