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Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever Audiobook
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(4.00) - 1,402 listener ratings
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They were the Beatles of basketball, the Mercury Seven in sneakers.
In Dream Team, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team that captivated the world, kindled the hoop dreams of countless children around the planet, and remade the NBA into a global sensation.
As a senior staff writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona. For the duration of the Olympics, he lived with, golfed with, and—most important—drank with some of the greatest players of the NBA's Golden Age: Magic Johnson, the ebullient showman who shrugged off his recent diagnosis of HIV to become the team's unquestioned captain and leader; Michael Jordan, the transcendent talent at the height of his powers as a player—and a marketing juggernaut; and Charles Barkley, the outspoken iconoclast whose utterances on and off the court threatened to ignite an international incident. Presiding over the entire traveling circus was the Dream Team's beloved coach, Chuck Daly, whose laissez faire approach proved instrumental in getting the most out of such disparate personalities and superstars such as Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, and Scottie Pippen.
Drawing on fresh interviews with the players, McCallum provides the definitive account of the Dream Team phenomenon. He offers a behind-the-scenes look at the controversial selection process. He takes us inside the team's Olympic suites for late-night card games and bull sessions where the players debate both the finer points of basketball and their respective places in the NBA pantheon. And he narrates a riveting possession-by-possession account of the legendary July 1992 intrasquad scrimmage that pitted the Dream Teamers against one another in what may have been the greatest pickup game—and the greatest exhibition of trash talk—in history.
In the twenty years since the Dream Team first captivated the world's attention, its mystique has only grown—and so has its influence. The NBA is now flush with international stars, many of them inspired by the exuberant spirit of '92. Dream Team vividly re-creates the moment when a once-in-a-millennium group of athletes came together, outperformed the hype, and changed the future of sports—one perfectly executed fast break at a time.
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"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 haven't (John Stockton and Chris Mullin). I was shocked at how easy it was to read/follow and just to remember what happened based on what Mr. McCallum describes. I can understand how the Dream Team inspired Dirk Nowitski and Tony Parker growing up. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to relive those days and find out more about what took place. However I would also recommend it to any player that is looking for more history about how America was a great power in basketball and where it has gone."
— Samantha (4 out of 5 stars)
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Great [listening] for NBA fans. High-demand backstory.
— Booklist Starred Review -
“What makes this volume a must-read for nostalgic hoopsters are the robust portraits of the outsize personalities of the participants, all of whom were remarkably open with McCallum, both then and now.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“A great read for basketball junkies.”
— Los Angeles Times
Dream Team Listener Reviews
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" On the 20th anniversary of the Dream Team, many have been looking back with nostalgia. McCallum was there on the ground in Barcelona back in 1992 and did many follow up interviews in the last couple years with the players. There are some great inside stories you haven't heard as well as plenty that any basketball fan of those times will recall. Good reporting. "
— Mattmiller, 2/9/2014 -
" Well-written and a lot of fun. I was fifteen in 1992, and it was a great trip down memory lane. Worth reading for chapter 28 alone. "
— Edwin, 2/2/2014 -
" This book is about that vaulted and historical 1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team known simply as The Dream Team. Jack McCallum goes behind the scenes and discusses how the Dream Team came to be, profiles each of the players and personalities on the team and how they came together despite their egos, and dominated basketball at the world stage. A great read for any sports fan, especially if you are a student of basketball. "
— Johnny, 1/26/2014 -
" Superb re-enactment of one of the most intriguing stories of the modern sporting era. "
— Jimmy, 1/26/2014 -
" A Good inside look of a great group of ball players. Gives a lot of background information about each player. "
— Jerry, 1/26/2014 -
" It's nothing deep, just immense fun to read, particularly if you're somebody between the ages of 35-50 who followed hoops in the 80s and early 90s. "
— Jim, 1/17/2014 -
" A great inside look at one of the greatest sports teams ever assembled. The games are secondary to the behind the scenes dealings and the formation of the team is fascinating. Very in depth. "
— Robert, 12/12/2013 -
" This was a very enjoyable read that brought back a lot of great memories from watching and hearing about the team and how everybody was in awww about the team.. "
— Steve, 12/8/2013 -
" Read this last summer before the Games. What a hoot. If you remember all these great players and enjoyed the NBA back then,you'll enjoy this. Great inside info,fond recollections and a shot by shot report of the intrasquad game, now made famous. "
— doug, 12/7/2013 -
" I remember reading everything that I could about the Dream Team back in 1992 (including a lot of McCallum articles). But McCallum's book still managed to delight, providing great vignettes (over decades) that create a wonderful sense of narrative. "
— Seth, 11/17/2013 -
" Thoughtful, funny, insightful and necessary. A great basketball book, and timely, as the 2012 Men's Olympic Basketball Team head into London in search of gold. "
— corey, 11/4/2013 -
" Very interesting and enjoyable look back at the Dream Team. Lots of in depth interviews with all the players really helped flesh out the narrative and the conversational style of the writing made it an extremely fast read. "
— Sandi, 10/3/2013 -
" Really fun read. I relish that he waited 20 years to write this. The "Then & Now" angle is what is most interesting about the story. "
— Doug, 10/3/2013 -
" Loved it. Well written, fascinating story of the greatest basketball team of all time. Enjoyed the focus on the various characters as individuals, the modern day interludes and various reflections on the Dream Team's impact 20 years on. "
— Bill, 8/25/2013 -
" I loved reading about the dream team "
— Nick, 7/12/2013 -
" Great insight into the various legends that made up the original Dream Team, with all their quirks and idiosyncracies. "
— Kein, 7/11/2013 -
" Too much of the writer! The accounts of the team and the Olympics are good, but McCallum's digressions are self-aggrandizing. "
— Mary, 4/29/2013 -
" Absolutely fascinating anecdotes about the best basketball team ever. Must-read for hoop heads. "
— Emmanuel, 2/11/2013 -
" This was sort of interesting, if not great. The chapter "The Greatest Game that Nobody Ever Saw" was the best, running through a play-by-play of a Scrimmage match that set Jordan up against Magic Johnson. "
— Christopher, 11/2/2012
About Jack McCallum
Jack McCallum is the author of Seven Seconds or Less and a longtime member of the staff of Sports Illustrated. He has edited the weekly Scorecard section of the magazine, has written scripts for various SI Sportsman of the Year shows, and is currently a contributor to the magazine and SI.com. He has won the Curt Gowdy Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Women Sports Foundation Media Award and teaches college journalism. He lives with his wife in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
About Dick Hill
Dick Hill, named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, is one of the most awarded narrators in the business, having earned several Audie Awards and thirty-four AudioFile Earphones Awards. In addition to narrating, he has both acted in and written for the theater.