Remembering How Michael Jordan was Almost Traded to the LA Clippers
Michael Jordan is arguably the most recognizable name in the history of NBA basketball. A 14-time All-Star, 10-time Scoring Champion and winner of six league titles, Jordan's accolades speak for themselves. If he isn't the greatest to ever play the game, he's No. 2 at the very least.
The LA Clippers, on the other hand, are known for being a historically unsuccessful franchise. In the team's 50-year history, there has never been a championship banner hung in the rafters. Things have turned around for the Clippers in the last decade or so, but before then, the team had only made seven playoff appearances.
In terms of overall achievement, Jordan and the Clippers are complete opposites — though that almost wasn't the case.
In 1988, just four years into Jordan's career, the Bulls were interested in dealing him to the Clippers in exchange for the No. 1 and No. 6 picks in that year's draft, according to The Jordan Rules (h/t Bleacher Report). LA would have thrown in any three additional players as well, with Chicago getting to name its price.
Jordan was already a well-established star by that point. He was named an All-Star in each of his first four seasons and averaged a league-high 35.0 points and 3.2 steals per game during the 1987-1988 regular season, for which he was named League MVP.
Ultimately, the deal fell through, and those two picks became Danny Manning and Hersey Hawkins (who was traded with a future first-round pick for Charles Smith, the third pick in the '88 Draft). Manning was terrific in the six seasons he spent with LA, though he obviously wasn't performing at Jordan's level.
It's hard to imagine that Jordan would have experienced the same level of success in Los Angeles that he did in Chicago. As great as he was on an individual level, the Bulls won six titles during his tenure partially because Jordan was surrounded by top-tier talent. Given Donald Sterling and the Clippers' front office's incompetence, there's a good chance that he only would have been in Los Angeles for a few seasons.
That said, it's interesting to think about how things would be different for both Jordan and the Clippers had the deal gone through.
Currently, the Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers are experiencing their first true rivalry. Had Jordan been traded in 1988, he would have been in the city right at the time the "Showtime" Lakers were peaking. Instead of Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James, it would have been Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson competing in the Battle of Los Angeles.
Surely, LA would have had the chance to compete for several titles with Jordan as the face of the team. But given the franchise's poor decision-making, lack of a great coach and underwhelming roster, it just doesn't seem likely that Jordan and the Clippers would have made for a long-lasting marriage.
