FIBA rules didn’t allow players with professional contracts to play in the Summer Olympics before a vote changed the ruling in 1989. The result was the 1992 USA Dream Team, which was handcrafted to avenge Team USA’s loss in the 1988 Olympics and re-establish America’s dominance in the world of basketball. The Dream Team featured some of the greatest players in basketball history, who ran circles around all competition in Barcelona to secure the Gold. However, before winning his second Gold medal in the 1992 games, a 21-year-old Michael Jordan led Team USA to Gold in the 1984 Summer Olympics. But that didn’t stop USA head coach Bob Knight from berating him in front of everybody.
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The Chicago Bulls drafted Jordan as the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft. But before he played his first NBA game, His Airness was called upon for national duty in the Los Angeles Olympics. The 1982 NCAA champion led a group of other talented college athletes to the Gold Medal game against Spain fairly easily.
Michael Jordan’s hilarious response impressed a flustered Bob Knight
Podcaster Jaycob Ammerman recently posted an old clip from a rare appearance of Bob Knight on Dave Letterman’s late night show. Knight recounted a fascinating Jordan story that prompted the studio audience to erupt. The veteran coach shared his experience coaching MJ during Team USA’s Gold Medal game against Spain on August 10, 1984.
After the first half of the game, USA was leading Spain by 28 points, Knight recalled. Jordan had 19 points in just 11 minutes on the court. This annoyed the then 44-year-old coach, who always wanted his team to play better basketball in the second half. Therefore, he concocted a plan to shake his players off any complacency that might have developed.
“Jordan just had a great personality…I’m walking across the court and I’m saying to myself, ‘the hell I’m gonna say to get us to play any better than this’…So I’m at the locker room door…the first guy I see is Michael [Jordan], so kind of an idea hits me, I say, ‘Well, I’m gonna jump on Jordan a little bit and these other guys are gonna say, “If he’s that upset with Jordan, what the hell does he think about me right now,”‘ Knight told Letterman.
As a result, the former Hoosiers coach walked up to MJ and started yelling at him for not setting up ball screens. A completely unfazed Jordan looked up to Knight with a smile and said, as the great coach recalled, “‘Coach, didn’t I just read last week where you said I may be the quickest player you’ve ever been around.’ I [Knight] said, ‘What the hell has that got to do with you screening!’ He says, ‘Coach, I think I set em’ quicker than you can see.'”
The crowd burst out in laughter as Knight finished his story. The veteran coach’s eyes glittered as he spoke about the greatest player he had ever managed.
Knight is well-known in the NCAA circuit as a tough coach, who’s not always the nicest to be around. Magic Johnson once confessed that he had turned down Indiana’s offer in his senior year in high school due to the Hoosiers coach badgering him during recruitment. Even Jordan has addressed his difficult experience playing under Knight in 1984. However, the 82-year-old has always maintained a deep respect for Jordan, even calling him the greatest athlete he has ever seen.
