The Olympic Games of 1992 witnessed the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled on one team in the history of basketball.
The team was the Americans, and they were known as “The Dream Team”. That’s what they were, a dream come true.
This was something basketball fans never believed they would see. An Olympic basketball team made up of professional, NBA players (except for one college player).
The reason for this was simple: professional basketball players were not allowed to participate in Olympic Games.
Fans around the world became ecstatic when, in 1989, the International Basketball Federation, otherwise known as FIBA, voted to change the rule, allowing professionals to play in the Olympics.
This led to the creation of the Dream Team, and what would become the greatest game nobody saw.
The Dream Team Splits To Set Up An Ultimate Scrimmage
The Dream Team’s roster were the players, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson, Chris Mullin, and college player, Christian Laettner.
These players who made up the Dream Team were the best players of their day, and it’s no surprise the Dream Team would go on to win the Gold Medal and win by an average of 44 points per game.
It may surprise you that the best game the Dream Team played wasn’t in the Olympics or even the Tournament of the Americas. The best game they played, also was the greatest game ever played, and nobody saw it…
Okay, the coaching staff saw the game, but no outside sources witnessed the scrimmage of Team Magic vs. Team Jordan.
The Dream Team’s coach, Chuck Daly’s “video guy”, had his home camera and videotaped it, so we have at least some home footage of the game that gives us a little of the action, but not the full story. This is what really happened.
Three days before the start of the 1992 Olympics, the Dream Team split into two teams known as Team Jordan (the white team) and Team Magic (the blue team).
Team Jordan roster:
– Scottie Pippen
– Larry Bird
– Patrick Ewing
– Karl Malone
Team Magic Roster:
– Magic Johnson
– Chris Mullin
– David Robinson
– Christian Laettner
John Stockton and Clyde Drexler sat out of the scrimmage due to injuries. This gave them a front-row seat at the greatest game ever played that nobody saw.
Now, this wasn’t the first scrimmage the Dream Team played split up. Normally, Coach Daly tried to keep the players split up by their conferences.
By this time, with Drexler and Stockton out, he decided to switch things up a bit. This injury Drexler was nursing may have been a good thing because, in the past scrimmages, Jordan was taking it to him all the while talking trash.
“Stop me this time!” Jordan would scream after scoring on Drexler.
Jordan was coming off a high after beating Drexler in the 1992 NBA Finals. Before that series, many basketball analysts claimed Drexler was on Jordan’s level.
Jordan proved in the Finals this wasn’t the case, and he wanted to continue to prove it every time Drexler stood in front of him.
So, with this latest scrimmage, and having Drexler sitting on the sideline, set up the perfect matchup, one last time, of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
Magic recently retired because of the HIV illness he had contracted. The last time he played in a non-NBA All-Star Game was in the 1991 NBA Finals, where he too, like Drexler, lost to Jordan’s Bulls.
Magic wanted to prove that not only could he still play the game of basketball, but he could play it at a high level.
Before the scrimmage occurred, earlier in practice, Magic became annoyed at his teammates, who he believed were going through the motions, without any sense of real commitment.
Magic took the ball during full-court layup drills, and he tossed it in the stands.
“We’re here to practice!” Magic screamed at his teammates.
This anger stemmed from a promise he made to Coach Daly before the Dream Team left the United States.
“I will see to it that there will be no bad practices,” Magic said to Coach Daly.
This fire burning in Magic would go on to help set up what would be known as the greatest game ever played.
The Greatest Game Ever Played
As the two newly formed teams prepared to battle in an epic scrimmage, Coach Daly had one message to tell his players:
“All you got now. All you got.”
The game started with Robinson stealing the jump ball from Ewing by tapping the ball on the way up.
Laettner then outran Pippen to retrieve the ball. After securing the ball, Laettner quickly found Barkley, who took it straight to the basket, where Jordan reached in and fouled him as Barkley made the layup.
An Italian man was acting as the referee for the game, and Coach Daly didn’t want them to “check up”, he wanted his players to get the feel of a real game.
“Shoot the fouls, shoot the fouls,” Coach Daly screamed.
The players were out partying and drinking the night before and with the added humidity inside the arena, Coach Daly knew this would be the trust test to see if his team could work together before the Olympics Games start.
Barkley made the free throw, giving Team Magic a 3-0 lead. Jordan, angered by the foul being called on him, brought the ball up the court.
“Let’s go, Blue. Pick it up now,” Magic said as he prepared to guard Jordan.
This is what Magic wanted, to go head-to-head with the game’s best player and the most popular star. These are the moments Magic lived for, and his talking was just getting started.
Jordan, rather than attack Magic, passed to Magic’s long-time rival, Larry Bird, in the corner. After a fake pass back to Jordan, Bird beat his defender and drove toward the rim.
After the defense collapsed, Bird whipped a pass to Malone, who took the jump shot; he missed.
Ewing tried to tap in Malone’s missed shot, but the ball wouldn’t drop through the net, and Laettner secured the rebound.
Magic brought the ball back up court and noticed Bird switched onto Barkley in the post. This lit up Magic’s eyes.
“Go to work, CB!” Magic screamed. “Go to work!”
Barkley pump-faked Bird before taking the jumper, but he air-balled the shot. Luckily for Team Magic, Laettner was there for the rebound and put back.
Team Magic took an early 5-0 lead and at this point, the lone college player on the team appeared to be the best player on the court.
After Malone missed another jumper over Barkley, Laettner once again came down with the rebound. He pushed the ball up the court, and with confidence, he attacked Ewing at the basket… Ewing would bump him out of balance.
“Don’t force it if we don’t have it,” Magic would tell Laettner, being the true floor leader that he was.
Despite Magic’s wise words to Laettner to not force shots, Magic, on the next play, tried to split the defense of Jordan and Pippen by spinning in the lane and forcing himself into a bad drive.
A foul would be called, and it would come as a shock to Jordan.
“That’s a foul?” Jordan would ask.
After a few empty possessions, Barkley knocked away a Pippen pass to Ewing, and he ran the length of the floor, putting in a layup.
Team Magic now led 7-0 and Jordan’s anger continued to grow.
“One, one!” Jordan yelled to his team.
The ball ended up in Pippen’s hands and after pump faking Mullin off his feet, Pippen’s jumper put Team Jordan on the board.
A few plays later, Mullin would get his revenge for letting Pippen score on him. He knocked the ball out of Jordan’s hands as he drove to the hoop.
Barkley picked up the ball and ran down the court, taking and making a layup with Ewing and Malone all over him.
“Foul! Foul!” Barkley demanded, but he didn’t get the call.
On the other end, Malone missed another jumper, and Magic rebounded the ball.
“I see you, baby” Magic said to Mullin.
Magic threw a bullet pass to Mullin who caught it and took the open shot, but he missed.
Barkley grabbed the rebound and found Laettner cutting to the basket. Barkley dropped a pass to Laettner, who went up for a shot, but it was knocked away by Ewing.
“That’s good!” Magic screamed, trying to get a goaltending call.
“He didn’t call it,” Jordan responded.
“It’s good,” Magic repeated.
“He didn’t call it,” argued Jordan.
The call on the floor would be goaltending, giving Team Magic a commanding 11-2 lead.
After a miss from Bird, Laettner went up for a layup on the other end, but his attempt was blocked by Ewing.
“Dunk that sh*t, Chris,” Jordan said. “Dunk that sh*t.”
After a strong start, Laettner started to play like everyone figured he would… a college boy among men.
Jordan said this about Laettner later in an interview:
“Anybody who had Laettner on the team lost. He was the weak link, and everybody went at him.”
After another missed shot from Bird, Ewing finally dropped in a jump shot, giving Team Jordan its fourth point.
The next basket came from Mullin, who beat Pippen backdoor and finished with a layup.
“Whoo!” Magic screamed as he was the one who delivered the pass.
This backdoor move by Mullin frustrated Pippen, as he admitted later, “Mullin just killed me on backdoors. He wasn’t that fast, but he knew just when to make his cut.”
Team Magic now led 13-4 over Team Jordan, and Magic was feeling good out on the court. But now, it was time for Jordan to score.
Jordan came off an Ewing screen and popped a three over Robinson, who switched out. The shot banked in, making the score 13-7 in favor of Team Magic.
Magic took the inbounds pass and attacked Jordan, stopping to launch a three in Jordan’s face.
“Right back at you!” Magic said to Jordan while the ball was still in the air; it went in.
Team Magic now led 16-7, and the pace of the game would start to pick up. Jordan would knock in a jumper, followed by Barkley making one of his own on the other end.
“Take him, Charles, all day,” Magic would say, still in full-blown trash talk mode.
Malone would follow suit by making a jumper on the other end, as the two squads continued to trade blows.
Team Magic now led 18-11, as the two teams were looking to keep up the pace.
After a wide-open airball by the ailing Bird, Malone would make another jump shot, bringing Team Jordan closer.
“Right back at you,” Jordan screamed.
Team Magic 18, Team Jordan 13.
A few plays later, Magic would find Robinson on a fast break.
“Keep going, David,” Magic demanded.
Robinson drove to the hoop, and he would be fouled by Ewing.
“All day long,” Magic belted out. “All day long.”
What Magic said next, is what sealed his team’s fate and what Jordan took personally.
“The Jordanaires are down,” Magic said.
Jordan wasn’t happy about the score, or the comment from Magic.
After Robinson split the pair of free throws, Team Magic’s lead grew to 19-13. This lead would have the potential to grow even more a few plays later when Barkley is fouled by Malone.
“Called this same f*** sh*t last night,” Malone cried.
Magic’s taunts to Jordan continued.
“Yeah! I love it. I love it! We ain’t in Chicago Stadium anymore.” Magic said. He followed his statement by clapping loudly, rubbing it in more and more.
Barkley would split the free throws, extending Team Magic’s lead to 20-13.
Magic’s Chicago Stadium comment would come back to haunt him as Jordan beat four defenders to make a flying layup.
Then, Pippen would steal the inbounds pass from Mullin, find Jordan, who’d miss a jump shot, but Pippen would rebound and get fouled by Mullin.
Pippen would make both of his free throws, making the score 20-17, in favor of Team Magic.
Later, Jordan would make another jump shot, which would make the score 20-19, cutting Team Magic’s lead to only one, after they started out so good.
Magic would attack Jordan on the other end but miss a spinning layup, setting up Jordan finding Pippen on the other end for a huge slam dunk.
Team Jordan took their first lead of the game with a 21-20 score. Mullin tried to answer on the other end by attacking the hoop, but he was fouled on a reach-in by Pippen.
“Wasn’t that all ball?” Jordan would ask, but the foul call remained.
Mullin would split the pair of free throws, tying the score at 21-21. Jordan would attack the hoop on the next play, and he’d be fouled.
Jordan missed his first free throw attempt, and Magic, who was frustrated, would knock the ball up in the air.
“Let’s concentrate,” Coach Daly would say, trying to calm Magic down.
Jordan sank his second free throw, giving his team the lead back at 22-21.
Later, Malone would injure his ankle on a made layup, but he’d stay in the game to the likening of Jordan and Pippen. Malone’s bucket gave Team Jordan a 24-21 lead.
Jordan would tell Malone that Barkley was “tired”. Barkley didn’t like this and attacked Malone on the other end; he was fouled.
Jordan approached Barkley as he got ready to take his free throws. He wiggled two fingers in Barkley’s face.
“A man is tired, he usually misses free throws,” Jordan said. “One-and-one now.”
Barkley made the first free throw, disproving Jordan’s claims.
“Yeah, Charles, you gonna get your two anyway,” Magic responded.
Barkley’s next shot would bounce around on the rim before Ewing knocked it off.
After Bird missed yet again on another open shot, he responded on the other end by stealing the ball from Magic.
Bird hustled down the court with Barkley hot on his trail and Jordan following behind. Bird faked a behind-the-back pass to Jordan, which Barkley fell for, and Bird made the layup.
“Way to go, Larry!” Jordan said with excitement. “Way to take him to the hole. I know you got some life in you.”
Team Jordan now led 26-22, things appeared to be completely in their favor.
After two free throws made by Laettner, a made jumper by Malone, and a putback by Robinson, Team Jordan led 28-26.
“Too late!” Jordan would yell at Mullin as he was late picking Jordan up from behind the three-point line.
Jordan buried the three, extending his team’s lead to 31-26.
Magic would try to back Malone down next and Malone would be called for a foul that he didn’t like.
“Oh, come on, man,” Malone screamed at the referee. “Stop calling this f****** bullish**t.”
Jordan would pull Malone away from the referee.
“Forget it, Karl. Don’t scare him. We might need him,” Jordan would say.
Magic would make both of his free throws to make the score 31-28, in favor of Team Jordan.
After both Pippen and Ewing would score for Team Jordan, their lead grew to 35-28. After Robinson made two free throws, and Malone missed two, Laettner would be fouled by Jordan on a layup attempt that missed.
“Dunk that sh*t, Chris,” Jordan would say, in a helpful, yet, taunting way to Laettner.
“Every time!” Magic screamed from behind. “Every time!”
Laettner would make both free throws making the score 35-32, in favor of Team Jordan.
Magic would be called for a reach-in foul on Jordan, sending him to the line, where he’d make them both.
On the other end, the referee called a moving screen on Robinson, to the delight of Jordan.
“My man,” Jordan said as he clapped his hands. “My man, my man, my man.”
Magic responded by saying, “Chicago Stadium!”
After a Barkley foul on Malone, who would go on to split the free throws, Team Jordan led 38-32.
Laettner would make a twisting layup to cut Team Jordan’s lead to two. Then, a few possessions later when Robinson was getting ready to shoot his free throws, Magic, and Jordan started at each other once again.
“All they did was move Bulls Stadium right here,” Magic said. “That’s all they did. That’s all they did.”
Jordan responded by saying, “Hey, it is the ’90s.”
Robinson made both free throws making the score 38-36, in favor of Team Jordan.
As the clock was running down, Jordan drew a foul on Laettner. He’d calmly make both free throws despite Magic running his mouth the entire time.
The clock struck 0:00 and Team Jordan’s comeback attempt ended in a 40-36 victory.
“Way to work, White,” Jordan screamed to his teammates, continuing to annoy Magic.
“It was all about Michael Jordan,” Magic bellowed. “That’s all it was.”
Jordan grabbed a Gatorade cup to get a drink and sang his famous “Be Like Mike” song, once more getting on Magic’s nerves.
This game was certainly the greatest game ever played, and luckily enough people saw it and a video was shot of it, so writers like me can tell its story.
For Jordan, out of all the incredible games he’s played in over his career, this scrimmage against Magic Johnson’s team will always be on top of his list.
“In many ways, It was the best game I was ever in,” Jordan said. “Because the gym was locked and it was just about basketball. You saw a lot about players’ DNA, how much some guys want to win. Magic was mad about it for two days.”
It’s been said that Jordan continued to sing his “Be Like Mike” song on the bus ride back to the hotel.
Jordan, at the height of his popularity, from bringing in endorsement deals left and right, to being the best player in the world. Maybe, even for a little, the other Dream Team players, in fact, wanted to be “Like Mike”…
Well, except for Magic Johnson.
