Even Michael Jordan got cut from his high school team

I always hated hearing “you know even Michael Jordan got caught from his high school basketball team,” as if it put into perspective any major disappointment in life.   Making this statement even more irrelevant is that Jordan was cut his sophomore year from Varsity.  However, last week while watching Best Damn Sport Show’s 100 Most Unbelievable Sports Moments, they had another MJ tidbit that really surprised me.  One of their unbelievable moments was Sam Bowie being selected number two overall in the 1984 NBA Draft and then they showed a montage of Jordan highlights.  After checking it out, the beginning of the draft went a little something like this:

1984 NBA Draft

1 Hakeem Olajuwon (C)  Nigeria Houston Rockets Houston
2 Sam Bowie (C)  United States Portland Trail Blazers Kentucky
3 Michael Jordan (SG)  United States Chicago Bulls North Carolina

Also drafted that year were Charles Barkley, Kevin Willis, John Stockton, etc.  I can understand an NBA team misjudging Hakeem Olajuwon’s talent as slightly better then Jordan’s right out of college, this can be difficult.  However, Sam Bowie was never even an all star and in a pick up game I’d much rather have any of the people mentioned above.  Until now, I thought the Bucks drafting Robert “Tractor” Traylor over Dirk Nowitzki (and Paul Pierce) was a huge deal.  According to Sport Illustrated, Sam Bowie was the worst draft selection in the history of the NBA.  Personally, I would have much rather been told “at least you didn’t draft Sam Bowie” when something bad happened growing up, instead of “even Michael Jordan got cut from his High School Basketball team.”

A few Jordan videos that I used to love growing up:

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. David K

    That second video you “used to love growing up” is from 2003…just thought I’d point this out. But I guess one could say that people are always growing up?

  2. Matthew

    you caught me… I was 18 when that video came out but just because I could legally buy tobacco products in 2003 doesn’t mean I was done growing up.

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