Sam Smith

No, no, Darko Milicic is not Sam Bowie.

First of all, his name is spelled much differently.

The parallel is that he was the player taken in the draft after the next Michael Jordan, LeBron James. Though there's plenty of them, like Neal Walk to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1969 and David Greenwood to Magic Johnson in 1979. Those latter two were in the NBA era of the coin flip, predating the draft lottery, which began in 1985.

The coin flip was between the teams with the poorest record in each conference, and there was a little too much late season hanky and panky for it to continue. Not that Houston did badly losing all those games for the right to get Hakeem Olajuwon, it turned out they passed on probably the greatest player ever, Jordan. It was that Rockets flameout down the stretch that season despite having Ralph Sampson that finally forced the NBA to lift the competitive blindfold from its eyes and institute a form of draft lottery system.

Though, oh how history would have been different had that coin flipped the other way.

Johnson was interested in playing with Artis Gilmore, then with the Bulls. Had the coin taken one more turn, there wouldn't have been a Showtime Lakers and Jordan wouldn't have been a Bull in 1984 after several years of draft missteps with Greenwood instead of Jordan. Or would the Suns still be looking for their first NBA title today if they'd gotten Abdul-Jabbar instead of Walk? And perhaps Kareem would have chosen to stay in Phoenix instead of seeking to go to the West Coast to get out of Milwaukee.

And my good friend, Johnny Kerr, who was coach of the year with the expansion Bulls in 1966-67 probably would have been a Hall of Fame coach in Phoenix instead of midway through the season if the Suns got Abdul-Jabbar instead of Walk.

Though perhaps not as Kerr used to tell me: "Who needs five guys in shorts running around with your paycheck?"

First of all, Sam Bowie wasn't bad. No, the Trail Blazers probably shouldn't have taken him No. 2 in that draft because he'd had so many serious foot problems in college. He was too much of a risk. But in a 10-year NBA career, he averaged 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds. He was just too much a physical risk.

Olajuwon was the prize of that college season and anyone who tells you differently is lying. I remember that draft day in 1984 (before TV hijacked it to evenings) and Rod Thorn, then Bulls general manager, saying Jordan would be a fine player but not the kind who could carry a team. And he's still an NBA GM. He was hardly the only one who felt that way.

Comparing 2003 to 1984   Images: Stars of '03, legends of '84 Part 1: 2003 could become best ever Part 2: 1984 set a golden standard Part 3: LeBron already ahead of MJ Part 4: 2003 hidden gem: Howard or Diaw? Part 5: Darko no Bowie, yet Vote: Better? | Vote: Best of '03?|   Discuss

Portland's reasoning wasn't wrong. The year before they had drafted shooting guard Clyde Drexler, who would become a Hall of Famer. They had shooting guard Jim Paxson, who was an All-Star the previous two seasons. Sure, they knew Jordan would be good. But it wasn't like they were weak at that position, and it still was a big man's game out West with Abdul-Jabbar, Sampson, Gilmore and Joe Barry Carroll in the West.

Perhaps Sam Perkins or Charles Barkley, the choices after Jordan, would have been better.

When it comes to Darko, who since moving to Orlando appears as if he'll be a competent player, the Pistons may regret the pick in the future. But had they made the expected selection of Carmelo Anthony, there's a good chance they not only wouldn't have won the championship in 2004, but also probably wouldn't have been a Finals team for consecutive seasons.

Slide show   Do they compare? A look at the stars of the 2003 draft, and how they compare to the greatest draft of all time -- 1984.

Dwyane Wade, as it turns out, was the second best player from that 2003 draft, and the best big man looks to be Chris Bosh.

Detroit had lucked into the pick, a questionable deal by the expansion then-Vancouver Grizzlies for Otis Thorpe. The Grizzlies remained so bad that the draft protection ran out and they had to give up the No. 2 overall pick in 2003. There was no question: It was LeBron and Carmelo, the latter who won the NCAA championship with Syracuse. Wade would maybe go No. 7 to the Bulls.

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