There will never be another team like it

Yeah, I know, a bit late.

Warned you about this central time zone thing.

Anyway …

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Spent a fair chunk of last night watching TV – I know, hardly what you’d think, right? – but it was more than worth it.

The good folks at NBA TV gave us a chance to watch their latest documentary, a 90-minute gem to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Dream Team and, man, was it good.

It’s done by the same people who did Once Brothers, the awesome doc on Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic, and for a guy who actually covered the Dream Team at the 199 Tournament of the Americas in Portland and then the Barcelona Olympics, it was a treat to stroll down memory lane with some excellent behind the scenes footage and interviews with every member of the team.

(An aside: You’re a bit screwed in Canada because I don’t know what you’ll see it; I see that there’s CFL exhibition football and soccer repeats on Wednesday night when it airs down here; NBA TV Canada will have it at 11 p.m., I'm told.)

Got me thinking about a point the film makes:

This was the single greatest sports team ever compiled in any sport anywhere.

There has never been another – even the 1972 Canada pucks team left off WHA players – and I cannot imagine any country in any sport getting that many Hall of Famers again now.

What that team did was, frankly, to alter the landscape in its sport around the world.

Sure, they won ridiculously easily but that’s not the point. Their mere presence in Portland and Barcelona – with a pit stop in Monte Carlo – gave the game a prominence it never had and is in no small way responsible for the global explosion of the sport and the presence of guys in the NBA today like Dirk Nowitzki and the Gasols and Tony Parker and Jose Calderon and Serge Ibaka and Andrea Bargnani.

I can’t tell you what it was like to see that team play. It put aside egos and it was a delight to watch. They played with and for each other and it was as close to perfect basketball as we will ever see. They were the Beatles off the court and on Las Ramblas and they were amazing to watch; there will never be another in any sport, ever.

The documentary should be required viewing for all fans (whenever you can view it back home) and my friend Jack McCallum – who was the reporter perhaps closer to that team than any other – has a book on the anniversary coming out next month that I cannot wait to read.

(Oh yeah, I told Jack I’d plug it; go here, read the excerpt and pre-order. You’re welcome, Jack)

Oh, and this ends the debate, which should never have occurred in the first place:

I don’t care what you call what American basketball team from here on in, I don’t care who’s on it or what it does or what it wins. We need to never refer to any team as the Dream Team; there was only one, it played 20 years ago and changed the sporting landscape worldwide.

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Why wouldn’t you see about an eight-foot tall plastic penguin on a sidewalk in Oklahoma City?

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Wow, what a day.

Frank Drucker and Teofilo Stevenson pass away on the same day?

Tough, tough day.

Now, which was the more important guy?

Hmm.

Frank Drucker was hilarious, the voice of reason around the zaniness of Oliver and Lisa Douglas; he handled the girls on Petticoat Junction pretty well.

Stevenson? Maybe the greatest amateur boxer ever? Think you could make that point and it’s just too bad we never got to see more of him.

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So, what’s new at the Finals?

Well, we’ll get to far more on Old Friend Chris Bosh later this morning to get us through the first edition of tomorrow’s paper but the one thing I came away with from the media session yesterday was that the Heat are far, far more relaxed this time around.

Bosh was chatty without being nervous, LeBron James looked like he was going to fall asleep when he was talking from the podium and Dwayne Wade seemed a bit unexcited himself.

Sayeth Bosh:

“Not making a big deal out of everything, I understand that this is the Finals and it’s cool and all but it’s basketball and at the end of the day, we’re going to be throwing the ball up and we’re going to do what we’ve been doing since we were born.”

Is that a good thing? Probably.

But I’ve still got the Thunder in six; how about you?

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First sign of a credentialed “reporter” wearing team gear?

The guy in the Miami Heat t-shirt at about 11:45 yesterday morning in the workroom of the arena.

Nice touch. And you wonder why our reputation is what it is.

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Oh yeah, we’ll give an IGBT a shot tonight, about 9 eastern time; they tell me wireless shouldn’t be an issue and as long as I’m not sitting up in the rafters it should work out all right.

See you then.

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Just got the note that Damian Lillard get his workout with the Raptors this afternoon, on his own, after a handful of others go this morning in a group setting.

If you give me a few minutes and check back to our website, I’ll get a little look at Lillard written and you can learn a bit more about him, maybe.

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Comments

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:
"It put aside egos" That may be true once the team was chosen, but what about Michael Jordan telling the powers that be that he did not want Isiah Thomas to be on the team? And the powers acquiescing, and leaving Isiah off?

[Kevin]

Speaking of Mr. McCallum, I'd still say Seven Seconds or Less, the book he wrote about the 2005-2006 Suns, is one of my favorite basketball books. A great insider's perspective on the day-to-day dealings of an NBA team with their players, staff and the league. Cool profiles of Nash and LB in there too!

[Dave B]

Doug, The Dream Yeam is on NBA TV Canada on Wednesday at 11:00 PM. I am PVR-ing it.

I sure hope you are right that OKC will win. I prefer 4 games but I can live with 7.Although I am afraid that the Heat will win. The way LeBron is playing and with Bosh's new found confidence, they will be hard to beat.

I am sure you heard that NBA referee Greg Willard was diagnosed pancreatic cancer. I lost a sister a few years ago to that disease. Most people won't live a year with it. How about writing an article on him. He seems to be well respected as a referee

Enjoy the game.

[Jimmy the Greek]

Hi Doug, Speaking of the dream team, please share this with your readers,it's an amazing read:

http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201207/dream-team-20th-anniversary-1992-olympics-usa-basketball#ixzz1xVr0xKIV

Blogger's note: Really good piece by Lang; was alerted to it this morning

[dalmatino]

Doug, there were two dream teams in that period of time: NBA Dream Team and Euorpean Dream Team ( what represented the rest of the world ) - basketball team of former Yugoslavia. Unfortunatelly we will never know what would be the outcome of the game between these two teams, but a glimpse was seen on the final Olimpic's game between Dream team and Croatia. I believe the NBA team would win that game but I also believe that would be a school text game for everyone who loves basketball. Greetings.

Blogger's note: It would have been incredible and is one true regret everyone in the sport shares

[Tim]

Hi Doug,

Sorry if this is more of a mailbag question, but do you think the Spurs might have actually been a tougher opponent for the Heat? I know the Thunder beat them soundly, but the Spurs might have matched up better: they've got more finals experience, a big man playing great basketball, a killer point guard, lots of depth, and a strong half-court game. Miami-OKC will be a great matchup, though -- who doesn't want to see Durant and James go at it?

Blogger's note: I wanted Boston-SA for Doc and Pop; it's all about us

[S.R.]

Is Perry Jones III at all on the Raptors radar? If he is, do you know if he has or has plans to work for the raps?

I know there are questions about his motor... but it looked to me like he was playing out of position at Baylor (at PF or even C sometimes) In the NBA I think he would be a good small forward with his size and athletic ability. Was really hoping the he would get atleast a look see.

Blogger's note: Don't imagine anyone's "off radar" given that no one knows what will happen above them but I've never heard his name mentioned in any conversation I've had.

[Rob.V]

I know there are some that will disagree with me however the Dream Team starts and stops with MJ!
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I was a lot younger however I believe the Bulls had just won consecutive championships and it really was the emergence of MJ that set the world a flame. If not for Michael then the Dream Team would have no doubt been a great Basketball team however in my opinion it was MJ that gave that team it's "stage".
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It's really why there can never be "another" Michael Jordan (although if OKC wins there will be talk with Durant). He simply took the game to new heights globally that had never been seen before.
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You're bang on, Basketball has evolved since the Dream Team. Players and the international programs have really developed and the playing field has levelled off somewhat with respect to play around the world because of it.
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Yes, yes OKC in 6. Unless things suddenly change and Miami's mental lapses, along with their whining goes away during the next 7 games I don't see how they are going to beat OKC.
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It's interesting (as mentioned above) because there has been no talk of Durant being the "next" MJ as with Kobe, LBJ, Wade etc... however if OKC wins this years championship and he continues to win scoring titles and multiple rings, the kid from OKC might have a shot to one day be included in that conversation.
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I just find it interesting that there hasn't been any hoopla around Durant (like Wade or LBJ) however he has bascially (as quietly as possible) taken over the league!!!... we just haven't acknowledged it yet.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Thanks, @S.R., for your well-timed question on Perry Jones. I agree with you about his prospects as a 3 rather than a 4. He's one guy, if he "gets it", that I think has a great shot at being next year's Kawhi Leonard – a 15th pick who put in the second best rookie performance this past season. Not sure Jones would be on the Raps radar, unless BCo already has a lock on a seasoned, sure-fire 3, in which case PJ III would maybe look good as a dangerous reserve-in-training. There may be other picks that look like they'd fit better in the current Raps jigsaw. I'm still kind of hoping BCo will package the pick in a trade, but if he does go ahead and pick an 8, looks like there are plenty of interesting prospects this year (and mind you, it's all "prospecting" and nothing more). Cheers. Go BCo!

[Angelo]

I remember watching the Barcelona Dream Team in awe. Here is a question, take the current US men's team with some experience playing together under coack K, given the players that are expected to play in London and have them play against the Dream team that played in Olympic finals in Barcelona. Is the contest even close or does the Dream team just annihilate them inside?

Blogger's note: Kills 'em dead.

[Moshigh]

Im not really upto date on all the college players, but Raptors need a point guard and certainly could use all around wingman (3) as james johnson is decent but not sure want to have him as starting 3.

Jose great back up and bayless can be traded or a deep rotation player, I dont see him changing to eratic.

Scouts seem to be high on Damian Lillard as a top PG pick in this draft, if there correct and he slips maybe the guy for Raptors.

Harrison Barnes stock seems to have dropped, but who knows maybe he grows into a good NBA player.
Raptors scouts make the right decision or trade for the pick. Get it done.

Im takin Miami to win in 6 or 7 as they cant loose again in the finals can they. I just think Lebron is in a serious state and will make

[doug]

Teofilo Stevenson to me as I was growing up was a larger then life figure, to bad Ali him in a ring together never happened...there are 2 athletes to me who just looked like athletes in the sport they were playing...Teofilo perfect prototype if you were to have the boys on Big Bang Theory throw info into a computer stats to create a perfect boxer it would spew out Stevenson..the other athlete David Robinson perfect prototype of a b-ball player....as I get older people mention things to me and I can recall some things clear as a bell others I have no re-collection...the Dream team is one of those instances, I don't recall one game or bit of action they were involved in....but then again I can't remember a thing about my brothers wedding, not one thing, my family looks at me with worry (and my brother and I are close so it's no psycho-babble scenario, i just don't remember)......but ask me about the Expos or a concert I can recollect everything, mind works in mysterious ways....I mentioned earlier on here I haven't drank AA's kool-aid and this last month just solidifies to me why I haven't...prospects,smospects I say I want production or tangible results, and as long as J.P. is our catcher 5/6 games I just don't get it and why sign Vlad and he produces in the minors and then not bring him up??, ....this team to me isn't on the bright path many see, AA may be able to build a farm team/system but the Jays are a major league team....ok cheers

[m]

I'm watching an interview with Kevin Durant and his modesty and ability to deflect the stupid leading questions of the reporters are very impressive indeed. I hope that he never succumbs to their efforts to lead him down the ego path.