The summer of 1992 helped elevate the NBA to yet another unprecedented global level. It was the first time in history that Team USA was allowed to send professional players after the setbacks of 1988 and 1990, when the narrative began to grow that the rest of the world was catching up.
Even though they were, on paper, without competition, something the players themselves were surely aware of, this was still a group of great champions who weren’t about to take things lightly.
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Although known as the biggest jokester among the group of superstars, Magic Johnson was dead serious at one particular practice leading up to the start of the tournament, something Larry Bird recalled in his 1999 book “Bird watching”.
“Magic was busting on everyone in sight, and that set the tone for the whole Olympic experience,” he wrote. “The way Magic saw it, anyone who hadn’t won an NBA title was fair game.”
Magic flipped the script
Bird especially remembered an anecdote with Patrick Ewing, one of the league’s best players at the time. Bird and Magic were shooting at one side of the court when Pat decided to join them.
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“Get out of here,” Magic told him.
Ewing didn’t move. “What’s with you?” he asked.
“You don’t belong at this basket.”
Still confused, Ewing asked why. Magic didn’t flinch. “Hey, you haven’t won nothing!”
To everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t Michael Jordan who set the tone for greatness at that team. MJ, already known at the time as someone who demanded a lot from his teammates, and Magic, known as an easy-going guy who kept great relationships with everyone, flipped the script.
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Magic thought outside the box, wanting to put players who hadn’t won anything into the right mindsets before the tournament. Bird went on to write how Charles Barkley was next on Johnson’s list that day.
“So then he shouts over to Barkley, ‘Hey Charles, you might as well stay over there too, ’cause you haven’t won anything either!'” Bird wrote. “That’s Magic for you. He sees Scottie Pippen laughing, and he says, ‘Hey Scottie, you want to come over and shoot with us? Then we’ll have an even dozen [championships]. You don’t want to be over there with all those losers, do you?’ We were all cracking up.”
Magic was playing mental games
At that moment on the Olympics roster, Magic had five rings, Bird three and Jordan and Pippen two apiece. In Magic’s view, the rest of the Dream Team had no business sharing the same side of the court, since they had never been at that level, despite their brilliant career achievements.
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Of course, Magic was playing mental games. As one of the most experienced players on the team, he knew how to keep all those stars hungry for success. He wanted them not to feel above the rest of the competition but to realize that respect had to be earned by proving they were truly capable of winning.
Dream Team listened to their star guard and completely dominated their way to gold, blowing out everybody in their way. They were so dominant that they never once called a timeout during the entire tournament, while they were crushing their opponents by an average margin of 43.8 points.
To this day, that team is considered the greatest in the history of the game, and from day one, Magic laid the foundation by instilling a winner’s DNA.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 7, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.