If you want to make a Portland Trail Blazer fan instantly cringe, just bring up the topic of the 1984 draft in conversation. That was the night most NBA fans remember as the one that changed the direction of two different franchises.

Portland held the number two pick in the entire draft and had a choice after Houston used the first pick on Akeem Olajuwan.  Trail Blazers management decided to take a forward from Kentucky named Sam Bowie.  The Bulls used the number three pick on Michael Jordan and the rest is history.

There was logic behind the Trail Blazer choice of Bowie over the more heralded Jordan.  In college, Jordan was seen as an athletic scorer and not much else.  For all anyone knew, he could have been like Vince Carter, a guy who could dunk, but couldn't be a primary ball handler.  Portland already had a young athletic scoring guard in Clyde Drexler and the last thing they wanted was two guys fighting over the ball every game.  So Trail Blazer management decided to go with a need pick and grabbed a big forward over Jordan.

The thought process makes sense, but it hardly provides Blazer fans with any comfort as they look at their trophy case that has been empty since 1977 while Chicago has one that is overflowing.  Bowie was constantly injured and eventually fell away from the league while Jordan began rewriting league history.

It's not even that the Blazers weren't good; they made it to the NBA Finals twice in the early 1990's.  The team just wasn't quite good enough.  That makes the 1984 draft blunder even more acute because look how good the Blazers were without Jordan.  Add Michael Jordan to a team that twice played for a championship and you have yourself a beastly team.

The 1984 draft gaffe is unfortunately the thing that defines a good Blazers organization over the past 20 years.  The team has a decent front office, a rabid fan base, and has been at the cusp of a championship twice.  Yet the first thing anyone talks about is the draft.  It's enough to turn a Blazer fan crazy obsessed ala Ray Finkle in the movie Ave Ventura (the laces were OUT!!!)