Interesting Quotes/Comments from the Dream Team book

[Da_Realist]

All comments posted come from Jack McCallum's Dream Team book (http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Team-Greatest-Conquered-Basketball/dp/0345520483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342715395&sr=8-1&keywords=dream+team).

MJ's influence on Scottie

I'm not going to say Michael made him. That's too strong because Scottie had a lot of game. But if Scottie plays with another guy, I'm not sure whether it's not just the gifts that wouldn't have come out, but also the drive. -- Chris Mullin


Why Bird was needed

You tell me this. What other forward in the league can shoot from the outside, pass the basketball, rebound, get the break started, play team defense, and has been as much of a winner as Larry Bird? I don't care how many injuries he's had and how old he is. Tell me who's as good all-around as Larry Bird from the forward position. -- Jordan


On Bulls early struggles with chemistry

To me, our team was always about chemistry and we never could develop chemistry because of Michael. He didn't believe in his teammates. It was hard for us. We got accused of standing and looking because he would always...do the Kobe." (He means showing visible anger to his teammates, as the Lakers' Kobe Bryant often does.) When Phil came, it made all the difference to Michael. Phil convinced him to believe in his teammates, and I think I was the first one Michael really trusted. We didn't have to worry about Michael coming down and pulling up one-on-five. We could just play.
Look, there was pressure on Michael. Obviously. But it always turned out good for Michael, win, lose or draw. He was getting the headlines no matter what happened -- 'Jordan scores 35 or 40 or whatever, and the team didn't back him up. Michael did this but the team didn't do that.' That's how it was for a long time. -- Pippen


Who's the leader?

So far as leading the team out, talking to the press, representing us, all that stuff, it was Magic. But once we got in the gym? It was all Michael. -- Mullin

Michael was the leader. Yeah, Magic said all the things that Magic says. But Michael is Michael. We knew who the real leader was. -- Ewing


You weren't open

The one thing that drove Stockton to distraction on the court was when a teammate would tell him, "Hey, I was open but you didn't give it to me." And Stockton would say: "No you weren't open. Just because no one seemed to be guarding you, that doesn't mean you were open, because you couldn't do anything with the ball if you got it."


What it was like to play on the Dream Team

Playing with these guys on the Dream Team was basketball heaven. It was like someone would run to the spot and, upon getting there, the ball would be there. Guys made reciprocal moves. It was basketball poetry. There was no place you could throw the ball that was wrong. -- Stockton


Clyde vs MJ

Portland-based broadcaster Steve "Snapper" Jones, a delightful man who loved to talk basketball and debate any question, was especially vocal about Drexler being the equal of Jordan. Rod Thorn, conjuring up his best West Virginia drawl, used to say to him" "Steve, d'y'all have TVs out there in Portland?"

"Are you kidding? In my mind? Jordan was damn good, but was he better than me?" Drexler ponders that for a moment and answers this way: "The question is not really is he better. The question is, do you think you can win against him? And the answer is absolutely. I had a lot of success against Jordan. I beat him often. At his game. Which is also my game. I was bigger, faster. I did everything he could do." Drexler stops and smiles. "Except shoot more." -- Drexler

I wanted to go against Clyde every change I could back then. When we played in the Finals, we were being compared, and I wanted to show there was a big difference between me and him. I knew how to think the game. I knew how to play different varieties of the game. clyde plays one way -- head down, drive straight to the hole. Big difference. -- Jordan


Missed opportunity

Magic should've had what I had. The way I was presented out there from a PR standpoint, marketing-wise, he was never portrayed like I was away from basketball. With fewer credentials, at least of basketball championships, I got more than he did. Is that fair? No. But I didn't have control of it. He should've had the Wheaties, the big deals before me, but he didn't. -- Jordan


Last thoughts on The Scrimmage

In many ways, it was the best game I was ever in. Because the gym was locked and it was just about basketball. You saw a lot of players' DNA in games like that, how much some guys want to win. Magic was mad about it for two days. -- Jordan

Michael understood that because that's how he was, too. Let me tell you something -- it would've been worse for everybody if he lost. Because I could let something go after a while. But Michael? He never let it go. He never let anything go. -- Magic


Difference between being rich and being wealthy

They did take up the offer of Miami Heat Owner Micky Arison for an afternoon on his yacht. When they arrived, they were informed that the air-conditioning was down, so Arison was bringing over his other yacht. "That was a valuable day for me, a lesson in life. The difference between being rich and being wealthy. The man had a backup yacht. I never forgot that. -- Magic


Who's the best?

Of all the Dream Teamers, though. Laettner came closest to paying Barkley the ultimate compliment. When I made the casual comment that everyone believed that Jordan was the best, Laettner pursed his lips for a minute and considered, "I guess. But by a very, very small margin over Charles"

"Hey Charles, who's the best two-guard in the world?" and Barkley would answer, "That would be Michael Jordan." Then Barkley would ask, "And who's the best power forward in the world?" and Jordan would answer, "That would be Charles Wade Barkley." It was their own little poke at Drexler and Malone.

Daly never tipped his hand that he favored one starting team over another, but privately he knew that his three most important players were Jordan, Pippen and Barkley. Barkley was important because he could always score, no matter what the opponent, no matter what the situation. He didn't have to depend at all on the vicissitudes of outside shooting -- Charles would simply plow his way to the basket and get in position for an easy score. Jordan and Pippen were key because they could both cover the floor on defense and initiate the offense, either as shooters or as distributors. And there was a subset even within that subset. "Give me Michael and Scottie," Daly would tell his confidants, "and it really doesn't matter who else is out there."


96 "Dream Team"

"I was just amazed at some of the things that went on. We had a couple of guys skip practice because they didn't get to start and didn't play as many minutes as they thought they should. Can you imagine that? Michael Jordan didn't start some games in '92. Michael freaking Jordan!" Barkley wouldn't name the players, but they were Shaq and Penny Hardaway

In some press reports Hakeem Olajuwon was presented as the model teammate on the '96 squad. Pippen said that wasn't the case. "Penny and Hakeem...there's two guys who will whine when things don't go their way. Hakeem got mad at Lenny because he didn't play against Greece. 'I've never had a DNP in my life!' he was shouting at Lenny. He was so mad that tears were coming out of his eyes. I'm telling you, it was bad. I enjoyed Atlanta, I guess, but it wasn't the same. And it wasn't a Dream Team."

[Da_Realist]

Doberman defense

Defensively, we did it together. I can't take the credit and he can't take the credit. In '91 I got some credit for defending Magic, but Michael defended him, too. We wore Magic down together. See, we had good defensive chemistry. We had areas on the court where we just knew we were going to trap. We didn't even talk about it. We let them cross half-court and get them in that corner. Or on an inbounds play, if a guy caught it at a certain spot, we knew we had him nailed. Or on our way up court, Michael would stop his guy, I would come, and we would catch him there. We were always in tune of how to double-team the ball -- Pippen

I remember watching how Michael and Scottie played together. Michael would always play the point guard and put pressure on him, and I'd just be sitting there watching. Then Scottie would come, and next thing you know they've turned the guy and he would just throw the ball over his head. Anywhere. Just to get rid of it. The pressure that Michael put on these kids? Man, I could've got fifteen steals a game if I played with him.
You know, winning by forty isn't fun. Maybe to some guys but not to this team. But watching Michael and Scottie together out there, suckering these guys into a corner, or right before the half court line...that was fun. -- Bird


Trash Talk

Jordan and Magic were particularly ruthless toward Barkley, who might sit down to join them only to hear, "Sorry, Charles, this is a ring table." Magic would say something similar to Barkley or Ewing when he and Bird shot around together. "This is a ring basket."

Michael never let me forget that I couldn't beat him. Michael never let me forget anything. Michael has been talking trash from the first day I met
him at age seventeen, and he's never stopped. Hell, yeah, it bothers me that I never beat him. And I gotta hear it from him every day I see him. 'You didn't beat me in college, and you didn't beat me in the NBA. You're out of chances, Patrick.' That's the kind of shit I gotta hear from him until my dying days." -- Ewing

"I used to tell them, 'Let me play on your team and you play on mine. Let me play with Cap, Worthy, Byron Scott and A.C. Green, and you play with my team, and let's see how many rings you'd have.' Or, 'Let me have Scottie. See how you do then.' That would shut them up real quick." -- Drexler


MJ's energy

On the night before the United States was to play Croatia for the gold medal, the card game in the Coolest Room in the World was especially animated. All the regulars were there, including Jordan, who was scheduled to do a video shoot the next morning for NBA Entertainment. It was not a small thing, a commitment of several hours for what wold become MICHAEL JORDAN: AIR TIME. To be honest, I can't separate one Jordan video from another, but they were big deals in the sports world, exquisitely produced moneymakers.
This was classic Jordan -- commit to something, let it hang in the air for as long as possible while the other party goes apoplectic with anxiety, then pull it off at the last moment, like a buzzer-beating jump shot. Magic does things the same way.
It was one in the morning, then two, then three. Jordan was smoking his phallic stogies and the guys were ripping on one another, and Don Sperling of NBA Entertainment was circling the edge of the group like an overwrought den mother, trying to remind Jordan about the morning shoot and how Michael should also figure in the small matter of, you know, the gold medal game that night. Then it was four o'clock, then it was five. The players knew that this was the last card game, for the team was leaving Barcelona as soon as the gold medal had been secured and the arena celebration dispensed with. This round of tonk was something special, a ceremony of sorts, a parting of ways before they all became enemies again.
At six-fifteen the game finally broke up. Sperling followed Jordan to one of his two rooms (a Jordan perk), where Jordan was to take a shower.
"Don't crash on me, Michael." Sperling begged.
"I told you I'll be out," said Jordan, "so I'll be out."
True to his word, Jordan reemerged twenty-five minutes later, showered, bald head glistening, decked out in a bright, orange-tinted shorts set that made him look like a Zambian exchange student.
And for the next several hours the crew followed him through Barcelona, filming on the streets and at the Olympic Stadium. "What you have to understand is that it's ninety-six degrees and 100 percent humidity and he had no sleep." said Sperling. "And when you see that video, he looks as fresh as if he'd just gotten out of bed after eight hours."
When they were finished, in mid afternoon, Jordan asked for a favor.
"Could you take me to the golf course?" he said. "My clubs are out there and I'm going to try to get in a round."
Jordan played eighteen holes at the Real Club de Golf El Prat on the outskirts of Barcelona, as he did most days, got a ride back to the hotel, went to his room, changed, waded through the crowds at the Ambassador (they had only gotten larger as the Games went on), climbed aboard the team bus, and, eight years after his first, went off in search of his second gold medal.
"Michael tried to get me on his schedule over there, and I just couldn't do it." Magic says today. "I got so I could play cards all night, and so did some of the other guys. But then to go out and play eighteen, thirty-six holes of golf? Then come back and get 20 in the game like it's nothing? Man, nobody
could do that. Michael Jordan is the strongest, and the strongest-willed, athlete ever. I don't care what anybody says."

He'd play thirty-six holds of golf, and we'd be heading to the bus and here comes Michael with his clubs. But he'd be back two minutes later ready to play. The energy that man had...never saw anything like it. That's why, when Magic started talking, deep down, he had to know Michael had passed us. I mean, Michael was the best player in our league before Barcelona. I had no problem with it. I had my run. I said to Magic, you gotta be out of your mind if you think you can still compete with this guy. Let it go, man, let it go. Compete against him like you're going to kick his ass, bur realize it's his time. -- Bird


Lasting Impressions

When those guys honed in on their competitors, you could just forget it. That time they were watching films of Kukoc? You could've walked in front of Michael and Scottie a thousand times and their eyelashes would've never moved. -- Karl Malone

You'd see Karl's physique during the season, but until you're with him you don't realize that it's not an accident. I started working out with Karl during the Dream Team, and that really pushed me. -- Pippen

Karl Malone was a great player, but he could not play without John Stockton. John was his left hand to Karl's right. That's how important he was. That's how important some teammates can be to others. -- Jordan

The Spurs had not been a championship team at the point when I went to Barcelona so what I wanted to pick up on was, what do you need to do to be a leader, to lift your team up? And I took that commitment and focus back to San Antonio. Sure, I did the physical and mental work, but those guys made me understand that you have to require the same thing of everyone around you. You have to demand excellence from your teammates or you will not win a championship. -- David Robinson commenting on observing Magic's/Bird's/Jordan's leadership

[get these NETS]

JORDAN says

"in the pickup games..which ever team had laetnner lost..HE was the weakest link"




Coach K says about Jordan

"He's as great a leader,competitor there is but (in dealing with teammates).he's incapable of being kind"

=========================

taken in context....NC Duke is and always has been a BIG rivalry, so keep that in mind

[andgar923]

Great stuff, thanks!!:cheers:

Did you copy this from somewhere or did you buy the book and typed it out?

If you did the later even more props to you. :bowdown:

[get these NETS]

alleged comment by Ewing about Bird


Ewing on phone with his friends from back home (he grew up around Boston)

"remember that shit we used to talk about Bird...I was wrong.. THAT MFer is the Truth"

[andgar923]

Btw.... Clyde is hating on MJ when he says "give me Scottie"

He wouldn't have molded Pip like MJ did (not close) and he HAD a better team throughout most of his career!!!

The Blazers were stacked, way more than the Bulls were. You could switch teams from even when Pip was molded into a great player and they still wouldn't have won shit.

MJ was simply a better player and a better leader case closed.

[get these NETS]

Great stuff, thanks!!:cheers:

Did you copy this from somewhere or did you buy the book and typed it out?

If you did the later even more props to you. :bowdown:



don't know what OP did but mine are from memory..borrowed book from public library ....


this book has some of the best quotes......I can remember from a sports book....basically the highest level of trash talk there is

"you can't sit here..this is a ring table"

NOTHING tops that....




BARKLEY

after being teased for not having a ring

"I'm gonna steal one from you one of these years Mike"


Barkley got Jordan with some REAL good jabs.....he said money made jordan a "sex symbol"..if you were a plumber nobody would ever call you good looking"

[DuMa]

Michael never let me forget that I couldn't beat him. Michael never let me forget anything. Michael has been talking trash from the first day I met
him at age seventeen, and he's never stopped. Hell, yeah, it bothers me that I never beat him. And I gotta hear it from him every day I see him. 'You didn't beat me in college, and you didn't beat me in the NBA. You're out of chances, Patrick.' That's the kind of shit I gotta hear from him until my dying days." -- Ewing

Harsh stuff, MJ. harsh :oldlol:

[andgar923]

don't know what OP did but mine are from memory..borrowed book from public library ....


this book has some of the best quotes......I can remember from a sports book....basically the highest level of trash talk there is

"you can't sit here..this is a ring table"

NOTHING tops that....




BARKLEY

after being teased for not having a ring

"I'm gonna steal one from you one of these years Mike"


Barkley got Jordan with some REAL good jabs.....he said money made jordan a "sex symbol"..if you were a plumber nobody would ever call you good looking"

Good stuff.

Since we're on the subject of trash talking and although a completely different sport, I just remembered my fav trash talking moment of all time.

Deion Sanders as a 49er in the Super Bowl pointing at the scoreboard to a wanna be trash talker.

[Shepseskaf]

Thanks for posting! Very, very interesting stuff.

I have to go get this book.

[General]

Jordan circle jerk.

[mobbdeep]

great post!!!! Love the quotes.

I like how Stockton said u weren't open if u were because u were not gonna do anything with the ball. classic

[juju151111]

great post!!!! Love the quotes.

I like how Stockton said u weren't open if u were because u were not gonna do anything with the ball. classic
True PG

[get these NETS]

Chuck Daley

"give me Michael, Scottie, and Barkely"..doesn't matter who else we have


Larry Bird

"Ewing and I are over here picking each other's brains..took me 2 minutes to pick his"

[get these NETS]

Good stuff.

Since we're on the subject of trash talking and although a completely different sport, I just remembered my fav trash talking moment of all time.

Deion Sanders as a 49er in the Super Bowl pointing at the scoreboard to a wanna be trash talker.

that was the Steve Young getting monkey off his back superbowl...they blew out the chargers?

so anybody talking or barking on san diego was a clown..


oh yeah Deion took it to a notch that you couldn't top..Never read any of his quotes but in that era...for niners....he'd intercept the ball.....stadium would start rocking as he returns it.....he high steps into the end zone and then looks up at the sky and start praising his creator.

it's OVER after that..

NO way your team gets momentum back after that

[Da_Realist]

Great stuff, thanks!!:cheers:

Did you copy this from somewhere or did you buy the book and typed it out?

If you did the later even more props to you. :bowdown:

I bought it and highlighted different things I found interesting. I started talking with NugzHeat about it and he suggested I make a thread about it. So i spent about 2 hours typing it all up this morning. I've always liked typing and was always good at it, so it wasn't too much of a pain. Glad I didn't have much work to do in the meantime.

There's much more interesting stuff in the book, but I tried to keep a lot of gossip-y stuff out and keep it mostly focused on basketball. Sometimes I felt like I was reading People magazine or something.

[juju151111]

I bought it and highlighted different things I found interesting. I started talking with NugzHeat about it and he suggested I make a thread about it. So i spent about 2 hours typing it all up this morning. I've always liked typing and was always good at it, so it wasn't too much of a pain. Glad I didn't have much work to do in the meantime.

There's much more interesting stuff in the book, but I tried to keep a lot of gossip-y stuff out and keep it mostly focused on basketball. Sometimes I felt like I was reading People magazine or something.
You should post the gossip :applause:

[NugzHeat3]

:cheers:

Great job Da Realist.


Jordan and Magic were particularly ruthless toward Barkley, who might sit down to join them only to hear, "Sorry, Charles, this is a ring table." Magic would say something similar to Barkley or Ewing when he and Bird shot around together. "This is a ring basket."

:oldlol:

With the way Stockton talks, that team was truly any PGs fantasy. He probably really regrets the injury he had.

One thing I found interesting was the STARK contrast with Jordan

[SilkkTheShocker]

Clyde always comes off as sounding bitter and delusional

[eliteballer]

Havent read the book but I want to see the quote about what Drexler thought Barkley would be if he had work ethic.

[iamgine]

Btw.... Clyde is hating on MJ when he says "give me Scottie"

He wouldn't have molded Pip like MJ did (not close) and he HAD a better team throughout most of his career!!!

The Blazers were stacked, way more than the Bulls were. You could switch teams from even when Pip was molded into a great player and they still wouldn't have won shit.

MJ was simply a better player and a better leader case closed.
I dunno man. MJ was the better player than Drexler but I don't think in his prime Drexler ever had a better team than first threepeat Bulls (Maybe only 94-95 Rockets). We saw in '94 how beastly Pippen really was and Phil turned out to be a HOF coach. Horace Grant and Rodman wasn't too shabby either.

[Da_Realist]

Havent read the book but I want to see the quote about what Drexler thought Barkley would be if he had work ethic.

Drexler on Barkley

Drexler offered a simple but perceptive analysis of Barkley when we talked about it in 2011. "If Charles had worked out and done things like he was supposed to, the way that Karl did them, then he wouldn't have been Charles," said Drexler. "He was creative, and creative guys have to do it at their own pace and in their own way." It's another way of saying that we don't ask our poets to diagram sentences.

[Da_Realist]

One thing I found interesting was the STARK contrast with Jordan’s comments on Drexler in the book compared with the comments before the finals started.


http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rbYiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G7UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4242,439689&dq=clyde+drexler+post+up&hl=en

He comes clean on his feelings on Drexler in the book while the above is definitely more of a politically correct comment. We all know Jordan took the comparisons to heart and the rest is history.

I do think he sold him a little short in the book though. Clyde was pretty good in the post and a great rebounder as well like he says in the quote above.

Yeah, I try not to take what these guys say too literally. Sometimes, while trying to make a larger point and they'll dismiss a few contradicting points along the way. Jordan knows Drexler was much more than what he said in the book... Just like Pippen keeps repeatedly saying Jordan was just a scorer, then comes right back and talks about how he was a great defender and leader. Or like Clyde saying Magic only won cause he had better teammates while dismissing that Magic's team beat his favored Trailblazers without HCA just a year before.

Sometimes their emotion and ego gets in the way and they oversimplify things to make their point.

[get these NETS]

I dunno man. MJ was the better player than Drexler but I don't think in his prime Drexler ever had a better team than first threepeat Bulls (Maybe only 94-95 Rockets). We saw in '94 how beastly Pippen really was and Phil turned out to be a HOF coach. Horace Grant and Rodman wasn't too shabby either.


blazers went to 3 straight WCF and 2 nba finals in a 3 year stretch


porter, drexler, williams, kersey, duckworth

was as balanced a starting five as the bulls first three peat

of

mj,pip, grant, cartwright and the pg whose name i forget


buck williams was definitely as good as horace

duckworth was better than cartwright

young kersey was about as good as pip in certain parts of the game

mj was better than drex

paxson about even with porter

[andgar923]

blazers went to 3 straight WCF and 2 nba finals in a 3 year stretch


porter, drexler, williams, kersey, duckworth

was as balanced a starting five as the bulls first three peat

of

mj,pip, grant, cartwright and the pg whose name i forget


buck williams was definitely as good as horace

duckworth was better than cartwright

young kersey was about as good as pip in certain parts of the game

mj was better than drex

paxson about even with porter

sorry but POrter was >>>>>> Pax

And then we have the bench players like Ainge (depending on which year) and some of their other defenders that are better then the Bulls teams.

But regardless..... Drexler would've never molded Pippen into the player MJ did.

[Shepseskaf]

Reading the book now. Its interesting, but just in first couple of chapters there are a surprising number of errors.

For example, McCallum states that 1992 was the first time that professional players were allowed to play in the Olympics, without specifying that this only pertained to the U.S. Professional players from other countries had participated previously.

Also, he says that Magic had the AIDS virus, which is totally incorrect. Magic acquired HIV, but not AIDS.

Disappointing.

[Shepseskaf]

:roll:

McCallum on finally getting a pic with the DT, along with follow columnist David Depree:
[QUOTE]And as we posed

[Da_Realist]

Reading the book now. Its interesting, but just in first couple of chapters there are a surprising number of errors.

For example, McCallum states that 1992 was the first time that professional players were allowed to play in the Olympics, without specifying that this only pertained to the U.S. Professional players from other countries had participated previously.

Also, he says that Magic had the AIDS virus, which is totally incorrect. Magic acquired HIV, but not AIDS.

Disappointing.

I wasn't too impressed with the book as a whole. The mistakes didn't bother me as much as his jaded, opinion-based, agenda-pushing running narrative throughout the book. Some of the stuff he wrote was a little unfair and other things would have been better kept to himself. I think he reached a little bit and targeted Jordan and Magic to make sure the book would sell. His assault on Magic throughout the whole book seems forced. (spoiler alert: He thinks Magic is a phony. Or contrived. That's his opinion, but every time Magic comes up in the book he needs to reaffirm it. After a while, it becomes distracting. And then becomes hypocritical because the stuff he throws Magic under the bus for doing, he throws Jordan under the bus for not doing.)

[CelticBaller]

Michael never let me forget that I couldn't beat him. Michael never let me forget anything. Michael has been talking trash from the first day I met
him at age seventeen, and he's never stopped. Hell, yeah, it bothers me that I never beat him. And I gotta hear it from him every day I see him. 'You didn't beat me in college, and you didn't beat me in the NBA. You're out of chances, Patrick.' That's the kind of shit I gotta hear from him until my dying days." -- Ewing

Harsh stuff, MJ. harsh :oldlol:
:bowdown:

[Shepseskaf]

I wasn't too impressed with the book as a whole. The mistakes didn't bother me as much as his jaded, opinion-based, agenda-pushing running narrative throughout the book. Some of the stuff he wrote was a little unfair and other things would have been better kept to himself. I think he reached a little bit and targeted Jordan and Magic to make sure the book would sell. His assault on Magic throughout the whole book seems forced. (spoiler alert: He thinks Magic is a phony. Or contrived. That's his opinion, but every time Magic comes up in the book he needs to reaffirm it. After a while, it becomes distracting. And then becomes hypocritical because the stuff he throws Magic under the bus for doing, he throws Jordan under the bus for not doing.)
Agree 100%. McCollum tried to become part of the book, instead of just writing it.

[Da_Realist]

Agree 100%. McCollum tried to become part of the book, instead of just writing it.

Exactly

[tpols]

Drexler on Barkley

Drexler offered a simple but perceptive analysis of Barkley when we talked about it in 2011. "If Charles had worked out and done things like he was supposed to, the way that Karl did them, then he wouldn't have been Charles," said Drexler. "He was creative, and creative guys have to do it at their own pace and in their own way." It's another way of saying that we don't ask our poets to diagram sentences.
I get what Drexler is saying.. that Malone's methodical approach to weight lifting was the same as his approach to basketball, and since barkley was a little unorthodox his habits could never be the same as Malones.

But I dont think its just that players like Barkley are more 'creative' than Malone.. it's that they have a more intuitive and natural feel for the game that allows them to make moves very smoothly because everything comes easier to them.

I guess Drexler doesnt get that because, like MJ said, he was more of a put your head down and drive guy where as michael could do pretty much anything he wanyted depending on the circumstances. The creativity comes from MJ and Barkley just being.. better players who have the game come easier to them. It shouldnt have a single thing to do with weight training.

[Indian guy]

He thinks Magic is a phony. Or contrived. That's his opinion.

That's an opinion a lot of people hold though. In the book Bird Watching, Larry doesn't outright say it, but reading between the lines, you can pretty much tell he wants people to know Magic's entire public persona is an act.

Bob Greene, a respected journalist(non-sports) who befriended MJ and wrote Hang Time during 90-92, also talked about how Magic was no "smiler" and in fact, nothing like how the public viewed him.

[Da_Realist]

That's an opinion a lot of people hold though. In the book Bird Watching, Larry doesn't outright say it, but reading between the lines, you can pretty much tell he wants people to know Magic's entire public persona is an act.

Bob Greene, a respected journalist(non-sports) who befriended MJ and wrote Hang Time during 90-92, also talked about how Magic was no "smiler" and in fact, nothing like how the public viewed him.

It may be true, but he hijacks the book with it. He repeatedly talks about how Christian Laettner was the biggest asshole in Spain, Magic's a phony, MJ's not a nice guy, etc... It would have felt better if he wrote what happened and allowed us to decide how much of a phony Magic is or how insecure Pippen is... He doesn't allow the reader to do that because he'll spend whole chapters prepping you ("Watch out...in chapter 18 you'll see proof of how mean MJ is") so that when you read whatever he wanted to tell you, you can't form an opinion because he formed it for you in chapter 4.

He takes things out of proportion to prop up his opinions and casually let's stuff go that doesn't. I understand what reporters need to do to get a story and I still respect him (was reading his stuff from Sports Illustrated half my life), but there was a sneakiness to how he got some of his quotes. For example...

He complained about how Pippen is "The Shadow Man" because he was always in MJ's shadow. He was so under appreciated. No one respects him like they should because they always see him through the prism of "Michael". But in his own blog (http://www.jackmccallum.net/2012/05/21/behind-the-interviews-scottie/#.UAiCQaDAFTY), he stated, "One of the challenges in talking to Pippen about the book was the old one—how to get him to riff on Jordan when he, Pippen, is the primary subject. "

So he admitted his interest in Pippen was centered around "riffing" on Jordan. Pippen said what he said, as did all the other Dream Teamers, but I wonder how much was left on the cutting room floor that didn't fit his agenda? How much pleading, coaxing and manipulating did he need to do to finally get the quote he needed/wanted?

A lot of this book is petty and I have a feeling the author is the reason behind it all.

[TheBigVeto]

He'd play thirty-six holds of golf, and we'd be heading to the bus and here comes Michael with his clubs. But he'd be back two minutes later ready to play. The energy that man had...never saw anything like it. That's why, when Magic started talking, deep down, he had to know Michael had passed us. I mean, Michael was the best player in our league before Barcelona. I had no problem with it. I had my run. I said to Magic, you gotta be out of your mind if you think you can still compete with this guy. Let it go, man, let it go. Compete against him like you're going to kick his ass, bur realize it's his time. -- Bird


Magic is always delusional. Just like Kobe.

[TheBigVeto]

96 "Dream Team"

"I was just amazed at some of the things that went on. We had a couple of guys skip practice because they didn't get to start and didn't play as many minutes as they thought they should. Can you imagine that? Michael Jordan didn't start some games in '92. Michael freaking Jordan!" Barkley wouldn't name the players, but they were Shaq and Penny Hardaway

In some press reports Hakeem Olajuwon was presented as the model teammate on the '96 squad. Pippen said that wasn't the case. "Penny and Hakeem...there's two guys who will whine when things don't go their way. Hakeem got mad at Lenny because he didn't play against Greece. 'I've never had a DNP in my life!' he was shouting at Lenny. He was so mad that tears were coming out of his eyes. I'm telling you, it was bad. I enjoyed Atlanta, I guess, but it wasn't the same. And it wasn't a Dream Team."

When Barkley first brought up the subject of bitches in 96 team, I always knew Penny and Shaq were definitely two of them. Hakeem surprised me.

[Da_Realist]

When Barkley first brought up the subject of bitches in 96 team, I always knew Penny and Shaq were definitely two of them. Hakeem surprised me.

Penny and Hakeem surprised me. Really surprised me.

[NugzHeat3]

The Penny thing doesn’t surprise me much. He was routinely accused of whining in the post-Shaq years in Orlando. He played a big role in the firing of Brian Hill, would publicly state how he didn’t get the respect he warranted from the media, buried the Magic fans saying they were the worst market for a star player to be in and they didn’t appreciate him, criticized Chuck Daly after running Brian Hill out of town, demanding a huge extension when his ability didn’t warrant that money at all ect. If you watch some of his interviews from that time period, he could give you the impression of a conceited jackass or if that's too harsh, just a guy that was full of himself.

As for Hakeem, I agree. I was pretty surprised in his case. That's something I would've expected from the 80s version as opposed to the mid 90s version who seemed more at peace with himself, always got praised for his unselfishness and leadership. It was probably a pride thing for him watching Robinson and Shaq who were his main competitors get playing time yet he doesn't even get to play at all. There was a period where in 1991 where Cartwright knocked him out with the eye injury and they had some success without him building chemistry. When he returned, he didn’t have any trouble blending in and coming off the bench backing up Larry Smith. A guy can happily back up Larry Smith (98% of the forum doesn’t know who he is) and he’s throwing a hissy fit behind Shaq and Robinson? Seems weird and that’s why I think its pride related. I know Hakeem usually comes off as a humble player but I wouldn't be surprised if he felt insulted. I remember Robert Horry in a interview with Bill Simmons (it's on youtube) and Mario Elie talking about how he was furious when they gave David Robinson the MVP and felt he was disrespected and used that as motivation.

Barkley was wrong BTW. Jordan started in all 8 games in the Olympics, not that I think he would've cared a whole lot had he came off the bench. Outside of isolated instances like the match up with Drazen, Kukoc and Sarunas where he either had something to prove or they needed him, I don't think he really cared all that much in the actual games at all because of the competition (or lack there of) since that’s what he thrived most from.

http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/moly_1992.html

[Xiao Yao You]

paxson about even with porter

Porter was one of the best pg's in the game. Paxson was decent. Not even close. Paxson wasn't even close to Ainge.

[get these NETS]

SI printed FULL chapter of the book describing the greatest game nobody ever saw


heated legendary scrimmage between Magic's pickup team and Jordan's.

highlight of the book...with play by play and dialogue from players

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1201220/index.htm


coverage of the game starts on page 3

[guy]

Btw.... Clyde is hating on MJ when he says "give me Scottie"

He wouldn't have molded Pip like MJ did (not close) and he HAD a better team throughout most of his career!!!

The Blazers were stacked, way more than the Bulls were. You could switch teams from even when Pip was molded into a great player and they still wouldn't have won shit.

MJ was simply a better player and a better leader case closed.

If they had switched places, Jordan wins 3-4 titles with the 90-93 Blazers, and another 3-4 titles with the 95-98 Rockets. Drexler sounds really bitter and delusional.

[NugzHeat3]

SI printed FULL chapter of the book describing the greatest game nobody ever saw


heated legendary scrimmage between Magic's pickup team and Jordan's.

highlight of the book...with play by play and dialogue from players

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1201220/index.htm


coverage of the game starts on page 3
Thanks a lot for posting this.

I think with the way players talk about how amped they were, their need and desire to prove themselves against one another, their perspective on this game and the mystique regarding this game, it has to be one of the most competitive games ever played. It might not feature the highest quality of basketball but in terms of ruggedness, intensity, match ups vying to dethrone the other following the tone set by their leaders Magic and Jordan and the sheer talent on the court, it would still be a delight to watch.

Also, I liked Pippen mentioning how Mullin was beating him on backdoor cuts. He was a really smart player and amazing off-ball.

They really need to release the footage because they're robbing basketball fans otherwise.

[andgar923]

I've been reading the book, and Scottie comes across as still being jealous and somewhat resentful of MJ, even when giving him props. And even when he's resentful he still gives him props....:wtf:

Seriously.... he's say shit like "Mj got away with a lot of things, he always did" when asked who the better defender was, but then say shit like "it let me get away with things as well" (paraphrasing).

So even when he wants to take away credit and give himself props, he still HAS to give him props cause he knows deep down that there's no Pip without Mj.

There was other comments that just seemed bitter and reeked of insecurity and jealousy. Like when he compared MJ to Kobe... uh well... maybe cause you guys didn't deserve MJ's trust. The only person that probably deserved his trust was Grant or Pax, and Grant because he got feeds right underneath the basket for easy buckets. Pax was smart and had already played with MJ.

And MJ said it best when he was asked about his opinion on Pip's comments regarding Bron "jealousy". And this book as well as many other interviews clearly show that Pip is still full of insecurity and jealousy. But as the book makes sure to point out, Pip at the end of the day as much as he hates to admit it knows MJ made him and he would've never been remembered if it wasn't for him.

[Xiao Yao You]

That was all obvious when Phil let his best shooter(Kukoc) take the last shot and Pippen cried like like a little leaguer.

[guy]

And MJ said it best when he was asked about his opinion on Pip's comments regarding Bron "jealousy". .

He said Pippen was jealous when he said Lebron was better then him? When was this?

[andgar923]

He said Pippen was jealous when he said Lebron was better then him? When was this?
in the book page 234...


At any rate, in the 2011 post season Pippen was working, as analyst for Comcast SportsNet Chicago, when he suggested that Lebron James might be "the greatest player to ever play the game." That caused the predictable firestorm because it seemed to demean Jordan. (When I asked Jordan about it in the summer of 2011, he just shook his head and said "Jealousy.")

[Linspired]

great stuff. :applause: :applause: :applause:

keep them coming!!! i want moar!!!

[Linspired]

so far

drexler - delusional
magic - denial
pip - bitter
stockton - general
mullin - insightful
bird - mature
jordan - a freak of nature, cocky
charles - cocky, natural
malone - all muscle no brain
ewing - dumbass
laettner - cocky white boy
drob - boring personality?

[Round Mound]

MJ and Sir Charles where the Best Players in the World at that Time :bowdown: :bowdown:

[guy]

in the book page 234...

I haven't read it. But wow, thats surprising. Really surprised Jordan would call him out like that although I can understand why. It really did surprise me that Pippen of all people could jump the gun and say that.

[get these NETS]

JORDAN on the pitfalls of fame...including backlash for several issues


"what everybody has to understand is that my success caught me completely by surprise""If you told me in college that soon, within a year, my face, my image, would be all over the country and the world, I would've said you were crazy"

[get these NETS]

Team had dinner with Prince or King of Monaco

He is seated between Magic and Jordan

MAGIC" wow....the closest I thought I'd ever get to royalty is guarding Michael"

[Punpun]

I love the Magic was a phony bit I've seen on this thread. Just think two seconds. At the time he was a ****ing walking dead man. And he should be all msile outside of the public ?

People reach so hard in order to push their agenda.

[Da_Realist]

Some things I wish the author would have asked MJ

-- How do you feel about the backlash you have received from your Hall of Fame speech? Do you regret anything you said? Is there something you wish you would have said?

-- Is there a player you considered your equal mentally?

-- What year do you feel is your absolute best year, all things considered?

-- What would 35 year old MJ say to 28 year old MJ to improve his game?

[AlphaWolf24]

Da_Realist]All comments posted come from Jack McCallum's Dream Team book (http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Team-Greatest-Conquered-Basketball/dp/0345520483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342715395&sr=8-1&keywords=dream+team).




96 "Dream Team"

"I was just amazed at some of the things that went on. We had a couple of guys skip practice because they didn't get to start and didn't play as many minutes as they thought they should. Can you imagine that? Michael Jordan didn't start some games in '92. Michael freaking Jordan!" Barkley wouldn't name the players, but they were Shaq and Penny Hardaway

In some press reports Hakeem Olajuwon was presented as the model teammate on the '96 squad. Pippen said that wasn't the case. "Penny and Hakeem...there's two guys who will whine when things don't go their way. Hakeem got mad at Lenny because he didn't play against Greece. 'I've never had a DNP in my life!' he was shouting at Lenny. He was so mad that tears were coming out of his eyes. I'm telling you, it was bad. I enjoyed Atlanta, I guess, but it wasn't the same. And it wasn't a Dream Team."


:lol I knew it!

[AlphaWolf24]

I've been reading the book, and Scottie comes across as still being jealous and somewhat resentful of MJ, even when giving him props. And even when he's resentful he still gives him props....:wtf:

Seriously.... he's say shit like "Mj got away with a lot of things, he always did" when asked who the better defender was, but then say shit like "it let me get away with things as well" (paraphrasing).

So even when he wants to take away credit and give himself props, he still HAS to give him props cause he knows deep down that there's no Pip without Mj.

There was other comments that just seemed bitter and reeked of insecurity and jealousy. Like when he compared MJ to Kobe... uh well... maybe cause you guys didn't deserve MJ's trust. The only person that probably deserved his trust was Grant or Pax, and Grant because he got feeds right underneath the basket for easy buckets. Pax was smart and had already played with MJ.

And MJ said it best when he was asked about his opinion on Pip's comments regarding Bron "jealousy". And this book as well as many other interviews clearly show that Pip is still full of insecurity and jealousy. But as the book makes sure to point out, Pip at the end of the day as much as he hates to admit it knows MJ made him and he would've never been remembered if it wasn't for him.


do tell!

http://9thcivic.com/gallery/albums/post/2qkjwpt.gif

[Punpun]

Hakeem got a ****ing DNP ? That coach is a freaking asshole.

[get these NETS]

Some things I wish the author would have asked MJ

-- How do you feel about the backlash you have received from your Hall of Fame speech? Do you regret anything you said? Is there something you wish you would have said?

-- Is there a player you considered your equal mentally?

-- What year do you feel is your absolute best year, all things considered?

-- What would 35 year old MJ say to 28 year old MJ to improve his game?
if you see the dress code that MJ has these days and the Charlie Chaplin mustache...safe to say that he REALLY doesn't give a F about backlash

[caliman]

Love the quote from Pip about how MJ evolved as a leader once Phil got there. and it shows you how far Kobe still has to go because he has never gotten the best out of his teammates consistently.

[get these NETS]

Hakeem got a ****ing DNP ? That coach is a freaking asshole.


What probably hurt Olajuwon more than anything was that one of the reasons he probably finally became a citizen was to suit up for Team USA.....he was clearly still best center in the league...which meant best in the world..


I ride with Coach Wilkens in the other situation...shaq and penny are assholes

Here is an actual quote from Shaq as detailed in Lenny Wilkens' bio..first day of teamusa practice

"Hey, coach....did you ever play in the league?"

If he were a rookie..I'd maybe give him a pass....but in summer 96.?


asshole...

[AlphaWolf24]

Love the quote from Pip about how MJ evolved as a leader once Phil got there. and it shows you how far Kobe still has to go because he has never gotten the best out of his teammates consistently.
:facepalm

that's funny..what did MJ forget how to lead in Washington??....he should have easily made the playoff's in the horrible Eastern Conference of the early 2000's.....all that Leadership should have gotten the best outta RIP Hamilton, Jerry Stackhouse , Christian Leatnner ,Larry Hughes and Kwame Brown....

what about as a GM....the great leadership should trickle down a lil bit?.to the players...don't you think?:lol

man has nearly the worst team of alltime.

[get these NETS]

That must've been cold. :oldlol:

in Shaq's book....he said before the gold medal game ..Coach went up to im and said "this is Robinson's last olympics....you'll have more chances..I'm gonna go with him tonight...(minutes"

Shaq says.."it was Drob's 3rd olympics and my first...I played 15 seconds and scored 2 points in the gold medal game"

=============================

so Shaq didn't know that Lenny was a legendary player in his own right, but he knew that Robinson had played in 88, and 92...he knew Coach was playing him out




allegedly shaq and penny blew off practices (???)...so lenny diplomatically trimmed his minutes
shaq makes NO mention of not going to practice in his book, btw...

[KG215]

:facepalm

that's funny..what did MJ forget how to lead in Washington??....he should have easily made the playoff's in the horrible Eastern Conference of the early 2000's.....all that Leadership should have gotten the best outta RIP Hamilton, Jerry Stackhouse , Christian Leatnner ,Larry Hughes and Kwame Brown....

what about as a GM....the great leadership should trickle down a lil bit?.to the players...don't you think?:lol

man has nearly the worst team of alltime.

Yeah nearly 40 year old MJ should've been able to take any supporting cast to the playoffs if he truly was a great leader, right? Aren't you the same one that started the "Remember when Kobe scored 55 on Jordan" thread? Completely ignoring the fact that Jordan was 40 years old and barely guarded Kobe. Shouldn't be surprised, though, since you might be the worst and most delusional Kobe fanboy on ISH.

[get these NETS]

on LAETTNER

Grant Hill says that Laettner wanted to be Black.

"One year Bobby (Hurley) got hurt and Tony Lang was starting for him and Christian's in the huddle clapping his hands and going, 'Okay, we got five brothers starting.'. And it didn't seem like he was kidding"






================================================== ====


GRANT HILL

talking about the week the college guys scrimmaged/practiced with Dream Team

"all due respect to my wedding day and the birth of my kids, but that was the best week of my life"




=========================================


This book has endless quotes...thanks op for starting this thread

[SilkkTheShocker]

Alpha is definitely pro Kobe, but he is a pretty knowledgeable poster imo

[get these NETS]

if you own this book, don't loan it out


"yo, Meth..where's my Killer tape?"

[FKAri]

Jordan was smoking his phallic stogies

:oldlol:

[get these NETS]

How's this for a quote?


"Only issue is this homosexual problem we have on our team.And it's especially bad among the Black players"


guess who said it....

[get these NETS]

now on audiobook

should be dirt cheap now too

[Stringer Bell]

That's an opinion a lot of people hold though. In the book Bird Watching, Larry doesn't outright say it, but reading between the lines, you can pretty much tell he wants people to know Magic's entire public persona is an act.


In the Courtship of Rivals documentary, Bird was talking about how Magic was being nice to Larry's mom, and said "Magic's a con man" and laughed.


on LAETTNER

Grant Hill says that Laettner wanted to be Black.

"One year Bobby (Hurley) got hurt and Tony Lang was starting for him and Christian's in the huddle clapping his hands and going, 'Okay, we got five brothers starting.'. And it didn't seem like he was kidding"


In an old SI article, Christian's mom is quoted as saying that he wishes he were black so people would respect him more as a ballplayer.

[Harison]

MJ's influence on Scottie

I'm not going to say Michael made him. That's too strong because Scottie had a lot of game. But if Scottie plays with another guy, I'm not sure whether it's not just the gifts that wouldn't have come out, but also the drive. -- Chris Mullin

Interesting, I said pretty much the same thing here few weeks ago.



You weren't open

The one thing that drove Stockton to distraction on the court was when a teammate would tell him, "Hey, I was open but you didn't give it to me." And Stockton would say: "No you weren't open. Just because no one seemed to be guarding you, that doesn't mean you were open, because you couldn't do anything with the ball if you got it."

Priceless :lol

[get these NETS]

In an old SI article, Christian's mom is quoted as saying that he wishes he were black so people would respect him more as a ballplayer.


he should have wished for more talent.....instead

bet he was glad he was white while driving around at night around klan country, North Carolina while at Duke


never liked Laettner , since he stepped on opponents chest while he was on the ground and ref saw it and didn't T him up in college


http://www.wildcatworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/051010LAETTNER-STEPS-ON-TI1.png

[Stringer Bell]

he should have wished for more talent.....instead

bet he was glad he was white while driving around at night around klan country, North Carolina while at Duke


never liked Laettner , since he stepped on opponents chest while he was on the ground and ref saw it and didn't T him up in college

He did get a technical for that.

Stomping on Timberlake from Kentucky.

Possibly the greatest basketball game I've ever seen, although the ending made me mad.

[get these NETS]

that Stockton quote sounds good but it makes no sense

not releasing the ball t teammate until he was in scoring position makes sense...MOST of the time...but on a team of all-everything players....it makes NO sense

any of those players..unguarded, was capable of knocking down an open jump shot...so "you couldn't have done anything with it" sounds funny

[get these NETS]

He did get a technical for that.

Stomping on Timberlake from Kentucky.

Possibly the greatest basketball game I've ever seen, although the ending made me mad.


watched the game live too....

didn't remember him getting T'd up or getting tossed

[Dr. Ice]

Threads like this is why i value ish.



GRANT HILL

talking about the week the college guys scrimmaged/practiced with Dream Team

"all due respect to my wedding day and the birth of my kids, but that was the best week of my life"

Any chance of an elaboration on this?

[OhNoTimNoSho]

Jordan circle jerk.
Say what you want but there is no other players as interesting to read about as Jordan. No ones going to be exchanging stories 20 years from now about the legends of LeBron's gentleness and delicateness.

[Stringer Bell]

watched the game live too....

didn't remember him getting T'd up or getting tossed


He got T'd up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AwYVTB2rZw





Trash Talk

Jordan and Magic were particularly ruthless toward Barkley, who might sit down to join them only to hear, "Sorry, Charles, this is a ring table." Magic would say something similar to Barkley or Ewing when he and Bird shot around together. "This is a ring basket."

Michael never let me forget that I couldn't beat him. Michael never let me forget anything. Michael has been talking trash from the first day I met
him at age seventeen, and he's never stopped. Hell, yeah, it bothers me that I never beat him. And I gotta hear it from him every day I see him. 'You didn't beat me in collge, and you didn't beat me in the NBA. You're out of chances, Patrick.' That's the kind of shit I gotta hear from him until my dying days." -- Ewing


Damn :oldlol:

[Stringer Bell]

I wasn't too impressed with the book as a whole. The mistakes didn't bother me as much as his jaded, opinion-based, agenda-pushing running narrative throughout the book. Some of the stuff he wrote was a little unfair and other things would have been better kept to himself. I think he reached a little bit and targeted Jordan and Magic to make sure the book would sell. His assault on Magic throughout the whole book seems forced. (spoiler alert: He thinks Magic is a phony. Or contrived. That's his opinion, but every time Magic comes up in the book he needs to reaffirm it. After a while, it becomes distracting. And then becomes hypocritical because the stuff he throws Magic under the bus for doing, he throws Jordan under the bus for not doing.)


Agree 100%. McCollum tried to become part of the book, instead of just writing it.

Just finished reading the book, and this was definitely one of the weaknesses of it.

As a whole I enjoyed the book, but it would have been better if not for McCallum's ego and repetiveness.

Stating his opinion here and there is fine, but he was doing it too much. I really don't think too many readers care that much about his opinion on so many things.

As you said, his Magic-bashing is repetitive and it's like he wants to beat the reader over the head with it. Like he really wants the reader to know that Magic is contrived, phony, and a shameless attention-whore.

I definitely believe that it is true about Magic, but regardless, quite a bit of it was repetitive and unnecessary.

I don't think it was really hard on Jordan though. Maybe because I've heard a lot of stories about what a dicckhead Jordan is, but in what ways do you think he throws jordan under the bus?

[mr4speed]

Just finished reading the book, and this was definitely one of the weaknesses of it.

As a whole I enjoyed the book, but it would have been better if not for McCallum's ego and repetiveness.

Stating his opinion here and there is fine, but he was doing it too much. I really don't think too many readers care that much about his opinion on so many things.

As you said, his Magic-bashing is repetitive and it's like he wants to beat the reader over the head with it. Like he really wants the reader to know that Magic is contrived, phony, and a shameless attention-whore.

I definitely believe that it is true about Magic, but regardless, quite a bit of it was repetitive and unnecessary.

I don't think it was really hard on Jordan though. Maybe because I've heard a lot of stories about what a dicckhead Jordan is, but in what ways do you think he throws jordan under the bus?

This is a great thread - thanks to both for the insightful review. Now I feel I have to get it and read it.

[Stringer Bell]

On Christian Laettner


Laettner was, in the words of Grant Hill, a bully. "Christian was bigger than everybody and he could fight, and he always wanted to fight", said Hill. "He'd pick a fight with guys just to see if that guy had heart". Bobby Hurley, Duke's All-American point guard, was his favorite target. It drove Laettner nuts - and still does- that Krzyzewski handed Hurley the ball and a starting job as soon as he hit campus, whereas Laettner was treated like the freshman he was.



On Rod Thorn's call to Michael Jordan, trying to convince him to play in the Olympics




So let's be clear right now about what Jordan said in that first phone call.

"Rod, I don't want to play if Isiah Thomas is on the team", Jordan said.

I wrote that in Sports Illustrated at the time, not because Jordan confirmed it, which he didn't, but because at least two reliable sources did. At the time, Jordan more or less denied that he would stand in Isiah's way.

But he did confirm it to be in the summer of 2011. "I told Rod I don't want to play if Isiah Thomas is on the team". That is what he said.

Thorn knew his part. I don't know how explicitly he said it - and Thorn wouldn't say - but he made it clear that no one would be on the team if Jordan didn't want him on the team. No one on the committee had to communicate it to Daly because Daly knew it himself, as Jordan had told the coach on an earlier phone call, 'I don't want to play if Isiah Thomas is on the team'. And Chuck let it be known he wouldn't fight for Isiah.


On the Lakers & Celtics in the 1980s



The popular belief is that Magic was a ton of laughs and the Lakers Showtime caravan was the linchpin of the joie de vivre that took place in the NBA during the 1980s. That was not the case. Abdul-Jabbar brought new meaning to the word dour; I approached him in the locker room the same way I would approach a viper pit. James Worthy kept his own counsel. Byron Scott always seemed a little nervous.....A.C. Green was not a stirring conversationalist once you got past the subject of his virginity (Gordon Edes of the L.A. Times memorably quipped that Green's idea of a one-liner was 3:16). Pat Riley was/is a smart man whose company I enjoyed, but somewhere along the line was overtaken by paranoia and is the person most responsible for instituting closed practices and a football-coach mentality in the NBA

[Nowitness]

I thought the most interesting point was Clyde Dreadful's racism in regards to my man Mullins (alliteration).

Clyde was bitter that he was selected basically last (just ahead of Laettner) and thought he was better than Mullin (which is obviously false, Mullin was the best SF of the 80s, prolly the greatest shooter ever and had a hell of a buzz - double entendre).

Clearly it was a racist statement, I mean this is the man who was crushed when MJ faced him, needed to ride Hakeem to a title and could never handle to pressure of best player. Mullin led thee greatest trio in NBA history year after year, had the greatest individual playoff game ever (41 v Magic, 16/21 shooting or something crazy) and most of all was a white man. Now, you tell me, is Clyde a racist? He originally refused to have a white dance parter on Dancing With The Scrubs and so settled for a European (not strictly white) and told Phil Jackson about Rick Adelman's Hitler philosophy.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/dam/assets/130226101416-clyde-drexler-dancing-with-the-stars-single-image-cut.jpg

#AllBlackEverything

[T_L_P]

I thought the most interesting point was Clyde Dreadful's racism in regards to my man Mullins (alliteration).

Clyde was bitter that he was selected basically last (just ahead of Laettner) and thought he was better than Mullin (which is obviously false, Mullin was the best SF of the 80s, prolly the greatest shooter ever and had a hell of a buzz - double entendre).

Clearly it was a racist statement, I mean this is the man who was crushed when MJ faced him, needed to ride Hakeem to a title and could never handle to pressure of best player. Mullin led thee greatest trio in NBA history year after year, had the greatest individual playoff game ever (41 v Magic, 16/21 shooting or something crazy) and most of all was a white man. Now, you tell me, is Clyde a racist? He originally refused to have a white dance parter on Dancing With The Scrubs and so settled for a European (not strictly white) and told Phil Jackson about Rick Adelman's Hitler philosophy.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/dam/assets/130226101416-clyde-drexler-dancing-with-the-stars-single-image-cut.jpg

#AllBlackEverything

:biggums:

[Stringer Bell]

Drexler on Magic: