I was a mere child when the Dream Team changed the basketball landscape. My good friend Joe Ruiz suggested live tweeting the documentary, but I needed more than 140 characters. With that in mind, here’s a running diary on the documentary about greatest team ever assembled. Spoiler alert: Charles Barkley is entertaining.
7:30: Hey look, Matt Winer. I wish Turner Sports used him more. ESPN could really use him on their awful pre-game and halftime show. Here comes the start of The Dream Team. No one tell me how it ends!
7:31: David Robinson the first Dream Teamer to talk… Did we really dress like that in 1992?
7:34: I had no idea journalists were opposed to pros playing in the Olympics. Then again, I’m not surprised since a lot of journalists are Debbie Downers.
7:35: 1989 David Stern had black hair, but no mustache. 1985 David Stern still wins.
7:42: Chuck Daly… popping collars WAY before it was cool.
7:45: I’m really surprised Bill Laimbeer didn’t get punched in the mouth more often.
7:46: Curious how different the team dynamic would’ve been with Isiah on the Dream Team? Would guys have trusted Chuck Daly less even if he didn’t treat Zeke any different than the other guys?
7:48: Holy Crap Larry Bird’s Wardrobe! I really hope he still dresses like that on his off days.
7:52: That Barkely dunk. I can’t imagine what Christian Laettner was thinking while he was sitting there.
7:53: Yep, the Dream Team got schooled by a team with a guy with braces as their point guard.
7:55: Bird’s comment about Webber is great. Would an Olympic team of Webber, Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Bobby Hurley and others have won gold in Barcelona? I say yes.
7:55: Coach K looks the same.
7:56: So Daly threw the towel in early on? He’s Gregg Popovich 1.0!
8:00: Really interesting to see how Jordan was so hesitant to take leadership of this team throughout the whole process.
8:04: Watching this makes me wish Magic could’ve played another three or four years. Another Bulls-Lakers Finals or two would’ve been incredible to see.
8:05: “You foreigners can give it up.”-Barkley’s the best.
8:13: Someone just shouted “San Antonio Rules!” in Monte Carlo. OK.
8:15: “This is like Spring Break in the ghetto.” Barkley on playing with Ewing, Robinson and Co. He’s the best.
8:16: Not entirely surprising that Larry Bird could out drink any other guy on the team.
8:18: “I need to get me some golf pants like Michael Jordan’s from 1992!” No one.
8:25: You mean to tell me these guys went to Monte Carlo for a week and we don’t have any Michael Jordan gambling stories? Not one? Child please.
8:30: No one is surprised the U.S. didn’t give their all and we still beat the French? This isn’t surprising.
8:32: This Monte Carlo scrimmage is incredible.
8:35: Aside from Barkley, which Dream Teamer would you want to hang out with the most? I say Chris Mullin.
8:45: Anybody else imagining Crank Yankers every time Karl Malone talks?
8:50: I feel like a reality TV show with David Robinson and Charles Barkley living in the same house for 30 days would be incredible.
8:52: “I guess that is how NBA game is played?”- Toni Kukoc. Poor guy never knew what he had coming to him. Pippen and Jordan just crushed him.
8:57: “This is wonderful for the sport of basketball.”-David Stern. I hope when David Stern is gone people remember him for his willingness to open up the game of basketball internationally. His forward thinking is perhaps his greatest accomplishment.
9:07: God, the thought of Barkley hanging out with the Angolans is just awesome.
9:09: Stockton roaming through Barcelona without being noticed is incredible. How did the American woman not know who John Stockton was?
9:13: This documentary makes me wish you could’ve seen more of these guys play together. Magic and David Robinson running up and down the floor together at least 82 times a year would’ve been the greatest show on Earth.
9:17: They just did a really good job showing that Michael Jordan isn’t just some ultra competitive a-hole. Never would’ve thought of him as a guy to engage strangers in conversation under really any circumstance.
9:21: You’re not going to believe this, but the Americans won the gold medal.
9:24: Barkley’s the coolest dude on the Dream Team, but Larry Bird is the most relatable. The combination of pride for winning the gold medal and sorrow that his dad couldn’t be around to see it is a pretty amazing thing to see from one of the five or six greatest players ever.
9:28: Question: If Christian Laettner doesn’t get injured for half his career, does he get in to the Hall of Fame? I really have no idea.
9:30: Sad that we couldn’t hear from Chuck Daly. Really would’ve loved to hear more about what he thought about this team. Curious how much if at all Jack McCallum got to talk to him for his book before he passed.
Final thoughts: Just amazing stuff. I was eight when the 1992 Olympics happened so my memory of it was like watching the All-Star Game over and over again. We also didn’t have the 24 hour coverage like we did now so seeing all of the behind the scenes comments, practices and everything else was just breathtaking. I hope we see documentaries from other Team USA squads over the years. It’d be really interesting to compare the dynamics of each team. As a basketball fan (and Spurs fan), I’ll always be grateful for 1992 because of it helped influence guys like Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki and others.
