Mike Powell / Getty Images
In 1984, the Portland Trail Blazers made the decision to draft Sam Bowie with the second pick of the NBA Draft. At the time, it seemed like a pretty reasonable decision. Bowie, a senior out of Kentucky, was an All-American and was just shy of averaging a double-double during the 1983-84 season with the Wildcats. Bowie was to provide valuable assistance to the team struggling to replace Bill Walton.
This all made sense on June 19, 1984, before the Chicago Bulls picked third.
The Bulls chose Michael Jordan with that pick.
Since then, the Trail Blazers have been roundly ridiculed for that choice. It’s understandable, of course. Hindsight is 20/20 and we as a nation enjoy pointing out our neighbors’ flaws almost as much as we enjoy watching sports.
But it turns out the Blazers weren’t the only franchise to make a terrible decision regarding Jordan in ’84.
This from the Wall Street Journal:
In 1984, Adidas made a misstep that presaged others. A University of North Carolina basketball star named Michael Jordan wanted a sponsorship deal with Adidas when he went professional, say people familiar with the matter.
Adidas distributors wanted to sign Mr. Jordan, says someone who was an Adidas distributor then. But executives in Germany decided shoppers would favor taller players and wanted to sponsor centers, the person says, adding: “We kept saying, ‘no—no one can relate to those guys. Who can associate with a seven-foot-tall guy?’ ”
Suffice to say, Adidas’ German executives probably got this one wrong. The company sponsored Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over Jordan, and still make shoes in his honor.
Nike still makes Jordans, too. People get in lines for them weeks in advance. Jordan’s shoes are so coveted that sometimes people begin robbing and killing each other just to get a pair. Together, Nike and Jordan built an empire that turned the NBA’s greatest basketball player into a billionaire.
All things considered, it seems the Trail Blazers only made the second-worst decision of the 1984 NBA season.
[sigallery id=”09ffd5409f31e961879fb1d4372c2f32″ title=”Michael Jordan” type=’sigallery’]
