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Sports

Michael Jordan May Have Been a Portland Trail Blazer If This Player Hadn’t Told This Big Lie Before the NBA Draft

Dec. 11, 2012 10:43pm Jason Howerton

Sam Bowie Admits to Lying About Pain in His Leg Before NBA Draft

Sam Bowie (AP)

The Portland Trail Blazers selected center Sam Bowie with the second overall pick of the 1984 NBA draft. One of the greatest players in NBA history was selected third — Michael Jordan.

However, Portland may have thought twice about passing on Jordan if they had known what Bowie was hiding in the days leading up to the draft.

Now, 17 years after he played in his final game, Bowie admits that he lied about how much pain he felt in the days before the NBA draft. And as a result, an unsuspecting Trail Blazers organization selected Bowie with the second overall pick. The Chicago Bulls ended up taking Jordan third and the rest is history.

Bowie admitted his big lie in the ESPN documentary “Going Big,” set to air on Dec. 20 on ESPNU. Yahoo! Sports was given a sneak peak at the documentary.

“I can still remember them taking a little mallet, and when they would hit me on my left tibia, and ‘I don’t feel anything’ I would tell ‘em. But deep down inside, it was hurting,” Bowie said.

“If what I did was lying and what I did was wrong, at the end of the day, when you have loved ones that have some needs, I did what any of us would have done.”

He also said that “deep down inside I physically wasn’t what these guys were.” As we now know, even a very healthy Bowie wouldn’t have been able to preform on the same level as Jordan, who ended his career with six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls.

(AP)

Still, Bowie played in just 511 out of a possible 820 games in his 10-year career and he never made an All-Star team. He is considered by many sports fans as one of the biggest busts in NBA draft history.

Yahoo! Sports has more background on Bowie’s troubled career:

Bowie’s time in high school in Lebanon, Pa., may have been a peak as a healthy performer, but in watching the big man it’s clear even then that he was uneasy at times while dealing with aches and pains, or needed to be taught and trained to work through the game in a way that didn’t put undue stress on his legs and feet. Watching video of Bowie from that era is to see all the hallmarks of Sam at his best — all alley-oop dunks and slick passing — but it’s uncomfortable at times to watch him work up and down the court.

There’s a fractured shin in college that went undiagnosed for months. Then there’s the admission that he hid pain from Portland doctors before the draft. And then on draft night, with Houston already having selected Hakeem Olajuwon first overall and Jordan off at Team USA’s training camp in preparation for the 1984 Olympics, the Blazers made what was considered the obvious choice. With an All-Star small forward in Jim Paxson already on the roster, and a promising young shooting guard in Clyde Drexler set to take in a minutes increase at shooting guard, they chose Bowie.

[...]

His rookie season went swimmingly. Not to the tune of Jordan’s 28.2 points per game and Rookie of the Year award, but as part of a more talented Portland collective featuring Drexler, Paxson, Kiki Vandeweghe and Mychal Thompson that shared the ball and won 42 games despite a very young roster. On top of that, Portland ranked seventh in offense and eighth in defensive efficiency that season, and probably should have won more games. The team’s Expected Won/Loss Record of 49-33 details as much.

Did Bowie do something wrong by not divulging the pain he was experiencing in his leg, which could have impacted the Trail Blazers’ decision?

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Comments (58)

VanPastorMan
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:38pm
I’m from Indiana and followed the career of Greg Oden. I wonder if Oden did the same thing and lied to Portland because he was the number one pick and hasn’t been able to play very much because of injury. If Portland would have taken Kevin Durant then they would have been a lot better off.

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- aggiebrewer
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 5:38pm
  not to mention they would have a much more presentable player.
  ODON is THE UGLIEST PERSON IN EARTH
garbagecanlogic
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:52pm
Typical black behavior – screw anybody you can so that you get ahead yourself. Kinda like forcing yourself to the front of the line so you can get your “free stuff’.

Praise Be To Obama. Psalm 109:8

The U.S. Out Of The U.N.
The U.N. Out Of The U.S

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- VanceUppercut
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:28pm
  @garbagecanlogic
  
  Surprise, surprise, another “Christian” being openly racist.
  
  Report this comment
- Walking in the Light
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:09pm
  Hey GARBAGECANLOGIC. We don’t need your ignorant racist remarks on The Blaze. Go back to your KKK meeting and stop making conservatives look bad — that is if you truly are a conservative and not a liberal plant.
  
  Report this comment
- LADEVO7
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 12:02am
  Hey GCL, are you a Christian? I ask because I’m wondering where VANCEUPPERTWIT came up with his remark, unless of course, he’s a bigger racist than you???? And, “WALKINGINTHELIGHT” what light are you walking in? cause you sound like you’re in darkness…”go back to KKK” kinda presuming of you, (and prejudiced) NOW, have I got your attention? I hope so, cause you 3 need to realize, you are all sound like angry, small minded, in love with your own words type of people. I don’t normally take the time to voice it when I see remarks like this, but I guess I’m just really tired seeing these type of selfish, blow hard remarks.
  
  Report this comment
- Walking in the Light
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:46am
  Hey LADEVO7,
  
  Did you not see the remark by GARBAGECANLOGIC that said “typical black behavior?” That doesn’t sound racist to you? And yes, I do get irked when I see racism, as should you and any other decent human being. BTW, your “NOW, have I got your attention?” remark doesn’t sound the least bit arrogant. Thanks for your ever so humble response.
  
  Report this comment
- Dontbeandidiot
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 10:22am
  Quoting scripture and being racist in the same post. Very hypocritical.
  
  Report this comment
tckid17
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:24pm
Ah, what might have been with a lot of “ifs”. Portland has historically sucked with drafting players cept for Clyde the Glide. However, if they would of drafted Tonya Harding, they could of had a physical presence on the Ice, are we talking hockey?

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teebubba
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:28am
This whole article is nonsense and the writer has nothing better to do. MOST great athletes play through and DENY pain all the time. It is only during their game performance do we get to recognize it….take Roethlisberger of the Steelers. He has to be nearly incapacitated to leave the field.
The fact that the writer takes until the end to admit that Sam Bowie lived up to his promise his first NBA season shows what garbage the rest of the article was.

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benrush
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:28am
yeah, but Jordan didn’t win all those trophies. There were coaches, teammates, and family involved. We should redistribute his wealth to all the real contributors to his success. ;)

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- American_Christian_Capitalist
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:29am
  If the coach just put me in, we woulda’ been State Champs…. See that mountain over there? I bet I can throw this football over it!
  
  Report this comment
- rangerskippy
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:37am
  Benrush
  
  awsome comment, I will remember to use that one.
  
  Report this comment
- Barry PO1 USN RET
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 11:19pm
  Don’t forget to give credit to the referees for helping Jordan along the way.
  
  Report this comment
Dudemau
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:26am
What any of us would have done? What a p o s loser. Good thing one of the family needs wasn’t a role model because he sure ain’t one.

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Noah_fing-whey
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:22am
So Sam is an admitted liar who will look you in the eye and lie if it meets his needs. I guess it behooves us not to believe anything he says from this point forward.

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getourcountryback
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:10am
Blazers management has ALWAYS made crappy decisions on picks for the team, regardless of what Bowie did or didn’t say. Putting aside the miracle win in the seventies, the Blazers are overpaid high school chumps.

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Deliverance_from_the_left_now
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:00am
I believe this is common in all sports…not saying lying is right, it’s a sin…if you look through the draft of every sport, this is as common as breathing air. Most of them are doped and numbed up just to get the players out there to play their respective sport…all I know is I can’t stand Chicago…just the thought of anything that deals with Chicago makes me want to puke…O’ no, wait….Bluaaaaaaaaaaaaa…yep, I was thinking of Chicago and I puked. I need to think happy thoughts…Texas, the South, Dixie, non-unionized labor, fiscal responsibility, liberty, right to bear arms, Ronald Reagan, American pride…OK I feel better now…what where we talking about…O’ yeah…Bluaaaaaaaaaaaa…happened again!!!

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- rangerskippy
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:42am
  want to see a white liberal squirm, and for the first time be speechless?
  
  When they start talking the fairness with redistribution of wealth, and how the rich do not deserve their wealth, ask them if Oprah’s and Mike Jordans wealth should be taken away and redistributed?
  
  I love the look on thier face when you ask this.
  
  After a moment of silence, generally, they will try to come back on how Oprah and Jordan actualy earned their wealth, and how generous Oprah is with charity. Which I remind them that so is George Bush and Dick Chenny, and that with all three, their charity is done individually, not mandated by the the government.
  
  Report this comment
Independent4233
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 8:15am
“Michael Jordan May Have Been a Portland Trail Blazer If This Player Hadn’t Told This Big Lie Before the NBA Draft”

Who cares?

Sports, like Marx’s claim about religion, is the opiate of the masses.

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- Dudemau
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:29am
  No. Sport is a game. Life is a game. Play by the rules. Play to win.
  
  Report this comment
neozon
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 8:03am
Yes – he was dishonest.

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R and K
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 6:48am
“If what I did was lying and what I did was wrong, at the end of the day, when you have loved ones that have some needs, I did what any of us would have done.”

If?

Sam Bowie lied, and though too many today think lying is OK as long as they personally benefit from it, I pray that liars and cheats are still in the minority.

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OldSurfRat
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 5:44am
Things worked out pretty darn well for Jordan so I say water under the bridge

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- Steve
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:30am
  The Trailblazers may not agree with you :)
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 2:54pm
  I remember watching Bowie play for Kentucky and thinking he looked pretty clumsy like he was in pain.
  
  Report this comment
sdeakins
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 5:16am
I coulda been a contender!

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nzkiwi
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:46am
I think that the Blaze is right to let it stand.

You cannot have selectively free speech. It is either free, or it isn’t.

In order that we may all speak freely, and comment counter to the prevailing opinion if we feel that we must, we have to accept that we will be offended from time to time. Or perhaps we will find that it is ourselves who are offending others.

True American’s comment is one such offensive remark that we must put up with if we wish to have an honest, PC-free forum.

Otherwise, we will subscribe to the Islamist view of free speech, that is; speak freely as long as you don’t offend anyone. It is all too clear how that ends up.

Anyway, are we so delicate and so easily intimidated that we cannot put True American is his place ourselves? And have you not effectively done so?

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- nzkiwi
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 2:38am
  And then the Blaze pulled it.
  
  Only people who have never seen free speech under attack can be so cavalier with this priceless freedom.
  
  So many people of the nation who gave this greatest of all rights to the civilised world (in its constitutionally enforced form) fail to understand how easily it can be removed. It is under attack by no lesser organisations than the United Nations and the US government.
  
  @ The Blaze
  
  Principles matter. Beyond obscenity and spam, stay your hand.
  
  Report this comment
CaliforniaScreaming
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:41am
Speak for yourself Sam – I know plenty of people who wouldn’t have lied on a medical exam, regardless of their situation. You’re a liar & a thief…

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Duckhead
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 3:31am
I used to like Bowie, now I know he is a turd. Blazers should have had Tonya Harding do the tibia test.

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- tckid17
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:42pm
  love the Tonya Harding reference. The Lilhammer on the tibia test?
  
  Report this comment
Chuck Stein
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:55am
@ Woll-free vision
I reported that post as soon as it came up. You are correct, of course, about it. Amazing what The Blaze lets stand and what they take down (or don’t put up in the first place).

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Wool-Free Vision
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:24am
You absolutely MUST be a shill. I don’t know a single Conservative American who talks or thinks like you do. You act exactly like the racist stereotype that the leftists like to portray us as. Why are you here? Don’t you have anything better to do with your hate than to post it on the internet for the world to see? Like maybe choke on it. You’re about as much of a True.American as George Soros is, and I wish you would get banned ASAP.

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Shaqfuey
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:12am
Sadly, Portland didn’t learn the lesson by selecting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant when they had the first overall pick. Oden has barely played a full season of games in total while Durant has become a prolific scorer and lead OKC to the NBA Finals.

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- tckid17
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:30pm
  Can an organization be so incredibly stupid on drafting? or are they just plain unlucky?
  
  Report this comment
Lando
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:25am
“One of the greatest players in NBA history was selected third”

Biggest editing mistake in TheBlaze history. Hands down the greatest!

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- Chuck Stein
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:01am
  That is NOT an editing mistake — the opinion expressed in the article is just not as strong as yours. Here is an example of an editing mistake: “Bowie wouldn’t have been able to preform on the same level as Jordan.” In that example, the word “preform” is used instead of “perform.” It is a “typo” sort of editing mistake.
  
  Report this comment
- TreeTrimmerJim
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 1:18am
  Lot happens when you work hard.
  
  Necessity, not being giving a gold spoon, is the mother of invention.
  
  Quitters never win. Winners never quit.
  
  Ever seen Jordon quit?
  
  Jordan made Jordon better and better because he knew he could be better.
  
  Report this comment
- Steve
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 9:33am
  In your opinion. Bird, Johnson, Kareem, Chamberlain…there are just a few that contended for the greatest. Hard to compare players from different eras.
  
  Report this comment
- Lando
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:03pm
  Nah, its not an opinion, Bird, Johnson, Kareem, Chamberlain all agree with me.
  
  Report this comment
RaydocX
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 11:45pm
A culture that pays as much as ours does for hysical prowess to a population without other real hot at such income, without performance standards and without reimbursement for work in college is guaranteed to have this happen.

The team and fans may feel cheated, but there are a host of players that the team let spend every dime of their wealth, and who have permanently damaged themselves for the good of the team.

It’s a sad truth at both ends of the spectrum when pro sports are such a wealth generator and win at any cost is embraced.

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Triple7
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 11:26pm
Jordan. Greatest ever.
I enjoy reading the dimwits comment on who cares. You had to take the time to click on the story, scroll down and type a comment. Moron.
If you lugs havent noticed, there is more to The Blaze than politics.

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- Marine25
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 11:54pm
  Everybody is over at the Portland mall shooting story worrying about whether the gun was injured during the incident.
  
  Report this comment
TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 11:08pm
I casually knew a BB player from the Albany, NY area… his name was Luther “Ticky” Burden. If you want to read about the rise and fall of a guy who might have been better than Michael Jordan if all the right pieces had fell in place… read up on this guy.

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TSUNAMI_22
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:59pm
Who the hell cares?

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- oldguy49
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 11:04pm
  amen
  
  Report this comment
- LeadNotFollow
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 11:12pm
  I second that.
  
  Report this comment
- zorro
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 11:15pm
  I think The Blaze can shut the comments down and archive this story. You’ve summed up what we’re all thinking beautifully.
  
  Report this comment
- applsfan
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:39am
  Apparently you all cared enough to click on and comment on the article. If you don’t care, then why bother commenting. Something tells me you aren’t real glass half full kind of guys.
  
  Report this comment
- Liberty7
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 12:38pm
  Exactly!!
  
  Report this comment
- zorro
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 3:28pm
  applsfan, I clicked just to tell you I didn’t care. And now I’m clicking again and am amazed to see so many people giving a damn about such an idiotic topic.
  
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