BOB KNIGHT TRIED TO CONVINCE THE BLAZERS TO DRAFT MICHAEL JORDAN

[@ericcord1510]

Now that's High Praise! When Bobby Knight says all that about a player on another team... Mr. Never Satisfied said that about the future NBA GOAT Michael Jordan.

[@BasketballNetwork]

Yepp, Bobby said it first!

[@rtc7788]

Pretty sure he said that after seeing him on Olympic tryouts

[@fgogle6789]

@@BasketballNetwork ...why wasn't there a clip of it?

[@bos3835]

@@rtc7788 he said that after coaching him on the '84 Olympic team.

[@owlontheprowl1657]

There's another clip of Hubie Brown analyzing Mid NBA MJ in which the very critical coach describes him in a very similar manner

[@your_royal_highness]

Being from Chicago, I am so glad the Blazers did what they did.

[@bos3835]

As someone who was a middle schooler in Chicago when that draft happened, I am eternally greatful to the Blazers for that. For Bobby Knight to say that about any player is beyond tremendous. Knight wasn't easily impressed by anyone.

[@dr.andersonsghost4315]

Now you have to understand, coach Knight was an old school cranky hard-ass, a real-life Red Forman (from That '70s Show). Knight very very very rarely give compliments. For him to so effusively praise MJ, before he even played a game in the NBA, that right there tells you all you need to know about what type of player and competitor MJ was. Jordan was without a doubt a transcendent talent. As Bird said, MJ was God in disguise, and as Magic said, "there's MJ, and then there's the rest of us".

[@BasketballNetwork]

Coach Knight saw it first!

[@rshrsh5420]

His assessment comes from coaching him in the Olympics in 1984. Did you know that Micheal Jordan was one of the few that won an Olympic Gold Medal as a collegiate player and a professional one?

[@dr.andersonsghost4315]

@@rshrsh5420 Yes, and did you see coach Knight's Dave Letterman interview where he shared more stories about coaching MJ? Knight loved MJ, both for his talent and his personality.

[@rshrsh5420]

@@dr.andersonsghost4315 Watch this one and get back to me kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmHUfmWEjbSBatE

[@dr.andersonsghost4315]

@@rshrsh5420 Yep, I've seen that one. LOL, coach Knight probably wished MJ was his son.

[@livelifels2726]

Dam, Jordan ruined Ewing’s dream the entire ride 😲

[@rmx.indiana8306]

The old legend goes: After coaching Michael Jordan at the 1984 Olympics Coach Knight called Stu Inman, an old friend of his who became the General Manager of the Portland Trailblazers, and the conversation was this: COACH: "Stu, you need to pick Jordan at #2, this is the best basketball player I've ever seen." INMAN: "But Coach, I need a center. . ." COACH: "Then play Jordan at center!!! He'll be the best God damn center in the league!!!!"

[@campkemp9466]

Great video!!! 👍 I never knew the Pacers traded out of that pick!!! That's insane!

[@BasketballNetwork]

Thanks :) yepp, nobody ever mentions the Pacers, they were just unlucky

[@kenuffff]

The league was driven by big men at that time no one thought a guard could dominate like that

[@bizil100]

THE POINT IS Bobby Knight was saying MJ was the BEST PLAYER he's EVER SEEN! We you have that type of talent available, u TAKE HIM! It doesn't matter if the league was dominated by big men! And we see THE RESULTS! MJ was SO GREAT it superceded Dream, David, Shaq, Ewing, etc.! It's obvious Portland didn't see MJ on the same level Knight did! Just like MOST COACHES didn't see MJ on the level Knight did!

[@Amick44]

Yeah. But Larry and Magic had started to loosen that thinking a bit.

[@eastbee103]

The dumb blazers also drafted Greg Oden over Kevin Durant!! They just have NO clue!!

[@steve8803]

@kenuffff no one, except Bobby Knight!!

[@eastbee103]

@@steve8803 Bobby Knight and Jerry West are the two greatest experts of analyzing and evaluating basketball talent...and *BOTH* say Jordan is the GOAT!! I am inclined to agree with the experts!!

[@travisdonaldstanley6420]

Sam had the pimp walk, I'll give the Portland Scouts that.

[@joecelozzi305]

Bobbi Knight gives u advice on what idiots but Portland passed on Mike i am from Chicago Thank you Portland there isnt words to explain the appreciation and love i have for you .I just cant believe the fans in Portland could watch all our years that we won 6 championships it had to be hard and emotional lol

[@patrickalexander4330]

Is anyone old enough to have watched Bowie play at Kentucky? He was a 7’1 player that could really move, tremendous ball handling skills for a man his size and could score from the post plus a very good outside shot. No one says the Rockets made a mistake drafting Olajuwon because he was a perineal all star himself. If Bowie didn’t have the issues with stress fractures, he wouldn’t have been Jordan but he would have been a perineal all star himself.

[@matteominetti1816]

Are you sure when you said "perineal" all star.. maybe you know something that we don't ?! :-D

[@BasketballNetwork]

Bowie would have been great if it hadn't been for his injuries. But you always draft the BEST player.

[@TheRealBozz]

@@BasketballNetwork You do NOW, my friend. Back then, as illustrated by the Blazers pick, they drafted positional needs. I hated them for it. Paxson was no slouch at the time as a 2. So they must have figured they didnt need MJ. Not the first, nor the last time Portland would pass on future Hall of Famers...

[@adambrown8635]

@@TheRealBozz O forgot they got Greg Oden over Kevin Durant lol that was a dumb pick

[@joespitler3929]

If Bowie never got hurt I don't think you'd hear so much about this.

[@eastbee103]

Bobby Knight had the vision to see that Jordan would be the GOAT!! Isiah is still mad!! Bobby Knight and Jerry West are perhaps the best two evaluators of basketball talent and both said Jordan is the GOAT!!

[@daviddufresne343]

He called Steph Curry very early as well, I'm curious if he called any other all time greats before they even got to the NBA. Link some interviews if anyone has them.

[@bos3835]

Wow didn't know he said that about my favorite current player Steph.

[@thepunditspundit1776]

Called Bird immediately. Said he had the greatest court vision and hand eye coordination ever. Regretted losing him

[@whartonarseino8849]

Bobby Knight is a psychic he saw right through MJ

[@slimypickle19]

Hypothetically, if Jordan actually played center for Portland...... they legit would've been serious title contenders. They would've been extremely fast compared to most teams & would've had a couple titles in the 80s or early 90s for sure.

[@michaeld5]

B.A.A. - Best Available Athlete. Always pick using that rule.....Baa baa

[@BasketballNetwork]

That's right

[@bradleyboyer9979]

Gotta remember... things were different in those days. It was widely believed that you had to have a dominant center to compete for titles. Jordan was one of the people who showed that wasn't true. But it was a different mindset back then. Rod Thorne, the Bulls GM, was disappointed after they drafted Jordan, saying they had hoped for a center but would "settle" for MJ. LOL

[@jettavanengeland3545]

It would be a obvious choice to pick MJ in 1984 if you see his college stats and as scout also being to the college games what his capability is.

[@hjackson1678]

Portland should took Jordan put him at 2 and Drexel at 3.

[@lusoroofing5221]

imagine drexler and jordan on same team!

[@DaSkarekrow]

Curious.... what was the praise of Bowie? the need for Center was the only reason to pass up MJ? Was Bowie boasted as the best center people has seen in the last decade? Blazers went to the Finals with Clyde, imagine if Clyde and Jordan were teammates... Blazers would of definitely got a chip

[@BasketballNetwork]

His potential was through the roof, moved great for a guy his size and the Blazers thought a center would fit the team better than MJ

[@Amick44]

A few chips.

[@jaust9077]

Remember hakeem went first so he was THE GUY IN that draft but bowie was rated right behind him

[@33bigmoney]

Tučeš viewse bravo

[@ginoinencino2528]

Had the Rockets lost the coin flip, Jordan is a Rocket, while Dream n Glide are reunited in Portland 10yrs before they did. With Kersey in that lineup, Magic-Worthy-Jabbar would have had a tougher time getting to the Finals in 88 & 89. Who knows? We could have had 3 straight Finals of Portland/Detroit, & perhaps Portland wins 2 or 3

[@8z_ba]

thats not how it works buddy their mindsets still wouldnt change

[@giacobbeperales5926]

And MJ would have won at least 6 titles with Houston

[@ProjectDystopia]

Biggups to Tom Owens!!!!!

[@TruthHasSpoken]

I was so excited when the Bulls got MJ at #3. I am forever grateful Portland took Bowie.

[@algrho]

Easily debunked by Jerry Wedt when he drafted Kobe and traded Eddie Jones. Not even a matter of discussion nowadays.

[@BasketballNetwork]

Exactly. Too bad everyone's learning from Portland's mistakes

[@staffordduncan2821]

He traded Eddie Jones for Glen Rice and got Kobe from Charlotte draft pick for Vlade Divac

[@TheSands83]

Portland could have moved Clyde to sf... those early 90s blazers would have been better than Chicago.. those teams were loaded.. drazen petrovic coming off bench hitting 3s just ridiculous

[@bizil100]

BINGO!!! You simply move Drexler to the SF. And slide MJ to the SG. And BOTH were among the best passing SG's of all time as it is. At times, u could even use a big backcourt. And move MJ to the PG and Clyde to the SG!

[@jamesadams1213]

Pacers shouldn't be brought up in this. Yeah they traded the pick to the blazers but they did it in June of 1981, 3 years before this draft. They wouldn't have known it would end up being the #2 overall pick. And Jordan was just graduating high school when they made the trade. All they'd know is that he was a great high school player, lead scorer in McDonald's AA game, and he'd be heading to UNC for his Freshman year soon.

[@mysteriowc]

FYI Sam Bowie was a beast when he wasn't hurt. Everyone can look back and say they should have done this and should have done that.

[@rmanderson7202]

FACTZ!!!

[@BasketballNetwork]

Indeed

[@jaust9077]

Another reason why zeke hates MJ lol. His own coach said mj was better then him lol.

[@your_royal_highness]

The draft happened before Knight coached Jordan in the Olympics

[@TyreseBuie]

mychal thompson & drexler wtote articles about drafting mj in the local paper

[@BasketballNetwork]

Which paper? I’d love to read it :)

[@TyreseBuie]

Basketball Network I saw a video of mychal Thompson speaking on it, it maybe here on KZbin

[@RobertElliott-cz4lg]

NBA wanted Jordan in a major market. Bowie never played more than 1/2 season in college. Jack Ramsey got a media job in payment.

[@lindseywalker6925]

Who was the only person to hold M.J. under 30 points? Dean Smith.

[@Ukbball]

Im glad he wasnt a pacer lol

[@daltoneidywatanabe2088]

This is why Michael Jordan was different from all other NBA players! We see everyone speaking highly of him, including in high school! Different from the others, Kobe, Lebron, Magic, Bird, Shaq... MJ was the best in his era, and he would be the best for sure! We really miss you at the games, the NBA has lost its charm! the stadiums have more advertising than talent!!! We lost the taste of going to see games! Sad

[@mrphillytitan]

Rockets already had Sampson the 83 rookie of the year. Houston absolutely blew it as well…

[@melvinwalls1426]

They was talking about MJ as the best of all time) before he made his mark above the rest) unmercyful talent to install upon others*

[@randyhill4549]

Michael hit his head on the backboard blocking the dook player's shot!

[@BasketballNetwork]

That's what happens when you have a 48 inch vertical :)

[@clydetheglidetop5sgtop10du7]

Basketball Network I love Mike but I doubt it's higher than 46 max

[@ivanvansysinoy1079]

He had a video where he was ask.how high cn he jump. His reply was that he can put half of his arm beyond the square print in the board. Can you imagine that

[@BasketballNetwork]

Ivan vansy Sinoy that’s practically the top of the backboard

[@frankharris3159]

Damn.... Can you imagine Jordan and Drexler on the same team back in their young prime! That would have been probably better than the eventual Jordan and Pippen combo. Paxson would have to come off the bench.

[@scoobee4921]

I think Pippen was a better fit for Jordan. Pippen is a top 5 Defensive player. But on offense.... Air and Glide together. Oh My!!!

[@tazzmania6148]

His comments were made after coaching him on the Olympics which was after the draft.

[@sen73nced]

Nobody talks about the Rockets also making a mistake here. They got offered Clyde and the 2nd pick for Sampson. Imagine that trio

[@andrewyancey878]

MJ at the 2, Clyde at the 3, Hakeem at the 5 in the early 80s would’ve cut out some Celtics, lakers and pistons titles ha. The rockets made the finals anyway, but having MJ and Hakeem competing at both ends, and Clyde being a monster defender as well, and those competitive spirits building each other… It would be like Jordan and Pippen but with Hakeem as the center instead of Will Perdue haha. And in reality Clyde was better than Scottie. Yikes. A couple decent spot up shooters and that team absolutely obliterates whoever. Houston was already good with Vernon or guys like that on the wing. That would’ve been amazing to see for sure.

[@Rumble225-qe7fy]

Funny thing is Bulls didn’t even want Jordan neither they were planning to trade him for a center.

[@rshrsh5420]

His assessment comes from coaching him in the Olympics in 1984. Did you know that Micheal Jordan was one of the few that won an Olympic Gold Medal as a collegiate player and a professional one?

[@BasketballNetwork]

Yepp, that's an elite club.

[@mikeylikey6176]

What most people don't know is that Jordan led Olympic Team played eight exhibition games against NBA all-stars..Knight scheduled it so his team could gain some experience and confidence going into the games. It was suppose to be Trotters vs Generals, but I guess MJ didn't get the memo. You can google what happened next//

[@202One]

Mj & Ewing.. Last time for College players, 1st as Pro-DreamTeam..! ✌

[@jasonm6231]

stop saying its all hindsight. blazers did the same thing with oden over durant. blazers were just bad.

[@Fjjfuffnr244]

not quite the same. bowie over jordan wasnt a good choice, yes. majority of the time saw greatness in jordan. but, nearly every bball analyst gives them a pass on Oden, since Odens time was cut short by injuries. that's not foreseeable.

[@BasketballNetwork]

The unluckiest sports organization ever

[@bigdogfromnj]

Noticed nothing was said about the Hakeem Pick🤣😂

[@ejdom1950]

Hakeem is a legend, just a hairline below Jordan. I have him in my top 5 all time.

[@thagoff]

the biggest losers here are the houston rockets because they passed on a deal of trading ralph sampson for drexler and their 2nd round pick in '84, which could've easily been turned into hakeem olajuwon (1st pick), michael (2nd) and drexler smashing the court on that rockets team. unfortunately they turned it down, hoping for a "twin towers" team, with sampson and hakeem being the centerpoint of that project, but sampson got wrecked with injuries and the rest is history. hakeem got his rings when mj was out, but I couldn't help wondering how much chips MJ would've gotten if he had the dream playing alongside him.

[@marktrail8624]

Hakeem got his rings while Jordan was still playing

[@neutronspdr]

The Blazers will still be the dumpster fire 100yrs from today. They squandered their chances over and over again since the 80s

[@matthewfunk734]

The biggest mistake the Portland TrailBlazers ever made was taking Sam Bowie...

[@nattyps3160]

Portland should have drafted mj obviously they didn't b/c they had future hof Drexler. Both Jordan & Drexler are tall guards. They could have made one of them a sf/sg swing man. They also could have traded Drexler for a true forward. Their weren't many centers around in 84. Olajuwon of course was drafted before them. Too bad they didn't get pick no. 1. Drexler & olujuwon won a title together in Houston as they were still in their prime but imagine those 2 from the start?

[@giacobbeperales5926]

And the Rockets also made a mistake by not drafting MJ.

[@georgeheridis7973]

I think we should draft lebron james... But we need a center.

[@Blazerfan11]

Come on people. The team that really blew it was Houston. They made the greatest mistake in draft history. They already had Ralph Sampson at center scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds a game in his rookie season. Why did they draft another center the next season? If Jordan was clearly the best player, this was a monumental goof. Obviously, centers were a big deal in those days and Portland gets a pass on this. Houston does not. Bob Knight should have tried to convince Houston to draft Michael Jordan.

[@Thedearster]

Disagree. I think Ralph Sampson's injuries mute this point. Especially since you and I know how important the low post '80s-90s were.

[@bizil100]

The thing is Houston STILL BENEFITTED from Dream being there. He and Ralph made the Finals. The Twin Towers concept was working great! Sampson's injuries of course derailed his career. And Houston STILL WON two rings with the Dream down the road. So I WOULDN'T call what Houston did a monumental goof. Houston still got a top 12 GOAT in Olajuwon. And rings outta the deal. The excuse Portland made was NOT DRAFTING MJ because of Drexler! For starters, Drexler ONLY averaged 7.7 points his rookie year. He wasn't playing WELL ENOUGH to dictate not taking MJ. Secondly, you could have EASILY moved Drexler to SF. And slide MJ to SG. MJ's rookie year he averaged 28 PPG! He was ready to dominate the league from day one! Drexler had MUCH MORE of a learning curve to become a superstar. If Portland's scouts VIEWED MJ the way Knight did, they would have drafted him #2. And move Clyde to the SF. They OBVIOUSLY didn't think MJ was GOAT material. In the case of Houston, AT LEAST they got arguably the most skilled center ever in Olajuwon. AND won rings on top of it!!

[@pallen49]

Einstein say that time travel is possible...So imagine if the Blazers can go back in time, would they pick Jordan?..HELL YEAH.. EVERY team would go back in time and try to find a way to pick Jordan...The basketball universe would be chaotic..Owners would trade their wives, their children, their mom and dad for a chance to get Jordan lol

[@crambo765]

Didn’t know the pacers traded that pick! How stupid, just one of many stupid moves. If not for Reggie Miller I would’ve never been a pacers fan.

[@BasketballNetwork]

Imagine MJ and Reggie on the same team 🤯

[@Kig_Ama]

Shit happens.

[@tubenachos]

Nah Sam Bowie is better 😀

[@carlo9524]

Further proof how stinky the Blazers were back then.

[@JustInCASE326]

Nobody knows back then what MJ could become. Had they knew then, all teams would pick Mj.

[@tcr7]

Bobby Knight knew. That's what the video was about.

[@JustInCASE326]

tc r nobody knew. It was just based on his observation and usually observations are mixed with bias. Plenty of potential great players got injured before reaching their prime. If jordan was severely injured and to never play they way he played, i bet people would never talk about Mj these days.

[@TwilightxKnight13]

Who knows (or really cares) what other teams would have done. It only matters what the top three teams did. Its hard to argue with Houston taking Hakeem. He is arguably the best center of all time. However, given Bowie's good, but not great, college career and his injury problem, it was a stretch to take him at #2. Had he come out of college healthy, things would have been different. Jordan on the other hand was healthy, had earned Freshman of the year, Naismith and PotY awards and 1st team all NCAA twice. If the Blazers had the 1st pick and took Olajuwon instead of Jordan it would be a much less contentious pick, but taking Bowie over Jordan, even with Drexler, was idiotic and panned by almost everyone even before either of them proved it on the court. Personally, I find it more interesting that Dallas took Perkins over Barkley and no one talks about that.

[@JustInCASE326]

Bob Jonquet nobody is really fit to judge if teams made a mistake because nobody can see the future. People may be bad at the start but could be great players along the way surpassing those who were perceived great from the beginning. Besides, teams normally look for players who are missing pieces of their team which, at that time, are centers.

[@BasketballNetwork]

MJ was a beast coming into the league, much, much bigger potential than Bowie.

[@liberalmadness7248]

Everybody makes fun of the Blazers and Bowie, but at that time basketball was played inside out, and the three point shot was an afterthought and it didn’t even exist in college until 1986-87. The Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry have completely changed the game with 3’s. Today, Jordan would be picked ahead of even Olajuwon!

[@iec7587]

"Everybody makes fun of the Blazers and Bowie".....as they should

[@macspeed5464]

The 3 point line back in the way was so gay