Who was #1 pick when Michael Jordan was drafted 3rd in NBA Draft 1984?

Michael Jordan may be one of the greatest players to grace the NBA, but shockingly, he wasn't the top pick in his draft class. Instead, another Hall of Famer was taken first overall by the Houston Rockets - Hakeem Olajuwon.

Nicknamed 'The Dream' for his smooth footwork and incredible interior post moves, Olajuwon was an exceptional prospect in the 1980s NBA. Because of his ability to punish his opponents around the rim and control the glass, the Houston Rockets moved to acquire the big man of the future on draft night.

Hakeem Olajuwon played 1238 games in his 18-year career, averaging 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game and shooting 51.2% from the field.

As such, arguably the greatest pure scorer in NBA history remained available for selection. However, the Portland Trail Blazers also overlooked Michael Jordan, opting to take Sam Bowie instead.

As we all know, that allowed the Chicago Bulls to swoop in with the third overall pick and change the course of franchise history while also putting them on the path towards NBA history.

Michael Jordan played 930 regular-season games for the Chicago Bulls, producing an average of 31.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game, shooting 50.5% from the field and 33.2% from the deep. Furthermore, 'His Airness' also saw the court in 179 postseason contests, where he raised his scoring profile by averaging 33.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.7 assists.

So, while the Rockets missed out on the chance to acquire one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, they certainly didn't fall short with Olajuwon, who himself is among the greats of basketball history.

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Trail Blazers had no intention of drafting Michael Jordan

According to former Portland Trail Blazer's GM Harry Glickman, his team wouldn't have drafted Michael Jordan, regardless of whether they had taken Sam Bowie with the second overall pick or not.

In fact, in a recent interview with OregonLive.com, the former GM noted how Charles Barkley would have been their second option.

“If you look back at the draft,” Glickman said, “if we hadn’t selected (Bowie), we wouldn’t have selected Jordan. We probably would have gone with Charles Barkley.”

Barkley would have been a better choice than Bowie - whose career was seriously impacted by injury, but the fact remains that Jordan would have still fallen to the Chicago Bulls, and history would have played out in a similar fashion. After all, when you have a player with Michael Jordan's work ethic and hunger for success, things usually work out well.

Still, when we look back, knowing what we know now, it's shocking to think that the Trail Blazers would have still passed up on the opportunity to add arguably the greatest player of all time to their roster.

However, Bulls fans around the world are certainly happy that things transpired that way, and that their franchise is the one that helped propel the NBA onto the global scene.