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

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.

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