Looking at today's situation with the Los Angeles Lakers , somehow stuck between handing the franchise to Luka Doncic and still having LeBron James as the lead, flipping through NBA history books brings us to a very similar scenario from the 1980s.
After years of mediocrity, the Chicago Bulls finally decided to move in a new direction, acquiring one of the greatest scorers of all time, George Gervin, from the San Antonio Spurs . It was a somewhat odd move, as Michael Jordan was already developing brilliantly at the guard positions, and it wasn't clear how much then-GM Jerry Krause wanted to integrate Gervin.
Gervin came with a reputation, a certain ego and at the end of the day, the season before, he averaged 21.2 points on 50.8 percent shooting and 84.4 percent from the free-throw line. Nobody could know how a partnership of two offensive juggernauts would play out, and it's safe to say Jordan's reaction was telling.
"I have no comment on the trade. Just say I am unhappy," Jordan briefly said after the Bulls acquired Gervin during the 1985 offseason.
Despite a stellar rookie campaign where he averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.4 steals on 51.5 percent shooting and 84.5 percent from the line over 82 games, MJ was still far from the status of someone like the Iceman.
The North Carolina product, however, was not intimidated and decided to show everyone that he was not only going to surpass Gervin as one of the league's top scorers but would become the greatest scorer the NBA had ever seen.
In reality, we never got to see them fully collaborate on the court, as Mike played only 18 games that season due to injury, starting just seven because of minute restrictions. It ended up being his lowest-scoring season with the Bulls, averaging 22.7 points on 45.7 percent shooting in 25.1 minutes per game.
The Iceman, on the other hand, played all 82 games, starting 75, averaging 16.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on 47.2 percent shooting and 87.9 percent from the line over 25.2 minutes per game.
It was clear Gervin had lost some of his offensive firepower, though he still had nights reminiscent of his prime. According to his own account, Jordan made Gervin realize his days in the NBA were numbered .
"The son of a b—ch (Michael Jordan) is crazy," Gervin told Jeff Eisenband, as reported by The Score. "He played just as hard at practice as he did in the game. I'll never forget it. I'm at practice with him one time, I'm lackadaisical going through it and stuff. I say, 'Dang, young fella.' He said, 'Hey, old man, go sit down over there.' I sat down. I was done. He helped me understand I was done."
"You've only got so long to be on top. I was on top for about 12 years. You only have your turn. My turn was pretty much up. I retired after that," added Gervin.
That the league will gain a new scoring king was confirmed that season in the playoffs when Jordan returned to full strength, posting incredible numbers over three games against the Boston Celtics with 43.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.3 steals on 50.5 percent shooting and 87.2 percent from the free-throw line in 45.0 minutes per game.
Boston eventually advanced and won the title, but the league clearly received the message — Jordan had arrived and wasn't going anywhere. In that playoff series, Gervin played a minor role, averaging just 5.0 minutes — his final moments on an NBA court.
When he arrived in the Windy City, Gervin had four scoring titles, the second-best total at the time behind Wilt Chamberlain's seven. Over his 15 seasons, Jordan would win a record 10 scoring titles and cement himself as arguably the greatest scorer in NBA history.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
