Carl Lewis, the legendary winner of nine Olympic Gold medals in Athletics, has been caught by both the basketball and rugby clubs.
4 times to the Olympics, won 9 Olympic Gold medals, 8 Gold medals at World Championships in different events, Carl Lewis is one of the greatest athletic legends in America. However, few people know that Lewis can completely become an NBA player. Rather, he turned down the NBA.
The 1984 NBA Draft was a time when each team could choose from 2 rookie squads instead of just 2 rounds. For the final vote, Chicago Bulls entered the name Carl Lewis, the athlete from the University of Houston.
Nothing worth mentioning if Lewis never played basketball. At the time, he was 22 years old and was known as one of the top athletes, not only of America. Athletes from Houston won gold 100m, 4x100m, and Long Jump at the World Championship.
Carl Lewis was selected for the NBA and the NFL
After all, after 207 votes, there were not many basketball talents left for the Bulls to find. Although Carl Lewis has never played basketball, the world’s leading speed and resilience are worth their wager, especially when the cost is only the final selection of that year’s Draft period.
Two months before the Chicago Bulls created one of the strangest picks in NBA Draft history, Carl Lewis was named at the NFL Draft, the American Rugby League player selection, also at the 10th turn. Coincidentally, the athlete born in 1961 also … didn’t know how to play football. The only sport outside of Athletics he ever played was soccer.
It is not difficult for Carl Lewis to decide to reject both sports against his forte, especially when he made about $ 1 million at the time, about 10 times the salary at the NFL or NBA. His goal is to take place in the July Olympics in Helsinki.
This decision was correct when Carl Lewis won first place in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and Long Jump in Helsinki. As for Chicago Bulls, they do not need to regret it, because, in the third round of the 1984 Draft, they chose Michael Jordan.