Texas Basketball: 3 Longhorns who were Michael Jordan foes in NBA

There was never a teammate out of the Texas basketball program for Michael Jordan in the NBA, but three former players in particular faced him often.

Up until the early 2000’s, there wasn’t a whole lot of consistent talent getting churned out of the Texas basketball program. There were a few NBA players with longevity in their careers coming off the Forty Acres in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, but it didn’t happen all that often.

Then something just changed for the Texas men’s hoops program when former head coach Rick Barnes took over in the 2000’s. Texas started producing first-round level talent on a regular basis. It all started with the likes of T.J. Ford, and continued throughout Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge, all the way up to Jaxson Hayes last year.

Since the turn of the century, Texas had 14 first round picks in the NBA Draft. That’s a good number considering Texas doesn’t have any National Championships to speak of during that span of time. The talent level that Barnes and current head coach Shaka Smart saw roll through Austin doesn’t match up with the team accomplishments over that same stretch.

However, it is still good to laud any NBA success of Texas Exes in program history. Texas has a lot to be proud of from its hoops alumni in the NBA. And a few of them got the pleasure (or the pain, depending on how you look at it), of facing the former North Carolina Tar Heels shooting guard and Chicago Bulls all-time great Michael Jordan.

In the midst of the release of the 10-part ESPN/ABC/Netflix documentary series titled “The Last Dance”, the 1997-98 Bulls championship squad takes center stage. A lot of the sports landscape is talking about that docuseries right now given the lack of other news transpiring. Even Texas hoops fans should be enjoying this 10-part docuseries. A few of the players can relate to that time facing Jordan in the NBA from their professional careers.

Here’s a look back at three former member of the Texas Longhorns basketball program who were Michael Jordan foes in the NBA.