The Dream Team Tapes

In this second bonus episode, Jeff Van Gundy suggests that Pat Riley's political battles with the NBA might've had something to do with the fact that he never coached the national team, while Zach Lowe theorizes that...

Special guests Jeff Van Gundy and Zach Lowe agree on whom they would choose to take the last shot between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. (It might be a surprise.) That and many other topics, such as the uphill battle the...

At last the gold medal game is here, and Spain, led by Kobe Bryant’s new Los Angeles Lakers teammate Pau Gasol, is the formidable opponent. Back and forth they go, and at crunch time it’s going to be up to LeBron James...

As the Redeem Team tears through the Beijing Olympics, we meet some of the lesser-knowns on the team, like Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd; deconstruct the quarterbacking and athletic brilliance of LeBron James and...

In the days leading up to the 2008 Games, Kobe Bryant gets away (barely) with tardiness but not with questionable shot selection. Once in Beijing, Yao Ming hits an opening shot heard throughout the land, but the U.S. at...

LeBron James led a so-so team into the Finals during the regular season, but Kobe Bryant, by the measure of most, including Coach Mike Krzyzewski, is the league’s best player. So when Mamba joins the Redeem Team in the...

While an injury keeps Kobe Bryant away from USA Basketball after his highest-scoring season, newly crowned champion Dwyane Wade joins LeBron James for version 1.0 of the Redeem Team. But trouble awaits in the semifinals...

We unlock the secret of why players like Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd and Chris Bosh buy into the coaching style of Mike Krzyzewski. Why, Coach K’s not some gentleman from Duke; he’s a swearing machine from the mean...

With USA Basketball in shambles, they turn to "The Godfather," Jerry Colangelo, who proved to be instrumental in reviving the program. There are other "Great Men" with courage, intellect, and leadership that made The...

After a memorable 2003 NBA draft that included four eventual iconic champions that would enrich the 2008 Redeem Team including LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, three of these young stars are...

The creation story of the 2008 Redeem Team begins in the residue of the 1992 Dream Team, as does the redemption story of Kobe Bryant, who played such an important role when he later not just joined the Redeem Team but...

The creation story of the 2008 Redeem Team begins in the residue of the 1992 Dream Team, as does the redemption story of Kobe Bryant, who played such an important role when he later not just joined the Redeem Team but...

In an often-overlooked story, the 2008 US Men's Olympic basketball team made magic. Led by two NBA superstars, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James (who many thought couldn't play together) and coached by Mike Krzyzewski (a...

Get a preview of Season 2 of the #1 New Sports Podcast of 2020. Sports journalist vets Jack McCallum and J.A. Adande take listeners through an insider's study of the 2008 US Olympic Men's Basketball Team and the...

Some of the Dream died quickly. Larry Bird retired right away. Magic’s HIV became big news again, a year later, Michael was gone…to baseball, after one of sports history’s most mysterious retirements. But what remains...

The Dream Team reaches Barcelona and the circus never stops, featuring: The Charles Barkley elbow. The internecine battles between USA Basketball and USOC. The famous “Kukoc Game” in which Jordan and Scottie Pippen made...

Ever since the book Dream Team was released in 2012, fans have been curious about the intrasquad scrimmage the Dream Teamers played in Monte Carlo, a few days before the Olympics began in Barcelona. “The Greatest Game...

It was a feeling like no other when the Dream Teamers took the court for a real game in the qualifying tournament in Portland. Hearts stopped when they first ran onto the court together—and, as a matter of fact, so did...

Barely two months after most of the Dream Team roster was announced, Magic Johnson seemed like he would have to drop out. The jaw-dropping news of Magic’s HIV diagnosis, the gradual resumption of his rightful place on...

The public was skeptical of top pros surrendering their summer to play Olympic basketball. That changed with a couple important early sign-ons, Magic Johnson among them. Also: why the selection committee ignored past...

Throughout most of the 20th century, that our Olympic basketball teams were represented by college players was mandated not only by FIBA—which specifically forbade NBA players from participating—but also by our own...

Talking with Karl Malone in the space that amounted to his wildlife museum, strolling the streets of Spokane with hometown tour guide John Stockton, guilting Larry Bird into sitting still for an interview, and silently...

Throughout most of the 20th century, that our Olympic basketball teams were represented by college players was mandated not only by FIBA—which specifically forbade NBA players from participating—but also by our own...

The real story of the greatest team in NBA history, the 1992 Dream Team that won Olympic gold in Barcelona. Hear the incomparable players in their own words, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles...

The real story of the greatest team in NBA history, the 1992 Dream Team that won Olympic gold in Barcelona. Hear the incomparable players in their own words, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles...