Michael Jordan is undisputed as the greatest player in Chicago Bulls history.
But there was a time when the GOAT of the NBA wasn’t even the best player on his team.
Just like the development of Larry Bird’s rivalry with Magic Johnson in the glory days of the Boston Celtics vs the Los Angeles Lakers, Jordan initially had to find his way in the NBA.
He stunned the league as a rookie out of North Carolina, winning Rookie of the Year and making the All-Star team, while averaging a team-high 28.2 points and playing in all 82 games.
But there was another talented scorer on the Bulls when Jordan was in his early 20s.
Orlando Woolridge had a stellar college career at Notre Dame — including an NCAA Final Four run and a big win over Ralph Sampson’s No. 1 Virginia team — and was the No. 6 overall pick of the 1981 NBA Draft.
He stood 6ft 9in, weighed 215lb, and averaged 16.5 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting an impressive 58 percent from the field in 1982-83.
As Jordan entered his second year in the pros, Woolridge was coming off another strong NBA campaign, averaging 22.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and shooting 55.4 percent in 77 games.
Jordan was clearly a rising star.
But Woolridge had annual All-Star potential for a rebuilding Chicago team that had only had one winning season in the last eight years.
Woolridge was dominant around the rim and an alley-oop specialist
Woolridge’s soaring dunks looked very similar to Air Jordan
Jordan eventually towered over the Bulls and the rest of the NBA
In 1985-86, Jordan ran into his first major NBA setback.
He broke his foot after just three games, leaving Woolridge as the team’s primary offensive threat.
As a young Jordan waited for his injury to heal, the former Notre Dame star averaged 20.7 points and 5 rebounds.
By the end of the year, Wooldridge topped Chicago in scoring (1,448 points), field goals made (540) and free throws made (364).
That positioned Woolridge as the Bulls’ leading scorer in 1985-86 — and it was the last time that anyone expect MJ was the leading offensive option for Chicago until he retired from the NBA for the first time in 1993.
Woolridge also had serious hops.
He won NBA Player of the Week in December 1984 and became one of the league’s best dunkers.
Woolridge, who exceled at alley-oops, participated in the 1984 and ’85 All-Star Slam Dunk contests.
Jordan was also in the ’85 Slam Dunk competition, finishing second to Dominique Wilkins and beginning another NBA rivalry.
The 1985-86 season was Wooldridge’s last with the Bulls.
Jordan returned fully healthy the next season and began his era of hardwood dominance, averaging a league-high 37.1 points and finishing second in MVP voting.
Woolridge then bounced from Chicago to New Jersey, Los Angeles, Denver, Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.
He even played for former Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns coach Mike D’Antoni in Italy.
Woolridge passed away in 2012 at 52.
For all of his success in college and the NBA, he’s known in history as the last player to lead the Bulls in scoring before Air Jordan took over.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the Celtics host Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks in Game 1 of the 2024 Finals on Thursday night.
While Jordan initially had to find his way in the NBA, Bird once believed that the Finals were rigged to force Game 7 against Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jordan evolved into a fierce competitor who even turned Charles Barkley’s 1993 MVP award into a mental advantage.
The duo met in one of many famous Finals for Jordan, who once demanded that Team USA coach Chuck Daly instantly play him in a golf rematch in Barcelona to even their personal score.
One former Bulls coach even claimed that MJ softened Barkley up with a lavish, $20,000 gift before Game 4 of the ’93 Finals.
However, Barkley later debunked that legendary story and insisted the pair made a pact to stay away from each other during the Finals.
HBD to the late Orlando Woolridge
First player to do a between the legs dunk in the NBA Dunk Contest.
He was also 1/2 of the Chicago Bulls “Netbusters” along with Michael Jordan. pic.twitter.com/jPE6V9gQQL
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) December 16, 2022