Michael Jordan Named the NBA Team He Was 30 Minutes Away From Joining

One of the greatest basketball players of all-time, Michael Jordan’s legacy in the NBA is unmatched. A multiple-time champion and MVP of the league, Jordan’s greatness has transcended the sport, with his name and brand reaching all corners of the Earth.

His legendary run in the 1990s that saw him lead the Chicago Bulls to two separate three-peats in the decade will arguably never be seen again, with his name now synonymous with the Bulls’ franchise.

Even to this day, basketball fans can be seen wearing Jordan’s Bulls jersey, and even despite him featuring for the Washington Wizards later on in his career before retiring, there’s no questioning that the NBA Hall of Famer is best known for his time in Chicago.

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But, it appears that history could have taken a very different course had things not have worked out in the way that they did in 1996 and 1997. At a time when question marks were beginning to grow behind-the-scenes about Jordan and the direction with which the Bulls were headed under the control of Jerry Krause, the shooting guard’s time in the Windy City could have come to an end much sooner than anticipated.

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Michael Jordan Was Close to Leaving the Chicago Bulls in the mid-1990s

The Bulls icon was ready to join a rival for less money

Having been drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984 with the third overall pick, Jordan would quickly establish himself as one of the stars of the league, and completely transformed the franchise’s fortunes. An initial nine-year run saw him pick up three MVP awards and claim the first of his three-peat, before his retirement and two-year foray into Minor League Baseball. Jordan would return to the Bulls in 1995, and kick-start another legendary run, but not without some question marks.

​​​​​Speaking to Marvin R. Shanken back in July 2005, Jordan admitted that during the drama and speculation surrounding his long-term future with the Bulls in his second spell with the franchise, it was Eastern Conference rivals, the New York Knicks, who had made overtures to lure him away from Chicago. When asked about the rumour of Jordan moving to the Knicks, he answered:

But when pressed about it further, Jordan elaborated on how close the deal was actually behind-the-scenes.

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Given what basketball fans saw during The Last Dance documentary and Jordan’s final season with the Bulls, it’s easy to see why Jordan would have felt slightly exasperated by the situation. The Bulls legend seemed to feel that the franchise’s ownership and boardroom didn’t value his worth or that of some of his star teammates like Pippen that well, causing some real tension between the playing staff and those responsible for the team’s finances.

Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing Would Have Been an Unstoppable Duo

Ewing would easily have been the best center MJ would have played with in his NBA career

It is incredible to think that Jordan was so close to leaving his beloved Bulls to join the Knicks, and therefore set up a completely new course in history. The Knicks were led in the frontcourt during the 1990s by Jordan’s fellow Hall of Famer, Patrick Ewing, and despite the center’s own greatness, could not quite get over the hump.

Having Jordan partnered up with Ewing – arguably the first legitimately great center he would have played with given the latter’s resume – would have made the Knicks a virtually unstoppable force.

The two-man punch and pick-and-roll action between Jordan and Ewing would have caused headaches up and down the league, and it is difficult to imagine any team possessing the kind of players to throw at the duo from a defensive point of view. That’s also not to mention the fearsome presence they would be on defence themselves, with both of them rightly up there among the best defenders the game has ever seen.

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An 11-time All-Star, Ewing had experience of playing with Jordan during their time together with the US Olympic side in 1992, now more commonly known as the ‘Dream Team’. A defensive and rebounding monster, Ewing patrolled the paint for the Knicks over a 15-year span, and was unsurprisingly named to both the 50th and 75th NBA anniversary teams and goes down as one of the greatest centers of all-time.

While Jordan enjoyed the success of titles and MVPs in his own right with the Bulls, you can only imagine the kind of success he would have helped Ewing get had they joined forces in the mid-1990s.