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Cryptocurrency News Articles
The Coin Flip That Changed Basketball History: How Magic Johnson Ended Up with the Lakers and Michael Jordan with the Bulls
Sep 19, 2024 at 02:02 am
On a spring day in 1979, a conference call was held by then-NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers that had incredible implications
In the annals of NBA history, few moments carry as much significance as the 1979 coin flip between the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. The outcome of this seemingly mundane act would shape the destinies of both franchises and the league itself.
As the story goes, the Bulls and Lakers both finished the 1978-79 season with identical 47-35 records. However, due to a rule at the time that awarded the tiebreaker to the team with the better road record, the Lakers earned the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft, while the Bulls were left with the No. 3 selection.
Unbeknownst to the teams at the time, the 1979 NBA Draft boasted two generational talents in Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. And with the Lakers already having acquired a first-round pick from the New Orleans Jazz in 1976 as compensation for Gail Goodrich signing with the Jazz, they were now in line to draft Johnson with the No. 2 pick.
Meanwhile, the Bulls were hoping to land Johnson themselves and pair him with their young star forward, Artis Gilmore. But as fate would have it, the coin flip landed on tails, sending Johnson to the Lakers and setting in motion the Showtime era in Los Angeles.
But what if the coin flip had gone the other way? According to Johnson himself, during an appearance on "The Jennifer Hudson Show," the Bulls would not have been able to draft Jordan five years later.
"You know it was a coin flip to see if I would play for the Bulls or the Lakers," Johnson said on the show. "I'm happy it turned out the way it did, you know why, Jennifer? Then it would be no Michael in Chicago and no Magic in LA. So it worked out."
Indeed, had Johnson been drafted by the Bulls, they would have likely been a more competitive team in the early 1980s. But with Johnson leading the way, the Bulls would have been good enough to avoid finishing among the bottom three teams in the league, which would have prevented them from earning one of the top picks in the 1984 NBA Draft.
As it turned out, the Bulls did need another stroke of good fortune to even be able to draft Jordan in 1984. They had the No. 3 pick that year, and after the Houston Rockets took Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon with the No. 1 selection, the Portland Trail Blazers were on the clock.
The Blazers already had a sensational superstar guard in the making in Clyde Drexler, and the thinking back then was that a team needed a great center to win the NBA championship. So they inexplicably took Sam Bowie, who would soon be riddled by major injury after major injury and never even came close to stardom.
It's safe to say that what happened on that spring day in 1979 with that coin flip turned out extremely well for the game of basketball and sports in general.
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