A Magic Act Like No Other

still remember where we were when we heard the announcement. Now, I'm not going to compare to the assassination of a president. Of course, I remember exactly where I was on November Mrs Harris's freshman English class at Okrest High School, when John Kennedy was shot in Dallas, or the day that planes flew to the World Trade Center. Even I was in my living room organizing a charity golf event for

the day. But this was November seven. Around one o'clock that day, I had gotten a call from somebody in the NBA saying that Magic Johnson was going to retire from basketball due to a medical reason. What the hell, You'll have to come into the office to write a story.

Sports Illustrators Basketball editor Sandy Padway told me, Now, what you have to understand, and what many younger listeners will find it hard to understand was that we weren't concentrating on the retirement part, or what it's going to do to the Lakers, or what it means to the n b A, or what it means to the dream team. What people of my age we're thinking was we're gonna watch him die. Irvan Johnson called Magic was to our

collective mind, a dead man walking. Roy Johnson, who was an editor at s I in a book collaborator with Magic, flew to l A that day to shepherd through a first person story with Magic. That was the power of s I. Back then we got Magic's voice into the magazine. Now. The story I wrote for that week's magazine carried the single cover building Magic. The photo was Magic taking what he called his junior junior skyhook. No other writing than

that single word magic. In the story, I conjured up all that was special about Magic and ended with this quote from San Antonio Spurs veteran forward Terry Cummings, the Lakers will never be the same team and the NBA will never be the same league. It bore the single word headline, unforgettable. Man. It sure looked and read like we were talking about a dead person. Hi, and welcome to episode four of the Dream Team Tapes, Tom Jack

mc alum. Today we're gonna talk about several things. The organization of the Dream Team once they got together, the shocking while some thought so, defeat of the Dream Team in a scrimmage to a college all star team, the division of leadership within the Dream Team, and the singular what should I call it bravery hutzpah, a combination of the two that led a man who most of us thought was going to die to the pinnacle of the basketball world in Barcelona. We'll return to that, but let's

figure out where we are now. The team has picked. They've arrived for the first practice session at you see San Diego. In a word, it's a zoo, hundreds and hundreds of reporters working outside. To a non journalist, maybe even to a young journalist, this is exciting now. Two hard bitten veterans like myself. That was my eight year covering the league, and I was about to turn forty three. It was a nightmare. And here's what I wrote about

that scene in Dream Team. There we were the Nations and some of the world's sporting press, maybe five hundred of us on the steps of the University of California, San Diego, shuffling around with equal parts anticipation and exasperation, waiting for the doors of the Holy Temple to open, at which point we would prostrate ourselves at the feet of the Dream Team and grovel like face down chickens pecking in a field for any casually tossed out nuggets

they might deign to cast our way. Okay, that's off my chest. Now. We were eventually allowed access to the Holy Temple, and there was the first sight of them together. It was, I grant you exciting or it was certainly at least interesting in its own way, But what had already happened would have been more interesting to see or listened to. I had to reconstruct all this later. The night before there had been a team meeting, and before that a couple of side meetings involving the head coach,

Chuck Daily. The first one was between Daily and his assistants Mike Saski and p J. Carlesimo. Coach K describes it. In the first meeting, Duck said, the very first thing I want you guys to do, and you have whatever is worn to ignore. He said, we have a def players in the world, and you guys and p J, you two are going to look at every little thing which you'd have to do in your own world, but in our world most of it it's not that important.

Learned to ignore. It's one of my favorite anecdotes from the book, these two eager to please college coaches coming in and Chuck saying, okay, let's chill a little bit. Fellas. Another meeting Daily had was with Magic and Jordan's he sets us down, like when I was like, uh, you guys going to be and the leaders of the team, and Michael before had been Michael's that Magic and he deferred to me. Now, Bird, who had every bit as big a claim to be ceremonial captain as Magic, had

no problem with Magic being the front man. They were in fact named co captains, as Bird remembers it, but most of the captainish duties went to Magic. We had a meeting egos luring Magic's captain, but yet Magic sort of took more of the big Magic. He sort of took more of the role, no question, That's how he is. And I understand that there wasn't no eagle thing with me. If you want to carry the flag out there, carre

the flag. Now there are appointed captains and there are actual captains, and there is no doubt who the real leader of the Dream Team was. Here's Patrick Ewing. You know, Michael was the leader, even though Magic, you know he said all the things. I mean, Michael, Michael, Michael. There

was an edge to the Jordan Magic relationship. It really surfaces during the mystical the Greatest Game that nobody ever saw, Scrimmage and Monte Carlo, that is the subject of the sixth podcast in this series, and Bird figures into it. I had a theory that Jordan was a little bit jealous of the dual relationship that Magic and Bird had. Jordan's didn't have a co revolutionary, an immortal buddy, as it were, to march off into history and proclaim we

saved the league together. It was always Magic and Bird as the eternal Alphonse and Gaston, the joint subjects of Jackie McMullen's great book when the Game was ours, But it was Michael alone, the eternal solitary man. I'm a one man guy in the morning, same in the afternoon, one man guy. When the sun goes down, I wiss me one man to whom what you'd prefer. I went for Neil Diamond, solitary man instead of the great Rufus Wayne Wrights one man guy. But Mike was is a

true one man guy, and he never liked magics. Sometimes subtle, sometimes overt claims that the Dream Team belonged to him and Larry. But but as much as a guy sometimes didn't buy into the magic, I'm in charge here thing. There is no one anywhere that could deny the fortitude, courage, and yes, leadership that magic showed in combating HIV. He announced that he had the virus on November seven, and this happened on February nine, almost exactly three months later,

show time in Orlando. The final seconds, you're not getting yes he is six ladies and gentlemen, it's just Tid Orchid get deliver three bread trades for Johnson at the end of the game one and falling away and as mother and father Urban Senior from Lansing, Michigan there to leave this year. That was the voice of Dick Enbergh calling down the final seconds of the All Star Game in Orlando, which ends with magic guarded, okay, kind of

guarded by Isaiah making a three point shot. Magic played more minutes than anyone except Jordan's, scored more points than anyone, and handed out more assist than anyone nine and of course won the MVP Award. Only ninety four days had passed since the announcement that we thought was an announcement of slow deaths, and here he is not just not dying, but apparently getting better, starring in the All Star Game. And to answer everyone's question, yes, God damn it, I

will be going to Barcelona. In those three months, Magic had resumed working out, started to eat healthy, started to talk about HIV, reaching out in his own magic way to others with HIV aids literally around the world. Now did he have missteps? Of course, he helped form a commission that managed to have no one with HIV or any gay mail on it, which at that time was a community suffering from the plague more than anyone. But

Magic forged a head. Now there was backlash, such as the comment by Dr Brian Sando, the senior medical director of the Australian Olympic Federation's basketball program, quote to be read by my Australian producer Mark, I would certainly recommend that our basketball let's not come pete with a team in which Magic Johnson was a member. That risk. You cannot absolutely say it's navigating the care basketballers. Come on, dude,

But look Sando was not some fringe guy. He was a well known doctor whose death in two thousand twelve was mourned throughout the Australian sports world. So his was not an out their opinion, and it was shared by probably millions, including some people close to Magic. In fact, behind the scenes there was conversation in USA basketball circles about well, should we welcome Magic back with open arms? Is it safe? Is it okay? This is Rod Thorne,

a key committee member. It was a death sentence. Um, you know what happens if he gets to open cut close risk. It was always an issue written about a lot, so Thorne said. There was much consulting with medical people and eventually the decision was made that Magic would be safe. But according to Clyde Drexe, it was never far from anyone's mind. In other words, there were times, according to Drexler, when people took it easy on Magic. Now that was

certainly true in the All Star game. But you know, defense is not the watchword of that day anyway, and I doubt it was true by the time the Dream Team was assembled. And it should be noticed that Clyde, who sometimes says things that he later regrets, was one of the staunchest defenders of Magic when he decided to return to basketball. If the doctors say it's safe, that's

okay with me, Drexler said at the time. Now later, much later, after the Dream Team got back to the States with the gold medal, one member of the Dream Team, Carl Malone, had lots of worries about Magic playing. We'll talk about that in the final episode. But all in all, I firmly believe that when the history of the NBA has written, somewhere near the first page will be its

contributions to HIV AIDS. Understanding the result of the resolute stand taken by Commissioner David Stern that we will be cowed by fear combined with the undying determination of Magic to keep on plan. Look, Magic didn't become the first famous person to live and thrive with the disease purely

because of his will. Let's not go full out, Dr phil On this Magic had one of the great AIDS researchers in the world, Dr David Hoe, working with him and a dedicated personal physician in Michael Melman, and doing large part to Magic's efforts. Research grew by leaps and bounds in the months following Magic's alling himself. But it's just the fact that having a positive attitude approaching any disease is a good thing, and Magic was the ultimate

and positive attitude. So let's get back to San Diego and the early days of practice for the Dream Team. The captain ship is pretty much figured out, but still think act roles are being determined, who leads on the court, who shoots, who screens, who passes, Who's in charge. Chuck Daily wanted to get them an action right away, which

is what you do with pros. So USA Basketball organized for a first class college all star team, the kind of team maybe literally the team plus Christian Lightner that would have been our Olympic team had competition not been opened up to include NBA players. So on the third day of practice, when the mass has made our Daily heard of Buffalo troop into practice, we could tell something

was wrong. Remember, we could not watch what happened. Practices were closed we spent our post practice interview time trying to reconstruct what had happened, which usually wasn't much. But on this day June, something had happened. Some of these college players we've just got through playing against should be on this team. But that was Larry Bird's way of saying, we got beat by the kids. So, as it turns out, the Dream Team had a loss in the first game

it played. Okay, not an official loss. There was no box score, no official wrap up, but the College All Stars beat the Dream teamers by a score of sixty two to fifty four. At least that's the most accurate score I've been able to piece together. Accounts very widely, as does the significance of the event. Bird, as I recall, seemed piste off. Jordan was piste off that day too, though for a different reason. Daily didn't play him in

the scrimmage very much. And here's how two players, first Chris Mullen and then Charles Barkley evaluated that scrimmage years later, and I think I think it was more like the scrimmage for us in a World Challenge family. There were First it was early on, which was actually masked by and I worked out that way. It was perfect probably, and I do really After that an Badge was like, well, ship together, we're gonna be here, you know. And then

from then on were better. We were kind of like just going through the motions and they were feeling like he was gay seven and they beat us. So we got together that night and the next day would beat him by let we see it would beat them. Feel

like we've beat about third part point. We just started kicking and we wouldn't score anything where we just killed well maybe, but there was lingering concern, which was the way that the Collegians, particularly Bobby Hurley, the Duke point guard, who would have no doubt started on the non Dream team Olympic team, penetrated the Dream team defense well, to be specific, how easily he got past Magic, who was never the best one on one defender even in his

salad days. It was after that scrimmage of Daily and the coaches decided any speedy guards in the Empics would be defended by either Jordan or Pippen in the next scrimmage with the Collegians. In fact, Daily put Jordan on Hurley and as Grant Hill told me, he could barely get the ball pass mid court. Then that was a harbinger of what Jordan would do to Tony Ku coach

and Sharrunus Marchalonis in the Olympics. Those stories are coming up now at the front of the line of those who firmly believed there was nothing to worry about after the scrimmage loss was Mike seki U just wanted for one day the orchestrate. Whether we lost it or not, it was only a short twenty minute spring and to let that our guys know that you could look okay and how it was officiated and hardly said a word

there in that scrimmage. Chuck was So everyone left San Diego and fairly good spirits on route to Portland for the Tournament of the Americas. The United States Sea had to qualify for the Olympics due to its third place finish in Like most of the reporters following this crazy circus, I was looking forward to Portland's great city, nice bars, good restaurants, and we would at last get to see this team in action. And we're the dream team members that excited. Well for them, it would be nice to

actually start playing. But Portland's also proved to be the first time when we really saw how much business and marketing and the pursuit of the dollar had to do with this whole thing, and Michael Jordan's for one, would not be happy. Thanks for listening and I'll see you for episode five. If you enjoyed The Dream Team Tapes, please follow, rate, and review wherever you get your podcasts. The Dream Team Tapes is written and hosted by Jack mckellum.

It executive producers Mark Francis and Scott Waxman, Executive producer for I Heart Media, is shown to Turne. The Dream Team Tapes is a Diversion Podcasts original series in association with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.