Jordan Rising

     Summertime is upon us.  Basketball season is a distant memory.  But today bears special significance in the history of the Chicago Bulls.  Read on for more...


     At the end of the 1983-84 NBA Season, the Chicago Bulls found themselves looking up from the cellar of the Eastern Conference with 55 losses, and the 2nd worst record in the Conference.  The team officials make the trek to Madison Square Garden on June 19, 1984 with the third overall pick, hoping to make something of it and put themselves in a position to once again be competitive.  What they got with that #3 pick not only turned their fortunes around, it wound up changing the game of basketball forever.  The Houston Rockets kicked off the draft with the 1st overall pick, then it was the Portland Trailblazers who were up to bat.  Portland ended up making one of the most infamous decisions in draft history when they selected Sam Bowie with the #2 pick-bypassing UNC standout and NCAA Champion Michael Jordan.  Next pick: Chicago Bulls.


     With the #3 pick, they didn't make the same mistake as Portland did.  They drafted Jordan. The rest is History.  Jordan's career records and accomplishments speak for themselves.  The Jordan-led Bulls dominated the 1990s with 6 championships, coming in 2 separate 3-peats, making them one of only 3 teams to ever accomplish the feat, as well as the most recent team to do so(and even finding time to hang with Walter Payton[twice] and Andre Dawson.  Although he made a brief stop with the White Sox, and even got a hit at Wrigley Field, he is remembered the world over for his contributions as a member of the Chicago Bulls.


     In one more fascinating postscript, Jordan was not the only athlete drafted by the Bulls on that day.  With the 208th pick, they selected Carl Lewis.  Yes, that Carl Lewis.  The one who in just over a month's time would go on to win 4 Gold Medals in Los Angeles at the 1984 Summer Olympics.  Lewis had never played a single game of basketball in High School or College.  The Bulls management drafted him because he was simply the "best athlete available".  Needless to say, Lewis never played a single minute with the Chicago Bulls.