Before Michael Jordan became a part of the forever-iconic Dream Team, he had already represented the Red, White, and Blue previously. He was one of those who made the cut for the U.S. men's national basketball team in the 1984 Olympics.
He helped the squad bring home the gold medal before joining the Chicago Bulls, who selected the shooting guard with the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft less than two months before the Los Angeles Games. While many might think that Jordan enjoyed his time representing the country in international competition, he appeared less than enthused about the experience because of former Team USA coach Bob Knight .
"I don't know if I would have done it if I knew what Knight was going to be like," MJ said, as told in " The Jordan Rules ."
Jordan's disdain for Knight
According to the two-time Olympic Gold medalist, he had only ever heard of Knight but didn't really know before playing for the longtime Indiana University coach. So, Jordan asked his University of North Carolina coach, Dean Smith, for advice on whether to join Team USA.
Smith encouraged him to do so. MJ then mused that perhaps coaches had advised their wards to suit up for Knight so they would be appreciated more. It's unclear why the six-time NBA champ had thought of that way about Knight. On the other hand, "The General" had superlative praise for him.
Perhaps Jordan's view of Knight stemmed from the harsh and embarrassing criticism he reportedly received from the late Hall of Fame coach. There were even stories that the five-time MVP almost burst into tears.
Jordan's dominant Olympic run
Regardless of the run-in between the pair and MJ's odd statement, there's no denying they worked well together in the Los Angeles Olympics.
Team USA was unbeatable that summer, as it manhandled a squad comprised of NBA All-Stars, including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Isiah Thomas, in eight exhibition contests before rolling over its opponents in the Olympic tournament, beating them by an average of 32.1 points per game.
Jordan led the squad, which also featured Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, and Sam Perkins, in scoring, putting up 17.1 points per contest. He also took on the challenge of defending the foes' premier perimeter players.
The 14-time NBA All-Star was likely better off suiting up for the national team despite saying he shouldn't have done so in hindsight. After all, it served as his coming-out party, as the global community got a taste of what it was like to watch Jordan do what he did best.
Eight years later, he dazzled the world again. The difference is that he appears to have no regrets about suiting up for the Dream Team.
Related: “Man, I f****d that up. We had a chance to win that game, but I woke the beast up” – Kevin Garnett on firing Michael Jordan up with his trash talk
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