Forgotten NBA bust who was drafted AHEAD of Michael Jordan in 1984 is now living a very different life – NBA

It seems crazy now, given his glittering basketball resume and reputation as the greatest player of all time, but when Michael Jordan entered the NBA draft in 1984, he wasn’t the first player chosen. He wasn’t even second.

With their league-worst records from the previous season tied, the Houston Rockets won a coin toss against the Portland Trail Blazers to secure the first pick in the draft.

The Rockets chose Hakeem Olajuwon, a 7ft-tall Nigerian centre who – despite not being Jordan – went on to become a historical superstar in his own right, winning two championships and a Most Valuable Player award.

Before the Chicago Bulls took Jordan with the third overall pick, the Blazers plumped for 7ft 1ins big man Sam Bowie.

Sam Bowie was drafted ahead of Michael Jordan in 1984 but his NBA career didn’t go to plan

Bowie had been a standout prospect at the University of Kentucky, but he’d missed two of the previous three seasons of college basketball due to a broken left leg.

The towering centre passed a medical with the Blazers and enjoyed a strong first season in the NBA, making the All-Rookie team.

But then injuries took hold and Bowie never reached his potential. Another broken leg – this time his right – cut short his third season in the league and he retired in 1995 after forgettable spells with the New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers.

After just 349 regular-season starts and a career average of 10.9 points per game, Bowie is regarded as one of the worst draft busts of all time – an unwanted tag only worsened by the identity of the guy picked after him.

But since retiring from the NBA, Bowie has found success in another sporting arena.

The 63-year-old now lives back in the state where he went to college – which is also home to one of the most famous horse races in the world, the Kentucky Derby.

And he has built a second life owning and training harness-racing horses, competing in events at the Red Mile track in Lexington, Kentucky.

Bowie’s horse-racing endeavours are unlikely to ever see him match Jordan’s mammoth riches, but one particular horse he bought – named “Before He Cheats” – is said to have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in race winnings.