Sam Bowie on how he convinced the Trail Blazers to pick him over Jordan in the 1984 draft despite his injury history: “I can still remember them taking a little mallet, and when they would hit me on my left tibia, and ‘I don’t feel anything, I would tell ‘em. But deep inside, it was hurting.”
This felt topical with pre-draft workouts currently ongoing.
Here is the full quote:
“I can still remember them taking a little mallet, and when they would hit me on my left tibia, and ‘I don’t feel anything’ I would tell ‘em. But deep down inside, it was hurting. If what I did was lying and what I did was wrong, at the end of the day, when you have loved ones that have some needs, I did what any of us would have done.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bowie-says-he-misled-blazers-about-knee-injury-2012-12
Here was Bowie’s situation as a prospect when he was selected over Michael Jordan, in the context of Trail Blazers lore:
In the six years following Walton’s aggravated injury and unhappy departure, the Blazers had managed a single playoff series win in 1983; otherwise they had come up completely empty. That year, the Blazers had drafted their franchise cornerstone with the 14th pick in shooting guard Clyde Drexler, then a bench player who had averaged seven points per game as a rookie. While revisionist history will have you believe that Drexler’s mere presence on the roster, and the Trail Blazers’ vision that he would become a top 50 all-time player explain what happened in the 1984 NBA draft, the reality is more complicated.
Perhaps even more important to the Trail Blazers’ decision making, they also had reigning 2x All-Star and All-NBA second team member Jim Paxson at the shooting guard position. In addition, at that time in history, the prevailing belief was that you could only dominate with big men; guards wouldn’t do that for you. No guard had won an MVP in the previous 20 years, and Michael Jordan, a shooting guard who had swept every college player of the year award that season, wouldn’t be the one to change that.
Even Bulls GM Rod Thorn had apparent doubts about Michael’s superstar status after drafting him, as he had the following to say to the media in 1984,
“We wish he were seven feet, but he isn’t. There just wasn’t a center available. What can you do?…Look, when Isiah Thomas went to Detroit, he improved them but it took two years to make the playoffs. We’ve taken a step in the right direction. Jordan isn’t going to turn this franchise around…He’s a very good offensive player, but not an overpowering offensive player.”
This guy lucked into one of the best draft picks in sports history.
The Trail Blazers, already stacked at the shooting guard position, had seen personally how a dominant, extremely injury prone center could change the fortunes of a team entirely. In his sophomore year of college, the 7’1 Sam Bowie had been exactly that. However, after a two year injury layoff, he wasn’t the same athlete as before, and he wasn’t as productive either (17 points 3 blocks before injury, 10 and 2 after)
Bowie would later reveal that he lied about the severity of his injury to the Trail Blazers, knowing it was the best thing for his future,
“I can still remember them taking a little mallet, and when they would hit me on my left tibia, and ‘I don’t feel anything’ I would tell ‘em. But deep down inside, it was hurting. If what I did was lying and what I did was wrong, at the end of the day, when you have loved ones that have some needs, I did what any of us would have done.”
I hope this isn’t a spoiler: the Sam Bowie pick didn’t work out for the Trail Blazers, and Bowie’s NBA career exploits wouldn’t match those of Michael Jordan. They had wasted a massive opportunity, and stagnation and mediocrity was the short-term prognosis. Unbeknownst to Portland then, however, they had a superstar talent emerging on the wing, and a generational talent five thousand miles away, patiently waiting for his chance.