The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Dream Team Tapes - Ep3 - The Cool Kids All Sign On...But They Don't Include Isiah

Episode Date: June 15, 2020

The public was skeptical of top pros surrendering their summer to play Olympic basketball. That changed with a couple important early sign-ons, Magic Johnson among them. Also: why the selection committee ignored past transgressions of Charles Barkley, Larry Bird’s reluctance to participate because of an aching back, and the never-ending discussion of why Isiah Thomas was not a Dream Teamer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all?

You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is the Dream Team Tapes. A diversion podcast's original series in association with IHeart Radio.

This is the story of the United States Olympic basketball team that won gold in Barcelona in 1992, known worldwide as the dream team. Millions of Americans own a personal computer. If you're one of them, you can now glimpse the future with nothing more than a modem, a phone line, and a few dollars a month. That little mark with the A and then the ring around it. At? See, that's what I said.

Katie said she thought it was about. Yeah. Oh. But I've never heard it. I've never heard it said. I'd always seen the mark, but never heard it said. And then it sounded stupid when I said it, violence at NBC. So why did I choose to open episode three of the Dream Team tapes by making fun of Brian Gumbull, Katie Couric, and Elizabeth Fargus, all of whom are infinitely more famous than I on a 1994 episode of the Today Show.

Beyond the fact, of course, that it's a lot of fun. Now, let me note that the first time I had a flip phone, I got 37 calls before I found out you had to actually flip the phone open to answer them. so maybe I'm not the guy to be making fun here, but I have a point. 28 years after the dream team began to be put together, one of my most vivid memories was how, for want of a better word, quietly it all came together. That's the only description I would give to the manner in which the news was received that pros could now play in the Olympics.

Why was that? Well, we must resort to the obvious here first, the absence of social media. The Bryant-Kady Elizabeth video, remember, was even a few years after the news of the dream team. There was zero social media and only daily newspapers and magazines like Sports Illustrated. The Olympic news was not big news. Had something similar happened today, the internet would have blown up within an hour. Every hoops fan in America with a keyboard would have had his or her dream team selected.

So in December of 1990, now this is nine months before the team, would be announced. I had an idea that why don't I pick my starting five if these guys were to play in the Olympics. It was all presented as a hypothetical. We could take a photo at the All-Star game in Charlotte in February, put it on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and that would save me writing about the All-Star game,

about which there was usually nothing to write, except how bad the defense is. And ladies and gentlemen, honestly, that was the beginning of the real interest in the dream team. And in fact, I'll tell you later how it got its name. But something else was going on in relative secret at that time. The decision about who was going to coach these guys. Here's Chuck Daly.

Oh, I thought, you know, maybe I was a little far along in my career. And I thought, you know, there's so many qualified people out there that I really didn't give it a lot of thought. Someone mentioned it to me. And I said, oh, I don't know that I would fit into that category. or not, but I said, nice, you know, that people are mentioning my name. And Matt Dobeck. Part of just his background of being personalistic, he never really enjoyed the stuff that he accomplished, you know, even with that, because you're so worried about what I say and

Joe about. I get a little sad when I hear those voices for both men are gone now. The first voice belonged to Chuck Daly, who died of cancer in 2009. Our interview is from Barcelona in the middle of the 92 Olympics. The other voice is Matt Dobeck. who was the Pistons' long-time public relations man. Matt took his own life a little over a year after Chuck died. I'm not suggesting the events were connected,

but I'm not suggesting they weren't connected either. See, Chuck and Matt were as close as any coach and PR man could ever be. I'm not as familiar with those relationships in other sports. But in pro basketball, the relationship between the coach and the PR person is extremely important to the health of the team. See, the coach is like the CEO of a large corporation, except that he's responsible to the media and fans on a daily basis.

The PR person is the one charged with running interference, trying to decide when the coach should talk, when he should stay quiet, and when he should, well, if not outright lie, then obfuscate. So on Valentine's Day, 1991, Charles Jerome Daley was named coach of the Dream Team. In keeping with that quiet theme I had talked about, nobody paid all that much attention, and there was very little ceremony attached to the announcement. I wouldn't say Chuck was a unanimous choice, but he was certainly a popular one. Pat Riley and Don Nelson seemed the other possible choices, but in their own way, they had

something against them. Nellie was a little squirrely. You never knew what he was going to say or what he was going to do for that matter. Pat was a great coach, but he was way. way into that my way or the highway thing by that time. The powers that B knew that they needed a diplomat as well as a great coach. Somebody who wouldn't go nuclear with all the extracurricular demands that would come with coaching the dream team.

Plus, there was this from Charles Barkley. Chuck coached the bad boy Pistons, Charles said on more than one occasion. You coach those assholes. You can coach anybody. Chuck never seemed to take himself too seriously. It was the great Boston writer Bob Ryan, who hung the sobriquet, the Prince of pessimism on Chuck,

because he would always find the gloomy side to anything, but at the same time, a wry smile was never far from his face. You owe me any money, he used to say, as he gripped your hand in a greeting. And when Chuck would give out his cell phone, he ended up by saying the first six numbers and then Rodman Sally. That's because the final four numbers were 10 and 10. 22, the jersey numbers of Dennis Rodman and John Sally. Now, when Chuck's decision was announced on that Valentine's Day in 91, you have to understand

what was going on in the NBA that season. Daley's Pistons, the bad boys, as everyone called them, or the A-holes, as Charles called them, were the two-time defending champions, having disposed of the Lakers in 89 and the Trailblazers in 1990. But their meter had clear. clearly expired. They were old and injured, and almost everyone figured, correctly, as it turned out, that Jordans and Pippin's Bulls would overtake them. But Daley was still the man the committee wanted, and in retrospect, it's hard to imagine the dream team without Chuck. One of my regrets is that he died in 2009 before I got a chance to interview him. Chuck was happy to get the job, of course, but right away he knew he was in a tough position.

Matt Dobeck knew it right away, too, because he told me. Though no players had been selected for the team, Chuck knew in his heart of hearts that selling his captain, Isaiah Thomas, to the committee, would be difficult because of some of the poisonous relationships that Isaiah had built up over the years. Bill Lambere, Isaiah's teammate and best friend, pointed out correctly that had the Dream Team decisions been made a year or two earlier, when the Pistons were the kings of the NBA, it would have been harder to keep Isaiah off of it. You have to remember that Isaiah stirred up a lot of this stuff himself,

including the time he agreed with Dennis Rodman, after Rodman made that much-remembered statement that Larry Bird was overrated. But let's unpack that a little bit. It occurred right after Isaiah had made a boneheaded pass that led to a bird steel, that led to a Bird Pass, that led to a Dennis Johnson basket, that eventually led to the Celtics beating the pistons and making the finals in 1987. Isaiah was in an overheated Boston Garden Visitors' Locker Room,

which is exactly how the Celtics used to keep the visitors' locker room. And what Isaiah actually said was, Larry Bird is an exceptional talent. But I have to agree with Dennis. If he was black, he'd be just a nice. another good guy. Now, that's a little different than just outright dissing bird, and it was a theme that Isaiah and other black players as well used to say, and that was how much more attention great or outstanding white players got than their black counterparts. Isaiah just happened to

pick the wrong guy to say it about. At any rate, it's an absolute certainty that in today's Twitter climate, Isaiah would have gotten a lot more support. At the very least, it would have been a viral blow-up for a few hours. So, no matter what you heard, there was never much of a chance for Isaiah Thomas to make the dream team. For this reason, mainly, Michael Jordan did not want him. I wrote that back in 1992 because a source close to the situation, no, not Jordan himself, told me that was the case. But Jordan's reaction to the question, do you keep Isaiah off the team? Was either angry? No. Dismissive? No Isaiah questions, please. Or coy. Hey, I didn't pick the team. So what I went to interview Jordan for the Dream Team book in 2011, I wondered how I would nudge

conversation over to Isaiah Thomas. But against all odds, Jordan went there himself, suddenly and without warning. And when they called me to ask me to block, Rob don't call him. He's here. He's here. He said, I don't want to play if Isaiah Thomas is on the team. Now much has been made is still being made about how one player should not have had the power to keep another off the team. And further, how USA basketball officials, the late David Stern, Dave Gavitt, whoever, should not have listened to one man. And they should have said, F you, Michael, were taken Isaiah. To which I always say, police. In the year of our Lord 1991, there was no one who was going to pick Isaiah Thomas over Michael Jordan. It's that simple. Plus, the case could be made that John Stockton by that point

was as good as Isaiah Thomas. Personally, I would not make that argument. At their best, Isaiah was better than John. But when you factor in everything, including the Jordan factor and team chemistry, that doesn't necessarily add up to Isaiah having a deserving place on the team. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, is we have. have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

What's up, guys? This is Cliver Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If I could be you. And you could be me for just one hour.

If you could find a way to get inside. Each other's mind. Walk a mile in my shoes. Walk a mile in my shoes. Walk a mile in my shoes. I'm my shoes. We've all felt left out. And for some, that feeling lasts more than a moment.

We can change that. Learn how it belonging begins with us.org. Brought to you by the ad council. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles.

They see a windy path. that could lead to adventure, and they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest?

Our imagination, our sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too. Because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, We reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. A final note on the Isaiah story. When the team was finally selected and announced in September of 1991,

Magic Johnson released the following statement. I sincerely hope the selection committee awards one of the final two remaining roster positions to Isaiah. I say this not because Isaiah is my friend, but because I believe he will assist the team in winning the gold medal. Oh my God, what a bunch of crap. As it evolved years later, Magic and Isaiah were already on the outs. Magic didn't want Isaiah on the team either, and he could have been considered Isaiah's greatest ally. Now, by the time Chuck Daly was announced as the coach, several players had already expressed interest in playing in Barcelona. specifically, Malone, Barclay, Ewing, and Magic.

But harkening back to the beginning of the podcast, there hadn't been much buzz about it. So many people just did not think it was going to happen after 50 years of amateur players representing our country. So I had the idea to do this story, this kind of hypothetical story, about what the team might look like, and I started with magic. and he said, no way I'm doing this if you're not picking Larry. I said, well, I would pick Larry, I told Magic, but I don't think he's going to play, which was the truth. You got to check with him, Magic said, and I did. And this is Bird years later talking about it.

Bird's back was hurting, and he was legitimately concerned that he was too old to go to Barcelona. He was just trying to get through the season and coaxed the Celtics to another finals, which even he knew was not going to happen. So after I reported back to Magic, he said, okay, I'm in. I eventually rounded up Jordan. He took some convincing, of course, because he was Jordan, and he still hadn't officially committed to the team. And I also rounded up Patrick Ewing,

Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley. They were my choice for a starting lineup as long as Byrd said he was not playing. Now, why Ewing over David Robinson, I'll tell you the truth I really don't know. To this day, I'm not sure who I would take in his prime. Perhaps Robinson for his all-around athleticism, but there was something about Ewing's indomitable spirit. Anyway, this took a lot of arranging and a lot of secret maneuvering, and when we tried to move the five guys into a separate room to take a shot during a break in the All-Star Hullabaloo, all hell broke loose. Fans were banging on the door after we somehow managed to get the guys in there.

I had arranged for my two sons to be in the room to hand out the swag bags to the players, and they were wide-eyed astonished, the crush of people trying to get into the room. My sons, by the way, are both over 40 now, and they still have the Polaroids. You know the definition of a swag bag, by the way. It's goodies given to people who are so rich that they should be the ones handing out the swag bags. That's certainly what Christopher thought on the Sopranos when he robs Lauren Bacall, that's the Lauren Bacall, to grab her swag bag as Lauren lets loose with a barrage of F-bombs. Great Sopranos moment.

Anyway, right before we're ready to take the photo into the room Burs Russ Granik, who was the deputy commissioner of the NBA at the time, David Stern's right-hand man, and I mean he was hiss. We haven't cleared this. We haven't cleared this, he kept yelling. which I guess was technically true, meaning that we hadn't cleared it with the NBA. We finally talked Russ off the ledge and took the photo. Russ is, by the way, one of the great guys in NBA history.

When the cover photo came out, it was in a way kind of hokey, but the five stars were holding replicas of the Olympic rings and to power them together, and it just released some kind of energy. I wrote the story that weekend, and I began it this way. It's a red, white, and blue dream. The five players who grace this week's cover playing together determined to restore America's lost basketball dignity in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

What's the chances of this dream coming true? Not bad. Not bad at all. And then there was just the cover line that said, Dream Team. From that moment on, everything changed. Dream Team started to become a thing. There began to be stories written about it. Who's going to be on the Dream Team?

Who's not a Dream Teamer? Okay, Magic's on board. Patrick's excited. The Mailman's all in. Chris Mullen? I didn't even think about it. He said, I'm in. Scotty Pippin, surprised at the nod, but put me down. We had a name.

It seemed like reality. The Dream Team. Now, let's consider the inclusion of one Charles, Wade Barkley. At the end of episode two, I played you a clip of Charles talking about how he was one of the first five players picked because he had been on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Uh, not the case. Charles was no lock, for a variety of reasons, this being one of them. But in March 1991, Barclay did something truly outrageous even for him. Markley's Sixers were playing the New Jersey Nets in a hard-fought regular season game. A Nets fan in the front row had allegedly been heckling him.

all night and eventually Barclay snapped. In the fourth quarter during a stop-in-play, Barclay spit in the fan's general direction, only it hit a little girl instead. Now, a couple of things here. First, there was no allegedly about Charles being heckled. He was being heckled, fat-ass and all that. I don't know if there was a racial component, but of course he shouldn't have snapped, and of course he didn't mean to spit on the young girl whose name was Lauren Rose and who Charles later spoke to and apologized. But combined with other incidents, A bar room brawl or two, an on-court fight or two, a weapons charge for carrying an unlicensed. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day but just so y'all know I mean at this point Mark this is the second episode where we've discussed crack so I'm starting to see that there's a through line We also have AIDS on the table right now

so that you're finishing that sentence I don't think there's a more important year for black people really? Yeah for me it's one of the most important years for black people in American history

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And gun, a few dozen unpolitic comments, and well, Charles, despite what he said in episode two about being one of the first five pick, was no automatic for the dream team. And certainly, David Stern, the commissioner, was ambivalent about his inclusion. The basketball people are always petrified. can't get enough good players.

Yeah. If they had that drugs, we'd make 20 players. Right. Honest the guy. Yeah. It's really remarkable. You know, you never know what he's going to say, because he doesn't know what he's going to say.

And that's a, you know, he really, he's really, you know, stepped over the line a couple of times, say, to leave. But, you know, he's Charles. So why did Charles make the team? Two reasons, really. Rod Thorne, who at that time was an executive with the league, was the one charge with calling Charles. And he was instantly impressed by how.

much Barclay wanted to play. But this is the key factor. Thorne, a former general manager who had drafted Jordan in 1984, and was very much an important man in the process of gathering the players wanted his talent. Remember what David Stern said. While the people more preoccupied with image never think you have enough Boy Scouts, basketball people, which Rod Thorne was, never think you have enough talent. Charles was clearly not a Boy Scout, but talent won out. And Charles Barkley was a dreamteamer. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure.

Know what else grows in the forest? Our imagination. Our sense of wonder. And our family bonds grow too. Because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org.

Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad Council. And we're live here outside the Perez family home just waiting for the... And there they go. Almost on time this morning. Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-arm kid carry. Looks like dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter who looks to be about nine or 10 has secured herself in the booster seat. Dad zips the bag closed and they're off.

Ah, but looks like mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of the car, and there it goes! Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fam favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff. Just nail the big stuff. Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Learn more at nhtsa.gov slash the right seat.

Visit nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Brought to you by Netsa and the Ad Council Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky.

They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide through this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest.org. brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Now, so far as need goes, the team probably did not need Larry Bird.

He was 35 and it was an old 35. His back was not just hurting, it was killing him, as you heard from his voice at the beginning of the episode. Bird would describe times when he would drive his car only a mile before he had to stop and get out and stretch his back. This resonates with me as it does with me, many others. On a couple of occasions, I visited Byrd's miracle man physiotherapist Dan Dyrick. And over long stretches of the season, Dyrick was Byrd's most constant companion.

But Byrd, after many haranguing phone calls for magic and a couple conversations with Dave Gabbitt eventually signed on. Remember that he says it was just to hang out with Gavitt, but there was more to it than that. When I was a kid, my dad was always a national... Here the national anthem he turned and smiled saying the U.S. won gold. I always remember that, and I always thought, boy, that would be as a kid. The exciting thing for me was when he got in his mind when he heard the anthem play. Bird was just starting to become a college player at Indiana State in 1976 when the U.S. team won gold in Montreal.

He was already a professional in the 1980s. He had never gotten his Olympic chance, and Bird, despite his hesitation about his back, wanted in on the national team. He remembered those nights of watching the Olympics with his dad. He wanted to hear the national anthem from the podium, and he wanted to remember his father, that dark soul, who took his own life when Larry was a teenager. So Bird was in, and Magic was in,

and together they constituted the most important ceremonial picks of the Dream Team. That was one of the great luxuries of the Dream Team, by the way. It could afford ceremonial picks, It needed ceremonial picks, and Magic and Bird are the two best ceremonial players in history. So it's getting near the time in late summer of 1991 to announce the Dream Team. And the following are on board. Magic, John Stockton, is guards. Barkley, Malone, Mullen, and Bird as forwards.

Ewing and David Robinson is centers. Scotty Pippen as the classic swing man. And finally, Michael Jordan, after months of coyness, said he was in. That's 10. Now, USA basketball had decided to leave two spots to be announced a couple months before the Olympics. It was a really stupid decision, determined partly because there was still some discussion about how many college players were to be added to the team. Increasingly, though, it had become clear that when players like James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins didn't even come close to making the team that really no college players should be on the team. So now we're going to jump ahead about eight months for the anti-climactic announcement that Clyde Drexler was added to the dream team.

Any lingering support for Isaiah Thomas had all but dissipated, and Clyde deserved the nod. And I've always believed that a big part of the reason that Clyde made those comments about Jordan that you heard in an earlier episode was because he was rightly pissed off that he had been added late. Finally, they decided to add. had one college kid. There's the pass to Leitner.

puts it up. Yes! Now, Shaquille O'Neal would be a better pro than Christian Leitner. Shaquille O'Neill would be more fun, a foil for the barbs of Barclay, Jordan, and Bird. But the pick was clearly Christian Leitner, and Rod Thorne tells why. The college people were very adamant that it would be Leitner because of the things he had done for USA basketball. He had shacked for the two dollars that it came down to. And he had played on teams and been very cooperative with them and had a great year.

So Leitner was added for his body of work and he probably deserved to be there. Even if he did sometimes act like a dick. So let's jump back in time again to the fall of 1991 and the televised show that announced the first 10 members of the dream team. What had once seemed like a far-off dream to. just a couple years earlier, was now moving toward reality. The dream team was no longer a dream. Man, we couldn't wait. The 91 preseason started.

The Los Angeles Lakers headed for Paris and the fourth annual McDonald's Open. I covered the event, and I remember it was gloomy in Paris, and Magic Johnson, for one, wasn't real happy. Players you see get far less out of these cultural exchanges than the league gets out of the PR gains by sending them to faraway places. But gamely, because he was magic, he did all the requisite press conferences and smiled that magic smile. He came back from France, got a mandatory physical because of a new insurance policy he had taken out, and one afternoon, as he prepared for a preseason game in Utah, his doctor called and told him to fly back to Los Angeles

immediately. And on November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson, who by most accounts would be captaining the Dream Team, held a news conference that shocked the world. We'll talk about that and the summer of 92 when the Dream Team came together on the next episode. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the Dream Team tapes, please follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. The Dream Team Tapes is written and hosted by Jack McCallum, executive producers, Mark Francis, and Scott Waxman.

Executive producer for IHeartMedia is Sean To Tone. The Dream Team Tapes is a diversion podcast's original series in association with IHeart Radio. For more podcasts from IHeart Radio, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports

and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12. and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite.

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