On this day in 1984: Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton make their NBA debuts on the same night

Forty-two years ago, on October 26, the 1984 draft class arrived almost all at once. On Friday, October 26, 1984, in their teams’ season openers, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton played their first NBA games in three different cities. Hakeem Olajuwon, the No. 1 pick, and Sam Bowie, taken second, followed the next night.

None of the three Friday debuts looked like the start of a Hall of Fame career. Jordan shot 5 for 16. Barkley came off the bench and scored 11. Stockton played 17 minutes and scored four points in a loss in front of barely 7,000 people.

• Michael Jordan (Chicago, No. 3 pick): Bulls 109, Bullets 93 at Chicago Stadium. 16 points (5-16 FG, 6-7 FT), 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks and 5 turnovers in 40 minutes as a starter. Attendance: 13,913.
• Charles Barkley (Philadelphia, No. 5): 76ers 111, Cavaliers 101 at the Spectrum. 11 points (3-6 FG, 5-6 FT), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls in 27 minutes off the bench.
• John Stockton (Utah, No. 16): SuperSonics 102, Jazz 94 at the Seattle Kingdome. 4 points (1-2 FG, 2-2 FT), 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. Attendance: 7,117.
• Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston, No. 1), Saturday, October 27: Rockets 121, Mavericks 111 at Reunion Arena. 24 points (11-18 FG), 9 rebounds (6 offensive) and 1 block in 28 minutes as a starter.
• Sam Bowie (Portland, No. 2), Saturday, October 27: Trail Blazers 140, Kings 119 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. 4 points (1-5 FG), 6 rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.

Jordan: a quiet 16, then 37

Jordan had won Olympic gold in Los Angeles that August. In the June draft, Houston took Olajuwon first and Portland took Bowie second, and the Bulls picked the North Carolina guard third.

His first night was a team effort more than a solo show. Orlando Woolridge led the Bulls with 28 points on 13-of-19 shooting, Quintin Dailey scored 25 off the bench and Ennis Whatley had 10 assists. Chicago led 34-19 after the first quarter and was never in much trouble against a Washington team led by Frank Johnson and Gus Williams with 15 points each. Jordan filled the box score instead of dominating it: 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals. He also committed five turnovers.

It did not take long to change. The next night in Milwaukee he scored 21 on 8-of-13 shooting in a two-point loss. On Monday, October 29, back at Chicago Stadium against the Bucks, he scored 37 on 13-of-24 shooting and 11-of-13 at the line, with six steals, as the Bulls outscored Milwaukee 40-25 in the fourth quarter and won 116-110.

By April he had started all 82 games and averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.4 steals. His 2,313 points were the most in the league, ahead of Larry Bird’s 2,295, though Bernard King’s 32.9 per game won the scoring title and Jordan was third in average behind King and Bird. He won Rookie of the Year. The Bulls went 38-44, made the playoffs and lost to the Bucks 3-1 in the first round.

Barkley: off the bench behind Moses

Barkley’s debut came with one of the deepest teams in the league. The 76ers were a year and a half removed from the 1983 championship, and their starting frontcourt still had Julius Erving and Moses Malone. Malone, who had made his own NBA debut eight years earlier as a backup in Buffalo, had 26 points and 19 rebounds against Cleveland. Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney scored 19 each.

The rookie from Auburn played 27 minutes, made three of six shots and five of six free throws, and had six rebounds. On the other side, Melvin Turpin, the No. 6 pick, had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Philadelphia also used Leon Wood, its No. 10 pick, for 12 minutes.

Barkley started 60 games that season and averaged 14.0 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 54.5 percent. The 76ers went 58-24, swept Milwaukee in the second round and lost to Boston in five games in the conference finals.

Stockton: 17 minutes in the Kingdome

Stockton was the least-known of the group, a Gonzaga point guard picked 16th. His first game was in the cavernous Kingdome, where Seattle drew 7,117. He played behind Rickey Green, who scored 20, and made his only two-point attempt and both of his free throws, finishing with four points, five assists and two steals. Darrell Griffith led the Jazz with 21, and Mark Eaton blocked eight shots, but Seattle won by eight behind Danny Vranes’ 24 points and 17 rebounds from Jack Sikma.

That was close to his whole rookie season. Stockton played all 82 games but started only five, averaging 5.6 points and 5.1 assists. The Jazz finished 41-41 and then met Olajuwon’s Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. Utah won the series in five games before losing to Denver.

Olajuwon and Bowie, one night later

The two players taken ahead of Jordan debuted on Saturday. Olajuwon, then spelled Akeem, started next to Ralph Sampson in Dallas and scored 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds in 28 minutes, as Houston beat the Mavericks 121-111 before 17,007 at Reunion Arena. Sampson added 19 points and 13 rebounds, John Lucas scored 23, and Mark Aguirre had 30 for Dallas. Sam Perkins, the No. 4 pick, had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks.

Olajuwon started all 82 games and averaged 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. The Rockets improved to 48-34. Bowie came off the bench in Kansas City and scored four points with six rebounds in Portland’s 140-119 win, a night that belonged to Kiki Vandeweghe’s 47 points on 19-of-23 shooting. Otis Thorpe, the No. 9 pick, scored 21 for the Kings. Bowie averaged 10.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in 76 games as a rookie, but injuries limited him to 511 games over his career.

What the class became

Four of the five players who debuted that weekend are in the Hall of Fame. Jordan won six championships, five MVP awards and 10 scoring titles. Olajuwon won the 1994 MVP and back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995 and retired as the career leader in blocked shots. Barkley won the 1993 MVP and made 11 All-Star teams. Stockton spent all 19 of his seasons in Utah and retired with the career records for assists (15,806) and steals (3,265), both still standing.

Barkley entered the Hall in 2006 and Olajuwon in 2008, and Jordan and Stockton were inducted together in 2009. On the weekend it all began, only Olajuwon led his own team in scoring.