Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan are names that loom large in the history of the NBA and nobody would begrudge a fan that had all 3 of these players in their Top 5 of all time. It’s amazing to think that their playing careers overlapped as much as they did, it was truly a golden era for the NBA during the late 80s and early 90s.
The three superstars didn’t always get along as Bird and Magic enjoyed a pretty intense rivalry and in his earlier days with MJ reportedly avoided getting too close to Magic. However, none of this mattered when all 3 came together to play for Team USA as a part of the Dream Team in 1992.
As Jordan explained during a recent episode about the Dream Team on the Icons Club podcast, it was during that Olympic run that he really got to know Magic and Bird and grew close to them.
“I became actually closer with Magic. During that time, a lot of time together and Bird too. Talking about all the competitive conversations, who’s on top who’s not on top, who it’ll be now. I don’t know we just, we seemed to hit it off.”
“It’s good to have those arguments with guys that’s been there, you know, it makes it so much easier and the conversation can get really deep in terms of how you approach… mentally, physically, your coaching, your certain strategies, about what you did in a certain moment.”
“And those moments are very, very similar to each and every one of us, because we’ve had those moments at the highest pinnacle of the season or games. So those conversations are very, very in-depth.”
There is some truth to the fact that no one else can relate to being at the very top of the game except a handful of guys throughout history. Having those conversations that can only be had with fellow greats is one of the only ways these great competitors and rivals could have bonded. The Dream Team remains one of the most iconic ever, and it’s no surprise that these excellent relationships came out of it.
