The moment Michael Jordan stepped foot in Chicago, he let everyone know how good he really was.

After he was drafted into the NBA in 1984, it didn’t take long for Michael Jordan to become the word of mouth in Chicago and the entire league.

When practices began, word quickly spread about Jordan, and with his otherworldly athleticism, he immediately dominated his veteran teammates. He didn’t just stand out in practice.  forced his debut practice to be shut down, literally.

Former Chicago Bulls vice president of ticket and premium seating Keith Brown, who was the team’s representative in the 1984 NBA Draft, recalled that first day of practice.

In an , Brown said he and then-GM Rod Thorn were having lunch in the team’s conference room when they saw head coach Kevin Loughery already walking around. Brown said that was unusual because the team’s practice schedule was in the morning, and practices usually last about three hours. Then Brown recalled the conversation that went next when Thorn asked Loughery what he was doing there:

Jordan would go on to dominate further, not just in team practices but the rest of the league, and become the greatest of all time.

Rod Thorn was determined to draft Michael Jordan

The  drafted Jordan with the 3rd pick of the 1984 NBA Draft, after Hakeem ( then Akeem ) Olajuwon and Sam Bowie. But before draft night, the Bulls received several offers for the 3rd pick, including a serious offer from the Dallas Mavericks.

The 2020 article said that prior to the draft, Thorn received a phone call from then-Mavs GM Rick Sund, inquiring about the Bulls’ 3rd pick. During their conversation, Sund offered team superstar Mark Aguirre for Chicago’s No.

3 pick. Aguirre was the top pick of the 1981 NBA Draft and was coming off a season where was the league’s second-leading scorer at 29.5 points per game. He was also a local hero in Chicago, as he drew huge crowds in college at DePaul University.

But Thorn was determined to draft Michael Jordan. According to Sund, he recalls Thorn being “so high” on Michael Jordan that he wasn’t entertaining any offer to trade the No. 3 pick. As we know now, Thorn wasn’t just right in keeping that pick. He was so damn right about Michael Jordan.

Everyone knew MJ was very good, but he was better than expected

Everyone at that time knew Michael Jordan was very good. But back then, perhaps nobody knew he would end up as the greatest ever. When Michael arrived in Chicago, he still wasn’t a massive superstar until two months later when he led Team USA to the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.

Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf recalled:

Jordan ended up playing all 82 games during his rookie season. He led the team in scoring 28.2 points per game. The Bulls saw an 11-game improvement and made the playoffs for the first time in three years. Still, the owners sold the team to Reinsdorf’s group, and as they say, the rest is history. The Bulls would make the postseason in each of MJ’s 13 seasons, and he led them to six NBA titles.