Michael Jordan is considered the greatest basketball player in history. His era of dominance with the Chicago Bulls caused great legends such as Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley to end their careers without a single NBA championship.
However, in the early days of his career, Jordan was not highly regarded. In the 1984 NBA Draft, Jordan was only the third pick, behind Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie.
While Olajuwon took advantage of Jordan’s two-year hiatus to win two NBA championships, Bowie was the complete opposite. He was a huge disappointment and had to retire early. Today, the one-time basketball genius is living a life that has nothing to do with the orange ball.
From Overrated Michael Jordan to Infamous Horse Trainer
To this day, the Portland Trail Blazers’ decision to pass on Jordan and select Bowie in the second round of the 1984 NBA Draft is still remembered as a historic mistake. While Jordan exploded and built one of the most glorious empires in history, Bowie was a disappointment. The 7-foot-1 center never reached his full potential.
Bowie broke his left leg in college. The injury caused him to miss two-thirds of his college season before entering the draft. Still, the Blazers passed on Jordan and put their faith in Bowie. The 7-foot-1 center had a successful NBA debut and was named to the All-Rookie team.
However, in his third season, Bowie again broke his leg, this time his right leg. The two serious injuries to both legs ruined Bowie’s career. After forgettable stints with the New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers, Bowie retired in 1995.
But since retiring, Bowie has found success in another sporting field. He now lives in Kentucky, home to one of the world’s most famous horse racing tracks. Bowie is both an owner and trainer of racehorses, competing in events at the Red Mile racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky.
Bowie’s horse racing endeavors are unlikely to match Jordan’s vast fortune , but one horse he bought – dubbed “Before He Cheats” – is said to have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in racing winnings.
Although he did not have a successful basketball career as expected and his name is always associated with ridicule when standing in front of Jordan, Bowie is having a stable and happy life.
News
We pulled a massive, hair-covered body from the Pacific, and the DNA results just shattered everything we knew about Bigfoot
We pulled a massive, hair-covered body from the Pacific, and the DNA results just shattered everything we knew about Bigfoot There is a terrifying weight to the silence of the open ocean, a place where the abyss hides things that…
I was tied to an oak, left to die—then the “monster” stepped out of the shadows with a sharp flint stone
I was tied to an oak, left to die—then the “monster” stepped out of the shadows with a sharp flint stone In the deep, ancient veins of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, there is a specialized kind of silence—a…
For 35 years, a logger shared his home with a legend—until a low-flying thermal drone revealed the secret
For 35 years, a logger shared his home with a legend—until a low-flying thermal drone revealed the secret In the deep, ancient veins of the northern Idaho panhandle, the silence of the forest is a living thing. For Gary Thompson,…
The Impossible Pursuit: I thought I could outrun it, but you haven’t felt true terror until you hear a 400-pound predator
The Impossible Pursuit: I thought I could outrun it, but you haven’t felt true terror until you hear a 400-pound predator There is a specialized kind of terror that exists only when you realize your role in the forest has…
The Impossible Survival: His camera recorded what everyone thought were his last seconds—then a miracle occurred
The Impossible Survival: His camera recorded what everyone thought were his last seconds—then a miracle occurred There is a terrifying intimacy in the silence of a desert canyon, a place where the ancient stone doesn’t just watch you—it waits. For…
The Forbidden Peak: She stepped into Yosemite’s high country and vanished into years of silence
The Forbidden Peak: She stepped into Yosemite’s high country and vanished into years of silence Yosemite is a place where beauty borders on the divine. Granite monoliths scrape the sky, and waterfalls tumble in sheets of white thunder. But beneath…
End of content
No more pages to load
