June 19th, 1984. The Houston Rockets selected future hall of fame center Hakeem Olajuwon with the first pick of the NBA draft. Then the Portland Trail Blazers chose Sam Bowie. Poor, poor Portland.
What happened next remains one of the greatest events in Chicago sports history.
“The Chicago Bulls pick Michael Jordan of the University of North Carolina.”
On this day in 1984: The #Bulls drafted MJ with the 3rd overall pick…the rest is history! pic.twitter.com/0FDRfZ4Ibl
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) June 19, 2018
I know that recency bias and three inches of height have led many folks to anoint Lebron James the best basketball player to ever live. But Michael Jordan’s 10 scoring titles to Lebron’s one, six rings to Lebron’s three, higher NBA finals scoring average, higher NBA finals shooting, three-point shooting, and true shooting percentage say otherwise.
34 years ago today Chicago drafted the best basketball player of all time. Someday, he won’t be the best we’ve ever seen. But today is not that day.