Jordan would even to as far as to highlight later in his career in his book how important he felt past stars and veterans were to his development when he wrote, “Without Julius Erving, David Thompson, Walter Davis, and Elgin Baylor, there would never have been a Michael Jordan. It would only take until Jordan’s second preseason game for MJ to pass 30 points in a NBA game, scoring 32 against the Kansas City Kings. This was despite the fact that the team’s fans were looking for a savior, and much of the Chicago press coverage started to focus in on his high-flying forays, talent, and competitiveness as his performance began to yield big numbers during the preseason. So much for it not being the “Michael Jordan show”. Throughout the preseason he would make all of the right quotes one expects of a rookie who has yet to prove himself such as “I’m just another rookie and my job is to fit in as a part of the Bulls,” and “This is not going to be the Michael Jordan show.” The rookie version of Michael Jordan wa deferential to veterans despite all of the media buzz surrounding his jump to the NBA. However, Jordan was spectacular in his first season in the league. He would later make his outside shooting a point of emphasis and would finish his NBA career with a 32.7% three point average. Jordan was actually human from three his rookie year with only a 17.3% average from beyond the arc. His numbers for the season were: 28.2 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, 5.9 assists per game, and 2.39 steals per game. During this season, he led the Chicago Bulls in scoring, rebounds, assists, and steals while setting a franchise record for points scored in a season. Michael Jordan was selected as both an All-Star Starter and as the NBA Rookie of the Year during his first year in the NBA. Michael Jordan’s rookie year accomplishments At this time, the league would host a larger number of preseason games in non-BNA cities as part of their marketing efforts. The anticipation of greatness by the Chicago fans would only grow from this point after the team selected him third in the 1984 NBA Draft. At the time, the game did not get much press due to the Chicago Cubs being in the pennant race and playing against the San Diego Padres. He would go on to play a total of 29 minutes and score 18 points in a victory for the Bulls.
The first game that Michael Jordan played for the Bulls was an exhibition match up against the Indiana Pacers in Peoria. Despite the Hall of Fame career that was to come, Jordan had to not only deal with these inflated expectations during his rookie year, but also with fitting in with the veteran players on both the Bulls and throughout the NBA.Ĭoming out of the University of North Carolina as a college superstar, the following is a bit of what Michael Jordan’s Rookie year was like.
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