Mac Engel: Ex-sports columnist explains why he felt Mavericks shouldn’t have drafted Michael Jordan at No. 4 in ’84

Randy Galloway figures suggesting the Dallas Mavericks should not draft Michael Jordan was not his biggest screw-up.

“Out of many, but it’s one of the two of my bigger screw-ups,” Galloway said. “The first is when I wrote (Dallas Cowboys coach) Jimmy Johnson didn’t get enough in the Herschel Walker trade. That they should have gotten more proven veteran talent than draft picks.”

The legendary sports media figure continues to enjoy retirement, often times on a golf course. As we are all stuck at home, especially with sports consisting mostly of replays, Galloway is just fine without writing, or talking on the radio.

“I have thought about that a lot,” said Galloway. “Doing a sports radio show and writing a newspaper column during all of this. What the hell would I talk about?”

My advice? Call retired sports media figures and ask them to tell their stories.

With ESPN’s 10-part docu-series on Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, “The Last Dance,” concluding Sunday night, it’s the perfect time to revisit one of Galloway’s all-time classic dunks, “Drafting Jordan Would Be Wrong.”

The headline and accompanying column appeared in The Dallas Morning News shortly before the 1984 NBA draft.

Galloway’s argument, in 1984, was solid. At that time, NBA title teams always had a killer in the middle — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Robert Parish, Moses Malone, Bill Russell, etc.

The Mavs’ centers back then were a few points, boards and blocks shy of being considered imposing: Mark West, and Kurt Nimphius. West turned into a nice bruiser later, but the Mavs needed an upgrade.

That ‘84 class, one of the best in the history of the league, featuring your more classic bigs such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin. The class also had Jordan, Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Otis Thorpe, Alvin Robertson, Michael Cage and Kevin Willis.

“So I was talking to (Mavs coach) Dick Motta, and of course the Mavericks are being very secretive about the draft,” Galloway said.

The conversation went:

Galloway: “Dick, give me a hand here.”

Motta: “What do you think we need?”

Galloway: “A big man. Badly.”

Motta: “Bingo. I have the three best guards in the NBA.”

At the time, the Mavericks’ backcourt consisted of Derek Harper, Rolando Blackman and Brad Davis.

“At no time (Motta) didn’t say he didn’t want Jordan,” Galloway said.

Motta just didn’t say that he did.

The Houston Rockets took Olajuwon with the first pick. Bowie went second to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Bulls selected Jordan third.

With the fourth pick, the Mavs selected Perkins, who had solid 18-year NBA career, and a good six-year run with the Mavs.

“They got a good player in Perkins,” Galloway said. “But even worse, the next guy picked was Charles Barkley (by Philadelphia).”

Now if you really want to feel bad, the Mavs picked again at 15 and selected Temple guard Terence Stansbury. At 16, the Utah Jazz selected John Stockton out of Gonzaga.

Selecting Jordan was never an option, but the Mavs missed by one pick, twice, members of the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer who were on the 1992 Dream Team: Barkley and Stockton.

Two NBA teams passed on Michael Jordan, but only one can truly say they blew it: Portland. However, the Blazers will tell you they already had Clyde Drexler.

Thirty-six years after the best draft in the history of the NBA, it’s now beyond reason how the greatest player of all time was the third pick.

As Jordan morphed into a global icon, all those who dare say passing on MJ was the right idea, or those in basketball who actually did it, could never escape such a miss.

“You know,” Galloway said, “you hang around for 50 years and you’ll have some doozies. That was one.”

And this is how you write a sports column without sports.