I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It - Charles Barkley [53]
And then when we got to the NBA and our careers started to develop immediately, it was obvious Bobby Knight had cut some great players and just kept guys he wanted to keep.
But being able to play with and against those guys was a big turning point for me in my career. That kicked me to a whole different level. You have to remember, just about every great player was at those trials, and you started off being somewhat intimidated. Remember, some of the guys who made the team were Michael, Patrick, Sam Perkins and Chris Mullin. Those guys were on every All-America list. All these guys were there from big-time schools that you’d see on TV all the time but didn’t get to play against. But I do remember going home, and when I got back to Alabama my coach said, “What did you think?” And I told him I knew then that if I worked on my game, worked all summer and had myself ready, that I’d be able to play with any player in the country. I knew I’d be able to do well in the NBA because these guys I’d already held my own against at the trials were going to be the stars of the NBA. He’d already told me that. But I had to tell him, “Coach, there was one guy up there who’s the best player I’ve ever seen. It’s Michael Jordan. He was the only guy better than me.” I’ve only felt that way twice in my life, that when I was standing there watching a guy, that I knew I was with somebody who was special, who had to be the best at what he did. And the other time was the first time I played golf with Tiger. Those are the only two times I’ve felt that way. They could just do things athletically and competitively that other people couldn’t do.
I don’t begrudge Knight anything, nothing at all. I have nothing against him. When he cut me, I thought he felt bad about it. I’d always thought if he cut me he’d be a jerk about it. But he was actually pretty cool.
When that whole thing was over, people asked me, “How come you played so well in the Olympic Trials?” Hell, even though it’s always more difficult playing against great players, when you’re playing with other great players it ought to be easier. If you’re playing with other great players, guys who can all haul their part of the load, all you have to do is play. That’s why I feel bad now for Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton in recent years, and for Tim Duncan in the 2001–02 season. They just didn’t have enough help. Patrick Ewing, for most of his career, didn’t have enough help. As great as they are the game would be so much easier if they had just one other guy. So, the Olympics were easy. I played twice in the Olympics, 1992 and 1996. I led the team both times in scoring and in 1996 in rebounding. I didn’t have to do everything, I just had to do my thing. And it was so easy.
A Dream Team
The worst thing about getting cut by Knight in 1984 was that I thought I’d never get the chance to play for another U.S. Olympic team because at that point NBA players weren’t eligible. There was no reason to think I’d get another shot. Then, of course, the international demand to see the best basketball players in the world—us—was so overwhelming that the people running the basketball competition made the NBA guys eligible for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. That decision, allowing NBA players to compete, changed basketball around the world.
The first real sign of the huge impact the team would have came when Sports Illustrated wanted to put guys on the cover