Basketball - They Made The Game a Worldwide Game

Why do people talk about dreams so much in sports? Dream seasons, dream matchups, dream opportunities. It's up. They do it because so much of sports is about imagining what you want things to be like. If only the setting were just right. It was one of those times none of us will ever forget. The characters just right. I don't know anything about Angola, but Angola's in trouble. The timing just right. 11 Hall of Famers. I don't think you can ever do that again at no point in time. If only it could all be the way you might have dreamed it up yourself.

Training camp began on June 22nd, 1992, in La Hoya, California. And when the gym doors opened, no one was quite sure what to expect, especially the players themselves. There a lot of eagles in one gym and on one team. Everybody wanted their form to shine and showcase why they were a part of this team with all these stars on the team. If it comes down to the last shot, who's going to take the shot? Me! Me! Everybody in the world has an ego. The only difference between us, we have a reason to have an ego. Every one of us felt like we was a everybody. And when practice started that first day, every player seemed to be trying to prove just how great they were. It was a very competitive practice. And I'm thinking, are we all on the same team? Patrick, go. I don't want to play with David. I want to play against him. Then you hear Michael said, I don't want to be on Magic's team. I want to play against him. Every evaluation of Michael Jordan at that time was, he's good, but he never Magic Johnson. In my competitive nature, I want to use every little bit that I could gather so that I can gain an advantage. Carl Malone, he's the only guy I would even compare to myself at the power forward position. So I want to prove that I was the best power forward in the world. Charles, yeah, he's a great talent. Do I think he's better than me? Hell no. So let's do this. By the time this over with, you going to be thinking, I'm damn good.

The first practice. Barkley drives baseline, and Carl Malone jumps up like this. Barkley just dunked on him so hard. It was just an unbelievable play. I felt like, man, I cannot believe that I'm part of this practice. A few days later, the team had a chance to acclimate themselves to playing on the same side. Chuck D had scheduled a scrimmage against a select group of college players, a group thrilled to be facing off against their idols. I found out today I might be picking up Magic a little bit full court. So, you know, things are just happening for me that really, really makes me happy. A lot of those people that I've looked up to, Barkley, Malone, a lot of those people, talk confidence, and I think it's going to be a good matchup. You know, there's no advantage on either side. For the college players, it was a chance to see how they'd match up against the world's best. For Coach Daly, it was an opportunity to get his stars to grow into a single unit. I think we're somewhere between the mentality of an All-Star Game and trying to come together as a team. So we've got to continually work on this. D had been hired for his ability to manage personalities and egos. And when the scrimmage began, it became apparent that his players had left one of their biggest weapons, those egos, somewhere else. The non-fan would think, well, they're going to go in there and they each going to want their own ball, and Jordan's going to be hogging the ball, and, you know, Magic's going to be dribbling all over the place. Point of fact, it was the exact opposite. They overpassed. It was like, I don't want to start it off, you know, you do it. Before you realize, your select team was beating us by 10. We didn't know how to play with each other. We didn't want to step on anybody's toes or hurt any egos. So these young kids, they were killing us. We were not into it, and we paid for it.

Chris Weber was a man. I thought, boy, that's the guys come this league. I could get out of here. Bobby Hurley was dominant. I did have some success penetrating and collapsing the defense, and our energy, our excitement to play, all those things played in our favor. Bobby Hurley didn't play two seasons in the NBA. Nevertheless, it did expose the one weakness they could have had, which is defending against quick guards. They were playing great. Then I noticed that Michael Jordan's not playing. I'm saying something. Chuck Den, he said, we're all right. You know, we're all right. Da watched as his players failed to make up the deficit. And in their first taste of outside competition, the Dream Team lost. A story their coach didn't want the press to get their hands on. The teams posed for a picture together, both not sure what to make of what had just happened. But the man in charge may have had the answer. He threw the game. You know, Chuck threw the game. If you look how much Jordan played and how he subbed guys in, not picking up, not making any adjustments, he knew what he was doing. It was legit. It felt tremendous, you know, what we were doing that day. You know, they couldn't stop it. There kids who believe in Santa Claus too, and in the Easter Bunny. And now that they've grown up, I hate to burst their bubble, but, uh, uh, it was a game thrown. Not many people would have done it, and he did it. It was gratifying to Chuck for us to get our butts beat like that because now we had to listen to him. Here the next day, training camp ended with a rematch against the college kids. And once play started, everything made sense again. The tables were turned drastically. We showed them why, why we are who we are. We, we pretty much beat him by 100. They couldn't score. And by the way, Jordan played a lot more that next scrimmage.

Before the Dream Team could play in the 1992 Olympics, they had to qualify. The place to do that was Portland, Oregon, and the Tournament of the Americas. It would be the public's first chance to see the NBA stars together in a game, especially Jordan, Bird, and Magic. Da had asked all three to be team captains, but Jordan had turned him down. I knew how much it meant to both of those guys because they never had the opportunity to play on the Olympics. So I said, you know what, Chuck, don't worry about me. You know, let these old dogs do it. Magic and Bird weren't just the team's oldest players; they were also the most revered. They had entered the league together in 1979, embarking on a rivalry that had redefined the NBA. And along the way, their personal admiration for one another had grown. Magic is just a great basketball player. He's the best I've ever seen. You know, unbelievable. I don't know what to say. In 1992, they'd be getting the chance to share the ball, but the opportunity would be coming at the end of their careers. Bird had given his soul to the game, but after so many, many years, his body was betraying him. Had back problems. It just get to the point where you just couldn't play. I mean, you couldn't, couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't run. You know, if you can't feel your feet, it's hard to run. Larry was on the fence because of his back. So I said, man, LB, you got to play, man. You got to play. This is our last chance to be together. Magic would be able to convince his old friend to play, but at the start of the 1991-92 NBA season, he was forced to retire after learning he had the HIV virus. Doctors would eventually clear him to play in the Olympics, though that didn't stop fears from swirling. There's a lot of players that really didn't want him to play. They want to play with him or against him because nobody knew what the disease meant. You know, they say you get a little blood on you, you got HIV, or breeze on you, you know. Uh, I never bought any of that. You know, I just, we just keep going. And that's what Irving decided to do. Just keep pushing, keep going. Six, five, three-pointer, yes. Oh, my.

Magic had made a cameo in the 1992 All-Star Game and had focused his attention on the Olympics, hoping for an encore. A lifetime alongside his old rival. Our careers were really over, and it was something I thought needed to happen for both of us. Their debut would take place at Portland's Rose Garden, with their team needing to medal in the Tournament of the Americas to qualify for the Olympics. That seemed like a foregone conclusion to just about everyone, including their first opponents, who were completely in awe. Before the game even started, the Cuban team spontaneously like drops to its knees as if 12 popes had come by on Easter Sunday. At that point, the idea that this is merely a basketball game has been ripped asunder. It was a surreal feeling. She like, dude, we, we here to kick y'all behind, and they want to take pictures with you. Then the game begins. Magic and Larry come out together, two guys that had saved the league. They wouldn't even be playing this game without those two. At Magic pass the ball, Larry makes the first. Forward backing in goes to the fade away. I mean, you know, it just, it just didn't get any better than that. The US was off and running, and the result was a thing of beauty. Johnson leading the break, and no one seemed more excited to be sharing the court than the co-captains. Bird for three. Opening night was a smashing success, with the outcome never in doubt. Oh, a bullet from Magic. And late in the game, fans in Portland decided they wanted a curtain call from a three-time MVP. The crowd start cheering, Larry, Larry, Larry. Crowd reacts to the entrance of Larry Bird, a standing ovation. And as he'd done so many other times in his career, Larry Bird rose to the occasion. Jordan with the behind-the-back save. Here's Bird. Yes, you just knew that Larry Bird was not going to miss that shot. It was a virtually flawless performance. The final margin of victory was 77 points, and Magic and Bird had led the way. For Magic, in particular, after a year out of the game, the victory had a special kind of meaning. Living with HIV, never even thinking that I would ever have a chance to play basketball game, and then basketball for, uh, United States. There was therapy for me, and I needed that in the worst way. And then there was the matter of making sure Michael Jordan knew he was back as well. Yeah, you hear with the captain, see Captain say, sit down. His boat is going to sink. That's right. Have a seat. You're going to fall, and it's going to happen. That's a seniority right there. I know it. With Magic and Michael, there was that little extra something there. You know, and something kind of to prove to each other. I took it upon myself to always shoot with Michael. Okay, MJ free throws today. Who was the first one to 50? Or we had little games. Who was the better shooter? Mil know what you got to do. Know what you got to do. He didn't want to relinquish that control of the 80s in a sense, even though we were going into the 90s. Don't touch the phone. One hand. Don't touch it. Oh, you know, he just come off missing a whole year. So it was, who can win? Who's going to have the bragging rights? By the end of this trip, you can't get too close to Michael. It's a foul. You haven't committed a foul in almost a year and a half, man. How can you talk? Michael's always tried to let people know that he's the top dog. And in whatever, that's just his competitive mode. While the winner of Magic and Michael's can you top this challenge remained in doubt, when it came to facing the competition in the Tournament of the Americas, the team stood united. We took the court in Portland, which, you know, we're on home ground. We wanted to showcase to the fans who will be representing them. The lead is 30. Ste Jordan. Jordan going send a message around the world today that y'all can give it up. Use for us can give it up. With a steal. Stockton, as goes the other Stockton, set him up perfectly. The Americans won their six games at the tournament by an average of 50 points. Magic, all right, Larry, um, your impressions of tonight's game? The gold medal was no surprise, but what was unexpected was the team's interactions with their opponents. Showered them with adulation before, after, and even during games. Magic Johnson and Angola shaking hands after the shot. The Tournament of the Americas had served its purpose. The US had qualified for the Barcelona games and given the world its first glimpse of what was coming. Later that summer, just want to say, this is just a small step to what our goal really is, to get to Barcelona, win the gold medal, and bring it back where it's supposed to be. Thank you.

They would hold several days of practice in Monte Carlo and play one more tune-up before heading to the Olympics. The luxurious setting on the Mediterranean Sea was fitting for what already may have been the world's most famous team. Monte Carlo is one of those glamorous cities, and here we were with the most glamorous team ever. So it's kind of a rock star-ish kind of a thing. The players were relaxed and confident and willing to admit there was more to the trip than just basketball. I don't worry about playing basketball, that comes natural. I just want to have fun. David Robinson, Pat, Michael Jordan, this is like spring break in the ghetto. Chuck says, okay, this is what's going to happen. We're going to play it like a real game. We're going to play four quarters. We had me, Scotty Mullins, Bird, and Patrick, and Magic had his five. We weren't going to change that team at no point in time. You got your five, I got my five. We gave them the college guy. You can have Christian Laettner. We don't want him. You can have him. He's just over there waiting. The tag in. But it was, it was about about pride. And the college kid couldn't help either one of the team. Michael Jordan called, called out, and went at him. Tell them this is what I'm going to do to you. Fall away jumper, good. What did I, I tell you? So I said, no, Clyde, you better get him back. You better get him back. Charles Barkley said, I want to take Carl Malone now. So Charles gets it. Fall away jumper, good. I said, uh, Carl, you got to get him back. You better go down there and get him back. Carl went right at him. Jump shot. You ain't nothing. You ain't nothing, Barkley. So then I came down. His energy is real high. He feels like, like he's in an opportunity to prove himself, showcase that, hey, look, I'm still Magic Johnson. We, I still dominate this game. That's all right. That's all right. We go, we go from here. Magic was saying, you ain't the guy. And we got other players in this, in his gym. Don't, don't be cheating on me. Doesn't take much to get Michael going. Just a little something to tweak him, and it's on. Back go. He never liked to lose. Michael always got that look. When you see that look, then you know just get in the damn ball and get out of the way. As much as it was five on five, you could see in Monte Carlo that it was gravitating towards, okay, Michael and Magic. Magic was hesitant to surrender his place on the mountaintop. And Michael, being Michael, he needed to say, no, I'm on the top of the mountain now. Mel saying, look, NBA is not yours yet. You know, I'm still here. Michael's like, no, it's over. This is, this is mine. And the funny thing was, Larry was, was sitting on his side going, it's his. Chuck realized the competition aspect was getting a little bit too high, killing everybody on our squad. He wanted to end practice, but Magic didn't want to end because see, he wanted to keep playing because we just kicked his ass. How you like that ass kicking we gave you? Oh, no, no, come on now. Well, y'all got the first, first quarter practice. By the time practice was over, even Magic had to acknowledge basketball's landscape had been changed forever. Good. Larry and I were talking, and Michael walks in, and he says, there's a new sheriff in town.

Just moments ago, the Dream Team boarded the bus outside their hotel along the Ramblas. They are heading for their first matchup in Barcelona with the Angolans. I can remember the first game. The real game. Came out of the locker room and stepped on the court, and I finally said to myself, I can't believe this. I'm here. At that point, we were in serious Olympic mode. This actually may be the biggest mismatch of the entire Olympics. Off of beautiful feed from Mullen, and he throw the foul. Magic right. The US with a 46-1 run. 46-1. It was just a tremendous atmosphere because there was an appreciation for how great the US players were. After the first half, Barkley's pregame prediction appeared dead on. But in the second, Charles found some trouble. I had the players in Angola, you play against South blackl. They told has there's no a kid, a fat boy, is a many aggressive in the pain. Rebound Barkley, rebound Barkley, and he's foul and shook David. Well, Charles getting a bit aggressive. I thought they were playing dirty, and I told old boy, I, I don't even know if he understood my, hey man, ease up on the elbow. Barkley from Pippen. I let it go twice. You can see the frustration with Barkley. And the next time, I just cracked him. Barkley from Pippin, and a technical foul has been called. H Barkley to his dying day, Charles claims the guy elbowed him three times. People always say, turn the other cheek. If you turn the other cheek, I'm hit you another cheek too. I thought, what are you doing, Charles? The guy is half your size. But you know, Charles was an equal opportunity abuser. Errand Cimbra did not think it was a friendly elbow. That's the same guy, just asked for an autograph. Charles, I mean, you think he's not intimidated. The United States has defeated Angola by the score of 76 to 48. The game may have ended in a rout, but afterwards, the result was overshadowed by the controversy. What else do the elbow? Well, he hit me, I hit him. That's the way it is. Charles made you look like the Ugly Americans, which we were trying not to do. We said to Charles, look, man, you're a reflection of all of us. So if you do it, they're not going to write the article that Charles Barkley did. They're going to say the Dream Team. Barkley had stained a dream debut for the Americans. But in their next game against Croatia, Scotty Pippen and Michael Jordan grabbed the spotlight with the focus on their matchup with one of Europe's best players, Tony Kukoč. The major storyline that carries into this game involves Tony Kukoč, second-round pick of the Chicago Bulls back in 1989. The Bulls made a strong push to sign him last season. And at that time, general managers in the league were trying to come up with gems, you know, make their discoveries overseas. And Krauss thought this guy could play in the NBA. While Jordan and Pippen had been winning back-to-back titles, Chicago GM Jerry Krauss had been publicly wooing Kukoč to join the Bulls. Krauss was recruiting this guy and talking how great he was. You know, that's like a father who has all his kids, and now he sees another kid that he loves more than he loves his own. So we were not playing against Tony Kukoč. We were playing against Jerry Krauss in a Croatian uniform. But unfortunately for the real Tony Kukoč, he was now the target of the world's two best defensive players. We knew the world was going to be watching. We knew everyone wanted to see what Tony Kukoč was like, and we were going to give him the worst experience he ever had on the basketball court. Pippen drew the initial assignment of shadowing Kukoč and harassed the Croatian from the opening whistle. It was hard to run across the half court without a ball, and with the ball, it was just, here, somebody else get it. Tony definitely wasn't getting a shot of, and he wasn't going to score. Kukoč is nothing for four, and he's contributed nothing. We wanted to go guard him on the bench. L is called for the offensive foul, and the pressure continues. And after Pippen more Kukoč down, it was Jordan's turn. Good. Coach stolen by Jordan. He reads it better than anyone. Slam. Go them dudes were all over him. Rejecting group coach. Here's a three on two. I had questions from my teammates during the game like, what is going on? What do you not see that they're really trying to get you off the court? And I'm like, so what? I guess that's how NBA game is played. Pippen, Jordan, and the Americans cruise to another victory, this one by 38 points. But the domination had its detractors. Irvin, uh, there's been some comments that the Dream Team is getting all the attention, and there seems to be some resentment about it. Have you heard about it, and do you have any feelings about it? Uh, basically, you know, we haven't heard about it. We're just here to do our job. The media may have been looking for signs of a backlash, but in Barcelona and in the world beyond, the embrace of the Dream Team was universal. You're going to stand out and root against Picasso? I mean, you know, seriously. They rooted for genius at work. I kept thinking that the attention would dissipate. They're going to play the first game, they're going to win by 60, people are going to go back and watch. TR Jordan in transition with the slam to give Team USA a 60-point lead. It didn't. It kept building and building and building. The US with another tring. 127-83. Workers were trying to get autographs. The security people are trying to get autographs. All the athletes were standing on side like a parade. What a ball F by Scotty Pippen. It is a 58-point lead. People perceived us as being superheroes. This was a blowout on the US men Olympic team. The guy on the bench is taking pictures, and I said, wow, we are having an effect over here. Wrap-around pass. Another easy victory in this, their fifth game of the Olympics. It was as if the President of the United States was in the midst of a caravan that was going through the streets. It's like the Beatles, where there's thousands and thousands of people waiting all the time. That was the most exhilarating 15 seconds of my life. For the players, surreal experiences had become the norm. But even more memorable were the unlikely friendships developing behind the curtain. It was a unique mix. You know, Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing became like best friends. I got a white guy from Indiana, and I got a brother from Jamaica. Patrick said, I could pick his M. Took took me three minutes. Now I get the chance to come back and start picking on mine. Took me one. We would probably be the two of the most unlikely people you thought that would be friends. But if you look, not only Larry and I got to be great friends, but all of those guys got to be much better friends. We all enjoyed each other. We all enjoyed the ride, and we got a sense of each other as men. Then when we got to the court, it made it even better. The Dream Team's chemistry turned out to be the hallmark of their success as the players closed in on what they came for. Now over the side, leading cheers. Their big margins of victory may have been a testament to their dominance, but numbers couldn't capture what made watching them so unforgettable. Guys played the best basketball you've ever seen in your life. There was literally like great poetry or great art. At times, you feel you're watching a performance, a concert, rather than a basketball competition. This was fun. This was like, it's how basketball supposed to be. And at the center of the fun was the team's biggest star, who had come to Barcelona at the peak of his powers and shown how much his popularity had exploded. I will say this one thing about Michael Jordan. I've been around other celebrities in my life. I've never seen people react like they do to him. People go crazy when they see him. In every corner of the world, there was someone who just wanted to see him. Please, Michael Jordan. No one had the sort of pull, the gravity that Michael Jordan had. The Dream Team squared off against Croatia again in the gold medal game, offering the world one more lasting impression of their supremacy. Marley with the lead. Forler. Team USA came to send a message tonight. We wanted to win, and we wanted to dominate. But how we did it, sharing the ball, including everybody, we did it as a true team. The US has the phix catio 117 to 85, and they have one for goal here in Barcelona.

There was never really any doubt the Dream Team would win gold in 1992, but as they walked back onto the court to get their medals, the moments still overwhelmed them. You saw a lot of tears from players. It was a very proud moment for me because anytime you represent your country, you know that's a prideful thing. Man, s chills down my must fine. It was a reward that I had never felt like that I would ever achieve. To do it on that stage with those group of guys, it's a memory I'll never forget. Nothing in my life has ever felt like standing on that podium. I was getting goosebumps every single time I heard the national anthem. After that, had a different significance to me. I knew what it really meant. You know, as a young kid growing up, I used to watch Olympics on TV with my father, and all he talked about was the Star-Spangled Banner and the gold medal. Made him feel proud to be American. Being up on that podium that night and receiving it, my father, he'd been pretty proud. All those emotions just overcame me. I got to be one of the guys one more time for my country. I said, man, I never forget this moment. You know, if this is the end, this how I wanted to go out. This group may well be the greatest team ever assembled in the history of team sports. But when the medal ceremony was over, another realization began to settle in. When I walked off, I remember thinking that whole dream has come to an end. The next season, every Olympian except Magic Johnson and Larry Bird would return to the NBA. Michael Jordan and Scotti Pippen would win their third title against Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns on the way to six championships overall. The last three. Tony Kukoč, eventually other members of the team would also win titles. But each NBA player on the Dream Team would reach the Hall of Fame. Still, it's what they did together that summer that had the biggest impact on the game, an impact that continues to grow today. It really lifted basketball and it gave birth to international stars who had nothing to do with those games in '92, but who took so much from it. We made the game a worldwide game. You know, I talked to Tony Parker, I talked to Joakim Noah, I talked to Dirk Nowitzki. Those guys say their first love of basketball started with the Dream Team, and I'm really proud of that.

The world can change a lot in 20 years, but there are moments in time you never forget. No matter how long it's been, no matter how much else has changed in your life since. 20 years later, they've all kept ties to the game in one way or another, and they all talk about the summer of '92 as if it happened just yesterday. An experience still unlike any other in their remarkable basketball lives. I've never had more fun being around anybody. Everybody got along. There was no ego. We had fun. You know, clearly, everybody reminds me I never won a championship. So that to me was like winning the championship, winning the gold medal, and hanging out with these guys. The reward itself is really only a small part of the story. It's what the gold medal represents that will always tie these men together. This is like this fraternity that's that's pretty awesome. I don't think you ever going to be able to get 11 Hall of Famers that play all at once, you know, on one team. That's, that's how h on. We go on the bus. Ah, we come back. Walk out the hotel. Wave, wave outside your window. I can't believe I. It's all magic. I just, so my God, it changed sport as we know it. They showed the world how to play basketball. What other team can say that? I don't think we'll ever see any like it again. It's an insult to compare anybody else to that team. Take a good look. We will never see a team this great again. No team will ever have that happen. Hasn't had that happen, and that's the dream.