0:00

This is the Dream Team Tapes, a

0:02

Diversion Podcasts original series

0:05

in association with I Heart Radio.

0:09

This is the story of the United States Olympic

0:11

basketball team that won gold in

0:13

Barcelona in known

0:16

worldwide as the Dream Team.

0:24

First of all, let me say get after late afternoon,

0:27

Um, because of HIV

0:31

virus that I have attained,

0:34

I will have to retire from the Lakers

0:37

today. Many of us still remember where

0:39

we were when we heard the announcement.

0:42

Now, I'm not going to compare to the assassination

0:44

of a president. Of course, I remember

0:47

exactly where I was on November Mrs

0:52

Harris's freshman English class at

0:54

Okrest High School, when John Kennedy

0:56

was shot in Dallas, or the

0:58

day that planes flew to the World Trade

1:00

Center. Even I

1:03

was in my living room organizing a charity

1:06

golf event for the day. But

1:08

this was November seven.

1:12

Around one o'clock that day, I had gotten a call

1:14

from somebody in the NBA saying

1:16

that Magic Johnson was going to retire

1:19

from basketball due to a medical

1:21

reason. What the hell,

1:25

You'll have to come into the office to write a story. Sports

1:27

Illustrators Basketball editor Sandy Padway

1:29

told me, Now, what you have

1:32

to understand, and what many younger listeners

1:34

will find it hard to understand was

1:36

that we weren't concentrating on the retirement

1:39

part, or what it's going to do to the

1:41

Lakers, or what it means to the

1:43

n b A, or what it means

1:46

to the dream team. What people

1:48

of my age we're thinking was we're

1:50

gonna watch him die. Irvan

1:55

Johnson called Magic was

1:57

to our collective mind, a

2:00

dead man walking. Roy

2:03

Johnson, who was an editor at s I in a

2:05

book collaborator with Magic, flew

2:07

to l A that day to shepherd through a first

2:09

person story with Magic. That

2:12

was the power of s I. Back then we

2:14

got Magic's voice into the magazine.

2:17

Now. The story I wrote for that week's magazine

2:19

carried the single cover building Magic.

2:22

The photo was Magic taking what he called

2:25

his junior junior skyhook. No

2:27

other writing than that single word magic.

2:31

In the story, I conjured up all that was special

2:34

about Magic and ended with this quote

2:36

from San Antonio Spurs veteran forward

2:38

Terry Cummings, the Lakers

2:40

will never be the same team and

2:43

the NBA will never be the same league.

2:45

It bore the single word headline, unforgettable.

2:49

Man. It sure looked and read

2:52

like we were talking about a dead person.

2:56

Hi, and welcome to episode four of the Dream

2:58

Team Tapes, Tom Jack mc alum.

3:01

Today we're gonna talk about several things. The

3:03

organization of the Dream Team once they got together,

3:06

the shocking while some thought so, defeat

3:09

of the Dream Team in a scrimmage to a college all

3:11

star team, the division

3:13

of leadership within the Dream Team, and the singular

3:16

what should I call it bravery hutzpah,

3:18

a combination of the two that led

3:20

a man who most of us thought was going

3:22

to die to the pinnacle of

3:25

the basketball world in Barcelona.

3:28

We'll return to that, but let's figure out where we are

3:30

now. The team has picked. They've

3:33

arrived for the first practice session at

3:35

you see San Diego. In

3:37

a word, it's a zoo,

3:40

hundreds and hundreds of reporters

3:42

working outside. To a

3:44

non journalist, maybe even to a young journalist,

3:46

this is exciting now. Two

3:48

hard bitten veterans like myself. That

3:51

was my eight year covering the league, and I was about

3:53

to turn forty three. It was a nightmare.

3:56

And here's what I wrote about that scene in

3:59

Dream Team. There we were the

4:01

Nations and some of the world's sporting press, maybe

4:03

five hundred of us on the steps

4:05

of the University of California, San Diego,

4:08

shuffling around with equal parts anticipation

4:11

and exasperation, waiting for the

4:13

doors of the Holy Temple to open, at

4:15

which point we would prostrate ourselves at

4:17

the feet of the Dream Team and grovel like

4:19

face down chickens pecking in a field

4:22

for any casually tossed out nuggets

4:24

they might deign to cast our way.

4:27

Okay, that's off my chest. Now. We

4:29

were eventually allowed access to the

4:31

Holy Temple, and there was the first

4:34

sight of them together. It was,

4:36

I grant you exciting or it was

4:38

certainly at least interesting in its own way,

4:40

But what had already happened

4:42

would have been more interesting to see or

4:45

listened to. I had to reconstruct

4:47

all this later. The night before there

4:49

had been a team meeting, and before that a

4:52

couple of side meetings involving the head

4:54

coach, Chuck Daily. The

4:56

first one was between Daily and his assistants

4:59

Mike Saski and p J. Carlesimo.

5:02

Coach K describes it. In the first meeting,

5:04

Duck said, the very first

5:06

thing I want you guys to do,

5:09

and you have whatever is worn

5:11

to ignore. He

5:14

said, we have a def players

5:16

in the world, and you guys and

5:18

p J, you two are going

5:21

to look at every little thing which you'd have to do

5:23

in your own world, but in our world most

5:26

of it it's not that important. Learned

5:29

to ignore. It's one of

5:31

my favorite anecdotes from the book,

5:33

these two eager to please college coaches

5:36

coming in and Chuck saying, okay,

5:39

let's chill a little bit. Fellas. Another

5:50

meeting Daily had was with Magic and

5:52

Jordan's he sets us down, like when

5:54

I was like, uh,

5:57

you guys going to be and

6:00

the leaders of the team,

6:02

and Michael before had

6:04

been Michael's that Magic and

6:07

he deferred to me. Now, Bird,

6:09

who had every bit as big a claim to be

6:11

ceremonial captain as Magic, had

6:14

no problem with Magic being the front

6:16

man. They were in fact named co captains,

6:19

as Bird remembers it, but most of the

6:21

captainish duties went to Magic.

6:23

We had a meeting egos luring Magic's captain,

6:26

but yet Magic sort

6:28

of took more of the big Magic. He sort

6:30

of took more of the role, no question,

6:33

That's how he is. And I understand that

6:35

there wasn't no eagle thing with me. If you want to

6:37

carry the flag out there, carre the flag. Now

6:40

there are appointed captains and there

6:42

are actual captains, and

6:44

there is no doubt who the real leader

6:47

of the Dream Team was. Here's

6:50

Patrick Ewing. You know, Michael was the leader,

6:52

even though Magic, you know he said all the things.

6:55

I mean, Michael, Michael, Michael. There

6:58

was an edge to the Jordan Magic relationship.

7:00

It really surfaces during the mystical the

7:03

Greatest Game that nobody ever saw, Scrimmage

7:05

and Monte Carlo, that is the subject

7:07

of the sixth podcast in this series, and

7:09

Bird figures into it. I

7:12

had a theory that Jordan was a little bit jealous

7:15

of the dual relationship that Magic and

7:17

Bird had. Jordan's

7:19

didn't have a co revolutionary,

7:21

an immortal buddy, as it were, to march

7:23

off into history and proclaim we

7:26

saved the league together. It was

7:28

always Magic and Bird as the eternal Alphonse

7:30

and Gaston, the joint subjects

7:32

of Jackie McMullen's great book when

7:34

the Game was ours, But it was

7:36

Michael alone, the eternal

7:38

solitary man. I'm

7:41

a one man guy in the morning,

7:44

same in the afternoon, one

7:47

man guy. When the sun goes down,

7:49

I wiss me one man to whom

7:53

what you'd prefer. I went for Neil Diamond, solitary

7:55

man instead of the great Rufus Wayne Wrights one

7:58

man guy. But Mike was

8:00

is a true one man guy,

8:03

and he never liked magics. Sometimes

8:06

subtle, sometimes overt claims

8:09

that the Dream Team belonged to him and Larry.

8:11

But but as much as a guy sometimes

8:14

didn't buy into the magic, I'm in

8:16

charge here thing. There is no

8:18

one anywhere that

8:21

could deny the fortitude, courage,

8:23

and yes, leadership that magic

8:25

showed in combating HIV.

8:29

He announced that he had the virus on November

8:31

seven, and

8:34

this happened on February nine, almost

8:38

exactly three months later,

8:41

show time in Orlando.

8:43

The final seconds, you're

8:48

not getting yes he is

8:52

six ladies

9:12

and gentlemen, it's just Tid Orchid

9:18

get deliver three

9:20

bread trades for Johnson at

9:23

the end of the game one and falling

9:25

away and as mother and father Urban Senior

9:28

from Lansing, Michigan there to leave this year.

9:30

That was the voice of Dick Enbergh calling down

9:32

the final seconds of the All

9:35

Star Game in Orlando, which ends with

9:37

magic guarded, okay,

9:39

kind of guarded by Isaiah making

9:42

a three point shot. Magic

9:44

played more minutes than anyone except Jordan's,

9:47

scored more points than anyone,

9:50

and handed out more assist than anyone nine

9:53

and of course won the MVP

9:55

Award. Only

9:57

ninety four days had passed since

10:00

the announcement that we thought was an

10:02

announcement of slow deaths, and

10:05

here he is not just not dying,

10:08

but apparently getting better, starring in the All

10:11

Star Game. And to answer everyone's question,

10:13

yes, God damn it, I will

10:15

be going to Barcelona. In

10:17

those three months, Magic had resumed

10:20

working out, started to eat healthy,

10:22

started to talk about HIV, reaching

10:25

out in his own magic way to others

10:27

with HIV aids literally

10:29

around the world. Now did

10:31

he have missteps? Of course,

10:34

he helped form a commission that managed to have no

10:36

one with HIV or any gay mail

10:38

on it, which at that time was a community

10:40

suffering from the plague more than anyone. But

10:43

Magic forged a head. Now there was

10:45

backlash, such as the comment by Dr

10:47

Brian Sando, the senior medical

10:49

director of the Australian Olympic Federation's

10:52

basketball program, quote

10:54

to be read by my Australian producer

10:56

Mark, I would certainly recommend that our

10:58

basketball let's not come pete with a

11:00

team in which Magic Johnson was

11:02

a member. That risk. You cannot

11:05

absolutely say it's navigating the care

11:07

basketballers. Come on, dude, But look

11:09

Sando was not some fringe guy. He

11:12

was a well known doctor whose death in two thousand

11:14

twelve was mourned throughout the Australian

11:16

sports world. So his was not an

11:18

out their opinion, and

11:20

it was shared by probably millions, including

11:23

some people close to Magic. In fact,

11:26

behind the scenes there was conversation

11:28

in USA basketball circles about

11:31

well, should we welcome Magic

11:33

back with open arms? Is it safe?

11:36

Is it okay? This is Rod

11:38

Thorne, a key committee member. It

11:40

was a death sentence. Um, you

11:42

know what happens if he gets to open cut

11:46

close risk. It

11:48

was always an issue written about a lot, so

11:51

Thorne said. There was much consulting with medical

11:53

people and eventually the decision

11:56

was made that Magic would be safe. But

11:58

according to Clyde Drexe, it was never

12:00

far from anyone's mind. In other words,

12:03

there were times, according to Drexler, when

12:05

people took it easy on Magic. Now that

12:07

was certainly true in the All Star game. But you

12:09

know, defense is not the watchword

12:11

of that day anyway, and I doubt it

12:13

was true by the time the Dream Team was assembled.

12:16

And it should be noticed that Clyde, who

12:19

sometimes says things that he later regrets,

12:22

was one of the staunchest defenders of Magic

12:24

when he decided to return to basketball.

12:27

If the doctors say it's safe, that's

12:30

okay with me, Drexler said at the time. Now

12:32

later, much later, after

12:34

the Dream Team got back to the States with the

12:37

gold medal, one member of

12:39

the Dream Team, Carl Malone, had lots of worries

12:41

about Magic playing. We'll talk about

12:43

that in the final episode. But all in all,

12:45

I firmly believe that when the history of the NBA

12:48

has written, somewhere near the first

12:50

page will be its contributions to

12:52

HIV AIDS. Understanding the

12:55

result of the resolute stand taken by

12:57

Commissioner David Stern that we will

13:00

be cowed by fear combined

13:02

with the undying determination of Magic

13:04

to keep on plan. Look, Magic

13:07

didn't become the first famous person to live

13:09

and thrive with the disease

13:11

purely because of his will. Let's not go full

13:13

out, Dr phil On this Magic had

13:15

one of the great AIDS researchers in the world,

13:18

Dr David Hoe, working with him

13:21

and a dedicated personal physician in Michael

13:23

Melman, and doing large part

13:25

to Magic's efforts. Research grew

13:27

by leaps and bounds in the months following

13:30

Magic's alling himself. But

13:32

it's just the fact that having a positive attitude

13:35

approaching any disease is a

13:37

good thing, and Magic was

13:39

the ultimate and positive attitude.

13:51

So let's get back to San Diego and

13:54

the early days of practice for the Dream Team.

13:56

The captain ship is pretty much figured out,

13:58

but still think act roles are being determined,

14:01

who leads on the court, who shoots, who

14:03

screens, who passes, Who's in

14:05

charge. Chuck Daily wanted

14:08

to get them an action right away, which is what you do

14:10

with pros. So USA Basketball

14:12

organized for a first class college

14:14

all star team, the kind

14:16

of team maybe literally the team

14:18

plus Christian Lightner that would have been

14:20

our Olympic team had competition not

14:23

been opened up to include NBA players.

14:26

So on the third day of practice, when the

14:28

mass has made our Daily heard

14:30

of Buffalo troop into practice,

14:32

we could tell something was wrong. Remember,

14:35

we could not watch what happened. Practices

14:37

were closed we spent our post practice

14:39

interview time trying to reconstruct what had happened,

14:42

which usually wasn't much. But

14:44

on this day June, something

14:48

had happened. Some of these college players

14:50

we've just got through playing against should be on this team.

14:52

But that

14:55

was Larry Bird's way of saying, we

14:57

got beat by the kids. So,

14:59

as it turns out, the Dream

15:01

Team had a loss in the first

15:04

game it played. Okay, not an

15:06

official loss. There was no box score,

15:08

no official wrap up, but the

15:10

College All Stars beat the Dream teamers

15:12

by a score of sixty two to fifty

15:15

four. At least that's the most

15:17

accurate score I've been able to piece together. Accounts

15:20

very widely, as

15:23

does the significance of the event.

15:25

Bird, as I recall, seemed piste off. Jordan

15:28

was piste off that day too, though for a different

15:31

reason. Daily didn't play him

15:33

in the scrimmage very much. And here's

15:35

how two players, first Chris Mullen and

15:37

then Charles Barkley evaluated

15:40

that scrimmage years later, and I think

15:42

I think it was more like the scrimmage for us in a

15:44

World Challenge family. There were First it

15:46

was early on, which was actually masked

15:49

by and I worked out that way. It was perfect

15:51

probably, and I do really After that an

15:53

Badge was like, well, ship together, we're

15:56

gonna be here, you know. And

15:58

then from then on were better.

16:02

We were kind of like just going through the motions

16:05

and they were feeling like he was gay seven

16:09

and they beat us. So

16:14

we got together that night and

16:17

the next day would beat him by let we see it would

16:19

beat them. Feel like we've

16:22

beat about third part point. We just started

16:25

kicking and we wouldn't score anything

16:27

where we just killed well maybe,

16:31

but there was lingering concern,

16:33

which was the way that the

16:35

Collegians, particularly Bobby Hurley,

16:38

the Duke point guard, who would have no doubt started

16:40

on the non Dream team Olympic team,

16:43

penetrated the Dream team defense

16:46

well, to be specific, how easily

16:48

he got past Magic, who was never

16:50

the best one on one defender even

16:53

in his salad days. It

16:55

was after that scrimmage of Daily and the coaches decided

16:58

any speedy guards in the Empics would be defended

17:01

by either Jordan or Pippen in the

17:03

next scrimmage with the Collegians. In fact, Daily

17:05

put Jordan on Hurley and as Grant

17:08

Hill told me, he could barely

17:10

get the ball pass mid court. Then that was

17:12

a harbinger of what Jordan would do to Tony Ku

17:14

coach and Sharrunus Marchalonis in the Olympics.

17:17

Those stories are coming up now

17:20

at the front of the line of those who firmly believed

17:22

there was nothing to worry about after the scrimmage

17:24

loss was Mike seki U just wanted

17:28

for one day the orchestrate.

17:30

Whether we lost it or not, it was only

17:33

a short twenty minute spring and

17:36

to let that our guys know that

17:39

you could look okay

17:42

and how it was officiated and

17:45

hardly said a word there in that scrimmage. Chuck

17:48

was So

17:52

everyone left San Diego and fairly good

17:54

spirits on route to Portland for the Tournament

17:57

of the Americas. The United States

17:59

Sea had to qualify for the Olympics due

18:01

to its third place finish in Like

18:05

most of the reporters following this crazy

18:07

circus, I was looking forward

18:09

to Portland's great city, nice bars,

18:12

good restaurants, and we would at

18:14

last get to see this team in action. And

18:17

we're the dream team members that excited. Well

18:20

for them, it would be nice to actually start playing.

18:23

But Portland's also proved to be the first

18:25

time when we really saw how much business

18:28

and marketing and the pursuit of

18:30

the dollar had to do with this whole thing, and

18:33

Michael Jordan's for one, would

18:35

not be happy. Thanks

18:37

for listening and I'll see you for episode five. If

18:48

you enjoyed The Dream Team Tapes, please

18:50

follow, rate, and review wherever

18:53

you get your podcasts. The

18:55

Dream Team Tapes is written and hosted

18:58

by Jack mckellum. It executive

19:00

producers Mark Francis and Scott

19:02

Waxman, Executive producer

19:05

for I Heart Media, is shown to Turne.

19:08

The Dream Team Tapes is a Diversion Podcasts

19:11

original series in association

19:13

with I Heart Radio. For

19:16

more podcasts from my Heart Radio,

19:18

visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple

19:21

Podcasts, or wherever you listen

19:23

to your favorite shows.