PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - For the past 26 years, a former No. 23 from the Chicago Bulls has been living in the Peoria area.
But it’s not “Air Jordan.” It’s “Air Mack.”
Ollie Mack was one of just a few players who wore that number for the Bulls before Michael Jordan entered the picture and had it retired - twice.
“It’s funny, because it’s a trivia question,” said Mack, the Director of Truancy and Prevention at the Peoria County Regional Office of Education. “They always ask who wore No. 23 before Michael, and my name is in the books there.”
Mack, a New York native, was the 25th pick in the 1979 NBA draft, taken in Round 2 out of East Carolina by the Los Angeles Lakers. L.A. made Magic Johnson the No. 1 overall pick with their first selection that season.
Mack, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard, was traded to the Bulls in February of 1980, and then went to the Dallas Mavericks the next season.
But he almost was not part of the Bulls trivia. While No. 23 was readily available in Chicago before the arrival of Jordan, it was not Mack’s first choice.
“It was just like a fluke that I got No. 23,” Mack said. “I wanted No. 25, but for some reason, I couldn’t get it. So, I just took 23, because it was close enough.”
Only seven players have ever worn No. 23 for the Bulls, starting with Norm Van Lier in 1972, and ending with Jordan from 1985-98. It was first retired in 1994 after Jordan went on a hiatus to play baseball, and then again after he retired after the 1997-98 season. The last player to wear it in Chicago prior to Jordan was Mike Bratz, who played 15 games there in 1982-83. But both Mack and Bratz are given that distinction online.
The issue came to light recently because of the 10-part ESPN documentary “The Last Dance,” which focused on the 1997-98 Bulls - Jordan’s final season with the team.
“I watched every episode, and it was fantastic!” Mack said. “It was good just to have something to watch, because all the sports are done.
“Jordan really transformed the game. I came in with Magic, and he and Larry Bird did a lot to boost the league up. Then Michael comes in and takes it to another level.”
Mack started his NBA career playing for the 1979-80 Lakers championship team, and played in enough games with L.A. that season to earn a ring and a share of the playoff money.
After the 1982-83 season with the Mavericks, Mack played for about three years in the Continental Basketball Association before returning to college to finish his degree.
He moved to the Peoria area from St. Louis when he got a job interview for a position at the Peoria Youth Farm.
“I took the job with the Youth Farm in 1993, and that’s what brought me here,” Mack said. “My wife ended up quitting her job as a flight attendant and going into business with her father, who lives in Peoria.”
After moving to Peoria, Mack met former Bradley star Bob Humbles (who was drafted by Golden State in 1978) at some pick-up games at Bradley, and they teamed up with Dwayne Funches, another former Bradley standout, and Manual product Willie Coleman to win a Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournament.
“We won it against David Booth, Howard Nathan and those guys,” Mack said. “They knew who we were, because they were coming up to Bradley to play, too. But they thought they were the better team.
“We had to play them the next year, and lost.”
Mack, 62, still plays hoops whenever he can find an open gym. He is about to get more time to play soon, because he is about a month away from retiring.
Mack played at Chicago Stadium in Chicago when he was with the Bulls, and has never gone to the United Center to see the No. 23 jersey hanging from the rafters in its retirement. But he knows it will be there if he ever decides to go.
“It will be there forever,” he said. “Some older people that know basketball know that I wore that number. When I’m talking to some kids at work and tell them I wore No. 23, they say that it’s Michael Jordan’s number.
“I say, ‘No, it’s my number. I had it first!’ ”
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Source: (Peoria) Journal Star, https://bit.ly/2MkJmdf
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