Despite Scoring 50 on the ‘Mighty’ Michael Jordan, ‘6ft HoFer’ Refused to Sign With NBA Teams Because of a Patriotic Reason

There were very few who dominated a game while playing against Michael Jordan. However, there was a European star Nick Galis who dropped 50 points on mighty Jordan in 1983, in an exhibition game. As a result, he was offered to play for the Boston Celtics in the NBA. However, FIBA rules back then didn’t allow NBA players to compete in national games. Galis chose his country Greece over NBA and eventually declined the offer. 

In the past few years, NBA has seen a surge in the number of foreign players in the league. Mostly in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, there was a common perception in the league about them being soft. However, players like Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginóbili, and Tony Parker changed the whole landscape of the league in the past few decades.

In 1989, FIBA removed the rule which didn’t allow NBA players to play in the Olympics. Eventually, NBA also removed the rule which didn’t allow NBA players to play for their country. Playing for his national team, was one of the reasons that Galis rejected the NBA.

Greek star Nick Galis dropped 50 points on Michael Jordan in 1983

Despite not having worked out with any teams before the draft, Galis was selected by the Boston Celtics in 4th round of the 1979 draft. Drafted 68th overall, the Greek player suffered an ankle injury in the preseason game during the 1979-80 season. Eventually, Boston offered Gerald Henderson a place in the team leaving Galis without one. Eventually, he joined the Greek League and by the second season, he was averaging 44 points per game.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Franki Hrelja (@frank.hrelja)

In 1983, when Jordan was playing his final college season with the University of North Carolina, Galis, and the Greek team played an exhibition game against them. In the game, he dropped 50 points. Eventually, Celtics and New Jersey Nets offered him a contract to join the team. However, until 1989, FIBA didn’t allow NBA players to play in national games. Galis had too much love for his country and chose not to join the NBA. On Sep 9, 2017, Galis was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. 

Not Michael Jordan or LeBron James this Oscar Schmidt is the king of scoring points

Last season, LeBron James officially became the King of the NBA. He (38,652) broke Kareem’s scoring record (38,387) which was intact for 38 years. However, this is only the highest total points in the NBA, but not basketball. Oscar Schmidt, a Brazilian basketball legend still holds the record for most points in basketball with 42,044 points in club games and 49,737 points overall. He has a total of 7,694 for his national team. Schmidt also holds the record for most points in the Olympics with 1,093 points as compared to LeBron’s 979. 

Schmidt was selected by New Jersey Nets in the 1984 draft. However, after working out with the team, he declined the offer because he was already getting more money by playing in Italy. Moreover, since the FIBA rule didn’t allow the NBA players to play in national teams, it was obvious that he was going to choose his country and better money.