It’s difficult to come into the NBA as a rookie and dominate against players who are grown men. However, that wasn’t the case for Michael Jordan. In his rookie season, Jordan set the NBA ablaze, averaging 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. His game soon elevated him to MVP discussions that only feature the league’s best players.
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However, Chris Mullin, MJ’s teammate from the 1992 USA Dream Team roster, believes that the Bulls legend was already ahead of everyone in the NBA as a college player at North Carolina.
Jordan officially became an NBA player in October of 1984 after he played his first NBA game, quite a few months after the Bulls selected him with the third overall pick in that year’s Draft. However, Mullin suggested during a podcast appearance that Jordan was playing better than the best NBA players even before he participated in the ’84 Olympic games in Los Angeles.
Mullin and Jordan were teammates on the 1984 USA Team. The former Warriors star highlighted the moments he noticed Jordan’s greatness,
“I saw it happen the first time in ’84… We played eight exhibition games against NBA select teams. But these select teams were Magic, Bird, Isiah, Ralph Sampson, all the best guys were coming out. Michael every night was the best player on the floor.”
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At the time, NBA players weren’t allowed to participate in Olympic tournaments, a rule that would be changed in 1992. All the players on the 1984 United States Olympic roster were college athletes. Jordan led the way in the USA’s gold medal campaign that year, joined by the likes of Patrick Ewing, Sam Perkins, Alvin Robertson, and Chris Mullin.
The 1984 USA Olympic team played eight exhibition games against NBA select teams before going to the LA games. Jordan led the USA side to an 8-0 record over the NBA’s best players. In a matchup against Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, Jordan finished with 27 points in an 84-72 victory.
By 1984, Johnson was a two-time NBA champion and three-time All-Star, while Bird had also won the title and earned five All-Star selections. The young guard dominating in a game against two of the best players in the league gives credence to Mullin’s claim.
Additionally, the USA team went on to win eight more games in the Olympics to capture the gold medal. MJ averaged 17.1 points per game in the tournament totalling 137 points. He finished with a game-high 20 points in the USA’s gold medal game against Spain.
That’s quite the resume for an NBA rookie about to take over the league.
