Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever by Jack McCallum

Apr 16, 2013 Ben Hallman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sports journalism makes for a pleasant diversion, especially when my brain wobbles under the weight of stacked-up literary masterpieces. So, after having spent the past three weeks pouring over As I Lay Dying, Remembering Babylon, and Beloved, the true story of twelve men who can throw things through holes really well provides some soothing relief.

Dream Team makes for fine sports reading, compelling and efficiently-written, with just enough balance between actual sports and juicy gossip to keep...more Sports journalism makes for a pleasant diversion, especially when my brain wobbles under the weight of stacked-up literary masterpieces. So, after having spent the past three weeks pouring over As I Lay Dying, Remembering Babylon, and Beloved, the true story of twelve men who can throw things through holes really well provides some soothing relief.

Dream Team makes for fine sports reading, compelling and efficiently-written, with just enough balance between actual sports and juicy gossip to keep me satisfied, even if I don't particularly care that much about the subject. Which, I guess, shows the ability of McCallum as a sportswriter. Not only did this book keep my interest-- Dream Team created it.

Not that I'm clueless about the Dream Team. I vaguely remember their rise to fame back in '92. And escaping the grasp of Michael Jordan's marketing onslaught was virtually impossible during this time. But I didn't care enough to watch games or keep up with the travails of this group of NBA superstars, so most of the tales told in Dream Team were rather revelatory for me.

McCallum does a remarkable job giving all the players at least a couple pages in the spotlight. Granted, the Big 3--Bird, Magic, and Jordan-- get the lion's share of coverage, but why shouldn't they? Yet my favorite section of the book didn't even deal with a member of The Dream Team. No, I loved the story of Team USA's vendetta against the unsuspecting Croatian team member Tony Kukoc, who got shut down by angry Dream Teamers fuming over monetary bullshit. There's mighty symbolism at play in this short episode, which I'm fairly certain wasn't lost on the astute McCallum as he wrote about it.

No, this book doesn't chronicle an earth-shattering event-- it is the history of a minor blip on the pop-culture radar. But it is well-written and McCallum makes for a quality narrator; having been around the Dream Teamers for most of their rise and inevitable fade, he never delves into jock-sniffing territory, keeping his feelings as a fan duly separated from his ability as a reporter. I won't retain much of anything from this book, I'm sure, but it was entertaining at a point when I was overwhelmed by LITERATURE, so kudos. Thanks, Jack.
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Jan 15, 2013 Eduardo Bahena rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The plot is mainly about basketball players for the 90's mostly from Michael Jordans time. It talks about how several players for the NBA had a chance to live a dream and go on to the Olympics and win the Gold Medal for basketball. I think that the book and events moved slowly first of all because the book is pretty long and the NBA season goes by slow as well. It was intresting because at those times players like Michael Jordan Larry Bird and Magic Johnson use to compete to see who was the best...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It all started in 1992, when arguably the greatest sports team all time was put together. The selection committee had to choose twelve players to be on the 1992 men’s Olympic basketball team. This team would get so much hype and fans would get mad if the members of the team weren’t chosen wisely. This put tremendous amounts of pressure on the selection committee to make sure they get it right.
Michael Jordan was the most obvious choice for the Dream Team. He was the best player in the world at...more
It all started in 1992, when arguably the greatest sports team all time was put together. The selection committee had to choose twelve players to be on the 1992 men’s Olympic basketball team. This team would get so much hype and fans would get mad if the members of the team weren’t chosen wisely. This put tremendous amounts of pressure on the selection committee to make sure they get it right.
Michael Jordan was the most obvious choice for the Dream Team. He was the best player in the world at the time. Michael Jordan said he would be on the team as long as his rival, Isiah Thomas, was kept off of it. Michael Jordan was a great all around player with breath-taking athleticism. He would wow the fans with his incredible dunks and aerial acts.

Magic Johnson was the leader and starting point guard of the team. He didn’t just lead vocally but he also led by example. He orchestrated the offense and if his teammates didn’t know where they were supposed to be he would direct them. He had eyes on the back of his head and always knew where everyone was on the court. However, many members of the Dream Team didn’t want him on their team because he had AIDS. Magic Johnson having AIDS made people feel for him and want him to succeed.
Larry Bird was the third most obvious choice behind Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Even though he was old and had a bad knee, Bird could still knock down the jumper and be efficient. He wasn’t the quickest basketball player, but he made up for it with his great instinct. Bird intimidated his opponents with his trash talking and is famous for it. His overall contribution to the team was as big as anybody else.
Charles Barkley was a great basketball player but people questioned if he should be on the Dream Team because of his actions off the court. He would do things like getting speeding tickets or go to clubs. One game, when Charles Barkley was shooting free throws, there were fans that were making fun of him. He tried to spit on them but by accident he hit a little girl. He always contradicts himself and never knows what he is talking about. However, he is a HOF (Hall of Famer) and has tenacious rebounding abilities.
The other players on the Dream Team were David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Christian Lattener, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, and Chris Mullen. Throughout the season the team got used to playing with each other and developed camaraderie. If there was any doubt in how the Dream Team would play together it all disappeared when they whipped Croatia 103-70. The Dream Team went undefeated having never lost a single game. It’s not like they got lucky either. They consistently annihilated teams and averaged beating their opponent by 43.8 points! The team that got closest to beating the Dream Team was Croatia. Many people think the ’92 Dream Team is the greatest team ever, not only from a basketball standpoint, but potentially the best sports team of all time.
I recommend this book for people that love the NBA and for people that are young and don’t know much about the basketball legends of decades ago. The author goes in depth with his descriptions and he knows what he’s talking about because he was a reporter that covered the Dream Team. The Dream Team offers many statistics from a unique point of view and I highly recommend it.

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Dec 22, 2012 Timothyarnold1973 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

I got more out if this than I thought I would. A few takeaway points.

-Though from a talent standpoint Isiah Thomas unquestionably belonged on the team it's hard to get too worked up over his exclusion. He had alienated Jordan, Bird, and even to some extent his buddy Magic. It's a reap what you sow type of deal. I found it interesting that when Stockton went down with an injury and was considered being replaced the names floated were Joe Dumars, Kevin Johnson, and Tim Hardaway

-I have always been...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Bruce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: hardcore and casual sports fans alike

Popcorn nostalgia! The author was Sports Illustrated’s main NBA beat writer, who covered the 1992 US Olympic team that competed in Barcelona (that’s the “Dream Team,” the first US men’s team comprised almost entirely of professional hall of famers -- Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles “the round mound of rebound” Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, David “The Admiral” Robinson, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Karl “Mailman” Malone, sharpshooter Chris Mullin, oh, yeah, and token...more Popcorn nostalgia! The author was Sports Illustrated’s main NBA beat writer, who covered the 1992 US Olympic team that competed in Barcelona (that’s the “Dream Team,” the first US men’s team comprised almost entirely of professional hall of famers -- Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles “the round mound of rebound” Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, David “The Admiral” Robinson, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Karl “Mailman” Malone, sharpshooter Chris Mullin, oh, yeah, and token college hero Christian Laettner -- but if you don’t already know all of that, you probably would have zero interest in this book). I used to have a subscription to Sports Illustrated as a kid (and adult... I read it for the articles... no, really), but eventually gave it up once I was able to feed my competition jones online and lacked sufficient interest to devote the time needed to keeping up with the weekly content. The magazine’s worth it, though, typically chock-full of well-written and researched articles on issues as varied as the nature and impact of DMSO (a steroid) or influence of concussions on school-age kids all the way down to the kind of you-are-there locker room reportage that powers your average water-cooler conversation. Since there’s no difference in authorship or style from magazine to book, reading this feels a lot like happening to pick up on a multi-issue series at the dentist’s office... and it probably takes about as long to read.

The book is full of the inside scoop you’d expect from a first-hand account along with McCallum’s gee-gosh-wow personal revelations (about which he is appropriately self-conscious), but the best part is definitely his play-by-play of the Dream Team’s all-out scrimmage in Monte Carlo (p. 213). Think there’s nothing really at stake? Well, since this wasn’t a public exhibition like the annual All-Star game, all you had was two packs of hyper-competitive alpha dogs desperate to demonstrate their dominance over one another. Bragging rights, baby! The sheer volume of trash-talking and in-your-face hot-dogging that emerges during this supercharged competition is a real hoot. Coach Daly, who told the guys to give “All you got,” was relieved when it ended without fistfight or injury.

The Dream Team was assembled at the dawn of FIBA’s allowing “professionals” to play in the Olympics, so this was before the quality of talent worldwide had picked up. Not surprisingly, they won every game by at least 30 points. They stayed motivated in games by setting themselves incremental challenges: could they shut down the other team’s best player? how quickly could they open a sizeable lead? how many behind-the-back passes could they complete before dunking?

The Dream Teamers were the best of the best, a video game compilation of NBA stars. (That’s possibly excluding Isiah Thomas, but everyone agrees he was a total jerk… Barkley was a jerk, too, but a totally lovable one. That’s a big distinction.) Think you have what it takes to be a Dream Teamer? Consider the fate of the college all-stars against whom they were originally pitted. Most couldn’t even keep themselves healthy enough to remain consistently competitive. (And to give you a flavor of McCallum’s style, I’ll quote the book verbatim.)

Hill was a terrific pro, still going strong at age thirty-nine at this writing. But his potential Hall of Fame, Dream Teamer type of career was derailed by injuries. Ditto for {Penny} Hardaway, a splendid talent who made four All-Star teams but proved also to be a petulant locker-room lawyer.... Like so many in the post-Jordan era, Hardaway’s game never matched his hype. {Allan} Houston was limited by a knee injury and by the stigma of being vastly overpaid, having gotten about $20 million per year from the New York Knicks before the 2001-02 season... {Duke star guard Bobby} Hurley never recovered from injuries suffered in a near-fatal car accident.... {Chris} Webber had a fine NBA career with averages of 20.7 points and 9.8 rebounds, but he never pushed himself like Malone to be a truly dominant player, never developed a jump shot like Ewing, never glided around the court to block shots like Robinson, never got within sniffing distance of the Hall of Fame. {Jamal} Mashburn turned out to be a volume shooter who made only one All-Star team. {UNC center sensation Eric} Montross was a stiff, Erector-set-style center who never made an impact. Rodney Rogers was an okay pro who, sad to say, was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a post-retirement dirt bike accident in 2008.

So much promise. So much went wrong.

Okay, I’m already overquoting and overindulging what most would agree is pretty superficial material, but I can’t help it. I’m captivated. This sort of silliness is just fun. More serious-minded fans will appreciate the thoroughness of McCallum’s treatment. He begins his treatise with a FIBA visit to the United States in the mid-’70’s and follows the life, times, and global influence of the Dreamers and their victims through each Olympic games and on to 2011 (when his book went to press). It was a bit too much ending for me, but I’m a more of a casual fan. No one told me to O.D. on roundball cotton candy! Any true-blue gamer should eat this up.(less)

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Nov 27, 2012 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The 1992 Dream Team was probably the most gifted athletic squad ever assembled for any team sport. And this telling of its contentious formation, powerhouse performance, and global impact still being felt today was decidedly ... adequate. McCallum just can't get over himself, or his man crush on Barkley, and the book is not as good as it could have been because of it. The author is one of the only people who could have written this because he had such great access to the players and decision mak...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Justin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Dream Team" by Jack McCallum is a book that tells about the greatest team ever in sports. Unlike most books of the same genre (Sports/Games), "Dream Team" not only gives the critical facts you need to know, but McCallum also does an outstanding job of making the book very realistic. Reading the book, it seemed like I was watching the coaches talk about who should be on the team. I felt like I was in Barcelona, watching Magic and Bird celebrate after every win. The book talks about each of the...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Jeremy Goode rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dream Team, written about the 1992 USA basketball team, was a story that explained the successes and the change that the Olympic team brought to Barcelona, and how they changed the basketball world after their performance. Before the Dream Team, the world had never seen a pro basketball team play in the Olympics. However in 1992, every country including the United States were permitted to bring pro athletes. Because of this, the United States brought an all-star roster, that the rest of the worl...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Andrew rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was fine when McCallum wasn't busy inserting the asides about himself and dishing out gossip like an eight grader. At times, I felt kind of sorry for him because it was sounded suspiciously like he was attaching himself to this athletic collective in the hopes that some of their ____ (fill in the blank - awesomeness, prowess, attractiveness) would rub off on him. I definitely got the sense that some players were people he DESPERATELY wanted (wants?) to be personal friends with (Barkley, Bird...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On the 20th anniversary of the ground breaking entry of US pro basketball players into International and Olympic play, longtime NBA and Sports Illustrated writer, Jack McCallum, has given us probably as close as possible , a primary source into what turned out to be a grand experiment that changed the sport forever. Because McCallum was so close to the team, yet also kept professional, journalistic distance, he has provided for the general reader, an inside account with enough distance to add so...more On the 20th anniversary of the ground breaking entry of US pro basketball players into International and Olympic play, longtime NBA and Sports Illustrated writer, Jack McCallum, has given us probably as close as possible , a primary source into what turned out to be a grand experiment that changed the sport forever. Because McCallum was so close to the team, yet also kept professional, journalistic distance, he has provided for the general reader, an inside account with enough distance to add some real comprehension into what happened, for the sport and the athletes involved.

Wisely, I think, McCallum breaks his story up into chapters that focus on individuals. So a chapter places the larger story within a context of a chapter on Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Charles Barkley. He does provide the larger context for the Dream Team's inclusion, including interviews with Yugoslav FIBA representative, Boris Stankovic, a man largely unknown to American basketball fans, but without whom, the game might not have exploded as such a world wide, popular sport in the last few decades.

This story is partly anecdotal, partly personal memoir (because McCallum did have as much outside access to the Dream Team as anyone, partly journalism and partly history. It is clear that a tremendous amount of work and research went into this book. McCallum had extensive one on one interviews with all the '92 Dream Team players in the last two years, to get their reflections on the event, after having their initial reactions, as events happened 20 years ago. Of course most of the chapters and interest follow the three pillars - Jordan, Johnson & Bird, but every player on that team has his say in this book and that alone makes this book a capstone for a true watershed telling in international sport and basketball history.

McCallum's strongest writing, I think, concerns David Robinson, as he genuinely struggled to understand Robinson's motivations as a professed Christian, among teammates who mostly were not. Robinson's years since retirement have included hard effort as a leader of an inner city Christian school, and the writer does allow who and why Robinson developed into the type of player and man that he is, to be shown and not told.

Larry Bird's chapters function almost like Bird's role on the team. Bird was the 'older statesman', a hard working, plain, straight talking player, who valued effort, and competition and was wise enough to know his role among such large, competitive egos.

If you enjoy the Olympics, leadership study, personal relationships, basketball or even 90's culture, I highly recommend this book.(less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Jake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sports-books

A really well done by the only writer who could do it. McCallum was granted unprecedented access to the great stars to get their perspective, including the notoriously difficult interviewees Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. He is also great at giving each star fair and equal face time (I enjoyed that Karl Malone was such a contrarian), while still acknowledging the fact that the Bird-Magic-MJ troika loomed over everyone. The Chuck Daly stuff, on the coach of whom I knew so little about, was great....more

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Jul 14, 2012 Anthony rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

1992 seems like a lifetime away, and I guess it was if you are 20 years old. For those of us who can actually remember 1992 and were basketball fans even then, “Dream Team” is a treat.

Sports journalist Jack McCallum doesn’t chronicle everything about the ’92 Olympic basketball team and their games and victories. This is not a transcript of the play by play. What he does is give us is insight into how the Dream Team came to be, from getting the go ahead to allow professional athletes to play in...more 1992 seems like a lifetime away, and I guess it was if you are 20 years old. For those of us who can actually remember 1992 and were basketball fans even then, “Dream Team” is a treat.

Sports journalist Jack McCallum doesn’t chronicle everything about the ’92 Olympic basketball team and their games and victories. This is not a transcript of the play by play. What he does is give us is insight into how the Dream Team came to be, from getting the go ahead to allow professional athletes to play in the Olympics to the attainment of gold. In addition we get a glimpse of the past and present of those stars and we learn a little about what they are up to now. Jack kind of gives us a little basketball version of VH1’s behind the music. He provides us with the backstage access to one of history’s greatest basketball teams which included Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Christian Laettner, and Coach Chuck Daly

Now, there has been a recent claim by one Kobe Bryant that the 2012 incantation of the U.S. Basketball team could defeat the 1992 Dream Team. My only response to that is a gut busting laugh, because he must have been joking. Michael Jordan laughed as I did, and while admitting that the new guard may have a physical edge, they aren’t as smart. I would also venture to guess that there are few players today who are as competitive as the ’92 squad. Jordan, Bird, and Magic took competitive to a whole other level. Today’s players only care about personal stats and money; winning is secondary to the other two goals. I’ve read quite a bit about Bird (one of my favorite athletes of all time) and Magic, and through their words and this book I have come to a grudging acceptance of Jordan’s greatness. These three together just had a head for the game and they learned how to work as a team, they had a killer instinct, and they never shrunk from the big moment.

Basketball experienced a complete renaissance in the 80’s early 90’s and it culminated with the Dream Team. The Dream Team proved to be a boon for international competition, bringing the game to a worldwide audience and creating new basketball fans and players in far off lands. No matter how good players get, I find it highly improbable that any proceeding team could ever be as good as that one. This is a great read for the Basketball fan and historian.
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Jul 10, 2012 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Boy, this book brings back the memories for me. I was fascinated with the Dream Team even if they killed everyone in every game. This book brought back a lot of memories. It is full of stories. It starts from the beginning with them trying to get the pros to even be allowed to play in the Olympics then goes to gather/picking the team to practicing to playing the game. It follows up with finding out where everyone is now. There were a lot of stories that you've probably heard before and many you...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jack McCallum is an excellent NBA writer and his ability to get on conversational terms with guys who are so accustomed to giving stock answers is as impressive here as it is in his :07 Seconds or Less. In commemoration of the 20 year anniversary of this unparalleled superstar team, to whom McCallum helped assign The Dream Team moniker, he describes the personalities that made this team gel and why there won't ever be another team like it. The main reason the Dream Team will never be repeated as...more Jack McCallum is an excellent NBA writer and his ability to get on conversational terms with guys who are so accustomed to giving stock answers is as impressive here as it is in his :07 Seconds or Less. In commemoration of the 20 year anniversary of this unparalleled superstar team, to whom McCallum helped assign The Dream Team moniker, he describes the personalities that made this team gel and why there won't ever be another team like it. The main reason the Dream Team will never be repeated as that the world knows about the NBA (thanks to the '92 Dream Team), but also because these players were at the end of a glorious era of the NBA. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird would not return to the NBA after the Barcelona games (save for an unfortunately brief comeback by Magic). Michael Jordan was still an ascendant superstar whose supremacy is question by Magic, who rightfully earned the titled of the best player in the universe for a short while, but M.J. is also second-guessed by Clyde Drexler - during a 2011 interview. Despite the competitive nature of these guys, there's also a team-first ethos that McCallum describes in various off-court scenes at The Ambassador Hotel in Barcelona, but also on golf courses, drives returning from golf courses, walking around Las Ramblas, and also their interaction with other players who frequently asked for autographs.

The book could have lasted another 300 pages with a little more detail from the actual games, and a lot more after-the-fact analysis of how basketball talent exploded worldwide after the Barcelona Games. Alas, the unfortunate decision by McCallum to request a re-assignment from the NBA seems most telling in why the book is set most notably during the 1992 games, but also from a poignant interviews conducted in 2011 that reflect what impact the 1992 Dream Team had on the remainder of their careers.

It's amazing that in the storied, championship-filled careers of players like Magic, Bird and MJ, this tour of 50-point wins would be considered one of their greatest achievements, but The Dream Team by Jack McCallum goes a long way in explaining why it mattered.(less)

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Sep 01, 2012 Jerry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What Did you Learn?

What I learned from reading this book is how the dream team had affected the NBA and the whole world. Not only was this the first USA Olympic basketball team to hold NBA players in it. It Also Was one of the Most dominate In the 1992. Well let me rephrase that. It WAS the most dominate basketball team. They had always won by more than 40+ points. Other than the gold medal game they were dominating the score board. I also learned that Micheal Jordan wasn't going to join the tea...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Trace Guzman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. I applaud you, Mr. McCallum, both for the greatness of Dream Team, and the fact that you could experience all of this! The stories he tells in this book will be sure to change the way you look at the Dream Team. He tells it as if he's your dad or grandpa, telling you about his hey-days, with a mix of a documentary-style writing. Whole paragraphs in parenthesis gives a "Oh, and by the way..." feel, while writing about a scrimmage like commentating gives a feel of an actual game.
Something th...more Wow. I applaud you, Mr. McCallum, both for the greatness of Dream Team, and the fact that you could experience all of this! The stories he tells in this book will be sure to change the way you look at the Dream Team. He tells it as if he's your dad or grandpa, telling you about his hey-days, with a mix of a documentary-style writing. Whole paragraphs in parenthesis gives a "Oh, and by the way..." feel, while writing about a scrimmage like commentating gives a feel of an actual game.
Something that makes this book so great is that is does not just talk about basketball, it talked about the personalities of the players. Along with this came the showing of the fact that these guys were not gods or perfect people. Throughout this book, I learned so much, to the point that I look at all of them so much differently after I finished the book. One player I didn't even know of (David Robinson) ended up being one of my favorite players. When describing the coach, Chuck Daly, the author talks about how Daly once commented how "the subtle pinstripe" in his suit was "the perfect match for the gold coloring in [the] tie" (McCallum 66). The author then says, "Try to imagine, say, Bill Belichick acting that way before a playoff game; actually, try to imagine Bill Belichick noticing that his pinstripes matched his tie" (McCallum 67). It is this kind of humor that is sprinkled throughout the book that contributes to it being such a joy to read. McCallum, when describing Charles Barkley, said, "What he said on Tuesday might go against what he said on Monday, but that didn't matter because he'd say something else on Wednesday" (McCallum 78). He also told of Barkley's classic quote about Angola and did not leave out that fact that he elbowed an opponent in that game. This shows and is a good example of how the author knows, and shows, that this team was not made of saints and angels. These were human beings, flawed human beings, just like everyone else. He wrote about the differences between Barkley and the man he elbowed, showing that Barkley was not justified in elbowing the man. Along with the personalities of each player, came the relationships between them.
Probably one of the least expected things was the relationships that existed between the players. For instance, the main reason that Isiah Thomas was not on the Dream Team was because Michael Jordan said he would not play if Thomas, his rival, was on the team. Also, he talked about the friendship that flourished between Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing, who became known as "Harry and Larry." "'They were just two unlikely guys to be close, I guess,' said Jordan, 'but there they were, hanging out, every night'" (McCallum 169).
Another point made by McCallum was that this Dream Team lived on, that it was timeless. He gives examples of how "...John Stockton, a buttoned'down, no-nonsense point guard, is on a track in a 2011 release by Brooklyn rapper Nemo Achida..." and so on (McCallum XX). He gives more than half of a page of different "Michael Jordan"'s of their profession or area, just rattling off, one by one, different people and saying so-and-so is the Michael Jordan of blah-blah-blah.
One last subject he discusses throughout the book is the polotics of everything. How FIBA decided that they would allow NBA players, who thought of that, all of the committees and executives tangled in the whole experience, etc.--all of that is told and talked about in Dream Team. No, he is not just a commentator writing what happened in the games, no, in fact most of this book is about the personas, the childhood, the politics, etc. That is what makes it so much fun and so interesting to read.
As McCallum put it, "[The Dream Team] was a secret kingdom to which I had one of the keys, at least to a side door" (McCallum 162). And, that was how he told the story and events, as he saw it, or heard about it, or learned about it through interviews. But, wow, he is a lucky man. I would have given a kidney to have key to a doggy door to this kingdom, and he was having casual lunches and joking with some of the most respected, amazing, and legendary players ever to walk this earth. So, it is clear that little was known about the Dream Team, and I am glad Jack McCallum told us of the wonderful untold stories of this time. This has to be one of his greatest achievements of his life.
So now, Mr. McCallum, I applaud you for the greatness of Dream Team, being there for the ride, and spreading the knowledge of the Dream Team that this generation is deprived of. (less)

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Jul 13, 2012 M. Milner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: great-sports-books, favourites

The Dream Team is one of those things which could only have happened once: a trio of super-super stars, playing together on the international stage not only for the first time, but for the first time professionals were allowed on that stage, as an adoring world watches. It sounds trite, but Jack McCallum captures that in his great history of the Dream Team: not only a team featuring players like Magic, Michael, Larry and Charles, not only a team that crushed it's opponents but was held so in awe...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Kristi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, e-book

If you remember the Dream Team - the real, original Dream Team - and you like basketball, this is your book. So many of the great players of the mid- to late 80's and the 90's were on that team. And McCallum was there with them as a writer for SI. He followed them even before the team was announced - just a list of speculative players - and was with them in Portland, Monte Carlo, and Barcelona.

The primary subjects are, of course, Jordan, Johnson, and Bird. But you get a good feel for Coach Chuc...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My wife won this book in a Good Reads pre-sale contest. I quested to finish it before it's on sale date. I made it by 2 days, but it wasn't hard. The book was a quick, enjoyable read. So enjoyable, I find myself reading daily, which is not my MO.

I had my doubts going in. You must know, that being named Michael Jordan, I spent the 90's reveling in his success. I was among his biggest fans, and there were many. I've read a lot, I've watched a lot. There isn't much I don't know about the period, an...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Chris Witt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't want to be that old guy who complains about how things were better back when I was a teenager or 20-something, but that's kind of how I am about the NBA.

McCallum's last chapter or two actually touches on this, comparing the differences between the original Dream Team and Dream Team II - how they treated their opponents, what their personal lives were like, their lifestyles, etc.

So I don't think it's entirely in my head.

Besides which, I certainly don't feel that way when I compare modern...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Albert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The phrase "The Dream Team" gets used way too often for teams that are undeserving of the nickname. There is only one team that truly deserved the name, and that was the 1992 US Mens Olympic Basketball Team. The Americans were sending professionals for the first time, and sent the greatest team ever assembled in any sport. Of the 12 members, 11 became Hall of Famers, and the 12th was arguably the most decorated collegiate player ever. Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated was given the job of chro...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Tie Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a terrific book particularly for basketball aficionados. McCallum is a skillful storyteller, which makes this a compelling read. There are wonderful anecdotes into key Dream Team members and the quotes are equally memorable. Unsurprisingly, Michael Jordan is prominently featured, but so are Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, and even Christian Laettner. It's a quick and enjoyable read that takes you back to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with fast-forward interludes (i.e., inter...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Joshua rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

Slightly disappointed in this one as I recently watched a lively documentary on the "Dream Team" [1992 men's Olympic basketball nickname] and loved it. I thought this would be more of the same, but with much more detail. It was that, but it also had some issues for me: McCallum writes in a chummy style that I found infuriating was my first issue. Rather than report on the activities of the players, the selection, the games and all the other multitude of topics connected to this legendary team, M...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Niral rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For a kid who grew up in Chicago during the 90s, this is a book that I had been waiting for. It was like reading TMZ for basketball junkies. I could have done without all the background politicking related to the USOC, but I get that it was a part of the Dream Team story and thus had to be told. I also didn't care for the author's shameless apologizing for the player's shortcomings, such as Magic's philandering. He isn't the first and won't be the last reporter to struggle with the line between...more

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Jan 27, 2013 evan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Without giving away too much, here are my top 5 anecdotes from Jack McCallum's incredible book about the original Dream Team.

1) Michael Jordan stayed up all night before the gold medal game vs. Croatia: playing cards and smoking cigars until dawn, filming a special video for the NBA, and even getting in a round or two of golf -- all before, you know, playing the game of basketball at the highest possible level, and helping the US secure the gold medal. Which admittedly wasn't that hard, but stil...more Without giving away too much, here are my top 5 anecdotes from Jack McCallum's incredible book about the original Dream Team.

1) Michael Jordan stayed up all night before the gold medal game vs. Croatia: playing cards and smoking cigars until dawn, filming a special video for the NBA, and even getting in a round or two of golf -- all before, you know, playing the game of basketball at the highest possible level, and helping the US secure the gold medal. Which admittedly wasn't that hard, but still!

2) Christian Laettner - team douchebag. Pretty much everything you've always thought about his is confirmed. When the rest of the team would show up to events in suits and ties, he'd be all bro'ed out in sweatpants and t-shirts, not givin' a fuck. This is why all normal people hate Duke and everyone who went there, forevermore.

3) Arvydas Sabonis was too drunk to join the rest of team Lithuania for the medal ceremony. Background: Lithuania won the Bronze medal in '92, which is a great story itself - this was a highly charged atmosphere for them (right after the Soviet Union dissolved - they beat the Russian "Unified Team" to secure their medal - a victory that was, rightfully, celebrated worldwide). As an added bonus, the Grateful Dead supported the team and gave them sweeeeet tie-dyed uniforms, which is hilarious and awesome.

Anyway, turns out the team had some time to kill before receiving their medals, and Sabonis got into a vodka chugging contest with himself and had to sleep it off. Classic Arvydas, eh?

4) Ping pong, unsurprisingly, was just one of the fun, competitive activities that the Dream Teamers, their families, and other dignitaries/hangers on would engage in at the Ambassador hotel in Barcelona, in between the beat-downs of all the other countries lucky/unfortunate enough to be in Team USA's path in 1992. Shockingly, here is the hierarchy of the top players in the Dream Team contingent:

1) Laettner
2) David Stern(!)
3) MJ.

Yes, David Stern is apparently a bad-ass at ping pong. (Insert joke about rigging the NBA lottery here.)

5) Every detail of "The Greatest Game that Nobody Ever Saw," the infamous team scrimmage that Coach Chuck Daly organized at the team's practice facility in Monte Carlo. The greatest collection of basketball players ever, playing hard, talking trash, the works. McCallum goes play-by-play through this exhibition, and I can't describe the jealousy I experienced when reading it. Oh, to have been there.

Highly recommend this book for any basketball junkies, or fans of longform sports journalism in general. (less)

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Sep 12, 2012 Jakob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Story of Basketball
OMG, that might be the best player in the NBA. It all started in 1937 a man named Dr. James Naismith wrote about a game he wanted to invent called basketball. Dr. James was a really smart man. He had to be if he wanted to invent a game or sport. He wrote all the rules and things he wanted basketball to be about. Then he tried it out by having the first game in a gymnasium that was very old. He had grown men learn and read the rules then had a game. There was peach baskets...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some of my fondest memories include sitting in funky Chicago Stadium and watching Jordan and Pippen play with my dad.

I don't remember the Dream Team very well (I was 8 in 1992), but there's no denying their cultural impact. This book did a good job of talking about the interplay between players. It reinforced some things I knew well (Michael Jordan is a jerk) and other things I didn't know at all. (Bird does not seem like he would be a trash talker, but he was one of the greats)

I wish the author...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Dachokie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sports

Court of Dreams ...

This review was written as part of Amazon's Vine Program.

What do "Caddyshack II", New Coke and the Altamont concert have in common? They are all epically failed attempts to replicate original formulas ("Caddyshack", "Classic" Coke and Woodstock, respectively). Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and appreciate a monumental success than try to repeat it ... or, for heaven's sake ... try and "improve" it. The US Men's Olympic Basketball team that traveled to Barcelona in 1992 i...more Court of Dreams ...

This review was written as part of Amazon's Vine Program.

What do "Caddyshack II", New Coke and the Altamont concert have in common? They are all epically failed attempts to replicate original formulas ("Caddyshack", "Classic" Coke and Woodstock, respectively). Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and appreciate a monumental success than try to repeat it ... or, for heaven's sake ... try and "improve" it. The US Men's Olympic Basketball team that traveled to Barcelona in 1992 is one such formula ... one that actually became a genericized trademark: the Dream Team. Jack McCallum witnessed that magical time when the iconic dinosaurs of professional basketball roamed the courts one last time before extinction. DREAM TEAM masterfully chronicles all aspects of the original Dream Team formula: the ingredients (players), the spoon that stirred them (Coach Chuck Daly) and the venue they were served (the Barcelona Olympics).

DREAM TEAM hit a niche for me as it rekindled an event I somewhat took for granted at the time. While McCallum traces the idea of NBA Olympians back to the 1972 Olympics (when the Soviet Union was granted the gold medal under dubious circumstances), the fact that everything came to fruition in 1992 is what made it a Woodstock-like event. By 1992, a "changing-of-the-guard" was imminent as my heroes (Larry Bird and Magic Johnson) were ending their careers and bequeathing the NBA helm to Michael Jordan. Barcelona served as that perfect moment in time where the most iconic men of the sport could play one last time, not against each other, but united, against the world. DREAM TEAM takes readers back to 1992 and makes us realize how "once-in-a-lifetime" and special the original Dream Team truly was.

McCallum comes across as part star-struck fan and part privileged sports columnist ... his writing style drips with giddy nostalgia, yet is tempered by historical context. Rather than simply recapping events, he opts to inject chapters throughout the book where the actual Dream Teamers add a present-day perspective to the story being told. But there is always a tinge of the author's awe at witnessing first-hand these sports icons at this moment in history ... like a Jefferson Airplane roadie must have felt at Woodstock. I felt one of the book's biggest attributes is the manner in which McCallum tells the story. Divided into a multitude of short chapters that are event and player specific, readers are given small, but detailed, doses of the goings-on both on and off the court. Adding to the fun are the author's nicknames for the players he is covering: the Chosen One (Jordan), the Shadow Man (Pippen), the Jester (Barkley) and the Dukie (Christian Laettner, the token college player on the team). I thoroughly enjoyed the initial practices and the warm-up games against the star-crossed college all-star team. Best of all, however, was the intra-squad game in which McCallum uses his access of the game's videotape to drop a riveting blow-by-blow breakdown of these leviathans going at each other (chapter title: The Greatest Game That Nobody Ever Saw) ... the chapter even concludes with a box score. There really is no stone left unturned in the Dream Team story and the chapters are succinct and juicy enough to keep the reader engaged throughout the book. From the goofy antics of Barkley and the controversy of an HIV-infected Magic on the court to the childlike arrogance of Laettner and the disrespecting of wanna-be Dream Teamer Isiah Thomas, we get it all.

DREAM TEAM didn't convert me back to being an NBA fan, but it did bring me back to a time when I last enjoyed the sport ... a time when the great players displayed more love and respect for the game than a paycheck. A time when everyone's egos were kept in check by the next guy and the outcome of the Olympic gold medal in men's basketball was NEVER in question. A great sports book about a more-than-great team ... a team that will never be replicated. (less)

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Jul 29, 2012 Brian Jones rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First, let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book; much more than many I have rated higher. I guess that I am rating this on a curve because I am a basketball junkie of that era. Said another way: I am the target demographic for this book. This is a good behind the scenes look at how these Greats interacted with each other and generally showed a their reverence for the game. Dream Team may not be the best basketball book that I have read (either "Playing their Hearts Out" or "Art of the Beau...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Kyle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed the excerpts of the this book that were published in Sports Illustrated. I was trying to ride out the Olympics and wait for a cheaper used version or for the paperback but then I found myself not wanting to read anything else.

I blew through the book in about two days. It was great to get a behind the scenes look at the original Dream Team, which I remember fondly from my childhood. The Larry Bird quips sprinkled throughout were great and the almost play by play description of t...more

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