On October 26, 1984, the NBA unveiled Michael Jordan

It was on October 26, 1984 Michael Jordan landed in the NBA. On the same evening as a certain Charles Barclay or John Stockton. An evening rich in the discovery of future legends.

The No. 3 pick in the draft, No. 23 of the Bulls already has a good track record: an NCAA champion with North Carolina and an Olympic champion in Los Angeles. This may be why the Bullets, his first opponents, will multiply the catch by two for his first in Chicago Stadium.

Kind of a mess from which he managed pretty well with 16 points, certainly 5 of 16 on shots, but with 6 rebounds and 7 assists, but also 4 blocks and 2 steals! And above all, victory (109-93).

That evening, the leaders and the public were still trembling. From the first minutes, Michael Jordan decided to attack the rough Jeff Ruland, a kind of younger brother of Bill Laimbeer. While trying to posterize him, he falls badly on his back.

Big welcome stamp!

“He flew left to dunk over the head of Bullets’ rugged center Jeff Ruland. He shrugged off the tackle and sent Michael to the ground.” says Roland Lazenby in his biography ” Michael Jordan, Life ». “The stadium suddenly fell silent as Jordan lay limp on the ground. He finally stood up. He later complained of neck and head pain. Both he and Ruland later claimed the contact was not voluntary. However, it was the signal for a new pattern: Jordan reached into the treetops to attack the circle and the trees letting him know what they thought of his 7′ goal. NBA, 3.50m shot at on the right side. Since then, nervousness has made him inconsistent on shots. Michael shot just 5 of 16. He had 16 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. He also lost 5 balls, in addition to his 9 missed shots. Still, the fans got their money’s worth. ‘It was a good start to my career, he said afterwards. My main goal was to make sure everyone was into it tonight. First, make sure you do your best. Then serve the pivots. That’s where everything falls into place.’ For sure, one thing will change. In this first match, the ball spent a lot of time in the hands of teammates. »

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Against the Bullets, the late Orlando Woolridge and Quintin Daly finished as Chicago’s leading scorers, but as Roland Lazenby implies, Michael Jordan will quickly take over the keys to the team.

In his third game, he scored 37 points in a win against the Bucks. It must be said that a few days earlier, against this same team, he sent a nasty aerial ball to equalize. Already the first revenge…

In his 9th match, he scored 45 points

“Milwaukee had Defensive Player of the Year Sidney Moncrief” said Rod Thorne, the man who drafted Michael Jordan, a few years ago. “They had him double-double in the second half from midfield. Even so, they couldn’t stop him. They had Moncrief, Pressey, Junior Bridgeman, and Don Nelson was crazy on defense in those days. Whatever they did, he scored! He must have put up 15, 17 points in the fourth quarter, and I said we won. He really picked up a hell of a player.

In fact, he scored 20 of his team’s final 26 points, and a few days later, for his ninth NBA outing, he scored 45 points for the Spurs, along with 10 rebounds!

During this first trip of his career, he passed through Los Angeles and it was he who scored two baskets that allowed the Bulls to beat the Clippers, and then Chicago beat the Lakers by a small point. Lakers of the great era, and when he returned to Chicago, he made the winning basket against the Knicks! The phenomenon was launched, and he would finish the season with an average of 28.2 points, finishing on the podium of the best scorers.

The rest is history.

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