Michael Jordan almost went to the Clippers in 1988. That potential trade was obviously going to alter the landscape of the league significantly.
Nothing would have been the same if that trade would have happened. No one can tell if Jordan would have won six NBA Championships from 1991 to 1998 with another team.
Jordan was about to go to a Clippers squad with no championships, just like the Bulls back then. The Clippers still haven’t won the Larry O’Brien Trophy, though they’re really trying to change that this year.
Sam Smith’s best-seller book from 1992, The Jordan Rules: The Inside Story of a Turbulent Season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, details that Jordan’s best version came in 1988 when he won the two most important individual awards in the league.
That year, MJ was named the NBA MVP and the NBA Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 35.0 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks in 40.4 minutes over 82 games. The Bulls made the playoffs but lost to the Pistons in the second round.
Chicago felt that they were ready to contend back then but they wanted to surround Jordan with better talent. The Bulls explored the trade market in the offseason, hoping to land a player who could make a difference and help MJ but, in those days, the Clippers made them a huge proposal.
The Clippers offered the Bulls two first round picks in the 1988 NBA Draft (No. 1 and No. 6) and three players of their choosing for Michael Jordan.
What the Clippers proposed didn’t impress the Bulls and they had to build their team around Danny Manning and Charles Smith. The Bulls, on the other hand, kept MJ, who eventually turned the franchise around and led them to six NBA Championships.
How many championships would the Bulls have won without Michael Jordan? It’s hard to say because we will never know who would have joined the Bulls in the trade with the Clippers but my guess is zero.
The Clippers didn’t get the star that they wanted and their next years were tough, to say the least. The team was at the bottom of the Western Conference for a while until Chris Paul joined them in 2011. Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan made them competitive for many years and the 2019-20 Clippers, led by Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell will be a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference for years to come.
