Michael Jordan was drafted 3rd overall in the 1984 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. Jordan led the Bulls to six championships in the 1990s and would end his 15-year career as the player many consider to be the greatest of all time.
However, Jordan's career could have ended differently if an important coin flip had landed on tails, not heads. During a 2005 interview with Cigar Aficionado editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken , Mike said he could have easily ended up with another team on draft night if David Stern had flipped a coin differently one month earlier.
"We got assurance from Houston that if they lost the coin flip to Portland, they'd take me—it was a coin flip between the top two teams to determine the first pick," claimed Jordan.
Mike was Houston's backup plan
The 1984 NBA Draft was the last one where the No.1 overall pick of the draft was determined by a coin flip between the teams with the two worst records in the league. At that time, those teams were the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers and the coin flip was held in May 1984. Portland called tails but the coins landed on heads, giving the Rockets the right to pick first.
Both the Rockets and Blazers made it known that they would pick Hakeem Olajuwon if they got the top pick. But both teams had a different strategy if they didn't win the coin flip. Portland was still going to go with a big man in Sam Bowie, while the Rockets who already had Ralph Sampson from the previous draft, planned to go with Jordan.
"If Houston won the coin flip, they said they were going to take Hakeem Olajuwon. And that's exactly what happened. Hakeem Olajuwon went to Houston, and Portland went to its fallback pick, which was Sam Bowie. If Portland had won the coin flip, they would have taken Hakeem, and I would have ended up in Houston. But the coin flip came up Houston, and that put me back to third with Chicago" , added Jordan.
The Rockets had another chance to get Jordan
The Rockets went on to draft Olajuwon while Portland took Bowie and Chicago got Jordan. But that was not the only time that Houston had the chance of getting Jordan. According to Olajuwon's book Living the Dream, Houston also blew an opportunity to acquire both Jordan and Clyde Drexler on draft night via trade .
"From 1984 until today (1996), the Rockets could have had a lineup with me, Clyde Drexler, and Michael Jordan, developing together, playing together, winning together. But the Rockets never made the move," claimed Olajuwon.
It's crazy to think that the Rockets had Jordan as their backup plan if they did not win the coin flip. But it's crazier to imagine they got a second opportunity to get Mike when Portland offered Drexler and the No.2 pick for Ralph Sampson. But the Rockets preferred to have the Twin Towers. Unfortunately, just as the Blazers had no luck with Bowie, Sampson got hurt before they could win a championship. Meanwhile, Jordan won six in Chicago.
Related: “If I get the ball, you’re at mercy of whatever I want to do” - Michael Jordan on why he could always score when he was on his game
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