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Home , 1988 in basketball, Alexander Gomelsky, Basketball, Cameron Stauth, Chuck Daly, Isiah Thomas

BEDLAM IN

by Carson Cunningham

hen the 1992 Olympic bas- tional corporations, was nothing short of astound- Wketball team arrived at the luxurious Hotel ing. David Burns, President of the -based Ambassador in Monte Carlo a week before the Burns Celebrity Services, said, "No doubt about it, Barcelona , the hotel's managers scoffed this is the biggest, most expensive marketing deal at suggestions that they needed to enhance secu- in the history of ." Deputy Secretary General rity. They assured all that their experience hosting of the USOC and marketing legend John Krimsky rock stars and kings and princesses had ably pre- said, "There are young people out there who think pared them. Then, as the Hartford Courant's Alan the Olympics are one big basketball tournament."4 Greenberg put it, "the team showed up." Soon af- Corporations had of course long-associated ter it did, hotel officials were apologizing for the themselves with , but the Dream disorderly mess as fans and media that had flocked Team brought it to a whole new level. Forty differ- to the hotel converged upon Michael , Larry ent companies, spending an estimated $40 million, Bird, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and the rest. "The emerged as promotional partners of the squad. magnitude of this basketball royalty, they had not Fourteen of those went through USA basketball, understood," Greenberg wrote.1 paying $750,000 apiece. Twenty-six others aligned The experience in Monte Carlo gave Olympic themselves with the team using separate licensing officials an indication of the enormous response the agreements. These figures do not even count the team would receive in . So when the United money spent by corporations like Nike, who cir- States journeyed from Monte Carlo to Barcelona, cumvented association with USA basketball Olympic officials flew them first to Reus and then by making their own ads featuring the stable of six had them driven to Barcelona in order to avoid the Dream Teamers they had under contract: Jordan, 3,000 to 4,000 fans that had converged upon the , , , Barcelona airport in anticipation of the team's ar- , and . These Nike men rival. Still, once the players made it to the Olympic were featured in ads depicting them as larger-than- Village to get their accreditations, a mob envel- life cartoon characters smashing everything in their oped them. Rather than shield the players from path. Nor do the figures include numerous publi- the onslaught of people, security guards angled cations like and USA Today, who for autographs; so did many of the other Olympic set up games and gift promotions centered the . Space became tight as people jostled for Dream Team to increase readership. Sponsors, of- position. "Of all the things we've experienced...the ficial and otherwise, hocked everything from post- stampede at the village was the most frightening," ers to peanuts, hats to pins, to trading cards; Coach said later.2 you name it and you could probably find it.5 With The Times dubbed the 1992 Barcelona the help of the Olympics, deft marketing by tran- Games the "New Order Olympics." With the snational corporations, the attractiveness of basket- Wall down and the Iron Curtain lifted, a record 's action, and America's global lead in capital 172 countries attended.3 It was also a "New Order and innovation, Dream Team stars like Michael Olympics" for basketball, as the 1992 Olympic tour- Jordan soon became some of the most recognizable nament marked the first appearance of full-fledged faces on the planet. professionals from the United States. This resulted The three biggest stars driving the Dream Team in the formation of the greatest and most famous phenomenon were Bird, Magic, and Jordan, all three basketball squad of all time: The Dream Team. It remarkable American tales. Bird, a six feet nine was a team that raised the standard for everyone, inch white marksman, capable of deftly utilizing a standard that, ironically enough, by the turn of both hands, with great subtlety, and mak- the millennium international teams had shown as ing off-balance shots seemingly all over the court, much promise in reaching as the Americans. And grew up poor in a rural part of . Magic, an it was a team that epitomized the breadth of bas- African American, was a charismatic six feet nine ketball's reach and its attendant cultural import. inch guard who grew up in a lower middle- Three forces— liberal capitalism, technological class, two-parent home in Lansing, . Not innovation, and basketball—blossomed with ex- endowed with great explosiveness, Johnson made quisite timing in Barcelona, enabling the phenom- up for it with amazing deceptiveness, adroit ball- enal response to the team. International reaction, handling, fine court vision, and underappreciated from fans across the globe to burgeoning transna- quickness. Finally, Jordan was the most artful and

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 39 effective player of all time, an African American persistence, and he had visited Indiana State and from Wilmington, , whose fa- liked it. Later, Larry, his older brother Mark, and ther, like so many African Americans in the 1960s their friend Kevin Carnes traveled to Indiana State and , worked his family into the middle- to scrimmage with the team. With Bird and his class through the military.6 Together these three crew clad in jeans, Hodges offered them some proved, as we have seen with Fortenberry, Russell, shorts. They deferred. As Bird put it, "We never Robertson, West, and Haywood, that a superstar played in shorts back home." Apparently Hodges basketball player could conceivably come from any was "horrified."10 But everyone in the soon place, under any condition. learned that you can wear jeans and still bas- Bird grew up in West Baden and French Lick, two ketball. And a few years later, with Bird enrolled, small towns abutting each other in southern Indiana. they found out that the His parents bounced from job-to-job, struggling could make it to the national championship . to get by month-to-month and commonly earning In that national championship game, Bird and just over $200 a week between them. Eventually his Indiana State faced the father's drinking led to a divorce. And soon after- and their , "Magic" Johnson. Johnson grew wards his father spiraled down into a deep depres- up in Lansing, Michigan, not far from the campus sion. When Bird was nineteen, his father, in debt and of Michigan State, which was in neighboring East facing legal difficulties, took his own life because he Lansing. Describing his childhood, Johnson wrote deemed the social security money his family would in 1992, "I grew up in the kind of black family that get as a result more valuable than his life.7 people today worry is disappearing."11 Magic had Nonetheless, Bird does not recall an unhappy six siblings, and his parents worked hard to provide childhood. He knew his family was poor, but so for their large family Magic's father toiled at two was most everybody else in French Lick. His four full-time jobs and his mother worked as a custodi- brothers and sister kept themselves busy playing an and waitress, among other things. Johnson said sports. "There never was a day we didn't do some- that his parents "believed in hard work" and his thing, whether it was , basketball or foot- father did not believe in "handouts." As an adult, ball," Bird remembered as an adult. Surprisingly, Johnson attributed his work ethic to the example he did not pay much attention to basketball until set by his father, and Magic attributed his colorful, the rather late age of thirteen, when he visited ex- magnetic personality to his mother: "People talk tended family in Hobart, a small town in northern about my smile, but my smile is her smile."12 Indiana. As he walked around town, some boys As with Bird and his reflections on West Baden asked young Larry to join them in a pick-up game. and French Lick, Johnson considered Lansing a He obliged and started sinking shot after shot. The great place to grow up. "It wasn't the suburbs, but kids asked him what team he played for and could it wasn't the ghetto, either," Johnson explained. not believe it when he told them he played for no And not surprisingly, basketball played a big part team. From that day forward, Bird was hooked on in his life early on. Johnson learned much about basketball. He made the "B team" the following the game from his father, whom he idolized as a year as a freshman. And by the time he was a so- youngster. Like Bird's mentor in high school, Jim phomore: "Basketball was all I thought about, all I Jones, Magic's father emphasized the total game: wanted to do...I would play at 6 A.M. before school. inside and outside shooting, blocking out, playing I would duck into the gym between classes to get defense, passing.13 Both benefited from their men- a few shots up and play again after school into the tors to develop their dazzlingly versatile games. early hours of the next morning, feeling that sleep Also like Bird, Johnson became obsessed with was a rude intrusion on my practice time."8 working on his game, though he did so at a much The work paid off. After a brief stint at Indiana earlier age. "No matter what else I was doing, I under Bobby , Bird left school and headed always had a basketball in my hand," Johnson re- back to French Lick. There he worked at a gas sta- called. "I remember waking up when it was dark tion and then for the street department, picking outside and wanting to play ball so badly that I'd up trash once a week, and pondered his future.9 A just lie there, looking out the window, waiting for slew of coaches, including , coach daybreak."14 Together Bird and Magic deserve cred- of Indiana State, a school just over fifty miles from it for enhancing basketball's popularity to a point French Lick, continued to recruit Bird during this that enabled Jordan to take the game even further. time. It seemed that Hodges showed up in West Both Bird and Magic came to Barcelona in the Baden nearly every day. He would appear unan- twilight of their spectacular careers-- particularly nounced at the laundry mat or at the Bird's home. Bird, who, hampered by back problems, told re- It got so bad that one time Bird's mom slammed porters just before the Games got underway, "I've the door on him. But Bird appreciated Hodges's been retired for four years, only nobody knows it

40 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 yet."15 Jordan did not. He came to Barcelona in his ner enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. prime, capable of personifying at this most oppor- Ironically, Stockton, a controversial cut in 1984 tune time the most uncommon confluence of forces under Knight, stood as the most controversial pick that flowered in Barcelona. Legendarily cut from for Barcelona. At six feet one inch and relatively the as a sophomore in high school, skinny, Stockton looks and acts quite unassuming. only to hit the winning shot three years later as a But underneath the veneer is an intensely competi- freshman for North Carolina in the NCAA national tive man. In fact, his backyard basketball battles championship game, Jordan possessed that rarest with his brother Steve often turned bloody, earning of combinations: world-class athleticism, uncanny them the nicknames Cain and Abel. That rough- skill, court awareness, and a seemingly unmatch- ness was balanced by the Stockton family's Catholic able competitive drive. Even on the greatest team faith, which they practiced in an Irish, working-class ever assembled, Jordan plainly stood out. Chuck neighborhood in Spokane called the "Little Vatican." Daly admitted as much: "Not even close. Whenever In his unlikely climb to the top of the NBA he tal- he wanted to, he could just take over."16 lied spectacular statistics while starring alongside Gauging his prominence, journalist and historian on the Jazz.20 But many figured David Halberstam has noted that during his career , winner of two NBA championships Jordan sold shoes to help you fly, he sold Big Macs to Stockton's none, deserved a spot on the Dream to help you eat, to quench your thirst; he Team roster before Stockton. However, widespread "was nothing less than a New World seigneur." Just reports maintained that Jordan did not want Thomas about everybody wanted Jordan to sell everything on the team. Jordan's distaste for Thomas, the point from hot dogs to perfume. Endorsement deals inac- guard of , the ' rival, cessible to most African Americans in the and apparently stemmed from the "freeze out" Thomas 1960s had to be turned away.17 This remarkable sta- has been credited with leading against the upstart tus motivated sociologist David Andrews to edit a Jordan at the 1985 NBA All-star game.21 book of compiled essays from distinguished minds By 1992 the Dream Teamers visibility meant all that was intended to "make sense of a celebrated of them had endorsement relationships with some figure, whose public existence graphically exterior- and apparel company. Throughout the izes a late capitalist order defined by the conver- and into the nineties, shoe companies had contin- gence of corporate and media interests."18 ued to more effectively leverage the cultural appeal As with fellow Olympians Russell, Robertson, of their products. Jordan's Nike line reflected this West, Bird, and "Magic," Jordan was not born into best. With the success of the 1985 cam- such lofty status. With the help of hardworking paign, Nike's advertising budget ballooned over working parents, opportunity, an indefatigable the next eight years from $20 million to $150 mil- work ethic, creative genius, athletic grace, techno- lion. And, as Donald Katz noted in , Nike logical innovation, marketing savvy, and a game ads became global sensations during this time. For that allowed all of these traits to be displayed to example, the original 1985 "Jordan Flight" com- the rest of the world, Jordan turned himself into a mercial set off a national shopping spree "replete global icon. And his presence on the United States with long lines, hoarding, sales far above retail Olympic team in Barcelona played a pivotal role in price, secondary street markets, [and] traumatic this. Though much of his fame came through his disappointments over the limited supply." Future exploits in the NBA, his ascension to a global icon commercials landed producer Jim Riswold a spot of mammoth proportion is, in no small part, due to on Newsweek's list of the one-hundred most sig- his participation on the Dream Team. Halberstam nificant people in American culture.22 recognized as much, writing, "In a way, it was the Riswold placed a particular focus on developing 1992 Olympics that lifted 's fame to an "urban," or "black," image.23 As author Donald another level, because of the worldwide focus on Katz described it, one of Riswold's most famous the American team, known as the Dream Team."19 spots featured Spike Lee, as Mars Blackmon, and Joining Bird, Magic, and Jordan on the Dream Jordan with "style reeled in from the farthest edge Team were other greats in their own right. At the for- of urban hip, and with the best of all good hearts." ward position, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Chris So popular were the commercials that few did not Mullin, and the least likely Dream Team-er of all, know of Mars's love for Jordan and his shoes. In Duke's , who garnered selection 1993 Jordan summed up the comprehensive impact over Shaquille O'Neal as the lone collegian, joined of the Nike marketing campaigns, saying, "What Bird. At guard, Drexler, Pippen, and Stockton com- Phil and Nike have done is turn me into a dream."24 plimented Jordan and Magic, while Robinson and The sheer volume of sales and the visibility of manned the position. Virtually the industry's superstar endorsers put the basket- all of the Dream Team members will eventually gar- ball shoe at the center of debates involving a wide

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 41 range of topics, from cultural values to labor in parallels between the Jordan Flight marketing cam- the global age. Sociologists Stephen Papson and paign and the American frontier, the transcendent Robert Goldman explained, "As one of the most meaning of the Sistine Chapel, and the human yearn- visible and most desirable brand images, Nike — ing to soar. He also credited Nike with developing the and in particular, Michael Jordan and Spike Lee - "hero as product."32 Comments by Susan Hoffman, has received an exaggerated share of sensationalist Wieden & Kennedy's creative director for Nike in- finger-pointing for the acquisitiveness inspired by ternational advertising, suggests some legitimacy to consumerism among the poor." 25 In 1993 intellec- Twitchell's assertions. She described the Nike adver- tual Michael Eric Dyson argued that the sneaker tising message as "irreverence justified," which hark- "symbolized the ingenious manner in which black ens images of the frontier ethos. Furthermore, the nuances of cool, hip, and chic have influenced noted that sociologist Marshall Blonsky, broader American cultural landscape."26 He also author of American Mythologies, described Wieden asserted, however, that the sneaker epitomized & Kennedy as having gone around the world to mar- the, "worst fears of social production of desire, and ket "Nike's image of America."33 And even Dyson ac- represents the ways in which moral energies of so- knowledged that Jordan has "attained unparalleled cial conscience about material values are drained cultural status because of his extraordinary physical by the messages of undisciplined acquisitiveness gifts, his marketing as an icon of race-transcending promoted by corporate dimensions of the culture American athletic and moral excellence, and his mas- of consumption." And that "while sneaker com- tery of a that has become the metaphoric center panies have exploited black cultural expressions of black cultural imagination." Dyson also noted of cool, hip, chic, and style, they rarely benefit the that Jordan's career "symbolizes possibility itself."34 people who both consume the largest quantity of Clearly, basketball, its stars, and its related products products and whose culture redefined the compa- were pregnant with market possibilities and by ex- nies' raison d'etre." Finally, Dyson claimed that the tension cultural meaning.35 situation was compounded by the ineffectiveness, Still, Dyson limited the impact of Jordan's social defensiveness, or indifference of spokespeople influence to the black body.36 And many others put like Jordan, Lee, and Bo Jackson regarding issues similar limitations on the impact of Jordan and oth- of black-on-black violence related to the products er Dream Team members. In the late schol- they endorse.27 ars Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith asserted that Others offered similar analyses to Dyson's. no doubt Jordan had helped race relations in the But these critiques seemed to overlook that the United States. But they questioned whether he had vast majority of people buying Nike's high-priced helped the image of the average black man. They products were white. In 1991 Nike estimated that voiced support for fellow scholar Jay Coakley, who whites purchased roughly eighty-seven percent of asserted that "Nike-sponsored images of Michael its products sold in the United States.28 Jim Savage, Jordan may be found around the world, but those biographer of 1988 and 1992 Olympian David images present an illusion that black athletes and Robinson, a Dream Team member who found simi- citizens have achieved equality and that society op- lar charges of indifference leveled at him, noted erates on a level playing field." And Schaffer and that, "It was pointed out that the vast majority of Smith argued that Nike, along with other corpora- hundred-dollar basketball shoes were not sold in tions, had worked hard to "sever the Jordan perso- inner cities, but to affluent white suburbanites." na from connections with African American expe- But he said, "Nonetheless, the criticism continued riences. This allows consumers comfortably to ig- unabated."29 Furthermore, some critics seemed nore the legacies of colonialism and racism that still to suggest the sneaker perpetrated violence. But affect people's economic, political, and social lives Papson and Godman reasonably suggest that this today in the United States." Schaffer and Smith "displaces attention from the mundane sociologi- also asserted that, in the 1990s, black masculinity cal forces at work in our inner cities."30 Regardless took on a new meaning. "Black male athletes do of where one stood on the issue, that shoes played not perceive sports as a vehicle for addressing po- a prominent role in the debate over such weighty litical issues like their forefathers Smith and Carlos issues epitomized their prominence. did," they claimed. In another broad sweep they A couple things few disputed were that Jordan, argued that by the late 1990s, "Sports are a means to the most visible of the time, was portrayed by making large sums of money, accumulating mate- corporations like Nike as a heroic image imbued with rial goods, and attracting women."37 And finally, in ethical values and that Nikes sold all over the world USA Today they said that many athletes shirk their because of it.31 Academic James Twitchell included responsibility as role models and avoid anything the Nike ad campaign for the Jordan Flight line in his "remotely controversial." The authors argued that list of "Twenty Ads That Shook the World." He drew these athletes should "use their athletic excellence

42 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 to stand for something larger than themselves, to perpetuates, or even exacerbates, racism and the strive to make society a better, fairer place."38 argument that to endorse a product you must shed Sports Illustrated's E.M. Swift argued in a similar your blackness. He also provides evidence that vein as Schaffer and Smith in 1991 when he penned basketball does not hurt the black community more an article entitled "Reach Out and Someone: than it helps it. To be sure, this does not mean the Some Black Superstars Cash in Big On an Ability United States ceases to suffer from racial issues, just to Shed Their Racial Identity." Swift compared the that basketball players such as Magic have used the struggles of African Americans to receive fair treat- cultural capital they gained through their exploits ment in the endorsement market up through the on the to do much more than sim- 1970s to Jordan's remarkable endorsement earnings ply play and leave through "the backdoor." that year, an estimated $15 to $20 million, as well Johnson's post-basketball business success is as to Johnson's, who "traded his good name and astounding. And it is no mistake. In 2001 Lakers winning smile to Pepsi, Fried Chicken, Owner said, "Anyone who thinks Magic , Campofrio (a Spanish meat company), is a success in business because of his personality Nintendo and , among others, for some doesn't know business." That same year, Sports $12 million this year." Swift also pointed to Charles Illustrated's Jack McCallum noted that ever since Barkley's deals with Nike and Gillette and David Johnson started his yard-cleaning franchise as a Robinson's relationships with Nike, Casio watches, ten-year-old in Lansing, Michigan, he dreamed of Franklin sporting goods, and Brock Candy to as- building a business empire. By 2001 he had. Not sert that one of his Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood only that, but he also proved to major United States ads should read: "Today's word is color-blind." corporations, such as Starbucks, TGI Friday's, and David Green, of Chicago-based McDonald's, ar- Loews movie theaters, that their businesses could gued as much, telling Swift, "The public, especially thrive in African American communities.41 For in- young people, is color-blind in terms of its athletic stance, the Starbucks and the Loews movie-theater heroes." Green added, "They at these guys he opened in Harlem in 1999 and 2000 were quick- as great athletes who do superhuman things. They ly followed by Old Navy, H&M, and MAC cosmet- don't look at color at all."39 ics.42 In turn, Johnson's businesses have employed Though Swift recognized a changed endorse- thousands of African Americans. ment market, the tone of Swift's article suggested Even before this, Magic had worked to leverage that to endorse the products these stars had to his wealth and visibility and to utilize his business shed their blackness, apparently suggesting that relationships. In 1994 started the blackness is a monolithic state of being. If this is Johnson Development Corporation (JDC) that soon the case, it makes you wonder who gets to deter- became an inner-city phenomenon. By 2004 busi- mine authentic blackness. Swift interviewed a so- ness reporter Marc Hequet noted that Johnson's ciologist from Princeton, Marvin Bressler, to gauge company maintained partnerships with seventy how this acceptance of African Americans in the Starbucks locations, six theaters, and one TGI endorsement market came about. Bressler said, "I Fridays, and that "only three underperforming do think there's been a kind of general, abstract im- Starbucks and one TGI Fridays have closed over provement in race relations in this country, more of the years." Johnson's corporation is private and a willingness to recognize merit." But he added, therefore does not publish revenues. Regardless, "It has no implications for race relations as such... Hequot argues, "Johnson's success has shown other It's long been the case that whites have acknowl- retailers that setting up shop in minority neighbor- edged the athletic excellence of blacks without giv- hoods isn't social work—it's just good business."43 ing up a whole series of prejudices in other areas." As the first decade of the twenty-first century Swift finished the article asserting that the effects of unfolded, Johnson's business enterprises continued color-blind marketing were "largely nil" and sug- to grow. His Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a part- gested that whites are telling all of these endorsers, nership between JDC and Canyon Capital Realty "Come play for us. Just use the backdoor."40 Advisors LLC, sought out "underserved" sites from The suggestion that African Americans have, Hollywood to in order to develop needed re- over the course of the past several decades, ex- tail options, housing, and parking garages there.44 celled at basketball and then merely exited through In 2005 Johnson's JDC announced a partnership the backdoor overlooks some basic facts. Many with Mutual to open their twenty- great African American players, from Robertson second "home-loan center" in Rialto, , a to Russell to to Magic Johnson have low-income city of 100,000 residents, twenty-one done quite a bit more than that. In fact, Magic percent of whom are black, three percent Asian maybe better than any other Dream Team member or Pacific Islander, and fifty-five percent Hispanic. works as a counter to the argument that basketball Johnson told reporters that the Rialto home-loan

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 43 center marked the first to also target underserved tionals, nearly all of whom try to express liberal Hispanics and Asian Americans as well as African images, rewarded regimes that flouted any notion Americans. In addition to encouraging home own- of American liberties by bringing their production ership, offering traditional mortgages, and staging facilities to them. The appalling pay stub showed free courses on home ownership, the centers direct that a woman had worked sixty-three hours of "eligible borrowers into low-interest, government during one pay period for an extra two mortgage programs."45 Magic Johnson not only cents per hour. Ballinger also reported abusive and left the court through the front door, he has opened coercive measures at the facilities. As Randy Shaw the door for many others. noted in Reclaiming America, the article helped set Yet another issue, this one undoubtedly the off activism promoting fairer labor.48 most problematic, faced many of the Dream Team For the decade following Ballinger's report, Nike members as their fame skyrocketed: international endured nearly constant scrutiny. At first, Nike labor practices in the global age. Nike and its re- turned inward. But in time Knight and company lationship with Jordan, in particular, exemplified decided that, with their visibility and the values as- this. From its inception in the early 1960s, Nike sociated with sports, it was in their interests to con- aimed to profit from the utilization of cheap labor. front their issues openly and take corrective action. First, had his shoes made in Japan; then Prodded by political agitators, the public expected in . Next, in the early 1990s, when con- as much. By the beginning of the twenty-first cen- stitutional rights, unions, and economic prosper- tury, these forces compelled Nike to become one of ity had increased worker's wages and freedoms in the most transparent transnational corporations on South Korea, Phil Knight's Japanese-based manu- the planet.49 facturing partner, Sung Hwa Corporation, moved In 1998 the corporation took some concrete steps many of its production lines to . Sung toward addressing its labor issues. The bad press they Hwa wanted to exploit Indonesia's cheap labor, had endured regarding labor issues and its effect on and Nike apparently had no objections.46 sales seemed to have spurred Nike into action.50 But It was in the late 1960s that United States poli- as is it turned out, the 1998 measures did not satisfy ticians had distanced themselves from the tactics all the discontented parties. So, just after the turn of of Indonesian President, Haji Mohammad Suharto. the millennium, further initiatives were implemented. Then in the 1970s President Suharto played a The effects of these initiatives, while not entirely ideal, pivotal role in organizing the , have shown some positive developments. which were meant to compete with the western- In 2001 a group of scholars put together a com- dominated Olympics. However, when Nike went prehensive work on the matter entitled Rising to Indonesia in the 1990s, it had gone from func- Above Sweatshops. In it, Laura P. Hartman and tioning as a direct competitor to the liberal-leaning Richard E. Wokutch noted that by 2001, Nike gen- Olympics to symbolizing the hypocritical practice erated revenue totaling nearly $10 billion, manu- of western-based and Olympic-affiliated multina- factured roughly 175 million pairs of shoes per tionals rewarding anti-western regimes for their year, and employed more then 550,000 workers in ability to provide dependable and cheap labor. roughly fifty-two nations. The book also pointed Ironically, the goods these multinationals produced out that of their over 800 contracted suppliers more were endorsed by American cultural icons, like than 400 were located in Asia. Thanks to the atten- Michael Jordan, who were supposed to represent tion brought to Nike's substandard labor practices opportunity, individuality, success, and freedom, beginning in 1988, Hartman and Wokutch claim commodities not offered to most Indonesians. that the firm played a role in Indonesia's incredible Beginning in 1988, increased attention was increase in minimum wage from 1988 to 1996 (from placed on this dichotomy by journalists. In August $0.86 to $2.46 per day), a 300 percent increase dur- of 1992, the same month the Dream Team per- ing a period that saw a 205 percent rate of inflation formed in Barcelona, Jeff Ballinger heightened na- for Indonesia. Furthermore, by 2001, the authors tional awareness of the issue by penning an article noted that Nike had implemented a management in Harper's entitled "Nike, the New Free- audit intended to measure contractors' abilities to Heel: Nike's Profits Jump on the Backs of Asian comply with Nike's labor standards. They called Workers." Ballinger shocked readers by reporting the new auditing instrument "in-depth" and cred- that Indonesian women and children employed by ited Nike with "focusing on global consistency" Nike partner Sung Hwa Corporation made fourteen that included "a significant global labor practice cents an hour with virtually no labor rights.47 The team that visits factories on an everyday basis." short article, based primarily on a receipt Ballinger By that time, Nike had moved some of its pro- obtained from an Indonesian who worked for Sung duction facilities to Vietnam. And the authors Hwa, showed how United States-based multina- visited Nike's operations there and reported back

44 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 on Nike's after-hours education program, cultural ment's rights and with the help of the savvy NBA sensitivity training program, and micro-enterprise marketing group, with which it had partnered, USA loan program, a lending method that Indian bank- Basketball made the "Tournament of Americas," er Muhammad Yunus pioneered and won a 2006 in marketing parlance, "ambush proof," meaning Nobel Peace prize for. The authors, though not they maneuvered to keep companies unaffiliated claiming all issues had been resolved, did consider with the Olympics from capitalizing on the Dream Nike's Vietman programs as indicative of a path Team's popularity by taking ad time. With USA that leads beyond sweatshops. In addition, the Basketball in control, it could use all commercial authors noted Nike's cooperation with the Global segments for Dream Team sponsors.53 Alliance for Workers and Communities, which USA Basketball also moved the "Tournament of conducted 4,450 interviews with Nike employees Americas" to Portland, , where a friendly at nine different supplier factories, to "evaluate crowd met the Dream Team in its first official games challenges" in Thailand and Vietnam.51 Further in the quest for gold. A huge amount of money indicating the effects of pressure placed upon mul- was on the line in Portland. And the Dream Team's tinationals based in liberal capitalist nations to live quest could have ended there; a costly proposition up to the values that they are supposed to embody, for a company like Skybox, whose total investment in 2005 Nike became one of the most transparent in the Dream Team was about $7 million.54 But transnational corporations on the planet.52 alas, the United States breezed through the games Nike decided that operating in a globally con- with ease and their opponents did not appear too scious manner is more beneficial to its bottom line upset. In Portland Bird signed copies of his book than ruthless exploitation and vague explanations, for Brazilian players, and Magic was shocked when mainly because of the company's visibility and the players posed for pictures with him as he guarded values it wants its products to be associated with them during the game. Such outrageous scenarios make it vulnerable to criticism. Granted, this proc- hinted at what lay ahead in Barcelona. ess has taken time and is far from perfect, but the A week before the Games in Monaco, when changes have been propelled by the desire to sell the Dream Team stayed at the renowned Hotel shoes to consumers who associate the tenants of Ambassador in rooms that cost about $900 a night, a liberal capitalism with the Olympics, professional fact that elicited criticism from people who thought sports, and prominent athletes like Michael Jordan. such high-class living was out of step with the Ballinger's partial success demonstrated how po- Olympic ideal, the squad's practices intensified.55 litical agitators armed with a pen can use the as- Johnson characterized the play in Monte Carlo as, sociated values of the liberal economic and politi- "easily the best basketball I've ever seen or been a cal model, the merit-based nature of sports, and part of."56 Bird thought the team's greatest single the visibility of basketball stars to foster change. workout had actually come earlier in the , Apparently, the same profit motive that causes cor- the day after the Dream Team lost its first scrim- porations to eschew American ideals can be used mage to a group of college all-stars. Returning against them to force more liberal policies. In turn, the next day a bit more serious, the Dream Team this helps close the gap between liberal capitalist opened against the college all-stars with a 30-2 run. rhetoric and business practice. "Those kids opened our eyes good," Bird re- With all of these weighty issues surrounding called. "From that day on, we picked it up."57 Still, basketball and the Dream Team, the American the stretch in Monte Carlo was intense. Olympic players' immediate concern in the summer Once in Barcelona, after confronting the of 1992 was competing on the court. Particularly Olympic Village stampede, most of the Dream since by the beginning of that summer the Dream Team members went to the Opening Ceremonies. Team had not yet even qualified to participate in The Games opened in spectacular fashion, but the the Olympic tournament. Because of earlier set- Dream Team stole the show. Athletes from all over backs by USA Basketball, to officially qualify for the globe (, the Netherlands, China, the Barcelona Games the Dream Team had to first and more), broke ranks during the opening march win the "Tournament of Americas." to meet the team, especially Magic Johnson. They For marketers and television executives, not wanted to take pictures with him and his conta- to mention USA Basketball, the additional games gious smile; they wanted autographs; they sim- meant more opportunities to capitalize on peoples' ply wanted to see the larger-than-life stars that fascination with the squad. To do so, USA Basketball so many had watched on satellite television over bought the rights to host the "Tournament of the years. And, as reported, Americas" for $5 million from a Brazilian event- Magic did not disappoint, flashing his smile seem- organizer, who had purchased them from the Pan ingly the entire time as he obliged their requests. American body. By owning the tourna- As the crowd gathering around him and his mates

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 45 grew, security guards and other officials, George points," Lithuanian player Valdemaras Chomicius Steinbrenner among them, pleaded with some of admitted later. "Fifty-two years, 52 points. But it is the best athletes in the world to wait for another difficult to win by 52 points over Unified Team."62 time to request autographs from Magic.58 Marciulionis acknowledged that if all the former Not surprisingly, on the eve of the opening tip- Soviet satellites and Russia played together their off, few expected any team to mount even a nomi- odds against the Dream Team would increase. nal challenge to the American squad. But among "But we have freedom now. On the Soviet team, we the Dream Team's two biggest obstacles en route had to hide ourselves. They controlled us...January to the gold medal were the Unified Team and 13 [the main date marking 's 1991 inde- Lithuania, which comprised most of the remnants pendence movement] was a terrible night, but the of the former Soviet squad. As a result of the speed people who died were heroes," Marciulionis said. and timing of political developments, the IOC had "Sometimes you have to lose something to pick the ruled that Russia and the former satellites that right way. It is very hard in my country today. There chose to could compete together under the banner are shortages of groceries, shortages of everything. of "Unified Team." Those satellites that chose not It will get worse before it gets better."63 to compete under the "Unified Team" banner had Finally, the Dream Team's other potential chal- the right to compete independently. Twelve former lenge came from Croatia, which was led by New Soviet republics participated on the Unified Team, Jersey Nets Drazen Petrovic, for- including Russia, which caused some lack of unity ward Dino Radja, who had recently been drafted with other Unified Team members like Belarus and by the Celtics, and Toni Kukoc, whom the Chicago the .59 Early returns on the "wild capital- Bulls' had offered a sizable contract to ism" that engulfed much of the region when the in an effort to lure him to Chicago. Though these Iron Curtain lifted had delivered mixed results. three teams came into the tournament with the best But, with the help of a sponsorship by and odds of pulling off an upset of the Dream Team, creative ways to attract funding, the Unified Team everyone knew that their real battle was between managed to field an Olympic squad that fared re- each other for silver. markably well, considering the circumstances. For In their opening Olympic contest, the Dream basketball, the Unified Team's biggest pre-Olym- Teamers faced a completely overmatched Angolan pic triumph was convincing Igors Miglinieks and squad. As it happened, their 116-48 defeat was Gundars Vetra of to play for them.60 overshadowed by an Charles Barkley The Unified Team was not successful, howev- threw at an unsuspecting Angolan by the name of er, in luring talent from Lithuania. Eager to come Herlander Coimbra, described by the New York out of the shadows and oppression of Soviet rule, Times's Harvey Araton as a "174-pound econom- Lithuanian stars enthusiastically represented their ics student from a third-world, war-torn nation." nation's basketball prowess in Barcelona. Aryvidas Coimbra told reporters afterwards that back home Sabonis and star Sarunas he had spent many nights watching "Sir Charles" Marciulionis, who had parlayed his million-dollar via satellite and was surprised that Barkley would NBA contract into business opportunities in his "make violence" with him. Of course, if he had homeland (sports clinics, a hotel, and a sports bar), watched Barkley closely, he might have been less and who Lithuanian assistant coach Donn Nelson surprised. For Barkley's part, he claimed Coimbra described as "the Elvis of Lithuania," jumped at the had hit him on the head as he went in for a dunk chance to play for their homeland.61 and tried to downplay the incident by telling the It had been a long-time coming. In Barcelona, press they would not understand; that it was a Lithuanian coach remembered "ghetto thing." That the elbow came during an how, as a seven-year-old in 1939, he had watched Olympic record 46-1 run by the Dream Team did the Lithuanian national team win its second not necessarily help. The one point came from straight European championship. He could still the awarded to Coimbra for the elbow. recall one of the team's players saying, "We all Following the game, "Sir Charles" promised to know that this was not the first Lithuanian great make up for the poor sportsmanship. He went out victory on the basketball court, but we also believe of his way to pose for a picture with Coimbra, who, that it will not be the last." As the Lithuanian coach none the worse for wear, eagerly posed for one fifty-two years later Garastas could help make this with the "Mound Round of ."64 sentiment come true. In fact, prior to the Games, Despite the elbow incident, during the first Lithuania had already scored a shocking victory week of the Games Barkley turned himself into the by beating the Unified Team by forty-six points standout personality on the Dream Team. Sports in the European Olympic qualifying tournament Illustrated ran an article on Barkley's brash, free- in Badajoz, Spain. "Yes, we wanted to win by 52 wheeling, mammoth persona. "He has become, at

46 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 once, America's greatest Olympic ambassador and More controversy began to engulf the Dream its greatest potential nightmare, a man who can Team the following day, as the debate over what turn a grimace into a smile—or vice versa—in an sweat suit the Dream Team members intended to instant," Jack McCallum wrote. Barkley went to wear on the medal podium garnered attention. many Olympic events, as did other Dream Teamers Defending the position that all of the Dream Team (especially Magic Johnson), all of them drawing members should wear the sweat suit stipu- crowds wherever they went. And at night Barkley lated in the USOC's code-of-conduct (though Jordan walked Barcelona's hot and happening promenade, had crossed that portion out when he signed his in- mingling with folks until the street cleaners got to tent to play), USOC spokesman Mike Moran said, work. "I can't just sit in my room and do nothing. "The money we're getting from Reebok is going to Sure, it's a pain in the butt to sign autographs and thousands of athletes in training." But, preoc- be bothered all the time, but I'd rather walk around cupied with their own feelings of loyalty to Nike, and be bothered than sit around. As far as I'm con- which had paid both handsomely, Barkley and cerned, it's fun going around and meeting people." Jordan responded by reiterating their decision not to Actions like this and Magic's enthusiastic support wear the Reebok suits. This then prompted Moran of other United States teams went a long way in to assert, "This is the in separating them- dispelling their image as "isolationists," McCallum selves from the rest of the United States team."69 noted. And people loved it. A Spanish teenager Many observers pointed out that this served as an- told McCallum, "I hear this Barkley supposed to be other example of commercialism gone awry. a bad guy I think he is a nice guy."65 In addition, Barkley found himself in another Following , the Americans faced the spat with the USOC, this one over whether or not he solid Croatian squad led by Toni Kukoc ("The could write a diary column for USA Today while in European 'Magic' Johnson"), Petrovic, and Radja. Barcelona. When the USOC told Barkley to cease and Beforehand, Petrovic said the game had stayed desist, Barkley said they must be a little "jealous." on his mind since its announcement three weeks Moran responded, "The Dream Team is out of touch earlier. He told reporters going into the affair that with the rest of the Olympic team. The Dream Team he would consider "anything within 25 points" a must abide by the rules like any other athlete."70 The success. Of all the Dream Teamers, Scottie Pippen Dream Team's on-court domination started to lack was the most motivated for this game. His Chicago some interest, which caused the media to focus on Bulls owned Kukoc's rights, and owner Jerry these peripheral, less flattering sagas. Reinsdorf and general manager Jerry Krause had Nonetheless, the Dream Team was still deliver- refused to renegotiate Pippen's contract as they ing sizable ratings for NBC, as well as for networks awaited word on Kukoc's response to their offer. in most other parts of the globe. The Opening At the time, Kukoc was intimating that he intended Ceremonies in Barcelona drew ratings slightly less to come to Chicago in about a year. Krause had than the Seoul opening, but, helped by a Dream offered Kukoc a five-year, $13 million deal, while Team bump, the network's rating rebounded by Pippen made only $700,000 per . Pippen the second night, which delivered an 18.7 rating, wanted to prove that he was not only better than compared to a 16.7 four years earlier. NBC saw Kukoc, but dominatingly so. And he did. a sizable boost in ratings when the United States- Watching live, you almost had to feel sorry for versus-Croatia basketball game tipped off (com- Kukoc as Pippen and, to an extent Jordan, hounded pared to the previous hour), and those ratings held him. In the end, Kukoc finished with a measly four for subsequent events. On the downside, NBC's points in thirty-five minutes, on two of eleven shoot- triplecast struggled to make inroads, as viewers ing from the floor. He did manage five assists, but demonstrated their reluctance to pay extra fees for also turned the ball over seven times. Petrovic and additional programming.71 Radja tried to pick up the slack, scoring twenty-two Following its victory over Croatia, the Dream and twenty points, respectively, but it was nowhere Team faced another squad with an NBA star, near enough as the United States romped, 103-70. Germany's , who also played for the "I never saw that kind of defense before," Kukoc la- . The Dream Team was also without mented afterwards.66 Radja told reporters, "We knew the services of Magic Johnson, who strained his right before we didn't have any chance. It's an honor to play knee, and John Stockton, who broke a small bone in against Jordan and Magic. We run a little, sweat a lit- his foot. Before the game Barkley proclaimed that he tle. I don't think they played fifty percent."67 But, for might play some , since he counted as the stretches, the team did play well above fifty percent, third best at the position, behind Pippen and Jordan. especially Pippen. He told reporters, "I couldn't put Chuck Daly, continuing to thoroughly enjoy himself Krause on the court, so this was the next best thing. I in Barcelona, said Barkley's claim was "frightening would have bought a big- TV for him."68 but true," adding that he had thought about play-

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 47 ing Barkley at the point but, "I didn't think he knew coach Gomelsky, defended the Latvians decisions enough about the offense." It hardly mattered, to play for him, too, explaining to reporters, "They though, as the Dream Team beat the Germans 111- play with the Unified Team and try to make good 68.72 Jordan displayed his remarkable versatility by contract for themselves."77 Though both teams ex- starting at point guard and tallied eight assists and pressed respect for each other following the game, nine points in the game's first twelve minutes.73 But the loss devastated the . Donn Nelson was the story of this game. He soothed said later that for ten minutes in the post-game his back pain enough to pour in nineteen points in locker room no one spoke a word.78 twenty minutes of action.74 China also made news, delivering solid results The Dream Team continued to mow down op- in a number of events, especially and swim- ponents with a 127-83 drubbing of that set ming. Many of those performances, in time, became an American Olympic scoring record. Pippen tainted by drug convictions, but the strong Chinese again demonstrated his defensive prowess, limiting showing signaled their growing presence on the Brazil's high-scoring , who had scored global stage. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, China frequently against American collegians in previous stood as one of the only nations still implementing tournaments, to eight for twenty-five shooting. In a Soviet-style training program that housed young the post-game press conference, Schmidt said, "It children far from their families. In addition to their is not funny to go inside against them."75 At the regimented program at home, China had imple- "Tournament of Americas" in Portland earlier in the mented a far-reaching plan to send coaches and summer word had surfaced that Schmidt and fel- athletes to the United States to learn from top-level low Brazilian standout Marcel Souza had called out American coaches. The initiative was not seamless, the Americans for lacking focus. In Barcelona, the however. For example, in Barcelona, during a 100- Dream Team members seemed to be using Schmidt 84 loss to the Unified Team, China's star player Ma and Souza's comments for motivation, not to men- Jian was benched for the game's final five minutes. tion to have some fun. "I've been thinking about An unnamed basketball official told the New York Oscar all week. In the middle of my backswing, I Times that his benching was retaliation for Ma's deci- think, 'Oscar, Oscar,'" Barkley told reporters. "If we sion to leave the national team and enroll at UCLA.79 said something about the other teams, they'd use it The situation reflected the tensions that could arise against us. We're just like other teams. We're human. as China continued its transition to a market-based We need motivation," Johnson explained. Really and its star players began to assert the in- Souza and Schmidt had great respect for the Dream dependence that comes with a more open economy Team, and the American players knew it. In Portland Evidence of this arose in much more dramat- they had asked Bird to sign his autobiography for ic fashion twelve years later at the 2004 them. Bird obliged, writing jokingly in Schmidt's, "I Olympics, when , China's prodigal son want you one-on-one in French Lick." To Souza he who was reared to embody, as Yao biographer wrote, "You're lucky I wasn't in ," a ref- Brook Farmer put it, "basketball with Chinese erence to the United States team's 1987 loss to Brazil characteristics...no questioning of authority, no at the Pan American Games in Indiana.76 glorification of individual achievement, and lit- In other action, Lithuania lost to the Unified tle freedom to think for oneself," made comments Team in rather shocking fashion. The game was seen by Communist officials as too individualis- packed with political tension as Lithuania, the tic. By then Yao had signed a lucrative endorse- main contributor of talent to Soviet teams during ment deal with Reebok and spent most of the year the Cold War, aimed to avenge its treatment at the in Houston, playing in the NBA. The comments hands of the Soviets with a symbolic victory over Yao made that aroused the ire of Chinese officials the Unified Team at the Olympics. This game had came after China lost to Spain. "I am really up- started out much like Lithuania's forty-six point set. I got hurt almost every time playing for the win earlier in the summer. And with just over fif- national team," he said. "I cannot figure out the teen minutes remaining Lithuania led 54-35. But reason why [we played badly]. Were they [team- suddenly the Unified Team, led by Tikhonenko mates] nervous? Or they would not take responsi- and Migilinieks, whom made a flurry of threes, bilities? I just did what I could do."80 The carried out a spectacular comeback. Both players Globe and Mail reported that an unnamed Chinese had received negative press in their native Latvia official responded by declaring, "Now, he [Yao] has for opting to play for the Unified team. After beat- changed, he's more like an American, he dares to ing Lithuania, Migilinieks defended his decision. say anything." Officials were purportedly "very "These are not Communists. This is not the Red angry." In addition, the Toronto Globe and Mail Army. These are my friends," he asserted. The asserted that one report out of China hinted that Unified Team's pragmatic coach, long-time Soviet the controversy may have caused Chinese officials

48 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 to "consider more deeply and carefully about send- margin of victory. No team in Olympic history has ing players to the NBA again."81 The swift rebuke scored more. And only the 1956 and 1964 teams, of Yao's self-expression symbolized the difficulties with 53.5 and 41.4 average margins of victory, re- China faces as it tries to simultaneously embrace spectively, can compare in point differential. the open-market, while limiting individual liberty The Dream Team's scoring prowess and per- The United States continued to win with rela- sonality beautifully complimented basketball. tive ease throughout the rest of the preliminary Invented in America by a Canadian immigrant, round action and went into the quarterfinal med- the sport had enjoyed unfathomable growth from al round without being tested. With Magic and its humble beginnings in 1891 in . Stockton back from their injuries, the Americans Right along with America, it had evolved into a then beat Puerto Rico 115-77. Though dominant, fast-moving, high-scoring, innovative game that some claimed the Dream Team appeared lethargic, celebrated both teamwork and individual creativ- speculating that weariness may have resulted from ity It was a spectacular rise. And no team better criticism over not staying in the Olympic Village, reflected the phenomenon that was basketball than or from the sweat suit issue, or from having to the Dream Team. Coach Daly summed it up fol- practice. "It's getting rough out there right now," lowing the gold medal win saying, "This team was Charles Barkley admitted. "We just want to get it majestic."86 over with. I wish we could play a doubleheader to- Yet debate regarding whether or not United States morrow, just to get home sooner."82 Still, lethargic professionals should have partaken in the Olympic or not the team won by thirty-eight points. Games, which had taken place from the team's in- Next, the United States faced the highly regard- ception, continued. Some thought the Dream Team ed Lithuanians. The semifinals forced the Dream epitomized the "overwhelming commercialization Team to get as serious as they could. Magic Johnson of the Olympics by the NBA's obvious use of this admitted that the intensity ratcheted up for the sem- forum to push global expansion while its players ifinals. He acknowledged telling Jordan in the pre- broaden the market for $120 ." Detractors game, "I don't you need you to be Michael Jordan noted that it was during a press conference at the tonight. I need you to be Air Jordan." He was. The team's expensive hotel in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Dream Team shellacked Lithuania, 127-76, proving that Magic Johnson announced his intention to end yet again that all the hype was warranted. his twelve-year relationship with Converse because Lithuania rebounded from the blowout loss rath- they had not invested heavily enough in him.87 er quickly, though, and against the Unified Team. In MacLean's, Fred Bruning argued that more Tha is because in the other semifinal Croatia beat the than the millions at stake in marketing dollars fueled Unified Team, 75-74, on two free throws in the clos- the creation of the Dream Team. He credited George ing seconds by Drazen Petrovic. In marked contrast Bush, because, according to Bruning, with President to Lithuania's devastating loss several days earlier, Bush in the White House, the United States did not in the locker room post-game Marciulionis cried know who to view as enemies and no longer had tears of joy, admitting that by winning Lithuania a pretty war to watch on television (apparently re- had avoided a "national tragedy." The victory ena- ferring to Desert Storm). Demonstrating a lack of bled Lithuania's 3.6 million citizens to see its team, basketball knowledge, he called the collegians' loss clad in their Grateful Dead warm-ups, stand along- to the Soviets in 1988 shocking. And he criticized side the Dream Team for the medal ceremony.83 United States reaction to that loss by sardonically In the final, the Dream Team faced Croatia for a quoting Jordan, who told Newsweek, "We've got second time. By that time a compromise had been to regain our sense of pride, our dignity." Bruning reached on the sweat suit saga (Nike players would did admit a connection between big-time sports and unzip the sweatsuit top to cover the Reebok logo), national psyche. But he derisively argued that the and other issues moved to the periphery.84 The fo- United States saw basketball as its dominion, and cus was on basketball. Prior to the tipoff, $65 tick- must move to "liquidate all who question our su- ets were scalped for $2,500. And, according to the premacy on the slatted floor." Finally, he ominously News, it was "worth the money" to see the warned, "Domination is fun—but dangerous."88 NBA's finest stars.85 Though Croatia stayed around Carl Mollins, writing in MacLean's as well, longer than most expected and Kukoc turned in said the original dream of recreating the ancient a much stronger performance, the Dream Team Olympics was "fading under modern strains," ultimately dominated again. By winning 103- those being commercialism via television. Are the 70 the squad surpassed the century mark for the Olympics for the athletes or the amusement of fans? eighth time in eight games. For the tournament, Mollins asked, adding that Coubertin thought, the Dream Team averaged 117.3 , "The important thing in the is not while yielding only 73.5, for a 43.8-point average winning, but taking part." More importantly, ac-

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 49 cording to Mollins, Coubertin had also aimed to Many participants voiced similar views. "For increase internationalism, but the pressure to win those fans who thought that sending NBA players and patronage, whether by states or by corpora- to Barcelona was a mistake, I wish they could have tions, had tainted that . However, Mollins did seen how our opponents welcomed us, and how admit that television had brought the Olympics, happy they were to play against us," Magic wrote which by the author's own admission function in his autobiography.95 In fact, it is hard to find a as peaceful global festival, to billions of people single competitor who did not appreciate the Dream worldwide.89 Journalist Rob Morse, in the Seattle Team's presence or its effect on raising the basketball Post-Intelligencer, wrote, "The Dream Team, what standard internationally. For example, Brazilian a nightmare. Imagine how the poor Croatian team great Schmidt echoed the sentiments of most play- feels." (Apparently he had not talked to them)90 ers who competed against the Dream Team when he Morse, Mollins, and Bruning were joined in their said afterwards, "I loved it. They are my idols. I will particularly strong criticism of the Dream Team by remember this game for the rest of my life." Schmidt Fidel Castro, who said that the Dream Team had added, "For the basketball to grow, and to learn to "nothing to do with the Olympic spirit."91 play at the American level, they must send more Best-selling author Stephen King even ques- teams like this to the World Cup and the Pan Am tioned the merits of the Dream Team. King wrote Games."96 His teammate, Souza, concurred. Former in the New York Times that the promotion of the Soviet coach also agreed. He pros, with their "baggage of bad court habits, told reporters, "This is the best thing for world bas- loud mouths and absolutely staggering basket- ketball. To play against the NBA, everyone can un- ball skills," fits well with the "last twelve years of derstand what the best basketball is like."97 American life, when the almighty buck swamped By the end, most had come to appreciate the just about everybody's principles." King, who has Dream Team for what it was: an extremely rare com- had his fair share of off-the-typewriter issues, not bination of human ingenuity, beamed globally to to mention practiced his fair share of commercial- billions thanks technological advancements, at an ism, further argued that the Olympics were an international festival of staggering popularity that "amateur thing" and, not to sound too signaled the flowering of a new global age. All of corny, a "world-peace thing."92 this happened within a relatively peaceful world But many others took a different view. Bill that had moved toward free markets and democracy. Walton weighed in during the trials with a piece In retrospect, the New York Times asserted that the in the New York Times arguing that basketball was 1992 Olympics, hailed beforehand as Games of peace a world game and that "the Olympics are a show- and reunion, had delivered. South participat- case; the planet's best should be there." NBA play- ed for the first time since 1960, Germany marched ers at the Games, according to Walton, would also under one flag, as did many former Soviet satellites. lessen the gap between United States basketball tal- And the paper noted that the Dream Team was the ent and the rest of the world. By sending over its most identifiable part of the entire celebration.98 stars, the United States would force international The Olympics, the era, and the Dream Team's teams to raise their standards, rather than allowing outsized talent certainly aided the team's wild pop- those teams to become complacent while compet- ularity But it certainly did not hurt that they genu- ing against lesser talent. "It will take time, but over inely liked each other. "Me, Scottie, Michael, and the next ten to twenty years, the rest of the world Magic played cards every night, all night. We'd will progress, and everyone will be better off."93 start playing cards around eight o'clock, go until Harvey Araton of the New York Times answered five in the morning, get three hours' sleep, and Dream Team critics by pointing out that profession- then go to practice. Every day. Every single day," al athletes from various countries had been plying Barkley recalled. Unlikely friendships were struck, their craft at the Olympics for years. He pointed to like the one between Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing. Italian superstar skier Alberto Tomba, who at the "We called 'em Larry and Harry," Barkley recalled.99 Winter Games paid for a helicopter to whisk him The players' fondness for each other helped them away from a private practice slope tucked away in mix individual talent with collective action, ena- the mountains to his races, which was the closest he bling them to play with more skill and artful grace came to the Olympic Village, as an example of this.94 than any team in history. And they really seemed Of course, he could have easily noted that in basket- to care. "I almost broke down during the playing ball players like Brazil's Oscar Schmidt and Croatia's of The Star-Spangled Banner,'" Johnson wrote.100 Toni Kukoc and had competed in the Though it sometimes got lost in the hype, the art- Olympics despite playing as professionals for years. ful basketball action displayed by these men played Araton encouraged people to enjoy the confluence a pivotal role in the Dream Team phenomenon. of events that brought the Dream Team together. "The Dreamers did more than just play well and

50 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 win; they raised an entire sport to a new level be- Indeed, it is hard to overstate the impact of fore a global audience in the one competition whose the Dream Team on the international game. Bill importance transcends national boundaries," wrote Walton's, Aleksander Gomelsky's, Oscar Schmidt's, 's Frederick Klein. He added and others' predictions that the team would raise that they did it "over the objections of small-minded international standards proved correct. Most of people of various countries, including their own." the world's best players by the first decade of the Klein effectively focused on the on-court action of twenty-first century— many of them from outside the Dream Team in gauging its impact: the United States— were inspired as youngsters It's long been my view that basketball has as they watched the Dream Team. Players such as benefited most from the sociological and techno- , Manu Ginobli, and have logical changes that have swept American sports all noted this. In turn, by the time they became since the end of World War II, and has become our adults they contributed to the direction of basket- best-played game. But the virtuosity displayed by ball throughout the world, including in America. In Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, et al., in Barcelona, fact, rather startlingly just a few years into the new and at the Tournament of the Americas in Portland, millennium the play of these international players Ore., before, surpassed anything seen previously.101 and others from various national teams initiated Klein was not alone in appreciating the way the a sweeping reanalysis and ultimately new meth- Dream Team played. Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe ods of American basketball in the United States. appreciated the team's spectacular passing, calling Americans started to reemphasize versatility, co- it the squad's "most visible legacy." And assistant ordinated offensive action, and help-side defense. coach Mike Kryszewski, after watching marve- Nike even scrapped its showcase high school all- lous ball movement against Spain, shook his head star camp in favor of a skills-based developmental and said, "People may say it's overkill and all that, one.105 but there is no way anyone who professes to like From a larger perspective, Olympic basketball basketball couldn't appreciate that."102 This skill- serves as a frontline commodity and nexus of ex- ful passing bore itself out in the statistics. In just change in the in the modern global era. It is an eight games, the Dream Team doled out 239 assists, age dominated by the free market and one that nearly thirty a game. In contrast, the 2004 United has seen democratic-based governments increase States Olympic team totaled 121 assists. in number. It is also an age in which sports are Based on the television ratings, it appears many ubiquitous and the economic activity related to people from across the globe, as Kryszewski sus- socially attractive endeavors such as basketball ef- pected, appreciated the Dream Team. As noted in fects popular culture, which in turn plays an im- Television and the Olympics, the Dream Team at- portant role in world affairs. Nations dominated tracted substantial viewing interest from the widest by authoritarian leadership face difficult problems array of nations of any team or any other event at when they seek the benefits of economic liberalism. the Barcelona Games. The authors pointed out that But the benefits of opening their economies are dif- the basketball final "obtained the highest audience ficult to ignore. And Olympic basketball serves as figures in such culturally and politically different an example of a popular event that can facilitate countries as China and Mexico as well as high rat- exchanges on terms ultimately conducive to those ings in Spain, , , and more."103 interested in open markets and democratic-based Legendary sportswriter George Vescey even political models. Historian Walter LaFeber has came around to the positive elements of the Dream noted, "The most globalized business in the world, Team's efforts by the close of the Barcelona Games. and the most lucrative, is the drug trade...But for Rather than focus on the overbearing influence of legitimate businesses, sports is probably number multinational corporations, Vescey tried to remem- one."106 Unlike the drug trade, moreover, sports ber stories of children from over one hundred coun- such as basketball, together with the Olympics, can tries wanting Dream Team t-shirts and noted that promote the expansion of liberal capitalism. there are worse things than a photo-op with Magic Johnson. He wondered who he was to tell grown- Notes up professionals they should feel cheapened by the 1 The Hartford Courant, 26 July 1992. presence United States stars, noting that a member 2 Ibid. 3 New York Times, 26 July 1992. of Seton Hall, Arturas Karnishovas, who played 4 Jack McCallum, "USA, Inc.," Sports Illustrated, 22 July in Barcelona for Lithuania, had laughed after his 1992, 124. chance against the Dream Team, telling Vescey, 5 Ibid., 124. "Karl Malone pushed me around the court like I 6 David Halberstam, Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made (Broadway Books, New York: 1999), 17. wasn't there." Upon final analysis, Vescey wrote, it 7 Larry Bird, Drive: The Story of My Life (New York: Bantam 104 was a "noble experiment, and it worked." Books, 1989), 11, 17.

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 51 8 Ibid., 3, 4, 6. formation from recreational equipment to social symbol, 9 Ibid., 43-44. multibillion-dollar business, and way of life." Vanderbilt, 10 Ibid., 44-46. The Sneaker Book, 41. 11 Earvin Johnson, Earvin "Magic" Johnson: My Life (New 36 Dyson wrote that the "culture of sport has physically York: Fawcett Books, 1992), 3. captured and athletically articulated the mores, folkways, 12 Ibid., 3, 8. and dominant visions of American society, and at its best 13 Ibid., 3, 12. has been conceived as a means of symbolically embracing 14 Ibid., 15. and equitably pursuing the just, the good, the true, and 15 New York Times, 10 August 1992. the beautiful." Dyson sees Jordan as helping to explain 16 Ibid. "productive and disenabling forms of knowledge, desire, 17 Halberstam, Playing For Keeps, 11, 12. interest, consumption, and culture in three spheres: the 18 David L. Andrews ed., Michael Jordan, Inc.: Coperate culture of athletics, the expression of elements of African Sport, Media Culture, and Late Modern America (Albany: American culture, and "the market forces and processes of State University of New York Press, 2001), xv. commodification expressed by, and produced in, advanced 19 Halberstam, Playing For Keeps, 295. capitalism." Dyson, Eric Michael Dyson Reader, 467-68. 20 Cameron Stauth, The Golden Boys: The Unauthorized 37 Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith, The Olympics at the Mill- Inside Look at the United States Olympic Basketball Team ennium: Power, Politics and the Games (New Brunswick: (New York: Pocket Books, 1992), 170, 172. Press, 2000), 70-71. 21 , 8 February 2003. 38 USA Today, 1 October 1998. 22 Donald Katz, Just Do It: The Nike Spirit in the Corpora- 39 E.M. Swift, "Reach Out and Touch Someone; Some Black te World (New York: Random House, 1994), 7-8. Later, Superstars Cash in Big On an Ability to Shed Their Ra- Jordan's designer cohort, , garnered similar cial Identity," Sports Illustrated, 5 August 1991 [on-line] status. He is credited with sketching the logo. available from http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3. 23 Tom Vanderbilt, The Sneaker Book: Anatomy of an Indu- asp?docid=1CS1:51224: accessed 14 February 2006. stry and an Icon (New York: New Press, 1998), 33. 40 Ibid. 24 Katz, Just Do It, 7-8. 41 Sports Illustrated; 8/20/2001; Jack McCallum, "Life After 25 Robert Goldman and Stephen Papson, Nike Culture: The Death: Magic Johnson has pulled off one of the great Sign of the (London: Sage Publications, 1998), 102. comebacks in sports history, and it's got nothing to do with 26 This hipness of the sneaker has had strong ties to basket- basketball," Sports Illustrated, 20 August 2001 [on-line] ball and hip-hop music for decades. Rap group Run-DMC, available from http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3. credited with integrating "social commentary, diverse asp?docid=1CS1:63061: accessed 7 February 2006. musical elements, and uncompromising cultural identifica- 42 Marc Hequet, "Urban Magic," Retail Traffic, 1 September tion" to secure rap's "future as an American musical genre 2004 [on-line] available from http://www.highbeam.com/ with an identifiable tradition," epitomizes this. Dyson con- library/doc3.asp?docid=1CS1:64809: accessed 20 February siders Run-DMC and others from the 1980s and early 1990s 2006. as representing the golden age of rap. And he thinks that 43 Ibid. a lack of support for the political messages within rap from 44 Ibid. the white and black communities contributed to its more 45 Mark Kawar, "Magic Johnson offers potential homeowners crass commercialism and sexual emphasis in the late 1990s. a 'Solid Start,'" The Press-Enterprise, 8 July 2005 [on-line] Eric Michael Dyson, The Eric Michael Dyson Reader (New available from http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3. York: Basic Civitas Books, 2004), 402, 411, 414. In 1988 asp?docid=1CS1:64806: accessed 17 March 2006. Run-DMC signed a deal with Adidas to wear its basketball 46 By that time the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had hel- shoes and other apparel. As with Nike's relationship with ped insert General Suharto into power, a right-wing former Jordan Adidas's association with Run-DMC proved econo- Indonesian trade minister who utilized totalitarian tactics mically advantageous. to control the . 27 Ibid., 467-468. 47 Jeff Ballinger, "Nike's Profit Jumps On the Backs of Asian 28 Vanderbilt, The Sneaker Book, 31. Workers," Harper's Magazine, August 1992, 46-47. 29 Jim Savage, The Force, 249. 48 Randy Shaw, Reclaiming America: Nike, Clean Air, and 30 Goldman and Papson, Nike Culture, 102. the New National Activism (University of California Press, 31 Sociolologists Goldman and Papson studied how Nike Berkely: 1999), 14, 19. turns the relationship between class and race into visual 49 Financial Times, 17 April 2005. pop culture in its television ads. They argue that while 50 Dan Clawson, The Next Upsurge: Labor and the New some Nike ads acknowledge the existence of inequality Social Movement (Ithaca: Press, 2003), and alienation, they do not name the source. As a result 173-174. Nike "simultaneously acknowledges and denies unequal 51 Eds. Laura P. Hartman, Denis G. Arnold, and Richard E. social and economic realities that influence probabilities for Wokutch, Rising Above Sweatshops: Innovative Approa- both success and suffering." This enables them to provide ches to Global Labor Challenges (Preager: Westport, 2003), a "realist" voice and advocate sport as a "vehicle for spi- 142-159. ritually transcending race and class divides." As a result, 52 Financial Times, 17 April 2005. they argue that Nike manages to retell a "mythology of 53 Joshua Levine, "," Forbes, 20 July 1996, 96. sport that has grown dear to our society." Ibid., 94. 54 Ibid. 32 James B. Twitchell, 20 Ads That Shook the World: The 55 New York Times, 25 July 1992. Century's Most Groundbreaking Advertising and How It 56 Johnson, My Life, 352. Changed Us All (New York: Crown Publishers, 2000), 202, 57 Boston Globe, 10 August 1992. 210. 58 New York Times, 26 July 1992. 33 Oregonian, 10 August 1992. 59 Malcolm Gray, "A Glitch in the Big Red Machine," 34 Dyson, Eric Michael Dyson Reader, 461. Maclean's, 27 July 1992, 63. 35 As sneaker historian Tom Vanderbilt wrote, "That sneakers 60 Ibid. should be at the center of a national debate, shared with 61 St. Louis Dispatch, 6 August 1992. the same moral consequences as out-of-wedlock children 62 Boston Globe, 31 July 1992. or drug dealing, was yet further testimony to their trans- 63 Ibid.

52 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 15(NOVEMBER 2007)NUMBER 3 64 New York Times, 27 July 1992. 87 Ibid., 25 July 1992. 65 Jack McCallum, "Wild Bull of Las Ramblas," Sports Illu- 88 Bruning wrote that like Desert Storm you may have a huge strated, 10 August 1992, 88-91. triumph with the Dream Team and celebrate throughout 66 Baltimore Sun, 28 July 1992. the land, but soon you may realize little has changed, that 67 Ibid. "you put on a good show but accomplished not much 68 New York Times, 28 July 1992. more." Bruning encouraged the Dream Team members to 69 Ibid., 30 July 1992. comport themselves with "humility and forgo extravagant 70 Ibid., 29 July 1992. claims." Fred Bruning, "Sweet Dreams of Desert Storm," 71 Ultimately NBC was forced to pare down its triplecast sub- MacLean's, 3 August 1992, 9. scription estimates from 2 million to 1,250,000, and finally 89 Carl Mollins, MacLean's, 3 February 1992, 59. to 250,000. Ibid., 30 July 1992. 90 Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3 August 1992. 72 Ibid. 91 Houston Chronicle, 12 August 1992. 73 Seattle Times, 29 July 1992. 92 New York Times, 9 August 1992. 74 New York Times, 30 July 1992. 93 New York Times, 26 July 1992. 75 Ibid., 1 August 1992. 94 Ibid., 25 July 1992. 76 Los Angeles Times, 1 August 1992. 95 Johnson, My Life, 354. 77 New York Times, 31 July 1992. 96 Boston Globe, 10 August 1992. 78 Ibid., 1 August 1992. 97 New York Times, 9 August 1992. 79 Ibid., 30 July 1992. 98 Ibid. 80 Wang Jingyu, "Yao 'Hurt' By His National Teammates," 99 Charles Barkley, I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It (New York: Xinhua News Agency, 16 August 2004 [on-line] available Random House, 2002), 189. from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-120718534.html: 100 Johnson, My Life, 354. accessed 23 January 2006. 101 Wall Street Journal, 24 December 1992. 81 Toronto Globe and Mail, 19 August 2004. 102 Boston Globe, 10 August 1992. 82 St. Louis Dispatch, 5 August 1992. 103 Miquel de Moragas Spa, Nancy K. Rivenburgh, and James 83 New York Times, 9 August 1992. F. Larson (in cooperation with researchers from twenty-five 84 Katz, Just Do It, 30. nations), Television in the Olympics (London: John Libbey 85 Moscow News, 9 August 1992. & Company Ltd, 1995), 218. 86 Jack McCallum, "Dreamy: The United States Men's Basket- 104 New York Times, 9 August 1992. ball Team Was As Good As Promised. But Will Such Talent 105 Oregonian, 9 November 2006. Ever Come Together Again? Dream On," Sports Illustra- 106 Walter LaFeber, Michael Jordan and the New Global Capi- ted, 17 August 1992, 17. talism (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999), 19.

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