Jeremy Conn: Giddy For The Dream Team
Last night i watched the Documentary on the Dream Team on NBA TV. I thought it was an amazing documentary, and it took me back to my childhood. My wife looked up at me at one point and started laughing at me. I asked her what was so funny, and she told me i looked giddy like a school girl and i was glowing while watching it. Ive talked about it a ton of times on the air, basketball is my first love. I grew up playing it. The basketball court was my second home. I would spend at a minimum of 6-8 hours everyday on the court. That period of time for me brings up great memories.
Charles Barkley is my favorite basketball player of all time, and i remember following the Dream Team because of him. This documentary gets into all the great stories of their trip to Barcelona to take home the gold. From Barkley's big elbow on a player from Angola, that gave team USA a black eye. To seeing him becoming the most beloved player over there, because he would go out and take pictures and sign autographs. The great side stories of Chuck Daly, throwing the first game against the Select Team, which included Chris Webber, Bobby Hurley, and Grant Hill. He did it as a coaching tool, and he didn't allow the media to know they lost. So they played a second game against the select team... Dream Team won by close to a 100 points.
The passing of the torch story line was incredible. Hearing the story of Jordan coming up to Bird and Magic and telling them "There's a new sheriff in town.' They looked at each other and acknowledged it. Watching Jon Stockton wander around and nobody knew who he was had me chuckling. Lastly watching Jordan and Pippen, take out their aggression on future teammate Toni Kukoc, was priceless. They were in his pocket the whole game. They even joked about guarding him while he was on the bench. Hopefully i didn't give away too many stories, but its still worth the watch.
