When the Game Was Ours - Larry Bird [127]
Members of USA Basketball were split over the decision. Some were vehemently opposed to inviting NBA stars to compete internationally, and others worried that, since the pros would not receive financial compensation, they might be less committed. There was also the thorny issue of asking the stars to tack two months of training onto an already taxing NBA season.
Gavitt reasoned that the professionals would embrace the idea only if the team was turned into a phenomenon, a coveted, once-in-a-lifetime showcase with enough cachet to capture the curiosity of the world. The goal was to assemble the greatest basketball team in history, and to do that Gavitt needed three people: Magic, Larry, and Michael.
It had been nine months since Magic retired in the wake of his devastating HIV diagnosis, but he continued to feel physically strong and played basketball nearly every day. He enthusiastically endorsed the idea of playing for his country in Barcelona.
Jordan, who won a gold medal in Los Angeles in 1984 as an undergraduate at North Carolina, was intrigued with Gavitt's vision but remained noncommittal.
Bird, whose back continued to deteriorate, couldn't have been any more adamant.
"I'm not playing," he told Gavitt. "I'm too old. Give my spot to one of the younger guys."
Gavitt remained undeterred. He asked Bird if he followed the Olympics as a child and if he had ever dreamed of representing his country. Bird conceded that he had. The United States needed to reclaim the gold, Gavitt explained, and to do so they needed the finest available players. He had Magic. He was close to convincing Jordan.
"And if we have you, we'll make history," Gavitt said.
Bird was unmoved. Gavitt backed off, but in the interim he made it known that he wanted Bird on the roster. Boston's franchise forward was inundated with phone calls urging him to reconsider.
"Larry," Magic said during one of their conversations, "you can't let this opportunity go by. All I want to do is throw you one pass and have you hit a shot. Do that, and then you don't have to play anymore."
Had he been healthy, Bird would have already signed on with the Dream Team, but his mobility was limited and his game had suffered. He was no longer the same player who was widely recognized as one of the greatest clutch performers of all time.
"I don't want to be a charity case," Bird told Gavitt.
"Larry," Gavitt said, "the Olympics are played under international rules. That includes zone defenses. You'll destroy them with your outside shooting."
Bird considered Gavitt's argument, the first valid reason that swayed him. He could still shoot. And he did always wonder what it would be like to have a gold medal around his neck.
"All right," Bird said. "I'm in."
Within days, Jordan and Barkley also joined the fold, and interest in the team swelled. Suddenly a spot on the Dream Team had become the most prestigious invitation in all of sports.
A committee made up of USA Basketball, NBA, and college officials fleshed out the remaining roster. Jordan's Chicago teammate Scottie Pippen was added, along with Utah's prolific duo of forward Karl Malone and point guard John Stockton. Ewing and Spurs big man David Robinson were invited to anchor the middle. Chris Mullin, a three-point shooter, was asked to help exploit the zone defenses. The final two spots were later filled by Portland guard Clyde Drexler and the lone college representative, Duke star Christian Laettner, who beat out a young, powerful center from Louisiana State University, Shaquille O'Neal, bypassed in favor of Laettner because the Duke star had logged more time with USA Basketball.
Predictably, the selection process was not without controversy. The list of snubbed NBA stars could have captured