NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 44 Sweet Dreams (8)

Drexler, who had just tasted failure in the NBA Finals, was occasionally a target.Drexler would try to fight back, he later recalled: "I said to them, 'Let me play on your team, you come on my team. Let me play with the old captain [Skyhook Kareem], Worthy, Byron Scott, AC Green, you come with my team, let's see how many rings you get'. Or, 'Let me be with Scotty, and we'll see How did I do'. That would shut them up very quickly." Drexler had a point, but there's no other evidence that Magic and Jordan were really quick to shut up.

Magic and Jordan were particularly ruthless in their disservice to Barkley.Sometimes Barkley would sit down and join them, and they would say, "Sorry, Charles, this is the ring table." It meant, you don't have a ring, you don't deserve to sit here.Sometimes, the magician and Bird practiced shooting together, and the magician said something similar to Barkley and Ewing: "This is the ring basket." Without the championship ring, don't shoot here.

Jordan and Barkley have a very good personal relationship. The two hit each other and flattered each other.For example, Jordan will deliberately say: "Hey, Charles, who is the best shooting guard in the world?" Barkley replied: "That must be Michael Jordan." Then Barkley asked: "Then who is the best shooting guard in the world?" Where is the best power forward?" Jordan replied, "Of course it is Charles Wade Barkley." When you ask, I answer, both of them satisfy their vanity, and by the way, hit Drakes Le and Malone.

Above friendship, there is a "super circle" within the Dream Team.Barkley can't enter the "super circle", because there are only three people in the "super circle": Jordan, Magician, and Bird.From 1984 to 1992, the NBA's annual MVP trophy for 9 consecutive seasons was won by Bird, Magician, and Jordan, each of whom won three.Therefore, these three constitute the supreme privileged class of the dream team, and they can say anything to anyone.Not to mention that Barkley, who has never won a championship, cannot squeeze into the "Super Circle", even Pippen, who won the same number of championships with Jordan, cannot enter the "Super Circle".

When the dream team assembled in San Diego, California, Newsweek wanted to invite Jordan and Magician to be on the cover. Their reply was: "No Larry." So "Newsweek" quickly invited Bird .

Bird wasn't a card gamer, and he wasn't one to engage in bickering lightly, but one late night in Barcelona, ​​in the family room of the Ambassador Hotel, the three of them sat together for a lengthy conversation that centered on two issues : Which is the best team in NBA history?Which is the best player?
On the best team, the magician gave the answer: "Obviously one of our Lakers, we won five championships, more than all of you."

Jordan still had only two championships in hand at this time. He said: "You haven't seen the best NBA team in history. I've just started. I will win more championships than you."

Ewing and Barkley tried to join.Ewing suggested that the Bill Russell Celtics were the best in history.Barkley asked Jordan not to forget him. He said: "Michael, I will steal at least one championship from you." At this time, Barkley had left Philadelphia as he wished and was sent to the Phoenix Suns.

Bird has never been as flamboyant as Jordan and the magician, but he has a colder heart and a more poisonous tongue.As soon as Barkley handed Jordan the words, Bird stopped him and said, "You haven't got anything, Charles." Barkley quickly put his tail between his legs and ran away.

The men also talked about what it would mean when they got Barcelona's victory.Jordan said: "When I get this, then I will have two Olympic gold medals, two championships and an NCAA championship."

"Yeah, then I'll have an NCAA championship, five championships and an Olympic gold medal," said Magic.

Ewing took over the conversation and asked for trouble: "Then I will have two gold medals and an NCAA championship. When I get my NBA championship, I will be like you." Jordan was merciless and pointed at the core : "You, Patrick, you don't have to worry about NBA rings until you learn how to pass the ball when you are double-teamed." This sentence points to Ewing's Achilles heel.

Compared with the magician, Jordan has always respected Bird more, which is probably because Bird has always respected him.In the "greatest game in basketball history" in Monte Carlo, Jordan confronted the magician throughout the entire game. Later, in Jordan's memory, Bird's only goal in the game was the key to turning the situation around. Up is not.Jordan's affection for Bird can probably be traced back to the 1986 playoffs, when Bird said the phrase "God dressed up as Michael Jordan", adding luster to Jordan's career.Jordan was much sharper when dealing with magicians.

Magic is not ready to give up his position at the top of the NBA pyramid, and Jordan has essentially replaced him.Externally, Jordan happily followed Magic's leadership, even publicly declaring the Dream Team "Magic's Team" during the Americas Championship, but internally, Jordan wanted everyone to understand that he was the ace of the Dream Team.And he is.Years later, Ewing confirmed: "Michael is the leader. Yes, the magician said everything a magician should say, but Michael is Michael, and we know who the real leader is."

Face-to-face, Jordan and Magic vilified and teased each other in good faith.Magic said Jordan didn't have a great rivalry like him and Bird, and Jordan agreed.But when it came to one-on-one, Jordan wouldn't budge when it came to who was the best basketball player.

In that late-night conversation, Jordan proclaimed, "You guys don't stand a chance. Larry, you can't keep up with me. Magic, I can guard you, and you can never guard me. You two guys, Neither can defend like I can, neither can score like I can."

Jordan kept talking and talking, laying out many arguments and arguments, and he knew he was right.In fact, everyone knows that he is right, except the magician.Bird later said: "For many years, I knew deep down that I was the best guy in the room. And that night, deep down, I knew it wasn't me anymore. It wasn't a magician anymore. "

According to Jordan's recollection, the magician was unconvinced at the time, so Bird stood up and said: "Let's make way, Magician, we have had our era. OK, you and Pippen were better than us at the time, offensively , Defensively.” The magician still disagreed.

On August 8, the Olympic men's basketball semi-final, the dream team encountered the Lithuanian team.Before the Olympics, the number one imaginary enemy in Daly's mind was Lithuania.He knew that four of Lithuania's five starters participated in the 6 Seoul Olympics, including Sabonis and Matthew Leonis, who played for the Soviet team and helped the Soviet men's basketball team justifiably beat the American men's basketball team .

In fact, Lithuania in 1992 was far less powerful than Americans imagined.Matthew Leonis revealed that before the semi-final, "we didn't even think about winning the game."

Donnie Nelson, Donnie Nelson's son, who was an assistant coach for Lithuania at the time, said they did have a strategy before the game to try to keep the Dream Team players out of the box and force them to jump shot.But Matthew Leonis insisted: "It's useless at all. It doesn't matter what Downey said. I don't even remember what was said at the time. We just thought, don't be ashamed."

Jordan didn't worry as much as Daly. Before the game, he ran to play a round of 36 holes of golf. When the team bus stopped in front of the hotel to start, he didn't show up.Daly muttered uneasy "God oh oh oh" for a while before Jordan finally showed up.Jordan asked his wife, Juanita, to remove the sneakers from the room ahead of time, so there was no delay.

Jordan's late arrival may have made Daly nervous, but Jordan is absolutely aware of the importance of this game. He told Daly: "I'm defending Sarunas (Matthew Leonis), don't worry."

At the beginning of the game, Jordan took the lead in making a mid-range shot, and then the Magician made a three-pointer. Jordan succeeded in stealing the basket in the front court, and then made another mid-range shot.The following process was also uneventful. In the middle of the first half, Jordan completed a beautiful gliding dunk in the fast break, giving the Dream Team a 31-8 lead.

The final score was 127 to 76, with the Dream Team winning by 51 points.The most difficult game expected by the Americans before turned into a tragic massacre.Of the twelve players in the Dream Team, nine scored in double figures, and Jordan scored a game-high 21 points.

Jordan's defense against Matthew Leonis was intimidating.For a period of about six minutes, Jordan decided not to let Matthew Leonis do anything, and he frantically bit Matthew Leonis, and Matthew Leonis couldn't even touch the ball. "I remember," Matthew Leonis recalls, "it changed everything for us. My teammates were used to me having the ball and now, I couldn't get the ball and everyone else had to make their own decisions. .We lost it all because of Michael."

Jordan remembers it too, saying, "Sarunas is so good with the ball in his hands, and the best way to do that is to not let him catch it. You can't do it all game, but you can for a while. Do it within." Jordan's thoughts were so strong that he believed that Matthew Leonis would be watched to death, so that before the intermission, Matthew Leonis "actually" scored a goal, and Jordan was on the bench. Drexler yelled as he charged up to defend him.

Jordan's defense in that battle was one of Daly's favorite moments during the Olympics.In the next ten years, McCarron of "Sports Illustrated" mentioned to Daly more than once: "Chuck, you let Michael guard Matthew Leonis that night, and then..." Whenever this time, Daly would Picked it up: "Michael didn't let him catch the ball! He didn't even let him get the goddamn ball at all!"

Defeated Lithuania and entered the final. The dream team will fight against Croatia in the group stage on August 8. On the evening of the 8th, in the family room of the Ambassador Hotel, the game was in full swing, and all the regulars were present, including Jordan.On the morning of the 7th, Jordan had to shoot a film for NBA Entertainment, which was no small matter, because that scene was later used in his documentary Air Time, and it was his mission to make this film.

But Jordan is like that, he knows what he has a mission to do, but when the party is in full swing, he will try to ignore those missions as much as possible, and put them off until the last moment to complete the mission, like executing a lore.Magicians are just like him.

So, at one, two, three in the morning, Jordan was still smoking his cigar, and everyone else was having a good time, with only NBA Entertainment's Don Sperling scurrying around.Spelling tried to remind Jordan, don't forget that there is still filming in the morning, and the Olympic finals to be played in the evening, but it was useless, and soon it was four or five in the morning.The players knew that this was the last game in Barcelona, ​​and the whole team would leave here as soon as the finals were played and the awards were awarded.

At a quarter past six, the game was finally over, and Spelling followed Jordan back to his room.Jordan has two suites in the hotel, which is his prerogative.Jordan decided to take a bath, and Spelling became anxious. He begged: "Don't let me go, Michael." Jordan replied calmly: "I told you I will go out, and I will definitely go out."

(End of this chapter)