... in 1984, Sam Bowie was taken second and Melvin Turpin sixth in the NBA Draft. Bowie was selected by Portland, while Turpin was picked by the Washington Bullets. The story of the Draft, though, was the third overall pick to the Chicago Bulls, Mr. Jordan. Portland pick has been scrutinized ever since for the lone reason that Sam Bowie wasn't better than Michael Jordan. Newsflash: no one ever has been better than Jordan. While often injured, Bowie did play 10 seasons in the NBA and scored nearly 6,000 points, hardly a below-average career. He also was a member of the gold medal winning 1980 USA Olympic team. Fellow Twin Tower Melvin Turpin stayed in the league only five seasons.UK calendar
Poor ole Mel, he was my favorite wearin that #54 proudly, the way he would clear out and do a 2-hand slam dunk was something to behold.I miss you mel, hope your doing well.
ReplyDeleteWith warmest regards,
Jeff Jones
Ashland, KY.
I was always more of Turpin guy than a Bowie guy. No offense to Sam.
ReplyDeleteThe fact we had two dominant low post guys named Sam and Melvin is one of the most underrated parts of 1980s UK basketball.