NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 41 Sweet Dreams (5)

Like everyone else, Prince Rainier, the head of the Principality of Monaco, also wanted to meet the Dream Team, so on July 7 he arranged a dinner for the Dream Team.It happened to be Daly's 20nd birthday that day, and Daly was already annoyed by the timing of the dinner arrangement. As a result, there was a pre-etiquette meeting before the dinner, and the dream team had to learn some royal etiquette.

The ceremonial officer told them: "You cannot sit down until the prince is seated."

"What if I have to go to the bathroom? I'm that age," Daly asked.

They were also told not to raise the fork to their mouths until the prince was ready to eat.

After the dream team assembled, they arrived first and waited for a long time, which they were not used to.There have always been others waiting for them, how could they have waited for others?Daly whispered: "The Pistons don't have to wait so long in the White House, we won the championship." Finally, Prince Rainier showed up with his son, Prince Albert.Albert is a basketball fan.

Rainier sat between the magician and Jordan, and the dinner went on happily.The magician spoke on behalf of the whole team: "I always thought that playing with Michael Jordan was the closest I was to the royal family. But this time, I compared that." Typical magician style.

At the end of the dinner, Daly's wife Terry (Terry Daly) rolled out the birthday cake prepared in advance, everyone sang a birthday song to Daly, and then everyone happily returned to the room or the casino.

The casino is right in the middle of the hotel, and whenever the Dream Team is there, it's like a theater.Jordan, Magician, Barkley, Pippen and Ewing are regulars, and they often get together to play cards; Bird also joined once, but after he heard the price of beer, he rarely appeared again—in Beer sells for $7 outside the casino and $18 inside.According to Barkley, at Jimmy Z's, beer costs $40.

Every afternoon, after training, after lunch, a group of members of the Dream Team put on their golf shoes, put on their golf clubs, and drive to the Monte Carlo Golf Club outside the city.Jordan, Daly, Thorne, and Carlesimo constitute the top group of the dream team in the field of golf. Barkley tried to squeeze into this group, but the level failed. Although Jordan has a good relationship with him and likes to bicker with him, But Jordan is more willing to compete with high-level players.

Magician can't squeeze into that group because he doesn't play golf.Magic decided early on that it was better not to play golf, given his competitive personality. "I'd be obsessed with it, like Michael was," he said, "and it would distract me from doing other things I wanted to do."

If he doesn't play golf, the magician can still satisfy his desire to be competitive, and he can go back to the basketball court to compete with Jordan.

In Monte Carlo, the Dream Team had an internal confrontation. Although it was an unofficial game, in the eyes of very few people who witnessed the game process, it was probably the greatest battle in basketball history. Greatness in any official game for the team at the Americas Championships and the Olympics.The protagonists of that internal confrontation were the magician and Jordan.

Many years later, mentioning that internal rivalry, even Jordan was excited, and he asked "Sports Illustrated" McCarron: "Do you have video of that game?"

McCarron replied, "I have."

Jordan said: "Man, everyone asked me about that game. It was the most fun I had on the basketball court."

The day before that internal confrontation, the Dream Team had just played a warm-up match against the French national team.Prince Rainier asked Daly to sit beside him and watch the game with him. If he didn't understand anything, Daly could explain it to him on the spot.It was an absurd idea, and after some coordination, Rainier agreed to let Gavitt play the role, with Daly still his coach.

In the warm-up match against France, the Dream Team performed very poorly. The players seemed to be out of shape. The French team once led 8-2, 16-13.Of course, in the end, the Dream Team won 111 to 71. The fans watched it very happily, but Daly was not very happy.Over breakfast the next morning, Daly decided that he had to let the team show itself, and that he wanted a real, real internal confrontation.

The Dream Team has also played several internal duels before, and two of them ended in a tie. Daly didn't allow both sides to play overtime.But this time, what he wanted was a serious game.He emphasized to everyone: "Now do it for real! Do it for real!"

Jordan's career classic battle six

1992 Dream Team Internal Rivalry

Time: March 1992, 7

Venue: Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo
Score: White Team 40:36 Blue Team
Under normal circumstances, Daly is allocated according to the NBA team that the player plays for, one for the Eastern Conference player and one for the Western Conference player.But today, Stockton is still recovering from his injuries and cannot play, and Drexler has a minor injury and cannot play, so there are two fewer players in the West than in the East.So, Daly divided the two teams like this—

Blue Team: Magic, Barkley, David Robinson, Mullin, Laettner
White Team: Jordan, Malone, Ewing, Pippen, Bird

There were very few witnesses of this "greatest game in the history of basketball". The company's cameramen were kicked out, except for one named Pete Skorich.Skorridge is Daly's man in the Pistons, a bit of a privilege. Thanks to him, this confrontation left a precious picture.

An Italian referee whose name no one remembers slapped the ball to the center of the field and looked at his "colleague" PJ Carlesimo.Carlesimo, the assistant coach of the Dream Team, was another referee in this game, but his sense of participation was very poor and he seldom whistled. So in the next 40 minutes, the Italian referee became the most unfortunate referee in Monte Carlo. people.

David Robinson and Ewing jump the ball and the game starts.Robinson shoots the ball, his young teammate Laettner outruns Pippen, takes the ball and passes it back to Barkley, Barkley cuts between Jordan and Bird, Jordan grabs Barkley's wrist, whistle blows, Barkley Still scored the ball, 2+1, the blue team led 3-0.

The absence of Drexler means that Magic and Jordan will face each other directly.Because of this, the internal confrontation this morning was full of gunpowder, and trash talking was everywhere.Jordan dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and the magician yelled: "Come on, blue team! Keep your spirits up!"

Jordan's white team attacked for the first time. Malone missed a jumper from the left, Ewing missed a tip-up, and Laettner grabbed the rebound.The Magic dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, commanding Laettner and Mullin to pull away, allowing Barkley to single Bird in the penalty area.The magician ordered: "Hit CB, hit him!" Barkley tricked Bird, but made a three-point shot.Laettner got the offensive rebound and made a layup, and the blue team was 5-0.

The magician made a breakthrough with the ball and turned around to pass between Jordan and Pippen. The Italian referee's whistle blew, and no one knew what he was blowing.Bird thought it was the magician walking, turned around and ran forward, but the magician complained about being fouled and won the penalty.Jordan asked: "Is this a foul?"

One minute later, Barkley made a fast break layup, and the blue team led 1-7.Jordan got serious, yelling, "Hit one, hit one." Pippen got the ball on the right wing, tricked Mullin, and scored the first two points for the Whites, 0-2.

Mullin missed a chance to turn from defense to offense. Barkley grabbed the offensive rebound and stuffed it to Laettner, who was slapped by Ewing.Laettner opened his arms to ask the referee for a whistle, and the magician immediately cheered: "This ball counts." It means that Ewing interfered with the ball.Jordan said: "He didn't blow." The magician repeated: "It counts." Jordan also repeated: "He didn't blow." As a result, the magician won again, interfered with the ball, and the two points were valid. The blue team led 11 to 2.

The magician is a master at influencing the referee's decision. Even after many years in the ordinary street game without a referee, the magician can win every dispute.Now someone is angry, and Malone is very dissatisfied with the situation where the magician is in control of everything.Once the magician broke through, the referee called Ewing a foul, and Malone yelled at the Italian referee: "Damn, these are not fouls." But his emotions did not help the white team, and the blue team still led 13-4.

Jordan was about to score. He used Ewing's screen to shoot from outside the three-point line. The ball hit the basket and bounced, hit the backboard, and finally fell in. It was a bad ball.The magician immediately responded with an eye for an eye and also shot a three-pointer. He shouted at Jordan while the ball was still in the air: "Here it is for you!" The ball was also scored, 16 to 7, and the blue team led by 9 points.

In fact, one-on-one duels are not a magician's style, and uniting everyone is what he is best at.Jordan, on the other hand, may be the strongest single-handed player in NBA history. In terms of scoring, no one in the Dream Team can compare with him, not even the Magician.Magician is taller than Jordan, but not stronger than Jordan. He can't jump as high as Jordan, and he is far from as fast as Jordan. When Magic doesn't play the way he does best and wants to be Jordan, he is destined fail.It was from then on that the balance began to tilt in Jordan's favor.

Jordan came out of the penalty area and received a pass from Ewing in the left corner. The Magic missed and Jordan hit a jumper.On the other side, the magician passed the ball to Barkley to hit Malone in the low post. Barkley turned around and hit a jumper. The magician yelled: "Face him, Charles, anytime." Jordan slowly dribbled the ball to the front court, motioning Malone to the right to catch the ball , and then fed it to Malone, Malone turned around and also made a shot above Barkley's head, and the two sides refused to give in to each other.After that, Jordan asked his teammates to pull away and singled Barkley for Malone, and Malone turned around again and made a jumper.This time, it was Jordan's turn to yell at the magician: "I'll give it back to you!" The white team caught up to 13 to 18.

After the two sides failed to make it twice, the Magic passed the ball to David Robinson, and Robinson fouled Ewing.The magician kept his mouth open and kept shouting: "Anytime, anytime." This means that 24 hours a day, from morning to night, they can settle the white team at any time.Immediately afterwards, the magician's trash talk became targeted, and he shouted: "'Jordan accessories' can't hold on." Jordan was obviously annoyed, and shouted: "Stop the watch!" Plenty of time to counterattack.Robinson made two free throws and the blue team led 19-13.

One minute later, Barkley turned around, and the referee called Malone for a foul. Malone was furious and swearing.Daly did not forget to remind at this time that the white team had fouled and it was time for free throws.The magician is satisfied: "Yeah, I like it, I like it. We're not in the Chicago Stadium."

This is another provocation against Jordan.Throughout Jordan's career, people kept saying that the referees always turned to him, including not long ago when the Dream Team just assembled in Portland, Jordan took photos with the magician and Bird, and the magician even made fun of Jordan: "You Don't get too close to Michael, that's a foul." Jordan was tired of being told that, especially by Magic.

Barkley made two free throws and the blue team led 20-13.

Jordan began to be ruthless. He dribbled the ball past four defenders and flew to the basket to score.Immediately, Pippen steals the foul ball from Mullin, Jordan misses a jumper, but Pippen grabs the rebound again, causing Mullin to foul.Jordan high-fives Pippen, and Pippen hits two free throws, looking like he's at the Chicago Coliseum.

David Robinson missed a shot, Bird got a rebound, Jordan hit another jumper, and the Whites made it 19-20.Magic seemed determined to take on Jordan. He turned around and broke into the penalty area, and his shot missed badly.Barkley was dissatisfied with the magician's style of play at first, and later complained about it to Jordan and Pippen. Handed over to Pippen, Pippen dunked with his left hand. 21 to 20, the white team took the lead for the first time.

In the following games, the referee continued to cause controversy, and Malone's mood became worse and worse.Jordan sensed that Barkley was tired and told Pippen of his discovery.This is a signal.In the Bulls, they also often sensed the opponent's fatigue, and then took the opportunity to take over the game and pull the score away.Barkley got two free throw opportunities, and Jordan stepped forward to challenge him: "When a person is tired, he usually fails to make a free throw." Barkley was very upbeat and made the first free throw. The magician chimed in: "Okay Charles , No matter what, you will get your two points." The second free throw had a chance to be scored, but was saved by Ewing.

Bird was playing poorly, but he decided to do something about his own nightmare.Magic dribbled the ball, and Bird suddenly dropped Laettner, snatched the ball from Magic, and he slightly bumped into Magic, but even the sensitive Italian referee didn't intend to blow the whistle.The magician fell to the ground, and Bird was already rushing forward. Barkley was chasing after him, but he saw that Bird played a trick and pretended to pass the ball behind his back, as if he was going to assist Jordan who was following him. Barkley hesitated for a moment. Bird has made a layup.Jordan exclaimed happily: "Good job, Larry, I know how much breath you have left."

Laettner made two free throws, Malone scored a jumper, and David Robinson made a tip-up. The score was tight, and the White team led 28-26.At this time, Jordan shot from outside the top three-point line of the penalty area. When Mullin made a save, the ball was already in the air. Jordan shouted: "It's too late." The ball went into the net, 31 to 2+6.

Now, Jordan's voice is everywhere on the court, reminding and inspiring his teammates.

The magician squeezed his back into the penalty area, Malone switched positions to defend him, and the Italian referee blew his whistle again.Malone was furious, and roared: "Oh, please, man, don't blow this broken whistle again!" Jordan hurried over to stand between Malone and the referee, and persuaded Malone, "Forget it, Carl, don't scare him. We might need him." Malone persisted: "Go to hell." The Magician made two free throws, and the White team still led 31-2.

After 35 to 32, the magician was called a defensive foul, and this time it was his turn to chase the referee to complain.Jordan made a free throw, and the magician stood beside Ewing to grab a rebound. Ewing put his arm on the magician to block people. The magician pushed Ewing's hand away fiercely, and he was also angry.

After Jordan made two free throws, at the other end, the Italian referee suddenly inexplicably called David Robinson a mobile screen foul. Jordan was proud of this, clapped his hands and shouted: "My buddy, my buddy, my buddy, My buddy." Remember what Jordan said to Malone just now?We may need him.

The magician was dissatisfied and yelled: "Chicago Stadium! Chicago Stadium!" It means that the referee turned to Jordan again.

Malone hit Barkley with his back, and the whistle sounded again. This time, Barkley yelled at the Italian referee: "Please, man, it's clean." Malone missed the first goal, and Coach K encouraged the trailing side from the sidelines: "Time is still." Enough." Jordan immediately responded loudly: "Not enough time! Fuck you enough time!" The timer showed 1 minute and 21 seconds left, Malone made the second free throw, and the White team led 38-32.

Daly was walking up and down the sidelines, hoping that the game would end quickly, before the players on both sides fought and before the Italian referee was beaten.

David Robinson hits the free-throw line, and Jordan and Magic have another spat."All they did was move the Bulls Stadium here," Magic said. "That's all they did, that's all."

Jordan responded: "Hey, it's the 90s!" The implication: Magician, your 80s are over.

(End of this chapter)