Rod Thorn set to enter Hall of Fame with more than drafting Michael Jordan on his resume

Rod Thorn had just finished wrapping up some other business that had prevented the Bulls general manager from attending the first training-camp practice for the 1984-85 season when he fielded a phone call from assistant coach Bill Blair.

"He said to me, 'Congratulations.' I said, 'For what?' He said, 'You didn't screw this draft up. This guy is great,' " Thorn said, chuckling, during a phone conversation about the early days of Michael Jordan. "I said, 'How can you tell after two hours?' And Bill said, 'I'm telling you, this guy is great.'

"And once I went to practice, you could tell pretty much right away he was going to be a special