NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 11
North Carolina players of all generations believe that one of the greatest advantages of Dean Smith is that he always thinks about the players' lives, always helps players make the most correct choices at the most suitable time, and never for the performance of the North Carolina basketball team. And keep top players in school.

Same goes for Michael Jordan.

In the 1983-1984 season, Jordan was once again selected to the first team of the best team in the United States, was elected the best player of the year in the United States, and won the Naismith Award. His achievements in the university field have reached their peak.Nowadays, every team playing against North Carolina always focuses their defensive attention on Jordan, using various methods such as zone defense and double-teaming to deal with him.Dean Smith can foresee that if Jordan stays in his senior year, the pressure will only increase and the risk of injury will increase, which may have a bad impact on his career.Therefore, Smith felt that it was time for Jordan to participate in the NBA draft.

Of course, before Jordan officially announced his candidacy, Dean Smith carefully inquired about Jordan's draft value, and the answer he got was: the pick will be very high.

Philadelphia 76ers coach Billy Cunningham, who was also Dean Smith's earliest favorite student, wanted Jordan very much. The 76ers had the No. 5 pick. As the draft approached, Cunningham tried every means to change to a higher pick in order to select Jordan. For this reason, he did not hesitate to send the talented main guard Andrew Tony ( Andrew Toney). "But it didn't matter how much we were willing to give," Cunningham would reveal years later, "because Rod knew exactly what was in Michael."

The Rod Cunningham was referring to was then-Chicago Bulls general manager Rod Thorn.The Bulls have the No. 3 pick.It soon became clear that Jordan's draft pick would not be lower than No. 3 in the first round.In this way, Jordan's initial annual salary in the NBA will be at least 70 US dollars, and the contract can be signed for three to four years, which is very good.So Dean Smith decided to give the Jordans a job and explain to them that this would be the right decision.

Two people questioned Dean Smith's suggestion.One is Jordan's mom, Delores.Delores desperately wanted Michael to finish college on time, and it was a dream of her and her husband to see Michael graduate in Chapel Hill on the same day as his sister, Roslyn Jordan.Eventually Delores was persuaded when Dean Smith told her that Michael could still get his degree in a year or two.

Another person who is not eager to let Jordan join the professional basketball world is Jordan himself.Jordan loves North Carolina, the coaches and friends here, and the campus life here.Moreover, they had just lost to Indiana. Jordan felt that his mission had not been completed, and he wanted to win another NCAA national championship.

The decision is Jordan's decision, but this decision is essentially made by the coach for him.The night before his press conference to announce his entry into the NBA draft, Jordan was out for dinner with Buzz Peterson, not sure what was going to happen.Early the next morning, when he went to a press conference, Peterson was still in bed.When Jordan returned, Peterson asked how he was doing, and Jordan replied, "You don't want to know."

"I thought you were going to stay," Peterson said. "I thought we were going to come together, live together, and graduate together." Peterson was hurt, not only because a good friend was leaving, but also because his own dreams had been shattered. .

Jordan shook his head.Peterson understood that the decision was not his to make.For such a major decision, Jordan has always followed the authority, and this time the authority is Dean Smith.

Jordan, of course, listened to Dean Smith.Even after leaving Chapel Hill and becoming a professional player, Jordan remained loyal to North Carolina and to the coach.He always wore North Carolina shorts under his game jersey, and he was on the phone with Dean Smith to update him on how he was doing.Many of his friends felt that Dean Smith was another father to Jordan.

Jordan's respect for Coach Smith did not decrease with the passage of time, but increased day by day.The manifestation of this respect is not limited to the basketball court.For all things in life, Jordan refers to the North Carolina standard, and he will ponder "what will Coach Smith think if he knows it".A few years after Jordan left North Carolina, he went back to Chapel Hill to play a pre-season warm-up game. When he and his friend Fred Whitfield arrived by car, it was a bit late and the parking lot was almost full, so Jordan had to Find a parking spot away from the entrance.That's when Whitfield discovered that there was a vacant parking space not far from the entrance, but for the handicapped.Because the time is really tight, Whitfield suggested, or stop there first.Jordan refused: "Oh, no! I can't do that! If Coach Smith knows I parked in the handicapped area, he will make me feel bad. I can't face him."

In the 1984 NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls were selected behind the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers.At that time, unlike now, players of Jordan's size and style were not unanimously recognized by NBA teams. Therefore, a common draft concept was: if possible, choose the big man first.

Everyone was willing to invest in a center, so Jordan wasn't the hottest player in the draft that year.

The best big man in the draft is University of Houston center Akeem Olajuwon.Olajuwon has height, excellent athletic ability and a good professional attitude. People have reason to believe that he will get better and better.And it is true.The Rockets selected Olajuwon as the No. 1984 pick in [-], which later proved to be a wise decision.

The next choice, many people in the circle think it should be Michael Jordan.But the problem is that Jordan was a shooting guard, not a center, not a power forward, and not a point guard.According to the philosophy of the NBA at the time, it was very risky to build a strong team around a shooting guard, because there was no ready-made case to prove that a shooting guard can revitalize a team.The prevailing view at the time was that an excellent shooting guard was just the last piece of a championship team, and it was impossible to become the cornerstone of the team.

In this way, the No. 1980 favorite is University of Kentucky center Sam Bowie (Sam Bowie).Bowie is tall and smart, but there are two huge question marks on his body: first, he suffered a serious leg injury in college, how much hidden danger will he have in his career?Second, does he really like basketball, and does he have the enthusiasm to improve his own ability and team strength to the extreme?Facing such a player, the Bulls were very cautious. They had previously picked a guard named Ronnie Lester (Ronnie Lester), who was the No. 10 rookie in the first round in [-]. When he arrived at the team, his body was almost useless due to injuries, and the embarrassment was of great use. The Bulls suffered greatly from it and took it as a warning.The Blazers thought differently. They wanted a big man obsessively.

For many years after that, people always talk about the 1984 draft, and always like to laugh at the Blazers for their blindness.Some say the Blazers drafted Sam Bowie because they had a "Bill Walton plot."The only championship in team history was brought by center Bill Walton. Although Bowie's talent is obviously not as good as Walton's, the Portlanders still want to give it a try.Some people also say that the reason why the Trail Blazers did not choose Jordan is because they already had a player of the same type as Jordan, Drexler, and Drexler really became the top star of the Trail Blazers. Led the team to the NBA Finals.The Blazers' decision is not completely incomprehensible.

In any case, the Bulls were happy to learn that the Trail Blazers wanted Bowie instead of Jordan.Of course, there were people who knew it was a terrible idea, like Indiana head coach Bob Knight.Although in the NCAA tournament that year, Knight managed to choke Jordan, and Indiana defeated North Carolina, but in fact, Knight personally liked Jordan very much, and he knew how good Jordan was.Knight's good friend Stu Inman (Stu Inman), who was doing personnel work for the Trail Blazers at the time, Knight urged Inman: Don't choose Bowie, you must choose Jordan instead.

"But we need a center," Inman said.

"Stu, pick him and let him play center forward."

In Knight's view, letting Jordan play center is better than letting Jordan go.

The Rockets and the Trail Blazers want a center so much, why did the Bulls choose Jordan?Because they have done a lot of homework and have a full understanding of Jordan.

At that time, the shareholder responsible for making decisions for the Chicago Bulls was a wealthy man named Jonathan Kovler.Jerry Reinsdorf had not yet become the owner of the Bulls, and the Bulls were still owned by a consortium.In that consortium, except for the young Kovler, the rest of the shareholders don't care about basketball at all, and only Kovler is still a basketball fan.Sometimes, the Bulls get a good trade proposal, and before Kovner can discuss it with other shareholders, the deal blows.

Bulls general manager Rod Thorn had a chief scout named Mike Thibault.Thiebault was young, but he was born to do it. He had been an assistant coach and scout all his life, knew basketball, loved basketball, and didn't care how much money he made.He is keen to fly to various small towns and watch various unknown teams play various meaningless games in order to search for outstanding players that have not been discovered. During the NBA draft, Thiebault was Thorn's most important adviser.

That year, Thibault visited Jordan more than a dozen times, Thorne also watched Jordan a few times, and they both felt that Jordan would become a very, very good professional player, maybe even a great player.Before seeing Jordan, Thibault always thought that "Magic" Johnson was the most competitive player he had ever seen, but after watching Jordan, he realized that this kid was more competitive than Magic. But also vigorous.Thibault decided early on that he wanted Jordan. Before the draft, he only hoped that the Blazers would stick with Bowie.

Thorne also agrees with Thibault, who is very concerned about Bowie's health and fears a repeat of the same mistakes.Although Thorne has not watched as many games as Thibault, Thorne has a good personal relationship with Dean Smith. He can sit in the North Carolina video room and watch the ACC game video.This is a great privilege, because Thorne can not only inspect North Carolina players, but also can take a look at North Carolina opponents.Thorne appreciates Jordan, who is improving every year, especially in defense, and his physical fitness and explosive power are unparalleled.Sometimes Thorne sat there alone watching the game, and when he saw some of Jordan's performances, he would first press pause and rewind and replay it over and over again.Thorne told himself in his heart: What I saw was a player I had never seen before.

Dean Smith has a high opinion of Jordan, but for the Bulls, Dean Smith's words cannot be trusted, because he is Jordan's coach, of course he will say that Jordan is good.However, the fact that Billy Cunningham wanted Jordan convinced Thorne and Thibault that their choice was right.

Thibault was a little worried about Kovner. He was afraid that the shareholder with decision-making power would also want a big man.Thiebault said to Thorne: On the day of the draft, if Kovner hesitated, they had to cut first and play later, and they had to win Jordan anyway.Fortunately, on the issue of choosing Jordan, Kovler has always stood with them.

On June 1984, 6, the Chicago Bulls officially selected Michael Jordan from the University of North Carolina with the No. 19 pick in the first round.On that day, Ron Corley, who had been an assistant coach at Laney High School, called James Jordan. Corley was very excited: "Oscar Robertson and Jerry West moved quickly, because basketball history The greatest defender in the world, just got drafted!"

Not the No. [-] pick, not the No. [-] pick, didn't go to Houston, didn't go to Portland, and the top pick Jordan took root in Chicago from then on.You never know what your future holds.Years later, Jordan said in his autobiography that "Chicago was probably the perfect place" for him.Jordan thought that if the Blazers had actually picked him No. [-], he might not have grown as fast because Drexler and Jim Paxson were on his team.And, if I were in Portland—“I would have a different impact off the court,” Jordan said. Wherever I go, my skills will always be recognized, but off the court it might not be the same."

Among the rookies in 1984, Thibault also had a favorite player named John Stockton (John Stockton).It was a short white kid who played at Gonzaga University before.Thibault feels that Stockton is tough, with big hands and wide vision, and is a rare high-quality point guard.The Bulls once wanted to make a trade and wanted to select Stockton to the team.But what Thiebault saw in Stockton, Utah Jazz general manager and head coach Frank Layden saw the same.In the end, the Jazz picked Stockton with the No. 16 pick in the first round, and the Bulls didn't get it, but Thibault often couldn't help thinking: If Jordan and Stockton had been in the NBA from the first day What would it be like to play together?

(End of this chapter)