June 19, 1984: The NBA Draft is held, at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Houston Rockets had the 1st pick, and they took University of Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon. It worked out pretty well for them, as he helped them reach 3 NBA Finals and win 2 NBA Championships.
The Portland Trail Blazers had the 2nd pick, and they took University of Kentucky center Sam Bowie. Bowie has built a nice career for himself in Kentucky's other major sports industry, breeding racehorses. But due to recurring injuries, through no fault of his own, and through no fault of the Blazers', his pro basketball career was a failure.
The Chicago Bulls had the 3rd pick, and they took University of North Carolina guard Michael Jordan. He led the Bulls to 6 NBA Championships, including in 1992 over the Blazers, and is called by more people than any other the greatest basketball player of all time.
Meanwhile, the Blazers haven't won an NBA Championship since 1977, or reached the Finals since 1992.
How dumb were the Blazers? With nearly 40 years' worth of hindsight, maybe not as dumb as they look. From 2005 to 2007, ESPN did a series titled Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame…, and one of their episodes looked at the '84 Draft. Here were their Top 5 reasons the Blazers shouldn't be blamed for choosing Bowie instead of Jordan:
5. "The Draft is a crapshoot." It sure is: Some teams make mistakes seemingly every year. As someone who used to root for the New Jersey Nets, and continues to observe them locally as the Brooklyn Nets, I write from painful experience.
4. Sam Bowie: At the time, he seemed like a good pick, having just led Kentucky to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
3. Bill Walton: Had he stayed healthy after leading the Blazers to that 1977 title, they still would have had that big, great center that they hoped Bowie would become. In other words, they wouldn't have drafted Bowie, because they wouldn't have had to.
Bill Walton (left), by then with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Bowie
2. Michael Jordan -- as he was at the time: You may remember the old joke: "Who's the only man who can hold Michael Jordan to under 20 points? Dean Smith." The Tar Heel coach's "Four Corners" offense was team-oriented, and held down Jordan's scoring, while still winning. It was clear he would be a great player, but nobody, not even Dean or Nike, thought he would become the sports, advertising and pop-culture colossus that he became.
1. Clyde Drexler: The Blazers already had an All-Pro guard in Clyde the Glide. From a strategic standpoint, getting the 1984 version of Michael Jordan didn't make sense. And the Blazers did go on to win Western Conference Titles in 1990 and '92, although they didn’t win the NBA Championship either time.
It's also worth pointing out that the Rockets also passed on Jordan, and the only Championships they won during Jordan's career were in 1994 and 1995, during his "hiatus." Would they have beaten the Bulls in the '94 and '95 Finals? Robert Horry, who played on those Rocket teams, is convinced that they would have, calling Olajuwon the one player Jordan feared.
We'll never know for sure. But what we do know is that nobody says the Rockets were dumb for choosing Olajuwon over Jordan.
But at least the Blazers are still in Portland, and drawing well, unlike their fellow Pacific Northwest teams, the Seattle SuperSonics and, later, the Vancouver Grizzlies.
*
June 19, 1984 was a Tuesday. Actor Paul Dano was born.
The NBA Championship was won a week earlier, when the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the Finals. The Stanley Cup was won a month earlier, when the Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Islanders, ending one dynasty and starting another. The United States Football League was in its 2nd season, but no games were played on this day.
These Major League Baseball games were:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Ron Guidry ran out of gas in the bottom of the 8th inning, and the Tigers scored 4 runs. The Yankees only got 2 back in the top of the 9th. Lance Parrish hit a home run for the Tigers. Don Mattingly went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Dave Winfield went 3-for-4 with a walk.
* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4 at Shea Stadium. Former Met Jerry Koosman outpitched Ed Lynch. Mike Schmidt hit his 404th career home run. Ron Gardenhire and Hubie Brooks homered for the Mets.
* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Pete Rose, during his brief time north of the border, went 1-for-4.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. The O's scored 4 runs in the 8th and 4 more in the 9th to win it. Eddie Murray went 2-for-5 with a home run and 6 RBIs. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 11-6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Robin Yount went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Paul Molitor was injured and did not play.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 2-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Eric Show pitched a 2-hit shutout. Tony Gwynn went 3-for-3.
* The Texas Rangers beat the California Angels, 4-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Reggie Jackson hit his 489th career home run. Rod Carew went 0-for-1 with 2 walks before being removed from the game.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. George Brett went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jorge Orta went 3-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-4 with a home run, a stolen base and 2 RBIs.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
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