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The Dream Team Tapes — Basketball
The Dream Team Tapes

The #1 New Sports Podcast of 2020. The greatest team in NBA history, the 1992 Dream Team that won Olympic gold in Barcelona. Hear the incomparable players in their own words, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone and the others. Renowned sportswriter and author Jack McCallum was there with the guys and brings us the thrilling memories, personal stories, and sometimes surprising anecdotes of the twelve historic players. Season 2 joining Jack McCallum with J.A. Adande for an epic examination of the incomparable 2008 US Olympic Men’s Basketball Team and the legendary players that defined a new generation of NBA basketball. They talk to players and coaches including Carmelo Anthony, Phil Jackson, Jason Kidd, Chris Bosh, Robert Horry, Jerry Colangelo, Deron Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and more, bringing you an insider’s study in athletic challenge, transformation, and ultimate victory. Assembling icons like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade, The Redeem Team composed the greatest single team since the superlative Dream Team of Jordan, Johnson, and Bird from 1992. The US team was in shambles following the rise of Olympic teams around the world and their humiliation at the 2004 Games. It was the gold medal in ’08 or total failure — there was nothing in between. What The Redeem Team achieved signaled a total rebirth of USA Basketball —and some would say basketball in general — whose legacy we are living out today.

Copyright: © iHeartRadio & Diversion Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

Kobe's 1st Quarter Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

The creation story of the 2008 Redeem Team begins in the residue of the 1992 Dream Team, as does the redemption story of Kobe Bryant, who played such an important role when he later not just joined the Redeem Team but played the pivotal role of "team energizer." Hosts Jack McCallum and J.A Adande examine the young Kobe — fresh out of high school, clueless in many ways about the NBA baskeTball game — and, with a lot of Zen Master insight from guest (and winningest coach in NBA history) Phil Jackson — follow Kobe through the highs of championship glory, the painful lows of a sexual assault charge, and the dismantling of a mini-dynasty.

FROM THE EPISODE:

We asked Phil Jackson to summarize his relationship with Kobe Bryant and he made it sound like something from a work of literature:

PHIL JACKSON: I think it's almost like a Prodigal Son story. There I go into a father limination illustration. There's a conflict and there’s a willfulness and there's selfishness and there's “I could do this on my own” type of thing. And then there's a the second life or second opportunity that really brings back tenderness, yielding. It really took two of us to have that complicated relationship early on, trying to both be willful or directed, and Kobe’s was to establish himself.

His identity and maybe to establish what a team had to do to win, the direction that teams have to have: this unselfish behavior. And bending that will I think was done, sometimes, in unusual ways. Like one time, I arrived at the facility where I had a parking spot that was designated as mine, and there was Kobe’s car in my parking spot; things like that. Just to know that he was going to irritate me and me not reacting to it at all, just going on about the day, not taking on umbrage. So we forged something that was harmonious and that was one of the joys of our life. My former pal and partner Jeanie Buss says that we raised him as a son of our own.

J.A. ADANDE: So you can see why we had to clear the way for this. Much like Kobe isolating on the wing so he could go one-on-one — although I'd say Kobe's ability to steal the spotlight is part of The Lakers and the way they steal the spotlight. There's something about that franchise…

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On Top Of The World Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

In an often-overlooked story, the 2008 US Men's Olympic basketball team made magic. Led by two NBA superstars, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James (who many thought couldn't play together) and coached by Mike Krzyzewski (a “college guy” many first dismissed as unable to handle pro players) the US overcame the stifling embarrassment of their 2004 showing and won a decisive gold victory in 2008. Hosts Jack McCallum and J.A Adande begin a fascinating exploration of how the 2008 "Redeem Team" also succeeded in much more: it not only made the tough and fundamental move of changing a culture that had grown toxic in the years following the Dream Team’s world conquest in 1992 but also marked an historical inflection point in NBA basketball that set the stage for everything — and every superstar player — that has come since. Hear a revealing interview with current Portland Trailblazer and former Redeem Teamer, Carmelo Anthony, as well as interviews with Redeem Teamer and now assistant coach for the LA Lakers, Jason Kidd, the one and only Phil Jackson of numerous Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers NBA victories, and Coach K himself, Mike Krzyzewski.

FROM THE EPISODE:

JACK MCCALLUM: I’m Jack McCallum, who brought you The Dream Team Tapes podcast and this is its worthy sequel. The story of The Redeem Team — sometimes overlooked — is, on its own, in my opinion, every bit as intriguing as the Dream Team that proceeded them by 16 years. One of the things I've found out by doing The Dream Team Tapes is how eager these guys were to talk about it. For even guys that were All-Stars, Hall of Famers, won championships, it was a really special time in their lives. Which is why I was able to get inside the heads of players like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson.

In the same way, The Redeem Team defines a lot of these guys' careers. In the coming weeks you're going to be hearing from the players, the coaches, and the executives who were so eager to share their thoughts on what was an important part in their lives. So here's a quick snapshot of some of those voices you'll be hearing:

ROBERT HORRY: We understood the pecking order. We knew Kobe and LeBron were going to shoot the ball or, more or less, Kobe was going to shoot the ball.

JASON KIDD: I’ve never said this, but I remember sitting there and watching those guys. When we were in harmony, you can't play better than this

COACH K: The most pressure moment I've ever had as a coach was the gold medal game with eight minutes to go.

JACK MCCALLUM: The year is 2008: The Games of the 29th Olympiad. An American basketball team — an American basketball program, really — bent on turning around its diminished fortunes, which included a 6th place finish in the 2002 World Championships and even worse, a mere Bronze Medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The United States team was on a mission. There was magic in the air.

Actually there was smog in the air. Hey, we're in Beijing after all, but this 2008 team turned out to be a breath of fresh air for our Olympic program. But it wasn't easy.

I'll be joined by J.A. Adande, who himself was heard recently talking about a Dream Teamer, somebody named Michael Jordan, in the terrific, “Beyond the Last Dance” that he did with B.J. Armstrong, a former teammate of Jordan's...

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Introducing Season 2: Kobe, LeBron & The Redeem Team Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

Get a preview of Season 2 of the #1 New Sports Podcast of 2020. Sports journalist vets Jack McCallum and J.A. Adande take listeners through an insider's study of the 2008 US Olympic Men's Basketball Team and the legendary players that defined a new generation of NBA basketball, including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Jason Kidd. Season 2 features guests including Carmelo Anthony, Phil Jackson, Chris Bosh, Robert Horry, Jerry Colangelo, Deron Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and many more, bringing you an epic examination in athletic challenge, transformation, and ultimate victory.

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Lasting Impressions Jun 29, 2020

Show notes

Some of the Dream died quickly. Larry Bird retired right away. Magic’s HIV became big news again, a year later, Michael was gone…to baseball, after one of sports history’s most mysterious retirements. But what remains is the Dream Team’s enduring legacy, one many did not see while they were beating teams by fifty points. Their participation in the Olympic did exactly what Boris Stankovic said it would do—it grew the game around the world. The course that the NBA is on right now, as the most international of all sports, was set in that fateful year of 1992.

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Vive Barcelona Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

The Dream Team reaches Barcelona and the circus never stops, featuring: The Charles Barkley elbow. The internecine battles between USA Basketball and USOC. The famous “Kukoc Game” in which Jordan and Scottie Pippen made life miserable for the Croatian and would-be Bull. The non-stop life force that was Jordan, and, most of all, the all-galactic level of behind-the-scenes trash talking that went on when the team got together in what the author calls “The Coolest Room in the world.” Oh, yes, the U.S. also won the gold medal and managed to stir up controversy on the podium.

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The Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw Jun 15, 2020

Show notes

Ever since the book Dream Team was released in 2012, fans have been curious about the intrasquad scrimmage the Dream Teamers played in Monte Carlo, a few days before the Olympics began in Barcelona. “The Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw” is what McCallum called that chapter in his book … even though he did see it on film. McCallum breaks it down, along with the phenomenon of the world’s most famous team hanging out in the world’s most famous playground. Hint: Money exchanged hands.

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The Once and Future King Jun 08, 2020

Show notes

It was a feeling like no other when the Dream Teamers took the court for a real game in the qualifying tournament in Portland. Hearts stopped when they first ran onto the court together—and, as a matter of fact, so did warm-ups, as the Dream Team competitors ceased layup drills to take photos. The Dreamers were excited to be playing with each other, and it showed in the wonderfully cohesive brand of basketball that they played. But a whole netherworld of tangled business relationships took some joy out of the experience, most demonstrably for Michael Jordan.

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A Magic Act Like No Other Jun 01, 2020

Show notes

Barely two months after most of the Dream Team roster was announced, Magic Johnson seemed like he would have to drop out. The jaw-dropping news of Magic’s HIV diagnosis, the gradual resumption of his rightful place on the team, and some of the attendant controversies. Who was the real leader of the Dream Team? Magic? Bird? Or the team’s transcendent player, Michael Jordan? Look no further for the answers.

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The Cool Kids All Sign On...But They Don't Include Isiah May 25, 2020

Show notes

The public was skeptical of top pros surrendering their summer to play Olympic basketball. That changed with a couple important early sign-ons, Magic Johnson among them. Also: why the selection committee ignored past transgressions of Charles Barkley, Larry Bird’s reluctance to participate because of an aching back, and the never-ending discussion of why Isiah Thomas was not a Dream Teamer.

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Boys To Men May 18, 2020

Show notes

Throughout most of the 20th century, that our Olympic basketball teams were represented by college players was mandated not only by FIBA—which specifically forbade NBA players from participating—but also by our own hidebound tradition. Almost everyone in this country thought: The Olympics were for the college kids. But someone in another country, a Serbian named Boris Stankovic, thought differently. This is the story of how he changed minds and rules, and from that cataclysmic decision emerged the 1992 Dream Team.

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