Sam Bowie Documentary on ESPNU

[Chin Diesel]

I don't know the name (Storied?) but saw an interesting documentary on Sam Bowie. Went through the whole gamut from high school, college, pros and finally back to Kentucky for horse racing.

Several parts stood out.

In high school the consensus #1 player debate was between him and Ralph Sampson. After Bowie committed to Kentucky, Ralph had indicated he was going there too but on signing day signed with the Cavs.

The first time Bowie and Sampson played each other was the McD's capitol classic game. Compare that to today when these high school kids are competed against each other every summer. Sampson destroyed him and Bowie says that was the first time he knew there was someone against he couldn't equal.

Bowie was a freakishly good high riser. Had a very solid frosh year at Kentucky. Then he was selected for the US Olympic team. We boycotted Moscow and the college kids on the Olympic team played a series of games against NBA All-stars. Bowie held his own against Moses and Sikma.

His first leg injury was an awkward fall while finishing an alley-oop against Vandy. Looks like he was undercut a bit too.

It's amazing how poorly diagnosed his injury was and the treatment plan. 2+ years for the injury to heal. It didn't help that Bowie lied to cover up the extent on the hope of getting on the court and to the NBA. In his last year in college he held his own against Olajuwon cementing his NBA credentials.

For the draft, everyone knew Olajuwon was going first. There was coin flip between Houston and Portland for the #1 pick. Portland execs were on the documentary saying they never discussed Jordan. This was because they drafted Drexler the year before and weren't looking at 2-guards.

Ironically enough, Jordan was the first one injured. He had his injury and missed all those games which led up to his comeback and epic game against the Celtics (even though the Celts won the playoff game).

After breaking the left leg in the pros he rehabbed again and then broke the other leg. One of the breaks (I forget which one) was caused by Jerome Kersey rolling on to it as they both fell to the ground. His final leg injury happened in the layup line without even jumping.

After the doc was over the following stuck out to me.

Bowie chose Kentucky because they were routinely on national TV 2-3 a year and he wanted the exposure for the pros.

Scary at how poor the medical diagnosis and rehab he had from his injuries.

Equally scary is how little preventative diagnosis there was at the time. No MRI's, no DNA analysis, etc. Compare that to brain scans now for NFL players to get baselines so they can't hide injuries when they happen or the kid from Baylor who found out he had Mafran's and wouldn't ever be drafted.

Bowie was far from being a bust when healthy. Barkley that up. Big difference between Bowie and Kwame Brown or Benoit Benjamin.

It was pretty cool that in the early 80's there was Bowie, Ewing, Sampson and Olajuwon all playing at the same time.

 

[Huskies4ever]

I don't know the name (Storied?) but saw an interesting documentary on Sam Bowie. Went through the whole gamut from high school, college, pros and finally back to Kentucky for horse racing.

Several parts stood out.

In high school the consensus #1 player debate was between him and Ralph Sampson. After Bowie committed to Kentucky, Ralph had indicated he was going there too but on signing day signed with the Cavs.

The first time Bowie and Sampson played each other was the McD's capitol classic game. Compare that to today when these high school kids are competed against each other every summer. Sampson destroyed him and Bowie says that was the first time he knew there was someone against he couldn't equal.

Bowie was a freakishly good high riser. Had a very solid frosh year at Kentucky. Then he was selected for the US Olympic team. We boycotted Moscow and the college kids on the Olympic team played a series of games against NBA All-stars. Bowie held his own against Moses and Sikma.

His first leg injury was an awkward fall while finishing an alley-oop against Vandy. Looks like he was undercut a bit too.

It's amazing how poorly diagnosed his injury was and the treatment plan. 2+ years for the injury to heal. It didn't help that Bowie lied to cover up the extent on the hope of getting on the court and to the NBA. In his last year in college he held his own against Olajuwon cementing his NBA credentials.

For the draft, everyone knew Olajuwon was going first. There was coin flip between Houston and Portland for the #1 pick. Portland execs were on the documentary saying they never discussed Jordan. This was because they drafted Drexler the year before and weren't looking at 2-guards.

Ironically enough, Jordan was the first one injured. He had his injury and missed all those games which led up to his comeback and epic game against the Celtics (even though the Celts won the playoff game).

After breaking the left leg in the pros he rehabbed again and then broke the other leg. One of the breaks (I forget which one) was caused by Jerome Kersey rolling on to it as they both fell to the ground. His final leg injury happened in the layup line without even jumping.

After the doc was over the following stuck out to me.

Bowie chose Kentucky because they were routinely on national TV 2-3 a year and he wanted the exposure for the pros.

Scary at how poor the medical diagnosis and rehab he had from his injuries.

Equally scary is how little preventative diagnosis there was at the time. No MRI's, no DNA analysis, etc. Compare that to brain scans now for NFL players to get baselines so they can't hide injuries when they happen or the kid from Baylor who found out he had Mafran's and wouldn't ever be drafted.

Bowie was far from being a bust when healthy. Barkley that up. Big difference between Bowie and Kwame Brown or Benoit Benjamin.

It was pretty cool that in the early 80's there was Bowie, Ewing, Sampson and Olajuwon all playing at the same time.

Thanks for sharing. A very tragic story and reminder of what could have been.

 

[mauconnfan]

Great post Chin………

Sad to see a great guy have his career ruined by injury and he was something special…………seems to be doing okay for himself which is a good thing!

 

[intlzncster]

I don't know the name (Storied?) but saw an interesting documentary on Sam Bowie. Went through the whole gamut from high school, college, pros and finally back to Kentucky for horse racing.

Several parts stood out.

In high school the consensus #1 player debate was between him and Ralph Sampson. After Bowie committed to Kentucky, Ralph had indicated he was going there too but on signing day signed with the Cavs.

The first time Bowie and Sampson played each other was the McD's capitol classic game. Compare that to today when these high school kids are competed against each other every summer. Sampson destroyed him and Bowie says that was the first time he knew there was someone against he couldn't equal.

Bowie was a freakishly good high riser. Had a very solid frosh year at Kentucky. Then he was selected for the US Olympic team. We boycotted Moscow and the college kids on the Olympic team played a series of games against NBA All-stars. Bowie held his own against Moses and Sikma.

His first leg injury was an awkward fall while finishing an alley-oop against Vandy. Looks like he was undercut a bit too.

It's amazing how poorly diagnosed his injury was and the treatment plan. 2+ years for the injury to heal. It didn't help that Bowie lied to cover up the extent on the hope of getting on the court and to the NBA. In his last year in college he held his own against Olajuwon cementing his NBA credentials.

For the draft, everyone knew Olajuwon was going first. There was coin flip between Houston and Portland for the #1 pick. Portland execs were on the documentary saying they never discussed Jordan. This was because they drafted Drexler the year before and weren't looking at 2-guards.

Ironically enough, Jordan was the first one injured. He had his injury and missed all those games which led up to his comeback and epic game against the Celtics (even though the Celts won the playoff game).

After breaking the left leg in the pros he rehabbed again and then broke the other leg. One of the breaks (I forget which one) was caused by Jerome Kersey rolling on to it as they both fell to the ground. His final leg injury happened in the layup line without even jumping.

After the doc was over the following stuck out to me.

Bowie chose Kentucky because they were routinely on national TV 2-3 a year and he wanted the exposure for the pros.

Scary at how poor the medical diagnosis and rehab he had from his injuries.

Equally scary is how little preventative diagnosis there was at the time. No MRI's, no DNA analysis, etc. Compare that to brain scans now for NFL players to get baselines so they can't hide injuries when they happen or the kid from Baylor who found out he had Mafran's and wouldn't ever be drafted.

Bowie was far from being a bust when healthy. Barkley that up. Big difference between Bowie and Kwame Brown or Benoit Benjamin.

It was pretty cool that in the early 80's there was Bowie, Ewing, Sampson and Olajuwon all playing at the same time.

Disparate thoughts:

• Bowie sounds like Gronk.
• Bowie wasn't a bust because he couldn't play; Neither was Nervous Pervis.
• The Portland Jordan/Drexler story simply cements the philosophy that, in a draft in any sport, you take the best player available, regardless of need. Rosters always shake themselves out, and you can always trade a guy for a need later.
• I always thought Sampson played for Houston. Who am I thinking of down there?

 

[traitor71]

Sampson played for Houston in the NBA. You're probably thinking of Olajuwon who played in Houston both in the NBA and at the collegiate level.

 

[jminziii]

• I always thought Sampson played for Houston. Who am I thinking of down there?

OP meant Sampson played for the Virginia Cavaliers in college, guessing that's where the confusion came in.

 

[intlzncster]

Sampson played for Houston in the NBA. You're probably thinking of Olajuwon who played in Houston both in the NBA and at the collegiate level.

Thank you! That's who I was thinking of. That was bugging the hell out of me.

The Sampson NBA Houston thing probably threw me off.

 

[Strummer]

Neither was Nervous Pervis.

His nickname was "never nervous Pervis." Kind of important to include the "never."
Of course, after his career was truncated with injury after injury, his nickname became, "out of service Pervis."

The biggest question of his career arose after he broke his big toe moving furniture and missed almost 2 seasons.

The question is this: "why the hell was he moving his own furniture?"

 

[intlzncster]

His nickname was "never nervous Pervis." Kind of important to include the "never."
Of course, after his career was truncated with injury after injury, his nickname became, "out of service Pervis."

The biggest question of his career arose after he broke his big toe moving furniture and missed almost 2 seasons.

The question is this: "why the hell was he moving his own furniture?"

Good call. Thanks.

My question is HOW was he moving his furniture with those knees?

 

[Horatio]

Portland already had Clyde Drexler- ( NBA hall of famer, 10x all- star , NBA 50th anniversary all- time team and JT from Kool and the Gangs twin brother). They felt they already had their " Jordan" and Sam Bowie was a Beast. They drafted right. Bowie just got injured.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Portland already had Clyde Drexler- ( NBA hall of famer, 10x all- star , NBA 50th anniversary all- time team and JT from Kool and the Gangs twin brother). They felt they already had their " Jordan" and Sam Bowie was a Beast. They drafted right. Bowie just got injured.

Bowie had plenty of leg problems at Kentucky, this was very similar to the Greg Oden story. Actually Bowie's college injury history may have convinced Oden to come out early. Guy who occasionally dominated when healthy but was rarely healthy. Bowie missed TWO SEASONS DUE TO LEG INJURIES AT KENTUCKY. Bowie was stick skinny and his legs were like those of a giraffe. The reason the Bowie over Jordan pick is legendarily stupid is both because Jordan was so great and because Bowie was a cautionary tale of favoring height over health and bball ability. Due to his 2 injury missed seasons Bowie was 23yrs old at the 1984 draft.

 

[Horatio]

Bowie had plenty of leg problems at Kentucky, this was very similar to the Greg Oden story. Actually Bowie's college injury history may have convinced Oden to come out early. Guy who occasionally dominated when healthy but was rarely healthy. Bowie missed TWO SEASONS DUE TO LEG INJURIES AT KENTUCKY. Bowie was stick skinny and his legs were like those of a giraffe. The reason the Bowie over Jordan pick is legendarily stupid is both because Jordan was so great and because Bowie was a cautionary tale of favoring height over health and bball ability. Due to his 2 injury missed seasons Bowie was 23yrs old at the 1984 draft.

Thanks .Good points. I have to admit that I wasn't following college basketball when Jordan was in college so I have to ask , did people really , definitely know that Michael Jordan was going to be " Air Jordan" back then or did he just turn out better than expected. I mean if your building a team ( in the late 80's) and you already have Drexler, do you draft Jordan. I think that's debatable. Given your info the information you posted , maybe Portland should've drafted another player besides Bowie. If it happened during this era , Bowie would've definitely fell in the draft and Portland probably would've drafted Jordan and played them together

 

[Chin Diesel]

Thanks .Good points. I have to admit that I wasn't following college basketball when Jordan was in college so I have to ask , did people really , definitely know that Michael Jordan was going to be " Air Jordan" back then or did he just turn out better than expected. I mean if your building a team ( in the late 80's) and you already have Drexler, do you draft Jordan. I think that's debatable. Given your info the information you posted , maybe Portland should've drafted another player besides Bowie. If it happened during this era , Bowie would've definitely fell in the draft and Portland probably would've drafted Jordan and played them together

The short answer is no, no one knew Jordan would be Jordan.

Both Olajuwon and Jordan left after their junior seasons. I know, I know. But it was the crazy 80's where even the best college kids stayed three years. Olajuwon was considered a sure thing and this was an era when a dominant center still mattered. Malone, Jabbar, Parrish, etc were all still playing at a high level. Sampson was budding and Ewing was coming out the next year. No one would pass over Olajuwon.

Unless.........

While Olajuwon was an MVP, won multiple championships and a hall of fame player, he wasn't Jordan. If Houston or Portland had a chance to draft one of the top three players of all time they would have done it in a heart beat.

Jordan was an AA, won a championship as a frosh and displayed some of the athletic ability while at UNC. But he wasn't any more highly thought of than Len Bias had been or many others. Truth be told, Vince Carter had just as good of a skill set as Jordan did. What separated Jordan was his insatiable desire and quest for self-improvement, winning and pushing teammates.

 

[Chin Diesel]

And it is crazy to think what might have happened with both Jordan and Drexler together. Would have been much more lethal than the Jordan/Pippen combo.

 

[uchuskies14]

I'm pretty sure that this documentary is on Netflix for those of you who didn't see it but want to

 

[Dogdeacon]

Thanks .Good points. I have to admit that I wasn't following college basketball when Jordan was in college so I have to ask , did people really , definitely know that Michael Jordan was going to be " Air Jordan" back then or did he just turn out better than expected. I mean if your building a team ( in the late 80's) and you already have Drexler, do you draft Jordan. I think that's debatable. Given your info the information you posted , maybe Portland should've drafted another player besides Bowie. If it happened during this era , Bowie would've definitely fell in the draft and Portland probably would've drafted Jordan and played them together

Jordan was very good and certainly regarding as budding all-star, but there were doubts like there are about almost anyone. Larry Bird had detractors, Magic was too tall to play PG etc.. Generally I prefer guards to Centers so I was surprised that even Olajuwon was a pick ahead of Jordan. I specifically remember Bowie making no sense to me at all because he'd missed so much time. Jordan basically blew up after the draft that summer in the Olympics and by the time he was a rookie he was a phenom. And of course Jordan was always so smooth, if you watched him play you just knew.

 

[imno1]

And it is crazy to think what might have happened with both Jordan and Drexler together. Would have been much more lethal than the Jordan/Pippen combo.

I don't know about that. Pippen was the perfect complement to MJ.

 

[Kitaman]

I know Jordan is the greatest of all time, but I don't think Houston regrets picking Olajuwon. However they could probably have traded Sampson to Portland (with players/picks) and picked up Jordan, since Portland obviously wanted a big. That would have been something.

Anyway Olajuwon did get them to the finals multiple times immediately, however losing many. I think they kept Sampson too long until his value decreased.

If Houston were to have a do-over they win with either pick (Jordan or Olajuwon). Jordan's added benefit is that he puts fannies in the seats and brings a huge television contract to his team. Not defending Olajuwon but he was special, likeable and an awesome HOF Center. His biggest compliment to Houston is that they did not become the butt of jokes for not picking Jordan.

 

[traitor71]

I know Jordan is the greatest of all time, but I don't think Houston regrets picking Olajuwon. However they could probably have traded Sampson to Portland (with players/picks) and picked up Jordan, since Portland obviously wanted a big. That would have been something.

Anyway Olajuwon did get them to the finals multiple times immediately, however losing many. I think they kept Sampson too long until his value decreased.

They went to the finals three times, winning twice. In 86, they blitzed the Lakers 4 games to 1 in the Western finals and their reward was getting to play a great Celtics team. Think about that for a second, each conference had one of the all time great teams in it so there was no break for a team that was good enough to beat one of them. Houston looked like a team that was ready to roll, but their back court decided to succumb to cocaine addiction and then Sampson got hurt, and it was all over until they were able to put another really good team together.