Summer, 1992.
Barcelona was all set.
Ready to welcome thousands of athletes and the world's media.
Ready for the biggest event it had ever hosted.
Ready for three weeks
that would ultimately change the city for ever.
Yep, Barcelona was ready for its very first Olympic Games.
But was it ready for the Dream Team?
The Dream Team -
the finest collection of basketball players
ever assembled.
Superstars and superheroes, playing together on one team
for one reason and one reason only -
payback.
You see, despite the USA's
dominance of Olympic basketball,
the Olympic Games in Seoul, 1988 hadn't exactly
gone according to plan.
Team America was used to winning at the Olympics,
particularly in basketball.
Especially in basketball.
Winning an Olympic bronze medal would represent
a landmark achievement for most athletes.
Not for the USA basketball team.
It was time to call in the cavalry.
How are the cavalry going to help?
If anything, they should call more basketball players.
When Team USA decided to get the NBA professionals involved,
it was Magic Johnson...
I couldn't pass up that opportunity.
It was the greatest moment of my life.
..who sensationally came out of retirement
to answer the call,
and Boston Celtics' legend Larry Bird got on board first.
Other big names were quick to follow.
Scottie Pippen, one of the toughest defenders in the game.
John "The Pastey Gangster" Stockton - widely regarded
as one of the best point guards of all time.
The 14-time NBA all-star, Karl "Mailman" Malone.
New York Knicks' legend Patrick "The Warrior" Ewing,
who was coming off one of the best seasons of his career.
David "The Admiral" Robinson, who had played as an amateur
in the 1988 Olympics.
And the prolific
Charles "The Round Mound of Rebound" Barkley,
an 11-time NBA All-Star.
But it was one player, the most successful and gifted of all,
who was one of the last to sign on -
Michael "Air" Jordan,
at the summit of an extraordinary career.
In 1992, he was working towards his hat-trick of championships.
I never had the opportunity to play with Larry Bird,
never had the opportunity to play with Magic Johnson,
Karl Malone, Charles Barkley.
And while cynics would argue that a Mongolian fruit bat
would have been able to manage their interstellar collection
of talent, Chuck Daly, who was appointed coach,
was no slouch either, taking the Detroit Pistons
to back-to-back NBA titles a few years prior to Barcelona.
The question was not if they
were going to win the Olympic gold,
it was more - by how many points
would they crush the competition
on their inevitable swaggering stomp to victory?
It was like travelling with 12 rock stars.
They stayed in a luxury Barcelona hotel,
instead of with the rest
of the athletes in the Olympic Village...
to work on their moves.
A-list off the court,
A-list on the court.
First up was Angola.
Team USA blew them away, winning by 68 points.
It wasn't about them being close.
We didn't want any close games.
We wanted to go out and just put it to them,
to really show them
that we were the world's best.
Angola don't stand a chance!
He is on fire!
Team USA steam-rolled their way to the gold medal game,
beating every team by over 40 points en route.
Spain...
Puerto Rico...
Lithuania...
They scored 100 points in every game -
the first team in Olympic history to do so.
Coach Daly enjoyed the view from the touchline.
He didn't bother to call a single time out throughout
the competition - another first.
Rival teams had their moments.
They were trying, they really were.
But some players were more concerned
about getting their photos taken
with their basketball heroes.
The gold medal match threatened an upset.
No, seriously, it really did.
Towards the end of the first quarter,
Croatia held a respectable lead.
And then the Dream Team found its groove.
Gotta make it interesting, right?
Jordan piled in with 22 points,
his highest score of the tournament.
Seven American players scoring ten points or more.
They won all eight games, with an average winning margin
of 43.8 points.
The sporting success was followed
by the commercial success.
The 1992 Dream Team triggered basketball's switch
from American enterprise to global marketing phenomenon.
Across the world, TV rights exploded.
Sneaker sales soared.
And international participation leapt.
The presence of these professional superstars
on the Olympic stage would be a game-changer,
bringing other sports into the Olympic family.
The Olympics Games would never be the same again.
And nor would basketball.
That's the highlight of my career. It always will be.
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