Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever

312 Pages·2013·1.59 MB·English

Copyright © 2012 by Jack McCallum All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing
Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McCallum, Jack
Dream team : how Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the greatest team of all time conquered
the world and changed the game of basketball forever / Jack McCallum.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-345-52050-0
1. Basketball teams—United States—History. 2. Basketball Players—United States—Biography. 3.
Olympic Games (25th : 1992 : Barcelona, Spain)—History. 4. Basketball—United States—History.
I. Title.
GV885.49.O43M35 2012
796.323—dc23 2012006253
www.ballantinebooks.com
Cover design: Faceout Studio
Cover photograph:
© John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images
v3.1
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
THUMBNAIL SKETCHES
INTRODUCTION
PROLOGUE: The Dream Team Gets a Name
1
BEFORE THE DREAM
CHAPTER 1: The Inspector of Meat—Pros in the Olympics? It Was His Idea, and Don’t Let
Anyone Tell You Different
CHAPTER 2: The Chosen One—Sneaker Porn Is Born
CHAPTER 3: The Commissioner and the Inspector of Meat—The NBA Sticks a Tentative Toe into
International Waters
CHAPTER 4: The Legend—“I’m the Three-Point King”
CHAPTER 5: The Outcast—Isiah Throws It Away … Then Throws It All Away
CHAPTER 6: The Magic Man—With a Junior Skyhook, He Claims His Place on Top
CHAPTER 7: The Shooter—Mullin Puts Down the Bottle and Puts Up the Numbers
CHAPTER 8: The Christian Soldier—The Admiral Takes an Olympic Fall
CHAPTER 9: The Chosen One—And So Does a Fork Become a Holy Relic
CHAPTER 10: The Old Guard—Here Today … Gone Real Soon
CHAPTER 11: The Shadow Man—For the Kid from Nowheresville, Arkansas, Playing Alongside
Michael Could Be a Real Headache
INTERLUDE, 2011: The Shadow Man—“Michael Got Away with a Lot of Things”
CHAPTER 12: The Coach—A Man of Both Style and Substance
CHAPTER 13: The Jester—Sir Charles Wants to Be an Olympian … He Just Doesn’t Always Act
Like One
CHAPTER 14: The Committee and the Dream Team—Okay, Superstars, Prepare for Deification.
… Uh, Isiah? Not So Fast
CHAPTER 15: The Chosen One—Michael Seems to Have It All … But “All” Comes with a
Burden
CHAPTER 16: The Spokane Kid and the Outcast—Isiah Sends an Olympic Message … and the
Mailman Follows with a Special Delivery
CHAPTER 17: The Dukie—Wanted: College All-American … Must Perform Scut Duty on
Summer Vacation
CHAPTER 18: The Glide—Clyde’s on the Team, and Jordan Shrugs
INTERLUDE, 2011: The Glide—“Jordan Was Damn Good … But Was He Better Than Me?”
2
THE DREAM UNFOLDS
CHAPTER 19: The Writer—And So It Begins … at a Cattle Call in San Diego
CHAPTER 20: The Magic Man—For a Man Who’s Dying, He Sure Looks Pretty Alive
INTERLUDE, 2011: The Magic Man—“It’s My Mind-Set That’s Kept Me Alive”
CHAPTER 21: The Coach—Chuck Has a Message for His Assistants: Make Sure to Ignore
CHAPTER 22: The One-Day Wonders—These Were the Best Days of His Life.… Surely Grant
Hill’s Wife Understands
CHAPTER 23: The Writer—The Action Begins in Portland and Everyone Wants a Piece
CHAPTER 24: The Legend—Larry Shoots and Scores … and at Night Lies Awake in Pain
CHAPTER 25: The Kid from Spokane—Daly Had a Pistons Phone Number in His Hand … and It
Wasn’t Isiah’s
INTERLUDE, 2011: The Kid from Spokane—“You’re Not Writing That Down, Are You?”
CHAPTER 26: The Chosen One—So Many Balls to Sign … and Jordan Almost Reaches His
Breaking Point
CHAPTER 27: The Writer, the Jester, and the Christian Soldier—Monsieur Barkley Will Indeed
Take a Hit on 19
INTERLUDE, 2011: The Christian Soldier—And What Shall a Man Do with All His Gifts?
CHAPTER 28: The Greatest Game That Nobody Ever Saw—“They Just Moved Chicago Stadium
to Monte Carlo. That’s All They Did”
CHAPTER 29: The Writer—“There’s Helicopters Up There—This Shit Is Serious!”
CHAPTER 30: The Jester and the Angolan—“I Did Not Know That He Would Make Violence
with Me”
CHAPTER 31: The Kukoc Game—“They Were Like Mad Dogs on Toni”
CHAPTER 32: The Coolest Room in the World—“Charles, We’re Sorry, but This Is a Ring Table.
…”
INTERLUDE, 2011: The Chosen One—“I Know My Father Was Up There Watching Me”
CHAPTER 33: The Tie-Dyed Darlings—Sabonis Wins Bronze, Then Sleeps It Off
CHAPTER 34: The Gold, the Flag, and the Chosen One—Some Wear Old Glory … Though Not
in the Service of Patriotism
CHAPTER 35: The Aftermath—Michael/Magic/Larry … and Then There Were None
CHAPTER 36: The Impact—“We Were Like Actors in a Play”
EPILOGUE: The Legend—“I Would’ve Liked to Have Touched Gold When I Was a Kid”
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Other Books by This Author
About the Author
“The older I get, the less interested I am in what’s new, and the more interested I am in
what endures.”
—JAMES HYNES
“To live is to fly
Low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes.”
—TOWNES VAN ZANDT
“I don’t know nuthin’ ’bout Angola. But
Angola’s in trouble.”
—CHARLES BARKLEY
1992 DREAM TEAM
THUMBNAIL SKETCHES
BARKLEY, Charles, 6′4″ forward; TNT commentator whose fame has
grown exponentially since retirement; boldly continues to play celebrity
golf despite universally lampooned swing; leading scorer for Dream
Team; known in Barcelona for rambling along Las Ramblas and elbowing
an Angolan.
BIRD, Larry, 6′9″ forward; at this writing still general manager of the
Indiana Pacers but longing for golden years; limited by aching back in
Barcelona that led to post-Olympics retirement; struck up unlikely
Dream Team friendship with Patrick Ewing; engaged Chris Mullin in
legendary H-O-R-S-E shootout.
DREXLER, Clyde, 6′7″ guard; businessman/golfer/Dancing with the
Stars veteran; wants to be NBA head coach; happy to have been Dream
Teamer but unhappy he was added late; remembered for wearing two
left shoes to practice and trying to get away with it; does not believe
Michael Jordan was better than he was.
EWING, Patrick, 7′0″ center; assistant coach with Orlando Magic and
perturbed he’s been unable to get interview for head coaching job; much
more popular with Dreamer teammates than with press; “Harry” half of
Harry and Larry.
JOHNSON, Earvin, 6′9″ guard; guiding force behind Magic Johnson
Enterprises, having made good on long-ago vow to become big-time
player in business world; sometimes irritated Dreamers with it’s-my-
team attitude but changed millions of attitudes worldwide about HIV
and AIDS; at this writing, scheduled to be immortalized on Broadway,
along with Bird, in play about their seminal importance to NBA.
JORDAN, Michael, 6′6″ guard; chairman of the Charlotte Bobcats;
trying to make it right after bad experience running Washington
Wizards; serenaded aggravated Magic with “Be Like Mike” solo after
legendary intrasquad scrimmage win; acknowledged by all Dreamers as
team’s alpha male and greatest of all-time … with Magic holding out just
a little and Drexler holding out a lot.
LAETTNER, Christian, 6′11″ forward; his BD Ventures, co-run with ex-
Duke teammate Brian Davis, has had cash flow problems; at this writing
wants to get into coaching; seems serious about changing spoiled-brat
image; earned way onto Dream Team by being immortal college player.
MALONE, Karl, 6′9″ forward; serious big-game hunter who wants back
into NBA in some capacity; work ethic was inspiration to several other
members of Dream Team; Jordan-Magic woof-fests at practice got under
his skin.
MULLIN, Chris, 6′6″ guard/forward; successful as ESPN commentator
but might get another shot at front-office job after failure in Golden
State; Barcelona sharp-shooting (.619 overall, .538 on three-pointers)
affirmed selection to skeptics and Dream nod reaffirmed benefits of
sobriety to him.
PIPPEN, Scottie, 6′8″ guard/forward; has had serious money problems
but, with commentating gig and reality-show wife, never far from public
eye; hinted LeBron James was better than Jordan, then took it
back … kind of; showed he belonged on Dream Team with world-class
versatility.
ROBINSON, David, 7′1″ center; runs private school in San Antonio
called Carver Academy; faith-based activities govern his life; mostly
outsider to other members of Dream Team but universally respected;
teamed with a Marsalis for rooftop duet in Barcelona.
STOCKTON, John, 6′1″ guard; full-time chauffeur for his family in his
hometown, Spokane, and couldn’t be happier; tutored star women’s
guard Courtney Vandersloot at alma mater Gonzaga; broken leg limited
Dream Team play.
DALY, Chuck, coach; died of cancer in 2009; vowed never to take a
time-out in Barcelona and didn’t; everybody loved him, everybody
misses him.