NBA "The Dream Team 1992" Full Documentary

Why do people talk so much about

dream

ing in sports? Dream seasons Dream coincidences Dream chances They do it because so much of sports is imagining how you want things to be If only the setting was right It was one of those times None of us will ever get the characters right I don't know nothing about Angola but the angle is in trouble at the right time 11 Hall of Famers I don't think you'd ever be able to do that again if only it could all be the way you could have

dream

ed it yourself people perceived us as superheroes we became a

team

and that

team

stomped on everyone this never happened in sports anywhere well i thought eventually there would be a movie made about the dream team the greatest team God bless you and God bless you Twenty years can go a long way fast and the world won't stop and wait for them to remember how it used to be

1992

was a time of change New faces in America are t They quickly became cultural icons none more so than NBA superstars.

After the legends of the '80s raised the league's profile to new heights, a new generation of players has discovered their talents and their charisma made them more than just players. of basketball, they were a new breed of star athlete whose popularity transcended the game are the shoes no and now the best of them were looking forward to their brightest showcase the world's greatest athletic arena the Olympic Games in Barcelona Spain even if no one really noticed the impact they would have there is a defining moment in sports history, not just the Olympics, not just basketball, it kickstarted the culture, but in

1992

not everyone was ready for it, not everyone thought professional basketball stars at a venue at the Olympics, this kind of thing had never, ever been done. many of you know poking the bear for people in my profession, sportswriters and journalists in general were angry skeptics that this was not the case with the olympic movement, the olympic ideal had always centered around amateur competition, which meant that The United States had always fielded basketball teams made up of teams of college kids that dominated for decades.

In 1972 the Soviet Union scored a victory over the United States in a controversial gold medal game to this day the American team has yet to claim their silver medals but that result seemed like a fluke when the Americans got the gold and their next two olympic appearances while the US Soviets won again, no fluke was talked about, I was embarrassed, I know some of the guys left their medals there in the room, they didn't want to take them home. done but the amateur ideal had been muddled while NBA players were barred from competing in the Olympics.

Professionals from other leagues abroad could play if you played in Europe for money. You were an amateur, but if you played. You played in the NBA for money, you were a professional, and therefore our players were ineligible. Those other countries were using professionals playing against 18- or 19-year-olds. That is really unfair, to change the hypocrisy, although it was the central objective of a European named Boris. the director of FIBA, the World Basketball Federation, was very determined to elevate basketball to the highest possible level of international sports and if the whole world knew that the best players in the world are not participating in the Olympic Games, that did a second-class event, so in 1989 Stankovitch issued a resolution to allow professionals from all leagues to compete in the Olympics, but in the United States, the NBA was lukewarm that we wanted to be good partners with FIBA ​​to grow the sport of basketball, but we weren't particularly eager we didn't know what it would mean we didn't know if our players would want to do it we didn't know what the logistics were but the vote passed and NBA players were eligible for the Olympic Games, now the problem was not if the American professionals could play, but if the best players wanted to play against the only The guy that you know we were a little worried about was probably Michael the thinking at the time was Michael Jordan plays 36 holes of golf 90 days during the summer what the hell is he going to be doing playing basketball I was hoping they wouldn't ask me to participate and i was trying to find a funny way to turn him down i've done the olympic thing before and when rothorn called me and asked me i wasn't going to find out my appeal to him was that you're the best player in the world this is bigger than the finals from the NBA and you know we need you theirs, well who else plays?

I mean all the good players that are going to play know that I'm not going to play alone, so Michael Jordan waited to hear more and Rod Thorn made the next call from him. he jumped in first and said he wanted to play that would get guys who want to participate too I think if the magic hadn't been on that team I don't think it would have been as spectacular as it was and end our careers it was important to both of us once that you have guys like magic and Larry committing to the team and suddenly it becomes something very very special to represent the USA is already a great honor, but knowing that you are going to be on a dream team is a unique experience in Life Magic Bird and David Robinson weren't alone in their girlfriend they called the bigwigs we're the Navy SEALs we had to go there and kick some ass and take names with those stars and the Utah Jazz tandem of John Stockton and Karl Malone the team dream was starting to take shape it doesn't matter if you call me lazy i got the call i didn't feel like that i deserved to be called but i wasn't really going to tell them i was like yeah man me don't even think about saying who else s on the team he was.

I'm like, yeah, I'm good, yeah, Charles Barkley's abs. Ability was never in question but his attitude was what I learned early in Philly no matter what I see so from this day on I'll see what the hell I want to see and some people will like it and some people won't. but after a series of incidents on and off the field, the least of the committee's concerns was what Berkeley would say. They asked me to speak to him. He was so honored that we even thought of asking him. He convinced me that you would win. I have no problem with me now with the team almost complete.

Rod Thorn having enough talent secured to get back to where he started representing my country was a big thing but I think you know the biggest motivation for me was now that I get to spend time with some of the guys that I compete against all the time Clyde Drexler from Portland rounded out the list of NBA players, while the last spot on the list was reserved for a Duke fan Christian Laettner coming off back-to-back NC doubleheaders, there's the pass. too late in any other Olympic year, Laettner might have been the team's biggest star, but on this team he was fine being last on the bench.

I say this to people all the time and it might surprise them but my most enjoyable year was my freshman year because they don't expect anything from you except carry the luggage wash the laundry and get our donuts and that's easy the hardest is being the leader in may 1991 two months before the olympics the team consisted of one college student and 11 future hall-of-celebrities the man put it all together was the stolid chuck daly okay the whole chuck outfit looked aside, it was the guy who seemed to own the arena, but would also push the broom, his hair was beautiful, his suits were immaculate. he wanted to win but he wanted to look good like the head coach of the Detroit Pistons Daley did they won two straight championships in 1989 and 90 the Pistons were nicknamed the bad boys they are aggressive and some said the style of dirty play was never more apparent than In their memorable playoff battles with Michael Jordan's bowls, Chicago didn't love each other, so when Daley was named the dream team coach, many wondered how he would handle working with the Bulls' biggest star.

They asked me to fight some. demons and some problems, but the trainer was well acquainted with the task of managing personalities, he was closed to the bad guys and if you did not train, they did not train anyone. A player a day wouldn't be coaching at the Olympics, but it was his star point guard in Detroit, Isaiah Thomas, who had controversially been left off the team's roster, no matter how much people try to say now, you know it wasn't. Big deal, it was a big deal. I talked to Isiah earlier in the year about the aspect of it, he wasn't on the team and he wasn't comfortable with it.

I'm sure he's very hurt. He's a player who deserves it, but you know he didn't get drafted. Thomas was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career, but he too was seen. by many like the greats The first cultivator of the bad boy image in Detroit Isiah was the general, he was the guy who would get up with his teammates and tell them to hit their butts, do what you have to do. I despise the way he played the game. he walks well cant speak for michael but i dont think he was going to go dave now its been speculated that your icy relationship with isiah thomas is the reason he didnt get selected whats your reaction to that ? one of the stipulations they put on me even before I committed that there was no part of the team.

He was getting strong hints that he wasn't just, you know, he came from higher places that they didn't want. I was a Thomas. on the table certainly things are pointing at me because of our relationship and of course about the way the end game ended between the toy and Chicago we were picking the group right after the Bulls eliminated the Pistons and it was a very bad moment for Isiah everyone had i fresh in their mind, the image of Isiah walking off the court as the Pistons walked off the court before the final bell. I think he left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, but no, since Jordan and the team are done answering questions about Isaiah with training.

Camp is getting closer to a bigger question that needs to be answered: how would the 12 stars that were selected play together? a lot of eagles in a gym and on a team they all wanted their form to shine and show why they were a part of this team with all these stars on the team if it comes to the last shot y'all know where I have a Nico don But between us we have a reason to have an ego, each of us felt like we were all and when practice started that first day all the players seemed to be trying to prove how good they were, it was a great competition. competitive practice and I'm thinking we're all on the same team Patrick looks I don't play this Dave I don't play you here Michael so I don't want to be on Team MAGIX I want to play him every Michael Jordan's assessment at the time was that he's good , but it's never Magic Johnson in my competitive nature.

I want to use whatever I can get together so I can win in an event department. power forward position, so I want to show that I was the best power forward in the world. Charles, yes, he is a great talent. I think he is better than me? Hell no, so let's do this out of time. Very good for the first practice. Berkeley drives to the baseline and Karl Malone jumps in as this part. We just drenched it so hard it was an amazing play. I felt like a man. I can't believe I'm part of this practice.

A few days later, the team had a chance to acclimate to playing on the same side Chuck Daly had scheduled to fight against a select group of college players, a group excited to take on their idols. it really makes me happy my whole thought process was don't be ashamed and that was kind of the theme for me like just hanging in there a lot of those people have looked up to Berkeley Malone those people spoke with confidence you know I think it's going to be a good game until you decide for college players it was a chance to see how they would stack up against the best in the world for coach daly it was a chance for his stars to become one unit i think we are somewhere between the mentality of an all-star game and trying to come together as a team, so we have to continually work on this.

Gally had been hired for his ability to handle personalities and egos and when the fight started that became evident in his players they had left one of their biggest weapons mozi going somewhere else the non fan would think well they are going there and everyone is going to want their own ball and Jordans is going to hog the ball and you know the magic will be dribbling all over the place in fact it was the exact opposite they were cloudy it was like it didn't want to start you know you do before realizing a select team was beating us at 10:00 we didn't know how to play each other we didn't want to step on anybody's toes or hurt the Eagles and these young Keys were killing us we weren't in it that andwe paid for it chris webber was a man i thought boy those are the guys come on this league could get out of here bobby hurley was dominant i had some success penetrating and collapsing the defense and our energy our excitement to play all of those things worked in our favor bobby early on he didn't play two seasons in the nba however he exposed the only weakness they might have had which is defending against fast guards they were playing very well then i realized michael jordan is not playing.

I'm saying something Chuck then he said we're good you know we're good every day he watched his players fail to make up the deficit and in their first contact with outside competition the dream team lost the story their coach didn't want them to the press knew. his hands remember chuck said as soon as the game was over we were getting ready to let the media and that it was a racist marker the media comes in tens if not hundreds they can feel something can you feel it attention or do you feel something in the air. the teams. they pose for a photo together they both are not sure what to make of what 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 at how much Jordan played and how he subdues to the guys in not picking up without making any adjustments i knew what i was doing it was legit it felt tremendous you know what we were doing that day you know they couldn't stop it there are kids who believe in santa claus and the easter bunny and now that they're grown I hate to burst your bubble, but it was a game of thrones, not many people would have done it and it did.

It was gratifying for Chuck to get our asses beat like that because now we had to listen to it. just saying you could lose i have to fix it his callers in his hair his speech was anyone can be beaten so you gotta be ready to play and i think that's the only speech that gave us the message got across i mean sure you know chuck no I could have been happier. I'm sure it was brilliant of Chuck to be able to orchestrate that and play along like he didn't. Why did he tell you guys that we probably would have blown it the day after he finished training camp? with a rematch against the college guys and once the game started it all made sense again things would drastically change we show you why why we are who we are we pretty much won it by a hundred they couldn't score and by the way Jordan played a lot more of that next game before the dream team could play in the 1992 Olympics they had to qualify the place to do it was Portland Oregon and the tournament of the Americas would be the public's first chance to see NBA stars together in one game especially Jordan Bird and Magic Dale had asked all three to be team captains, but Jordan had turned it down.

I knew how much it meant to both of them because they never got a chance to play in the Olympics, so I would say you know what Chuck, don't worry about me, you know? Let these old dogs work their magic and Bird were not only the oldest players on the team, they were also the most revered. They had entered the league together in 1979 and embarked on a rivalry that had redefined the NBA and, along the way, their personal admiration for each other. he had grown up Maddie was just a great basketball player, he is the best I have ever seen, you know, amazing in 1992 they would have the opportunity to share the ball, but the opportunity would come at the end of their careers.

Hurd had given his soul. to the game, but after so many years, his body was betraying him and the back problems got to the point where you couldn't play, I mean, you couldn't, you couldn't think, you couldn't move, you couldn't run, you know if you you can't feel your feet it's hard to run larry was on the fence because of this bag so i said lb man you gotta play man you gotta 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.

I don't want him to play. They want to play with him or against him because no one knew what disease, man. You know they say put on some blood. You have HIV. going and that's what his truck decided to do just keep pushing keep going the magic had made a cameo appearance at the 1992 All-Star Game and had turned his attention to the Olympics in hopes of an encore of his life alongside his old rival our careers were really over and it was something i thought had to happen for both of us his debut would take place at the rose garden in portland with his team needing a medal in the tournament of the americas to qualify for the olympics it seemed a foregone conclusion for almost everyone, including their early opponents who were completely astounded even before the game started the Cuban team spontaneously as they fell to their knees as if 12 popes had come on Easter Sunday at that moment the idea that this is just a basketball game has been vandalized it was a surreal feeling i made it here to kick y'all and they want to take pictures with us ted then the game begins the magic and Larry walk out together two guys who had saved the lake wouldn't be playing this game without those two and the magic passes the ball Larry makes the firs t basket I mean yeah it just doesn't get any better that in the usa was underway and the result was a thing of beauty and no one seemed more excited to share the court than the co-captains opening night was a smashing success but the result was never in doubt at the end of the game fans in Portland decided they wanted a curtain call from a three-time MVP, the crowd begins to cheer very, very poorly for the actress and, as she has done so many other times in her career, Larry Bird lived up to it.

Under the circumstances, it was a virtually flawless performance, the final margin of victory was 77 points. and inverted magic led the way for magic in particular after a year out of the game the victor held a special kind of meaning would hiv ever think he would ever get a chance to play a game of basketball and then basketball for the United States was there therapy? for me and I needed it in the worst way and then there was the matter of making sure Michael Jordan knew that he was back with the magic too and Michael had that little something extra, something to p I turned to each other.

I took it upon myself to always shoot with Michael, okay. MJ free throws today. He was the first to get to fifty or we had little games. Who was the better shooter? I didn't want to give up that 80s control in a sense even though we were going to go in the night you know he missed a whole year so who can win will have bragging rights at the end of this ride no you can get too close to my voice five michael's i always try to let people know he is a top dog and in whatever it is just his competitive mode.

I am the youngest with the oldest statesman. He is a young cub. I'm the big dog here. Michaels, can you beat this challenge? He was left in doubt when it came to facing the competition in the tournament of the Americas. The team stuck together. We went out on the court in Portland, you know, we own the house. We wanted to show it to the fans that they will be representing. they put a message around the world to be like you guys you can quit you foreigners can quit perfectly the americans won their six games in the tournament by an average of 50 points okay Larry your impressions of good play the gold medal was no surprise but what was unexpected were the team's interactions with their opponents, who showered them with praise before, after, and even during games.

The tournament of the Americas fulfilled its purpose. The USA qualified for the Barcelona games and gave the world its first glimpse of what was to come next. that summer to win the gold medal and bring it back to be on July 18, 1992 with the Barcelona Olympics a week away the US men's basketball team. the Olympics the luxurious setting on the Mediterranean Sea already fit with he may have been the most famous team in the world Monte Carlo is one of those glamorous cities and here we were with the most glamorous team ever so he's kind of rock star sort of like the players were relaxed and confident and willing to admit there was more to the trip than just basketball this is like spring break in megiddo the opulent resort town was a playground waiting to be explored and the players weren't ashamed to have fun oh y'all feel me now look, you saw it on a call, it was great, it was just awesome.

I was on the beach trying to enjoy some of the scenery taking all the teams on the aviation train. I need to bring a team here. All we got back to practice was straight into the pool with all these girls landing topless. I'll be in that pool for both the next two days. i think i'm on the swim team in barcelona we're all out there with our loved ones all these women walking around topless coming so i started the bike boom dad is taller look normally you tell everyone no but why this lady comes over you're gonna s signs her autograph my wife looks at me like the best part is patrick ewing buying the beer at the pool you know $7 beer never heard of that of course patty didn't drink you know how much beer that was a thing not you What I want to do is drink beer with Larry Bird and Larry Bird drinks Budweiser which though wild is the strongest beer in the world and I had a headache for two days they were used to being opponents but Monte Carlo was proving to be the perfect place to find common ground michael jordan enjoys his golf as does chuck daly i grab the couch got caught blue icon a chuck played almost every day if not every day ace come here that can be green chuck chuck would plan his practice schedule in our golf town that was ideal for me play a little basketball play a little golf and yes monte carlo sounds like basketball the relationship a coach has in boss with his main guy it's incredibly important chuck's ability to make michael so awesome because he thinks how bitt er enemies they had to be chuck came up with the defense that took jordan out of his mind and yet here they are playing the golf together Jordan could really have unbelievably bad feelings towards Chuck Chuck understood them and embraced them, that was something that brought Chuck and I together forever.

It's been something I treasure as much as being a part of the Jordan Golf team was just one part of the whirlwind schedule that his teammates were finding out was just the way he liked it 36 ​​holes that I'll play tomorrow would also make him do more and being ready to practice and play as much as anyone the thing i remember most was going out and playing golf with michael jordan before a game and i thought i'll be exhausted tonight and michael had ridiculous energy and he was phenomenal. I felt like he was running in quicksand a bit and therefore he gave me a whole new level of respect for ten of the freaks of nature that he really is.

We play cards in the magic room at five. clock in the morning almost every night it was so much fun it was like a bionic guy or you played cards you played golf you played basketball i don't know when he finally fell asleep after a ball game he was laying down and i was looking at our size i think it's the first time he has gone to sleep on the whole trip after a few days in Monte Carlo the players were back on the pitch for an exhibition against the French team everyone had their eyes on one team we could feel it was such talent in such incredible skill and it was a great pleasure to see the Americans win the game easily even if their performance was far from perfect it was a terrible game and we seem half interested and so Chuck the next morning in Monte Carlo even though all the Everybody's a little hungover and tired, he had to kick their butts.

Chuck says that he's fine, this is what's going to happen. Let's play like a real game. Don't play four quarters. Ja d his fight we were not going to change that team at any time you have your father I have my fight we gave them the boy from the university you can have christian laettner we don't want him you can have him he is there waiting to tag but it was about pride and college boy couldn't help any of the team members. Michael Jordan told him to shut up and when Adam told him this is what I'm going to do with you.

I'm telling you, I said don't slide, you better get it back, you better get it back. I turned red Adam jumps I'm nothing you're nothing Barkley so I lowered his energy it's too high he feels like he's in for a chance to prove himself show that hey look I'm still Magic Johnson I'm still mastering the magic of this game was the same you're not the type and we've got other players on him in his gym doe it doesn't take much to get michael off just a little something to tweak him and he never liked the move mike always had that lookwhen you see that look then you know just start the damn ball and get out of the way as much as possible it was five out of five we could see in monte carlo it was gravitating towards good michael imagine the magic was hesitant to give up its place at the top of the mountain and michael being michael needed to say i'm not on top of the mountain now maggie says look mba it's not yours i'm still here mike it's like old now this is mine and the funny thing was larry was sitting next to him you got it it's his Chuck realized the competition aspect was giving a little too high he wanted impractical he wants to finish if he wants to keep playing because we just kicked his ass even the magic had to admit the landscape of basketball had changed forever me and larry we were talking and michael walks in and says theres a new sheriff in town and we both hit each other like no luck Bonni Carla was kind of a tipping point, the wall started to come down, you know, when you play against each other, you have these rivalries, these were my teammates, now they're guys who know I look for support, it seemed like we became more friends. more than anything else the players went to barcelona they headed to the olympics unequivocally as a team the united states men's basketball team landed in barcelona for the olympics on july 24, 1992 at the store it was an experience unlike anything else that they or the sports world had ever seen the plane landing in barcelona helicopters flying over it wow what's all the fuss what happened and then we realized they were there for us that was the first time we realized how popular and how huge this was it was like boys if we lose it will be like the biggest surprise in the history of sports Berkeley was right there was no margin for error a reality the rest of the team openly accepted in their first press conference in Spain I know I have a lot afraid to fail because I can't go home if we don't want to go even though from a small little place and the summer I feel those 250 people there I said I can't edo come back brilliant means well handled endless questions as only he could, how did you feel in 1972 when the soviet union beat the usa and that wild game?

Well, I had just failed my kindergarten entrance exam. That's really all they know. camera, we tend not to say certain things, why don't you guys get off your ass and go home? Berkeley says things we would never think of, we're going to have a little revenge in our hearts for 72 and 88 David he I can't say that because he's a Christian, but he's a man. You don't speak honest enough with the media. You have to tell them what you're really thinking. I said Charles. You talk too much to the media. You have to stop telling them everything. you're thinking when charles was asked about the er opponent team's fir his prediction was as honest as ever i don't know anything about angola but angola is in trouble a few moments ago the dream team boarded the bus in front of their hotel along the ramblas towards their first match in Barcelona with the Angolans I can remember the first game, the real game came out of a locker room and stepped onto the pitch and finally I said to myself, well I can't believe this, I'm here at that moment, we were in serious olympic mode this may actually be the biggest mismatch.

All in all it was a tremendous atmosphere because there was an appreciation of how great the USA is. The players were after the first half. Barclays' pre-game prediction seemed spot on, but in the second, Charles ran into some trouble. Other players in Angola. I thought they were playing dirty and told the old man no I don't even know if he understood hey man ease the elbow let it go twice you can see the frustration with Barclays and the next time I just tanked. until the day he died charles claims the guy nudged him three times i said charles you know you're

full

of shit no he's not true i didn't have it all back before the incident people always say turn the other cheek if you turned out she too can turn another cheek I thought, what are you doing?

John, the guy is half your size, but you know Charles is an equal opportunity abuser. autograph charles i mean you i think he's not intimidated i think it's like intimidation maybe his personality thing the game may have ended in a loss but then the result was overshadowed by the elbow controversy charles made you look like The Ugly Americans we were trying not to do we said kid look man you're a reflection of all of us so if you do they won't write the article on that Berkeley kid they'll say the Berkeley dream team had tainted a debut dream game for the Americans, but up against Croatia Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan grabbed the spotlight with the spotlight on their matchup with one of the best players in Europe, Toni Kukoc The main story leading up to this game involves Toni Kukoc, national team second-round pick for the Chicago Bulls back in 1989, the Bulls made a big push into the system last season at the time, general managers around the league were n trying to find gems who know how to make their discoveries abroad and Krause thought this guy could play in the NBA w Ell Jordan and Pippen had been winning back-to-back titles.

Chicago general manager Jerry Krause had been publicly courting Kukoc to join the Bulls. Krause was recruiting this guy and talking about how good he was. now he sees another kid who loves more than he loves his own so we weren't playing Toni Kukoc we were playing Jerry Krause in a Croatian uniform but unfortunately for the real Toni Kukoc he was now the target of both best offense in the world players who were debating who would protect him no no I don't have it I don't have it I'm looking at Michael and Scottie and they're ready for blood as a man we knew the world would be watching we knew everyone wanted to see what Toni Kukoc looked like and we were going to give him the worst experience he'd ever had on the basketball court Pippen took on the starting assignment of following Kukoc and harassed the Croat from the opening whistle, it was hard to run down half court inaudibly and with the vault and hear someone else get it Tony for good he wasn't getting a shot and he wasn't going to score anything for four and he didn't contribute anything, we wanted to go defend him on the bench and after Pippen wore down Kukoc. it was Jordan's turn, Kukoc, he reads it, the guys were all over him, here's a 302.

I had a question to get my teammates to join the game, but like what's going on, can't you see they're really trying to get you off the court and I'm like so I guess that's how you play a game Pippen Jordan and the Americans are sailing to another victory this one by 38 points but domination had its detractors this all star team is almost too good is it a positive or negative the question was now being asked if the dream team was too good for its own good this all star team is almost too good if some think we should go back to college it has been too easy i think that then we should ban African runners from the 10,000 meters because they also make it look so easy, this is the best we can do and this is wonderful for the sport of basketball. and you have some feeling about it 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 the world beyond the embrace of the the dream team is universal you have a rue is going to excel who against picasso i mean no seriously they supported awesomeness at work i kept thinking the attention would dissipate they are going to play the first game they are going to win by 60 people we are going back and see the track 60 point lead isn't it? kept building and building and building another rout 127 workers were trying to get autographs the security people are trying to get autographs all the athletes were scanning like a parade people were perceiving us as a superhero the guy on the bench was taking pictures and me it said wow we're having an effect here it was as if the president of the united states was in the middle of a caravan going through the streets it reflects the beatles where there are thousands and thousands of people waiting all the time we're like wow this is amazing , no member of the dream team reveled in the Olympic experience more than Charles Barkley after throwing the controversial elbow against Angola.

Barkley had emerged as the team's best visible player, everyone always had the same question how much of an idiot is Charles Barkley, hey Jack what am I going to be undercover in Sports Illustrated for this? It should be on the cover and then every time you would spend time with him. you know you just realized that he was the most likable act in not just all of sports but possibly all of pop culture right away. I told my editors that I said, well, the number one angle here is what Char is. doing them and if you wanted the answer to that question well you had to follow the crowds like we don't want them because we don't know how safe it is and I'm like a friend I met the Olympics I won't stay in my room all the time, so barkley walked las ramblas like the man of the people if ever there was one and i walked up and down la ramblas every night and the people were a fantastic rat and wanted to take pictures we could be inside the hotel soon we heard the big roar we said there are jobs so the boy would walk and then thousands would follow him everywhere he went you know he was the pied piper Charles would go to town and look for the Angolan players and hang out on the boulevards at night was the most memorable person from the 1992 olympics I just saw this touch he had I don't think anyone else in the world could have done it besides Charles Barkley at the end of the day he was the best ambassador for America.

Barclays was celebrated for his experience. Running the Olympics on his own terms more quietly one of his teammates found a way to do the same we had motorcycle escorts and bus tour traffic like Dick Tracy but this day we got stuck in traffic we just we're sitting there sitting and he said his advice that's come on come on someone wants to go with me i'm headed he would get off the bus and his family ran into him he started walking right in the middle of everyone and no one knows him yet i'm sitting on the bus and walking around the street i'm sitting myself i would give anything to do what it just did see you guys this is called the rhombus see all the footprints so the missing rhombus is like times square or something there are so many people walking two meters one i'm more or less than average size of everyone else on that little hike so we're walking with my family and we have the Cameron no one notices I mean it's the glasses of sun that are

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of them must be high from America we're about to we're about to Massachusetts you've been watching the dream team at all they're pretty good, aren't they?

Yes, there is no attention at all. We finally met this lady who had the dream team and all the pictures of her on her t-shirt. She started talking very excited about each of the players I mentioned. you had a chance to meet somebody good jeff he's a great player so you've got all the players right there on your jersey there's charles the only one you've ever seen hey guys do you know any of those guys there I think my oldest son Houston ruined the surprise. That is your father. Too bad he's not here. I do. the unlikely friendships that developed behind the curtain was a unique mix, you know, Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing became best friends.

I have a white man from Indiana and I have a brother from Jamaica. Patrick said that he could choose his opinion, we probably would. Fortunately, two of the most unlikely people you thought would be friends, but if you look, not only did Larry and I become great friends, but all those guys became best friends, we all enjoyed each other, we all enjoyed the trip and we knew each other as men and then when we got to the field, it was even better. Dream team chemistry proved to be the hallmark of their success, as the players got closer to what they came for: huge margins of victory.

It may have been a testament to their dominance, but the numbers couldn't capture what made watching them so unforgettable. The guys played the best basketball you've ever seen in your life. It was literally like great poetry and a great honor. Sometimes you feel like you're watching. a performance basketball competition this was fun this was what basketball was supposed to be like 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 showed how much his popularity had exploded . Say there's a thing about Michael Jordan.

I have been with other celebrities in my life. I've never seen people react the way they do to him. People will go crazy when they see it. In every corner of the world, there was someone who just wanted to see him. he, no one hadThey draw the gravity of Michael Jordan. Jordan had initially arrived in Barcelona reluctantly, but an early morning trip just before the gold medal game revealed just how significant the Olympic experience had become for him. What time in the morning is it now? six thirty-six quarters quarters seven something like that we can go down then George Hirsch George how did it go last night I hid in the wall I didn't make a bet you got up so early I remember getting up early to go into the stadium that's what I remember most about the Olympics Stadium Olímpico imagine all the athletes that have been here before us it's amazing when I was able to Moses 122 races in a row I think everyone has something Church I think this is something my sons in love one day the dream team faced Croatia again in the gold medal game, giving the world a more lasting impression of their supremacy.

Team USA came to send a message tonight: we wanted to win with one to dominate, but how? we did it by sharing the ball including everyone we did it as a true team and they keep all of that the United States never anything never there was no doubt the dream team would win gold in 1992 butAs they returned to the field to receive their medals, the moment still overwhelmed We saw many tears from the players. It was a very proud moment for me because every time you represent your country, you know it's a proud thing. It gives me chills. it was a reward that i had never felt so would i ever come to you to do it on that stage with that group of guys some memory i will never forget anything in my life ever felt like standing on that podium i got goosebumps every Every time I heard the national anthem after that, it had a different meaning to me.

I knew what it really meant, you know, he's a little boy growing up. I used to watch the Olympics on TV with my dad and all he talked about was the star. the sequined banner and the gold medal made him proud to be an american to be on that podium that night and to receive it my father you have been so proud all those emotions just got the better of me i have to be one of the boys one more time for my country i said man I never forget this moment, you know if this is him, this is how I wanted to go out, but when the medal ceremony was over, another realization began to set in as I left.

I remember thinking that the whole dream had come to an end next season. all Olympians except Magic Johnson and Larry Bird would return to the NBA Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen would win their third title against Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns en route to six championships overall the last three with Toni Kukoc eventually other members of the team would also win titles, but every NBA player on the dream team would make it into the Hall of Fame. However, it was what they did together that summer that had the biggest impact on the game, an impact that continues to grow today, truly elevating basketball and giving birth to international. stars that had nothing to do with those games in '92 but took so much from them that we made the game a world game you know I talked to Tony Parker I talked to Ginóbili I talked to Dirk Nowitzki those guys said their first love, basketball, It started with the dream team and I am very proud that the world can change a lot in 20 years, but there are moments in time that you never forget, no matter how much time has passed, no matter how long. something else has changed in your life since 20 years later, everyone has maintained ties to the game in one way or another and everyone talked about the summer of '92 as if it happened yesterday, an experience that is still unlike any other and its remarkable basketball lives.

I have never had so much fun being with someone, everyone got along, there was no ego, we had fun, you know clearly, everyone reminds me that I never wanted a championship, so for me it was like winning the championship, winning a gold medal and passing hang out with these guys. the reward itself is really only a small part of the story it's what the gold medal stands for what will always unite these men this is like this fraternity which is pretty amazing i don't think you can ever get 1 1 member of the Hall of Fame and play all of that once you know on a team that's unheard of we go on the bus we come back we leave the hotel ola ola outside your window changed the sport as we know it they showed the world how to play basketball one of the team members You can say that I don't think we'll see anything like this again.

It's an insult to coach someone else for that team. Look good. it hasn't happened and that's the dream ninety two gold medalist olympics usa basketball dream team nba original