Ex-Bulls general manager admits he would’ve taken Hakeem Olajuwon over Michael Jordan in 1984
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The first two parts of “The Last Dance” were eye-opening for many reasons and one of those reasons was a statement by former Chicago Bulls general manager Rod Thorn.
Thorn said that Hakeem Olajuwon was the clear top pick of the 1984 draft and that he would have taken the dominant center if he were the Houston Rockets and had the top pick — regardless if Michael Jordan was on the board or not.
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“Olajuwon would have been first by anybody who picked, including me,” Thorn said during the documentary.
Thorn would later express that the team was lucky to be in the position to draft Jordan, saying that it may have been too late if the world got to see Jordan at the Olympics.
“The reality is, we were lucky the draft was before the Olympics,” Thorn said. “Michael became the most popular amateur basketball player in the world because of the Olympics.”
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He also said he understood the rationale behind the Portland Trail Blazers selecting center Sam Bowie with the No. 2 pick of that draft. Thorn said the Trail Blazers already had a star in Clyde Drexler, who played the same position as Jordan.
Even New York Knicks guard Walt Frazier had his concerns about Jordan at the time.
“We wish he was 7-1, but he isn’t,” Frazier said. “Michael’s got to realize he’s not 7 foot, so he’s not going to carry a team in the NBA.”
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It’s funny looking back at the naysayers now that Jordan proved himself to be among the greatest basketball players of all time.
