Speaker 1: The Dream Team Tapes, Season two. Kobe, Lebron and the
Speaker 1: Redeem Team is the production of Diversion Podcasts in association
Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio Diversion Podcasts. The players selected for
Speaker 1: the honor of representing the United States in the two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight Beijing Olympic Games are Kobe Bryant. We
Speaker 1: look forward to this for a while, you know it
Speaker 1: to be in this position now here we don't represent
Speaker 1: our country, especially especial Lebron James. We look for an
Speaker 1: opportunity of the weekend on a flam and being the
Speaker 1: best in the world. I guess the Redeem Team is
Speaker 1: as it is right. We're the rest team in the world.
Speaker 1: We're the best team in the world. We put Basketball
Speaker 1: America basketball wheat, which is at the top. M Hello
Speaker 1: and welcome to Kobe, Lebron and the Redeemed Team. This
Speaker 1: is episode one which we're calling on top of the world.
Speaker 1: I'm Jack McCallum who brought you the Dream Team tapes,
Speaker 1: and this is its worthy sequel. See the story of
Speaker 1: the Redeem Team, sometimes overlooked, is in its on its own.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, every bit is intriguing as a dream
Speaker 1: Team that preceded them by sixteen years. And one of
Speaker 1: the things I found out by doing the Dream Team
Speaker 1: tapes is how eager these guys were to talk about it.
Speaker 1: For even guys that were all Stars, Hall of Famers,
Speaker 1: one Champ being Chips, it was a really special time
Speaker 1: in their lives, which is why I was able to
Speaker 1: get inside the heads of players like Michael Jordan's, Larry
Speaker 1: Bird and Magic Johnson. And in the same way, the
Speaker 1: Redeemed Team defines a lot of these guys career And
Speaker 1: in the coming weeks, you're gonna be hearing from the players,
Speaker 1: the coaches, and the executives who were so eager to
Speaker 1: share their thoughts on what was an important part in
Speaker 1: their lives. So here's a quick snapshot, but some of
Speaker 1: those voices you'll be hearing. We all understood the pecking order.
Speaker 1: We knew Kobe and Lebron, uh, we're gonna shoot the ball,
Speaker 1: or that you know, more or less Kobe was going
Speaker 1: to shoot the ball. I've never said this, but I
Speaker 1: remember sitting there watching those guys when we were in harmony.
Speaker 1: You can't play better than this. The most pressure moment
Speaker 1: I've ever had as a coach was the gold medal
Speaker 1: game with eight minutes to go. The year is two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight. The games of the twenty nine Olympiad
Speaker 1: an American basketball team, an American basketball program really bent
Speaker 1: on turning around its diminished fortunes, which included a sixth
Speaker 1: place finished in the two thousand two World Championships and
Speaker 1: even worse, a mere bronze medal in the two thousand
Speaker 1: four Olympics. And assets, the United States team was on
Speaker 1: a mission. There was magic in the air. Actually there
Speaker 1: was smog in the air. Hey, we're in Beijing after all.
Speaker 1: But this two thousand and eight team turned out to
Speaker 1: be a breath of fresh air for our Olympic program.
Speaker 1: But it wasn't easy. They'll be joined by j Addande,
Speaker 1: who himself was heard recently talking about a dream teamer
Speaker 1: somebody named Jordan's in the terrific Beyond the last dance
Speaker 1: that he did with b J Armstrong, a former teammate
Speaker 1: of Jordan's j A take it away, hey, Jack. I'll
Speaker 1: be focusing on the Kobe Bryant aspect of this because
Speaker 1: it's so fascinating to me both the impact that Kobe
Speaker 1: had on this team and that this team and that
Speaker 1: this experience had on Kobe. And the reason I'm focused
Speaker 1: on Kope so much is that I was in Los
Speaker 1: Angeles working at the l A Times and then ESPN
Speaker 1: for nineteen of Kobe's twenty seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaker 1: So we'll be talking to his teammates and his coach,
Speaker 1: Phil Jackson, getting perspective on Kobe in addition to how
Speaker 1: he fit into this two thousand and eight Olympic team,
Speaker 1: which wasn't that easy, just like it wasn't always that
Speaker 1: easy for him to fit into the Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaker 1: We got filled to come out of hiding for this
Speaker 1: j Yeah, that was all you, jack That was a
Speaker 1: good get, as they say in the media business. But
Speaker 1: through the power of email and some persistence on your part,
Speaker 1: we were able to get Phil Jackson, you don't really
Speaker 1: hear from very often these days. We had about an
Speaker 1: hour with Phil talking about the ark of his time
Speaker 1: with Kobe, and that was a fascinating discussion. We'll be
Speaker 1: hearing a little bit of that today and plenty more
Speaker 1: as we go through this podcast series, and I think
Speaker 1: you're gonna find yourself immersed in this, as both of
Speaker 1: us were in this project. And so we'll hear about
Speaker 1: the redemptive arts of Kobe and the players like Lebron
Speaker 1: James and Carmelo Anthony who are on the two thousand
Speaker 1: four Olympic team, and they got the chance to rectify
Speaker 1: that disappointing Bron's medland Athens. And it's also about to
Speaker 1: turnaround the USA basketball. It was led by Jerry Colangelo
Speaker 1: and how he got the players to buy into a
Speaker 1: concept that was bigger than even the biggest names in
Speaker 1: the NBA, and how Mike Schoki got these players to
Speaker 1: listen to a college coach, thanks in part to a
Speaker 1: few time left bombs. And along the way we'll learn
Speaker 1: things like Lebron's preferred drink and which player almost got
Speaker 1: left behind on a night out in Macau, China. And
Speaker 1: it all led to this glorious golden moment that Mike
Speaker 1: Shachofsky described. That's as much pressure as any of the
Speaker 1: teams have had during that time. And what a joyous
Speaker 1: celebration afterwards. So moment in time that you know, some
Speaker 1: of the greatest players in the history of our game
Speaker 1: could share together. I can't explain the moment. And our
Speaker 1: guys were so reverent they looked so good, and they
Speaker 1: got gold medals around and the national anthems playing and
Speaker 1: their flags raised above all the others and incredible, and
Speaker 1: so Jack. The moment that I got into this team
Speaker 1: was when they had that Nike commercial with them running
Speaker 1: around the court and working out to the Marvin gaybers
Speaker 1: into the Star Spangled banner. And we'll hear from Coach
Speaker 1: k and some of the players about how much they
Speaker 1: really got into that song. And he utilized that anthem
Speaker 1: almost every time that they were together to help motivate
Speaker 1: them and here, and it actually motivated me to get
Speaker 1: into this team. And so I've been fascinated by this
Speaker 1: group for a while, and I'm always fascinated by the
Speaker 1: social dynamics of a team, and this collection was really
Speaker 1: intrigued and I can't wait to tell the story of
Speaker 1: them with you. I was at that All Star game
Speaker 1: when Marvin Gay We're gonna be talking about that anthem later,
Speaker 1: but it's very rare you capture an iconic moment at
Speaker 1: the moment that it happens. But that's exactly what happened
Speaker 1: with that national anthem. They might not have said it,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna be listening to that thing for a
Speaker 1: hundred years. Man, it was interesting to hear how much Showski,
Speaker 1: you know, a product of the u United States Military Academy.
Speaker 1: It was interesting to see how much he embraced that
Speaker 1: version of it, and how much he embraced the military too.
Speaker 1: As we get into that, and every little motivational tactic,
Speaker 1: every angle that Showski tried, it worked and it resulted
Speaker 1: in that gold medal in that triumph in Beijing in
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. And there's a clip from right
Speaker 1: after that gold medal game which they defeated Spain, and
Speaker 1: Kobe's there and he's got his arms around Carmelo Anthony
Speaker 1: and Dwyane Wade and Lebron James is standing next to
Speaker 1: Dwyane Wade. A little foreshadowing there, and Kobe was giddy
Speaker 1: and he reverted back to that same Michael Jordan like
Speaker 1: in plaction that he had when he first came in
Speaker 1: the league. It was like he rediscovered the enthusiasm from
Speaker 1: his teenage years. Jack and let's take a listen. Incredible,
Speaker 1: We've been waiting for this for a while. He's back
Speaker 1: one time. This is what it's all about. This is
Speaker 1: what it's all about. What having a blast right now. Now.
Speaker 1: I hadn't seen him this physically affectionate with his teammates
Speaker 1: since he won his first championship with the Lakers in
Speaker 1: two thousand and we're gonna roll the clips some more,
Speaker 1: and you'll hear Kobe answers another question, and Carmelo chimes in,
Speaker 1: and then Lebron James provides some of his usual matter
Speaker 1: of fact analysis, and then you're also gonna hear Kobe
Speaker 1: call out se pete three when Chris Paul joins him.
Speaker 1: Chris is holding his victory cigar and it starts to win.
Speaker 1: A reporter asked him, how did you feel when Spain
Speaker 1: pulled within two and what was going through your mind?
Speaker 1: It was us enjoy challenge, You enjoy competition. We enjoined
Speaker 1: every minute of this is fun, This is movie all wanted.
Speaker 1: That's what made it that much better. Man, That's what
Speaker 1: he wants. Gonna be a Kike walk like it was
Speaker 1: last game. Um, Spain brought the eight plus game and
Speaker 1: and we did too, So come on and take care
Speaker 1: of business. We did it the right way, So Jack,
Speaker 1: let's stop and appreciate it for a moment. You have
Speaker 1: four of the top thirty scorers in the history of
Speaker 1: the NBA. Lebron, Kobe, Carmelo, Dwayne Wade, Lebron, and Chris
Speaker 1: Paul are in the career top ten for assists, and
Speaker 1: of course Jason Cabe was on the team the number
Speaker 1: two all time assist leader at the moment, he was
Speaker 1: probably off somewhere icing his knees. He was the old
Speaker 1: man on that team. And it's not just the accomplishments
Speaker 1: of that group, it's the bond. And again that really
Speaker 1: gets to my central premise about this team, the Redeemed Team,
Speaker 1: is that Kobe was good for these guys because he
Speaker 1: showed them what it took to put yourself at the
Speaker 1: very top, that extra bit of work it takes. And
Speaker 1: the Redeemed Team experience was good for Kobe because it
Speaker 1: showed him how to be a part of the group.
Speaker 1: And I thought it was interesting that when we asked
Speaker 1: Carmelo Anthony for the memories that stood out from him
Speaker 1: for that two thousand Olympic experience, he took it right
Speaker 1: back to Kobe, the way that he like bought himself
Speaker 1: to become so comfortable with us in and the players
Speaker 1: on the team, and you know, really understanding like okay,
Speaker 1: like this is a band of brothers him Like you
Speaker 1: saw him like slowly letting his guard down, even on
Speaker 1: the buses, you know, even going to the Olympic village
Speaker 1: and going to other sports levans, Like you saw the
Speaker 1: guard coming down. You saw those bricks falling, and he
Speaker 1: was fully immersed in and what we was doing and
Speaker 1: being there with us, and that was something that was
Speaker 1: like Okay, he finally like, okay, we got the last
Speaker 1: brick down, like we you know, he's the wall is down,
Speaker 1: Like it's down, y'all. Damn. We did a good job,
Speaker 1: like every was. You almost felt like a sense of
Speaker 1: victory seeing him laugh the way that he was laughing
Speaker 1: and you know, talking and communicating and stories and just
Speaker 1: like you, we felt that We always say, lions don't
Speaker 1: hang with others, don't hang with nobody other than lions.
Speaker 1: Right when you put it that way to him and
Speaker 1: you messed with the you know that this a rebal
Speaker 1: part of it. He locks in and I think that's
Speaker 1: what that's what he was dealing with. Like he knew
Speaker 1: like he was being sharpened by us and we were
Speaker 1: being sharpened by him. We understood that. And so when
Speaker 1: Kobe got back to l a and they're getting ready
Speaker 1: to start the season in l A. In two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight, he meets with Phil Jackson and Phil was curious.
Speaker 1: He asked Kobe what it was like, and I talked
Speaker 1: to him about the pleasure of playing and that uh Olympics.
Speaker 1: He talked about the amount of fund they had, that
Speaker 1: we were really at a great time. He was very
Speaker 1: assistant about that. I asked him about various characters. I
Speaker 1: asked him about Dwayne Wade and and you know Lebron
Speaker 1: that they could keep up with him, and uh, you
Speaker 1: know if he drilled them as hard as he drilled
Speaker 1: some of his teammates. And he said yeah. And I said, uh,
Speaker 1: did you get him up in the morning and worked
Speaker 1: out at six o'clock before? Yeah, I got him up
Speaker 1: and yeah he did all that. And jack Phil had
Speaker 1: that sort of amused look as he told us that
Speaker 1: story and recalled that moment for Kobe. And it was
Speaker 1: a different Kobe Bryant, and it was a more successful
Speaker 1: Koke Bryan. As we'll see, he goes on to win
Speaker 1: the next two NBA championships. So it wasn't just a culmination.
Speaker 1: It really launched a lot of those guys and I
Speaker 1: think they were all better for that experience. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: you know, years, four years earlier, we're gonna be talking
Speaker 1: about that a little bit. You're listening to Kobe Lebron
Speaker 1: and the Redeemed Team. We'll be back in just a moment.
Speaker 1: You know, you forget how these guys themselves had down
Speaker 1: points in their career in two thousand four, the Olympics
Speaker 1: that we're gonna be talking about later, when we did
Speaker 1: not win a gold medal, Lebron Mellow, Dwayne Wade more
Speaker 1: or less. You know, they felt like losers. They were
Speaker 1: being called upon as only rookies to kind of have
Speaker 1: a prominent place on this big team. And you know,
Speaker 1: the moral is even guys like this need to grow.
Speaker 1: And it would be interesting to know how much this
Speaker 1: two thousand eight Redeemed Team helped them do that. I mean,
Speaker 1: Lebron and Dwayne obviously went on to win, and Chris
Speaker 1: Bosh went on to win championships together. And you wonder
Speaker 1: what a formative moment this was for all these guys
Speaker 1: and the Redeem Team. Some of them, you know, didn't
Speaker 1: really need it. Jason Kidd was a little more forward
Speaker 1: in his career, but for all the other guys. That
Speaker 1: was important. And we're not gonna take you through the
Speaker 1: games of two thousand eight here. They'll be coming more
Speaker 1: near the end of the podcast. But there's a moment
Speaker 1: after the gold medal game that seems of small importance,
Speaker 1: but it was really not. And Sean Ford, who's the
Speaker 1: veteran director of basketball operations for USA Basketball, talks about it.
Speaker 1: The guys wanted champagne, right, Uh, that was a big
Speaker 1: thing for them, especially like I remember Lebron he said,
Speaker 1: let's treat this like a real champion. We watched Champagne
Speaker 1: and that, and and I remember talking with said Jason, like,
Speaker 1: we can do the champagne. You just gotta remember, like
Speaker 1: when we come back to the locker room, we got
Speaker 1: to go back out for the metal ceremony. We can't
Speaker 1: have you guys sprain each other. And it was particularly
Speaker 1: important for Jason Kidd, as he explains here in two
Speaker 1: thousand we really didn't get a chance to celebrate. I
Speaker 1: think we were exhausted and we were just ready to
Speaker 1: go home. And I told Si, like, we we have
Speaker 1: to celebrate. Now. Jason's talking about the what I would
Speaker 1: call I think j referred to it as the invisible Olympics.
Speaker 1: It was a two thousand games in Sydney. It was
Speaker 1: forgotten Jack. Yeah, I mean if you think about it
Speaker 1: during the other hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere, and the time
Speaker 1: difference was so great and we couldn't stream back then, right,
Speaker 1: we were at the mercy of when NBC was going
Speaker 1: to show the games, and there were time times they'd
Speaker 1: be showing a game and it was so delayed because
Speaker 1: of the time difference. Like I not only knew the
Speaker 1: results of that game, I knew the result of the
Speaker 1: next game after that. And one thing, it was an
Speaker 1: important step in the Internet though, because I would say
Speaker 1: the Vince Carter dunk, the famous Vince Carter dunk from
Speaker 1: that Olympics over Frederick Weiss. That was one of the
Speaker 1: first viral Internet moments. And it was viral through email, right.
Speaker 1: There wasn't social media back then, but somehow somebody got
Speaker 1: their hands on a blocky, low resolution clip of that
Speaker 1: dunk and they would email it around and get forward
Speaker 1: and forward, and you get the email when it finally
Speaker 1: gets you to have like forward forward, forward, forward, forward forward,
Speaker 1: and you'd watch it on like real player or Windows
Speaker 1: Media Player or something, and it was really blocky and slow.
Speaker 1: But that's how you saw the greatest moment of that game.
Speaker 1: But it wasn't something that we watched collectively. The dunk
Speaker 1: day La Mort's as the French call up. I didn't
Speaker 1: even really remember this. It came after a steal and
Speaker 1: Vince Carter almost jumps completely over the seven ft two
Speaker 1: inch Frederick Weiss, who from that moment kind of got
Speaker 1: you know, he was the first person to be eternally posterized.
Speaker 1: I mean that's uh, that's probably in the first paragraph
Speaker 1: of every Frederick White story written since then, and really
Speaker 1: there haven't been many. But I was at those games.
Speaker 1: I covered those games for Sports Illustrated and it's a
Speaker 1: sad omission, j A. But I didn't even want to
Speaker 1: cover basketball. I covered women's cycling race, I covered Greco
Speaker 1: Roman wrestling. And it speaks to kind of this invisible time.
Speaker 1: You know, there was still this kind of hangover from
Speaker 1: the Dream Team, and we couldn't quite get our focus
Speaker 1: on it, and we came very close to losing a game.
Speaker 1: As Jason Kidd explains here, We're like, we have gone
Speaker 1: back to the States, could we have you know, shown
Speaker 1: our face after you know, losing Uh in the Olympics. Now,
Speaker 1: Kid is so right. We would love to get the
Speaker 1: audio from that final moment when the Americans could have lost,
Speaker 1: but it costs about a million dollars a moment, so
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to recreate it. Semifinal game against Lithuania,
Speaker 1: four points, six seconds left, United States leads to eighty three.
Speaker 1: Lithuania erunus. Yes, uh Covicius is dribbling, guarded by Kid.
Speaker 1: He goes right, Kid forces him left, time running out, Yes,
Speaker 1: a Capshus goes up. Antonio mcdie comes out the shot
Speaker 1: that could beat the Americans and shock the world was
Speaker 1: wide left. The United States win eighty three, and the US,
Speaker 1: still being called the dream team in some quarters, goes
Speaker 1: on to beat France in the gold medal game by twelve,
Speaker 1: but clearly something was changing in the world. You're listening
Speaker 1: to Kobe Lebron and the Redeemed Team. We'll be back
Speaker 1: right after this. Now, do you remember the Olympics in Atlanta?
Speaker 1: What do you remember from those four years earlier? Jake, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I covered those That was my first Olympics and there
Speaker 1: was still the halo effect of ninety two, and you
Speaker 1: still had some of the Dream teamers, right. Charles Barkley
Speaker 1: most notably was on that team. David Robinson was on
Speaker 1: that team. So you still have some members of the
Speaker 1: original dream Team, and it was just so tough to
Speaker 1: live up because you didn't have the true stars. You
Speaker 1: didn't have Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, you didn't
Speaker 1: have those guys around, so it couldn't live up to them,
Speaker 1: Uh and Jack. The debate was whether or not we
Speaker 1: should still be calling the dream team. So I think
Speaker 1: USA Basketball was trying to keep that alive, and especially
Speaker 1: the ninety four World Championship team, they definitely called that
Speaker 1: dream team too, and in the players in particular were
Speaker 1: still using the dream Team moniker. I think there were
Speaker 1: still some basketball pins that said dream Team on them.
Speaker 1: But one person who was adamantly against using that moniker
Speaker 1: was Michael Jordan himself. I'll never forget he comes to
Speaker 1: Washington and I asked him, I said, Michael, what do
Speaker 1: you think about them calling this still the dream Team.
Speaker 1: Almost before I could finish the question, looks at me,
Speaker 1: says there's only one dream team the rest of the duplicates,
Speaker 1: and he gave me that glare that Michael Jordan glare.
Speaker 1: His eyes were just raising. The furnace behind those eyes
Speaker 1: was raging at me on fire, and so laser eyes, man,
Speaker 1: laser eyes. After that, I certainly didn't use Dream Team
Speaker 1: anymore because I was afraid Michael Jordan would hunt me
Speaker 1: down and snatch the newspaper and throw my laptop in
Speaker 1: the trash. I looked back at the two thousand, you know,
Speaker 1: four years after that, and there was still a kind
Speaker 1: of modest effort to use Dream Team. They would have
Speaker 1: been dream Team four, you know, the team in Sydney,
Speaker 1: but by then it was starting to kind of flame out.
Speaker 1: And even though, like you said, there were five members
Speaker 1: of the original Dream Team on that team, but they
Speaker 1: really paid a price for following the Dream Team and
Speaker 1: they kind of knew it, you know, That's what was hard. Hey, hey,
Speaker 1: where's our attention? Where are the fans for our games?
Speaker 1: And I kind of likened it to the astronauts that followed,
Speaker 1: you know, Neil Armstrong. There's only one person that gets
Speaker 1: to the moon first, and in this case, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: extending that metaphor, it was the Dream Team that did it.
Speaker 1: And I just remember I talked to Charles about it.
Speaker 1: Charles Barkley about the nineties six games, when the Americans
Speaker 1: still won every game in a runaway. They were still
Speaker 1: very good. And here is Charles's succinct wrap up of
Speaker 1: the nine Olympic experience. So, you know, it's hard to
Speaker 1: put your finger on exactly why these guys paid such
Speaker 1: a price that, as I said, the thing I put
Speaker 1: on a most lee is hangover. There was this hangover,
Speaker 1: and Showsky later on talked to us about what the
Speaker 1: difference might have been, and it was almost like the
Speaker 1: dream Team came along, they made their impact, and they
Speaker 1: grew the game around the world. There's no question they
Speaker 1: speeded up international players coming into the NBA, but they
Speaker 1: were kind of, as far as the United States was concerned,
Speaker 1: kind of a one off. And here's Mike Shaski talking
Speaker 1: about that in the evolution of USA basketball. USA Basketball
Speaker 1: two had no culture, but the group that they assembled
Speaker 1: brought the NBA's culture of the eighties into it, where
Speaker 1: all those guys truly believed that they built a product
Speaker 1: that was gonna last and it was classy by the
Speaker 1: fifteen years later. That was not the case in the
Speaker 1: NBA either. You know, there was more individualism and whatever,
Speaker 1: and the culture that they brought in ninety two didn't
Speaker 1: stay with USA Basketball. So the perfect storm that surrounded
Speaker 1: the Dream Team Jay it the fact that it was new,
Speaker 1: it was the certainly global pre eminence of Jordan's as
Speaker 1: a crossover corporate figure, the newness of it all, the
Speaker 1: fact that was in this exotic city, Barcelona, the fact
Speaker 1: that international audiences had seen glimpses of the Dream Team
Speaker 1: but they hadn't really seen them together. It all came
Speaker 1: together to kindness form this kind of magical time and
Speaker 1: anything that came after that couldn't match up to it
Speaker 1: until our guys, the Redeemed Team came on and two
Speaker 1: thousand eight and kind of formed their own identity. And
Speaker 1: it's kind of ironic because the Dream Team version was
Speaker 1: I would say successful beyond anyone's a man nation, both
Speaker 1: capturing the gold medal that had been lost in in
Speaker 1: Seoul in but that was the you know, presumably the
Speaker 1: primary mission, but really this was about growing the game
Speaker 1: of basketball internationally, helping the NBA brand internationally, and it
Speaker 1: succeeded in those regards beyond anyone's imagination. Traveling in Germany,
Speaker 1: for example, in in two thousand and six, for the
Speaker 1: World Cup and seeing a cutout of Allen Iverson in
Speaker 1: a shoe store. They're in Germany. I've been to Africa
Speaker 1: and seeing Penny Hardaway jerseys in Africa. Throughout the world,
Speaker 1: NBA basketball and NBA players probably became the most recognizable
Speaker 1: American athletes. So it worked in that regard. Uh, It
Speaker 1: helped spread basketball and it made it tougher though for
Speaker 1: USA basketball, because as we've discussed, it was harder for
Speaker 1: those subsequent teams to live up for that, and the
Speaker 1: ninety two Dream Team inspired players around the world to
Speaker 1: elevate their games to try to match that. They'd seen
Speaker 1: the template, now they've seen the standard, and now they
Speaker 1: were all shooting for that. They succeeded or failed to
Speaker 1: varying degrees. But you can't dispute the fact that international
Speaker 1: basketball was elevated by their exposure to the Dream Team.
Speaker 1: So now it became harder for subsequent teams. Was too
Speaker 1: soon for that really to take effect on the court.
Speaker 1: The Dream Team, you know, cruise to the championship. The
Speaker 1: games were really boring, Jack, how was it? Everyone? The
Speaker 1: most memorable moment was they presented Muhammad Ali. They re
Speaker 1: gave him his gold medal from the nineteen sixty Olympics.
Speaker 1: That legend has it he thrown in the river in Louisville.
Speaker 1: They presented Ali with the gold medal at halftime in
Speaker 1: one game. Dennis Rodman for some reason shows up at
Speaker 1: another game and cause a big commotion in the stands.
Speaker 1: And that's all I can remember from the nine Olympic
Speaker 1: basketball experience. Well, that's two more things than I remember.
Speaker 1: J What I clearly remember are some of these moments
Speaker 1: from the two thousand eight Redeemed Team. And you're gonna
Speaker 1: give us a little preview of the next episode when
Speaker 1: we're going to concentrate on Code, who is obviously one
Speaker 1: of the central characters of the Redeemed Team, one of
Speaker 1: the central figures in the history of the NBA, and
Speaker 1: somebody whose death is obviously top of mind right now
Speaker 1: since it happened a little over a year ago. So
Speaker 1: give us a little sample of what's going to go
Speaker 1: on in episode two. Well, it's amazing how much he
Speaker 1: became a focal point of the two thousand eight team,
Speaker 1: and everyone we talked to in some way or another
Speaker 1: talked about Kobe's impact, and in a lot of ways,
Speaker 1: the team became centered around him, so it almost demanded
Speaker 1: a separate episode dedicated to Kobe and so what we'll
Speaker 1: get into his impact on the team, but we'll really
Speaker 1: tell the story from the time he came into the
Speaker 1: league in and the difficulties he had assimilating and messing
Speaker 1: with his teammates and trying to come into the fold
Speaker 1: learning under Phil Jackson. And again Phil Jackson has some
Speaker 1: great stuff to tell us about Kobe. We also talked
Speaker 1: to his teammates like Robert ry to give us their
Speaker 1: impressions of young will be in the Progression of Kobe.
Speaker 1: So we'll really get the ark of Kobe Bryant from
Speaker 1: his rookie year through this time in two thousand and eight,
Speaker 1: all the ups and downs and and yes including the
Speaker 1: sexual assault case in Colorado which became a big part
Speaker 1: of his story. So we'll look at that journey for
Speaker 1: Kobe and I would say the redemption story of Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 1: And here's some of the interviews that will be hearing
Speaker 1: and the people that will be hearing from in that episode.
Speaker 1: I remember Cole was just like everybody's going like at
Speaker 1: a third of speed and Kobe's going one hund and
Speaker 1: shoot around like, does this guy noticed the shoot around
Speaker 1: and he was like, you know, I gotta go hard
Speaker 1: because I'm trying to start. I'm like, dude, it shoot around.
Speaker 1: Nobody goes hard. And he just had all his energy
Speaker 1: and I said, that's that's an eighteen year old or
Speaker 1: you know that you're gonna have all that energy and
Speaker 1: when you wait, wait to this agem um game grinding here,
Speaker 1: you're gonna slow down. And it was just one of
Speaker 1: those things. He was just trying to learn the game,
Speaker 1: and he was just one of those guys that was
Speaker 1: in the gym constantly trying to get better. I mean
Speaker 1: every plate he was going hard and that It was
Speaker 1: kind of Kobe's mindset was that he wanted to be
Speaker 1: considered one of the greatest that ever played the game
Speaker 1: and was concerned about it, uh and was going to
Speaker 1: do something about it. And no one's gonna stand in
Speaker 1: his way about it either. So we'll hear that in
Speaker 1: so much more in episode two of Kobe Lebron and
Speaker 1: the Redeem Team. I'm ja done for this episode. I'm
Speaker 1: Jack McCallum. We look forward to joining you for episode two.
Speaker 1: The Dream Team Tapes, Season two. Kobe Lebron and The
Speaker 1: Redeemed Team is a production of Diversion podcast Asks in
Speaker 1: association with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: where wherever you get your podcasts. This season is written
Speaker 1: and hosted by me, Jack McCallum and j A. Dande.
Speaker 1: Executive producer Scott Waxman and Mark Frances for Diversion podcast
Speaker 1: and Sean's High Tone for I Heart Radio. Our editorial
Speaker 1: director is John Tuttle. Supervising producer Brian Murphy, legal producer
Speaker 1: Freddie Overseegen, Editing, mixing and sound designed by Mark Frantz.
Speaker 1: Verna Fields is our technical producer, and our director of
Speaker 1: Marketing and business Development is Jacob Bronstein Diversion Podcasts