There have been many stories about how the Dream Team’s practices were more competitive than any official game that the 1992 squad had ever played. Still, Magic Johnson shared one detail from practice that perfectly encapsulated that team.
On the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, Magic said that during one practice, they split into East vs. West squads. Michael Jordan played alongside guys like Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley, while Magic’s squad had David Robinson, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone and John Stockton.
“We got out on them about 12-2, and I thought, ‘I’m gonna really rattle his chain,'” he started. “I went over there and tapped him on his shoulder, and said, ‘Hey man, if you don’t turn into Air Jordan, we’re going to blow you out today.'”
“Jimmy, his eyes got big, usually that tongue’s about right here, it comes out (like this). He broke the huddle and he hit a three and he’s looking at me. So he came down again, hit another three,” Magic recalled.
MJ didn’t stop there
According to Magic, that was the first and only time he ever trash-talked in his life. It just happened to be against the back-to-back NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and the man who was about to become Magic’s legitimate successor as the next face of the league.
Magic recalled that MJ didn’t stop there. He pulled off his best move with a 360-degree dunk over The Admiral. MJ went up for the dunk at the same time as the San Antonio Spurs center. However, while Robinson was already on his way down, MJ was still in the air, spinning and hammering it down over him.
Magic admitted he had awakened something in MJ that lit a fire in him to prove to everyone that he was the best player on the planet. After that dunk, Jordan had a message for the whole gym, declaring that it was his time.
“He just looked at me too, and let me know,” Johnson said. “He said, ‘I just want y’all to know: There’s a new sheriff in town.’ He said, ‘It’s my league now.’ He said, ‘Magic, you had your turn. Larry Bird, you had your turn. Now it’s my league.’ And we all bowed down.”
It was also a message to the rest of the group
Even though the five-time NBA champ said it jokingly, Jordan’s competitive spirit never allowed him to relax — not even in practice, and especially not in front of many of his fiercest rivals. This sent a message to the rest of the group that nobody should even think about being better than him.
Eventually, from that Dream Team roster, Drexler, Barkley, Johnson, Malone and Stockton all lost to Jordan in the Finals, while Ewing fell to him in Eastern playoff battles. The Dream Team saw it first, but soon the entire world would realize the same thing: Jordan had seized control of the sport.