J-Speaks: What If the Houston Rockets Acquired Michael Jordan?

Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon are arguably two of the greatest to ever play the game. Jordan, one of the greatest wings to ever grace the hardwood, while Olajuwon is one of the best big men to ever play. While Jordan and Olajuwon will always be linked to the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets respectably, especially after leading their respective teams to six and two titles respectably what if the possibility of the two might have been drafted by the same team in 1984? 

The 1984 draft consisted of players that today ended up being some of the greatest game changers in the history of the NBA. 

That one draft consisted of prospects Akeem Olajuwon of the University of Houston, Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins of the University of North Carolina, Charles Barkley out of Auburn, and Sam Bowie and Mel Turpin out of University of Kentucky. 

In the words of Filip Bondy, the author of “Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever,” “That draft just changed everything. Just changed everything.” 

“You get a Michael Jordan. You get a Hakeem Olajuwon. You get a Barkley and suddenly all rules are off. The whole pecking order of the NBA is changed.” 

Before the NBA Draft Lottery began in 1985, the No. 1 overall pick was chosen though a more simpler method, a coin flip. 

The owners of the teams with the worst records in the Eastern and Western Conference respectably would meet with then Commissioner David Stern whose flip would determine their fate. No envelopes, no ping pong balls were used. Just a simple coin that landed either on heads or tails. 

The Rockets won the final coin flip before the draft lottery system went into effect, they won the final two and with the No. 1 overall pick in 1984 selected Olajuwon, who later changed his first name from Akeem to Hakeem keeping the Cougars All-American in Houston, TX and pairing him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1983 draft Ralph Sampson. 

The notion at that time in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is if you wanted to be a championship contender you needed a dominant man in the middle. The Los Angeles Lakers even though they had Earvin “Magic” Johnson at the lead guard spot, they had the now all-time leading scorer in NBA history in the pivot in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Patrick Ewing came along after that as he was drafted No. 1 overall out of Georgetown by the New York Knicks in 1985 as they won the first draft lottery. The Philadelphia 76ers traded for the late Moses Malone from the Rockets and he led them to a title in 1983. 

“Ralph was the year before me and I came in the following year. When you play with another 7’0” beside you coming into the league that was a real reinforcement. A comfort to have that support,” Olajuwon said about coming into the NBA playing alongside Sampson.

In just their second season together, Sampson and Olajuwon led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1986 on the heels of the famed flip shot by Sampson off the inbounds from Rodney McCray with one second remaining to beat the mighty Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on May 21 of that year in their own house The Great Western Forum. 

What made the first version of the so-called “Twin Towers” work is that Olajuwon could play on the inside while Sampson had the ability to make plays on the perimeter as well the ability to play make with the basketball especially in the open court. 

“Ralph was a positional less player. He could play all five positions and one of the best athletes,” former Rockets lead guard John Lucas said of Sampson’s skills on the court. 

He added though that while Sampson did not master one specific skill, Olajuwon had “mastered” the ability to score down low and the ability to block shots defensively and protect the paint. 

It did not help that Sampson had a slew of injuries and never reached his full potential that he did as a collegiate and the University or Virginia where he was dominant. 

Former Rocket Jim Petersen who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1984 draft and the current color analyst for the Minnesota Timberwolves on FOX Sports North said he remembers the night he wrenched his knee. 

The current Minnesota Timberwolves color analyst for FOX Sports North said that an oil-based solvent was used on the floor of the Rockets home floor “The Summit” and Sampson slipped on one of those wet spots and tore his meniscus and was never the same after that. 

With the third pick in the 1984 draft the Bulls and their general manager at the time Rod Thorn selected Michael Jordan. 

The prior pick belonged to the Portland Trail Blazers, who passed on Jordan because they already had eventual Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler and then All-Star Jim Paxson on the roster. So, they drafted Bowie at No. 2 instead.

“They felt they did not need a wing, so they did not take Michael because of that,” Thorn said. 

Drafting Jordan would become the greatest choice in Bulls history, but the team nearly had the opportunity to trade the pillar of six Larry O’Brien trophies in the 1990s before he ever stepped foot in the “Windy City.” What if they did make acquire Jordan’s draft rights?

In his book Bondy tells of a potential deal between the Bulls and Rockets that might have changed the course for both the Bulls and Rockets. 

The potential trade between the two teams was Sampson to the Bulls for the draft rights to Jordan. 

“Who could have resisted Ralph Sampson after his rookie season,” Bondy said after Sampson averaged 21.0 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in his rookie season of 1983-84. 

Thorn did say though, while they Bulls had several chances to trade that pick which ended up being Jordan, there was nothing serious on the table that they were going to do something. 

The Sixers were offering their top off-guard at the time Andrew Toney and two First-Round picks before he got hurt. 

The Bulls however had an inkling of the kind of player they had chosen in Jordan, but according to long time print sports writer Sam Smith, who was working for the Chicago Tribune at the time said the Bulls had talks about Jordan because the Philadelphia 76ers really wanted to trade for his draft rights. 

 “So, the Bulls to Rod’s credit, he understood Jordan was something special and he rejected these other offers,” Smith said. 

The Bulls top brass and then head coach Kevin Loughery found out just how special in his first practice and he just dominating. 

“We started out one-on-one drill and we see how he could take that ball anywhere wanted on the floor, I mean this is really one strong young man at the time. We knew that he would be an All-Star, immediately,” Loughery said of his first impression of “His Airness.” “Didn’t know he might be the best player to play.” 

As hard as it is to fathom now, the Rockets could have teamed up 21-year-old rookies Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston by trading the 1984 Rookie of the Year in Ralph Sampson. 

In the end both Jordan and Olajuwon would go on to become two of the best to every lace up sneakers in NBA history leading the Bulls as mentioned to six titles, with one of them coming against Drexler and the Trail Blazers in 1992. Olajuwon, who played 16 seasons with Rockets, spearheading the Rockets to back-to-back titles in the 1994 over the Knicks in seven games and in 1995 with Drexler, his former Cougar teammate alongside swept a young Hall of Famer in Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic 4-0. 

If the Rockets acquired the rights of Jordan for Sampson 34 years ago and paired him with Olajuwon, Petersen said, “I mean, we’d all be wearing a lot of jewelry on right now if that would have happened.” 

“The idea of Jordan and Olajuwon because you think of Michael’s run. The first three and the last three punctuated by two Rocket championships.”

Olajuwon said of if the two had played together, “He knows how to leverage every position to the maximum. So, he if knows if I played with him, he will maximize my talent to compliment his game.” 

In 1984, the Rockets hit the jackpot with the selection of Hakeem Olajuwon with the No. 1 overall pick, while the Bulls struck gold with the selection of Michael Jordan. While it took booth time to lead their teams to the promise land of the NBA, the would eventually get their six and two times over respectably. If they had played together who knows how many Larry O’Brien trophies they would have won for “Clutch City?” 

“I’m happy with the way things turned out,” Olajuwon said. “I stayed in the city of Houston. We brought the first championship to the city. A very successful career. I’m still here today. So, I’m happy the ways turned out.”

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 6/14/18 NBATV Original “What If? Draft Stories,” with Chris Miles; and “2006-07 Official NBA Guide,” by Sporting News.