["If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)" playing]
[Costas] Michael Jordan has said it many times.
He considers Madison Square Garden to be the mecca of basketball.
If, in fact, this is his final NBA All-Star Game,
it's a perfect place to make a last statement.
[reporter 1] On the verge of a repeat three-peat,
Michael Jordan is playing his last year.
Bulls GM Jerry Krause swore on Wednesday
that Phil Jackson would not return next year,
and said if Michael chooses to leave
because there was another coach, then it's his choice.
- Boy! Hey! - [man] What's up?
Hey, your feet look good!
[reporter 2] Kobe Bryant, the youngest All-Star in history
- at 19 years, five months. - [reporter 3] I've talked to him.
It's the same thing. He's a 19-year-old kid.
They're saying, "Kobe, you look ready to be the man at the All-Star Game."
You can't forget the king is still on the court.
♪ If I ruled the world ♪
[photographer] Michael's going here?
- [Jordan] There you go. - [photographer] You get the chair.
Man, I must be the old guy. I remember I used to be way in the back.
[photographer] We gave you a nice, comfortable chair.
[camera shutter clicks]
So you're feeling all right, huh?
I guess so, since you're gonna play me 40 minutes.
[chuckles] You better be ready.
[photographer] Good shots out there.
[Bird] If you don't have anything in the middle, kick it out,
make that extra pass, somebody should be wide open for a three.
While we're here, we might as well win.
- [player 1] Yeah. - [player 2] Right?
That Laker boy's gonna take everybody one-on-one.
I know, right?
- [player 3 laughs] Yeah! - [player 4] Who, Kobe? Yeah.
[Jordan] He don't let the game come to him. He just go out there and take it.
I'm going to make this shit happen. I'm gonna make this a one-on-one game.
[player 5] I figured after the first four attempts didn't go in, he was gonna chill.
[player 6] What?
[Jordan] After the first four attempts?
If I was his teammate, I wouldn't pass him the fucking ball!
You want this ball again, brother, you better rebound. [chuckles]
- This is the East locker room. - [Johnson] Hold up, hold up.
- [Jordan] Got nothing to do with the West. - [Johnson] Hold up.
He got nothing but his damn Laker colors on.
Yeah, yeah, like he coaching.
Now, I'm with the old motherf... Oops!
- The old mugs. - There ain't many of us here.
That's why I come to say "What's up?" to my boy.
- [Jordan] What's happening? How you doing? - How you feeling?
Damn!
[man] Good, man.
- Michael... - I'm lovin' it.
Would you like to have some of his ass today?
[Johnson] Hey, you know I'd be coming at him, Larry.
[Jordan] Just like I used to come at both of y'all.
[all laugh]
[Costas] Just about tip-off time at Madison Square Garden
for the 48th NBA All-Star Game.
And there you see Kobe Bryant in the foreground,
the man many have dubbed the next Michael Jordan.
I got Mike, I got Mike.
- [Costas] Here is Michael. - [Bryant] Ah!
[Costas] Count it, plus the foul for Jordan!
[Bryant] I grew up watching Michael on TV,
and now you got a chance to go face-to-face with him.
You get a chance to really see and touch and feel...
the strength, speed, quickness. And, um...
It was fun to be out there.
[Costas] He's got the ball in his hands again.
To Garnett. Back to Kobe!
[commentators] Oh!
He just wants to get to the offensive end and go one-on-one.
I'm gonna make his ass work down here.
[player] He make it out, we gotta get back!
He hauling ass.
I ain't tryin' to be down there on a poster, dog.
I ain't jumpin' with him. No.
It was a rough couple of years for me, coming to the league.
At the time, the league was much older. It's not as young as it is today.
So, nobody was really thinking much of me.
I was the kid that... shot a bunch of air-balls, you know what I mean?
And at that point, Michael provided a lot of guidance for me.
I had a question about shooting his turnaround shot,
so I asked him about it.
And he gave me a great, detailed answer,
but on top of that, he said, "If you ever need anything, give me a call."
He's like my big brother.
I truly hate having discussions about who would win one-on-one,
and fans saying, "Kobe, you'd beat Michael one-on-one."
And I feel like, "Yo!
What you get from me is from him."
I don't get five championships here without him,
'cause he guided me so much and he gave me so much great advice.
[commentator] Kobe had challenged Michael.
Michael comes out and he's saying, "Not tonight, young fella. Uh-uh, Kobe.
I got some more tricks left in my bag."
He's not ready to leave yet, folks.
[Miller] Great job, guys. Hey, Jordan, you're my boy.
Thank you. You know it, you know it.
- I'll see you down the road. - Cool.
- Congratulations. - You're my boy.
See you in the Finals. Hopefully.
- Y'all gonna be there. - I know we will.
I ain't that soft!
[Jordan] Big Daddy!
[Stern] I'm only gonna allow him to have his trophy
if he promises to come back and do it again.
[crowd cheering]
The All-Star of All-Stars, the MVP, Michael Jordan.
If there was ever any doubt
that he could've kept playing at an MVP and championship level...
there's the All-Star Game, he's the MVP.
He's still the star among stars.
Even though there were explanations offered,
people couldn't understand why he was gonna step away.
The public wanted him to keep going.
[commentator 1] A spectacular move!
[commentator 2] The game's over!
[commentator 3] Chicago Stadium is going wild!
[Krause] First of all, there's no backstabbing going on here.
[Jackson] It's time for me to move on.
[Krause] This will be Phil's last year as the coach of the Bulls.
- [man 1] Are the expectations too high? - [man 2] Where do we go from here?
[woman] The only question: how long can it last?
[Jordan] Knowing this is the last dance, unless something actually changes,
I went into Madison Square Garden,
"This is the last time I'm gonna be playing here."
And that was my favorite place to play.
Went back and grabbed an old pair of Jordan 1s.
It's the first shoe I wore in the Garden,
so this was gonna be the last shoe,
being that this was the last time I'd play in the Garden.
["Can I Kick It?" playing]
- ♪ Can I kick it? ♪ - ♪ Yes, you can! ♪
- ♪ Well, I'm gone ♪ - ♪ Go on, then ♪
♪ Can I kick it? To my Tribe that flows in layers... ♪
[Kukoc] Sweet. You laced those.
[Jordan] Toni, you weren't around. You was a baby when I broke these out.
[Kukoc] What was the year?
- '84. How old were you? - [Kukoc] That's when I started.
You were 12 years old.
[man] Toni was still in diapers.
[Jordan] You look at these shoes,
you put these shoes on then put on some of them...
Innovation has taken a long turn. [chuckles]
[Falk] I first met Michael Jordan in 1984. I went to North Carolina
to interview Michael and his family to represent him.
His parents asked great questions.
They were very intelligent, extremely personable.
Our firm, ProServ, had a lot of very high-profile tennis clients,
like Jimmy Connors, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe.
Arthur Ashe had his own shoes and tennis racket.
This is the racket I won Wimbledon with. You could've bought it. Really.
The strategy was to try to take a team sport player
and treat him more like a golfer or a boxer or a tennis player.
I said to David, "What are you trying to do?
You trying to turn this guy into a tennis player?
He's a basketball player, he's not a tennis player."
I said, "That's exactly what I'm trying to do." And the very first deal was shoes.
We took him out to meet Converse,
which, at that time, was the official shoe of the NBA.
[singing] ♪ The Converse Weapon ♪
♪ That's the shoe lets Magic do What he was born to do ♪
[Falk] They have Magic Johnson, Dr. J, Bernard King, Larry Bird...
♪ Y'all already know what you did for me ♪
- ♪ What? ♪ - ♪ I walked away with the MVP ♪
[announcer] The Converse Weapon. The number-one weapon in the NBA.
Converse had big players, and told me, "We cannot...
envision you being put ahead of them."
Okay. Fine.
[interviewer] Did you have a shoe company that you wanted to go with?
That was Adidas.
I like the Lakers and I like Marques Johnson.
And I like Adidas. I like the Adidas shoe.
[Falk] Adidas was really dysfunctional by that time.
They had just told me, "We'd love to have Jordan.
We just can't make a shoe work at this point in time."
I wanted Michael to go with Nike because they were the upstart.
[White] In the early '80s, Nike was, for the most part, a track shoe company.
Michael didn't even wanna be at Nike.
I couldn't even get him to get on the damn plane and go visit the campus,
so I called his parents.
[Jordan] My mother said, "You're gonna go listen.
You may not like it, but you're gonna go listen."
"Mom, I don't wanna hear it. I know what I wanna do.
I am not going to Nike's, Mama."
I says, "Michael, you have to give 'em an opportunity."
She made me go on that plane and go listen.
I go into that meeting, not wanting to be there.
Nike made this big pitch.
My father said, "You gotta be a fool for not taking this deal."
Back then, the best guys might've gotten $100,000 or so,
and he got probably $250,000.
It was like...
"You will pay him what?
A young rookie...
that's done nothing?
You must be out of your mind."
[Falk] When I negotiated the Nike deal, I said to them,
"You're a small company, and if you want Michael Jordan,
he's gotta have his own shoe line."
Nike had just come out with this new technology
for their running shoes called Air Soles.
And obviously, Michael played in the air.
I said, "I got it. We're gonna call it Air Jordan."
"Air Jordan"? That got a pretty good ring to it.
["I Got It Made" playing]
[Falk] Nike's expectation, when we signed the deal,
was at the end of year four,
they hoped to sell $3 million worth of Air Jordans.
In year one, we sold $126 million.
♪ I get paid when my record is played ♪
♪ To put it short ♪
♪ I got it made ♪
[reporter 1] As a commodity,
Michael Jordan is as hot as a Cabbage Patch doll right now.
The endorsements are fast and furious.
The photo sessions seem endless.
[reporter 2] Like a politician,
Jordan moves gracefully through a crowd of admirers,
sipping orange juice, collecting business cards.
Deals have already been cut with Wilson Sporting Goods, McDonald's...
For a kid, it was almost like... holding a lightsaber from Star Wars.
You needed that shoe to be like him.
It was more than a status symbol.
You knew this guy was the guy.
♪ 'Cause I got it made ♪
They came in different styles.
The other brands didn't change too much. Jordans changed with the times.
Everybody was like, "You gotta get a pair of Jordans."
And so, every year we would save up money.
I would cut grass, and do chores,
and save up money, and wait in line at Foot Locker.
Before Michael Jordan, sneakers were just for playing basketball.
And all of a sudden, sneakers became fashion and culture.
My first film was She's Gotta Have It.
I played a character called Mars Blackmon. And I made sure that Mars
would be wearing a pair of Air Jordans
because Michael is the hero of the youth today.
You stepped on my brand new white Air Jordans that I just bought.
- How much you pay for 'em? - A hundred bucks!
- American dollars! - $108 with tax!
I'd give him 100 headaches.
And the fact that Nike used Spike Lee to produce Jordan commercials
suddenly brought urban culture
and crossed it together with sports.
[man] Mark.
Yo! Mars Blackmon here with my main man Michael Jordan.
Yo, Mike, what makes you the best player in the universe?
- Is it the vicious dunks? - [Jordan] No, Mars.
- Is it the haircut? - No, Mars.
- Is it the shoes? - No, Mars.
Money, it's gotta be the shoes.
Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Shoes.
- You sure it's not the shoes? - I'm sure, Mars.
Cut!
[Jordan] My game was my biggest endorsement.
What I did on the basketball court, my dedication to the game,
led to all this other stuff.
Believe me, if I was averaging two points, three rebounds,
I wouldn't have signed anything with anybody.
So, my game did all my talking.
[commentator 1] We are back at Madison Square Garden.
[commentator 2] Michael Jordan wearing the original Air Jordans
that he wore the first time he played at Madison Square Garden back in 1984.
[commentator 3] And Michael will get a standing ovation
from the Garden crowd here.
[Costas] Michael. Two seconds to shoot. Over Houston. Got it!
[commentator 4] It must be the shoes.
[Costas] Michael... hits again!
[crowd cheering]
[commentator 4] This is beautiful basketball that we're watching.
By half-time, my feet are bleeding.
But I'm having a good game. I don't wanna take 'em off.
[Costas] Michael... Oh, my goodness!
A number of the players and even two of the officials are laughing.
Michael Jordan now has 40 points.
And only one guy has this level of artistry.
Spinning in the lane for the slam!
[chuckling] And Spike Lee is all over Michael Jordan,
and Michael has a few words by way of retort.
[commentator 4] He just told him that he couldn't guard him.
He said, "You can't guard me. You too little."
Then he says, "You come out here." Spike says, "I will, Money." [laughs]
[Costas] Michael with 42,
and if this was Michael Jordan's final game at Madison Square Garden,
he leaves no doubt whatsoever that he exits just as he entered.
The best there is.
I couldn't take those shoes off fast enough.
And when I took the shoes off, my sock was soaked in blood.
It's kind of fun to come back here and play,
and remember some of the old days and some of the things...
Some of the games that I've had here, and the shoes was a part of that...
My feet are killing me. [laughs]
- [man 1] Michael! - [man 2] Michael!
[crowd clamoring]
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Close that door. Hey, close that door!
I had to go back to all the way to '84 to whip y'all ass.
- Don't start that shit. - I won't.
[Jordan] How you been doing?
[Jackson] Prior to the season of '92,
the team talked about the difficulty of repeating.
And we had this statement, "You're only a success
at the moment you perform a successful act."
You have to do it again.
["The Choice is Yours" playing]
[commentator] Jordan with the block and then the save, which was unbelievable.
I've always thought that the '92 team was maybe the best Bulls team ever.
♪ You can get with this Or you can get with that ♪
♪ I think you'll go with this 'Cause this is where it's at ♪
♪ You can get with this Or you can get with that ♪
Starting with that season, I felt Michael never played basketball anymore.
He just figured out how to win the game.
He knew how to steer momentum, he knew how to get guys going.
And not only was he that good on the offensive end,
he was just as good on the defensive end.
He was just playing a different game than the rest of us.
He'd let us play. But he was there to win the game.
And he knew that.
And once he figured that out, you couldn't beat him.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator 1] Good evening, basketball fans, wherever you may be.
Tonight begins the 1992 NBA Finals.
[commentator 2] The Chicago Bulls, the Portland Trail Blazers.
The two best teams in the NBA go head-to-head.
[commentator 3] We have two great teams led by two superstar players.
All eyes will be focused on the matchup of Drexler and Jordan.
When you look at these two players,
there's not a whole lot of difference between 'em.
Both had outstanding seasons, seasons that statistically mirrored each other.
[commentator 4] Clyde The Glide says, "We're the two best in the game,
but I'm not getting into a war of words with Mike."
Clyde was a threat. I'm not saying he wasn't a threat.
But me being compared to him, I took offense to that.
I'm working for NBC.
I'm covering the Finals.
So, the night before game one, we're at Michael's house, playing cards,
and he said, "You know what's gonna happen tomorrow.
I'm gonna give it to this dude."
[commentator] And the matchup at the start,
Michael Jordan facing Clyde Drexler.
Jordan... from three-point land!
So he hit that first three.
-[commentator] Here's Pippen. - [Johnson] And then here come the second.
-[commentator] Open for another three! - The third one.
[commentator] Back to Jordan. And hit for three!
That's his fourth three-point field goal.
Michael Jordan, with four three-pointers in a half, has tied the NBA Finals record.
Michael didn't want anybody to have nothing over him.
[commentator] Jordan for three! Yes!
An NBA Finals record. Five three-pointers in a half.
And every time he hit a three, he glanced over at me, at the NBC table.
[commentator] Here's Jordan again from downtown.
Did you see that look? Michael indicating he can't believe it.
An NBA championship record, 35 points in the half.
And he was like... "I'm killing this dude."
Based on the way I was playing at that time, it wasn't even close.
So I attacked him every night.
[commentator] Here's Jordan.
Jordan. Nice.
Thirty-five seconds.
Grant wide open!
What a move by Jordan! Amazing! And hitting!
Four-point Chicago lead.
Drexler with the check. He thought there might be a timeout remaining.
[crowd cheering]
The Chicago Bulls have won the NBA championship
for the second straight season!
[imperceptible]
[players cheering]
One is great, two is almost impossible. Congratulations, Chicago.
[Krause] This is the happiest moment in many, many years!
It feels so good. Oh, boy!
The one thing I would say, and I'd say it from Jerry Reinsdorf on down,
this is a great organization.
This organization is special.
From Jerry... It starts with Jerry, and it goes down all the way to Joe Lee,
our clubhouse guy who's been here 25 years.
It's an organization thing, and that's what it's all about.
The team is great, but the organization is one of the all-time great,
if not the greatest organization ever. That's what I'm so much proud of.
- [man] Are you smoking a cigar, Mike? - [Jordan] Yeah.
Give me one.
You can't smoke it. It will stunt your growth.
[all laugh]
[McIntyre] Coming off his second championship...
second Finals MVP, second MVP season,
Michael was the king of the world.
And it was the first year that we were trying to get the pros into the Olympics.
[reporter] When are you putting on the USAB sneakers?
Uh... It's a week from Sunday, isn't it?
[reporter] Yeah.
Yeah, but I got a lot of partying to do from now until then.
- [man 1] Hey, Phil! - I'm in charge of it today.
[man 2] He knows the neighborhood.
[Jordan] I tell you, the Olympics...
If Chuck Daly plays me over ten minutes, I'm quitting.
[all laugh]
[Rashad] With the United States Basketball taking a beating at international play,
the call went out for NBA help. The result?
In 1992, for the first time,
a team of mostly NBA players will defend America's Olympic pride.
[Jordan] Before the '92 Olympics,
Rod Thorn calls me and says, "We would love for you to be on the Dream Team."
I says, "Who's all playing?"
He says, "What does that mean?" I said, "Who's all playing?"
He says, "Well, the guy you're talking about
or you're thinking about is not gonna be playing."
[reporter] We're going to ask a few things about the Olympics.
[sighs] All right. No Isiah Thomas stuff.
- [reporter] No Isiah Thomas questions. - Cool.
Now there has been speculation
that your icy relationship with Isiah Thomas
is the reason that he was not selected.
I respect Isiah Thomas' talent.
To me, the best point guard of all time is Magic Johnson
and right behind him is Isiah Thomas.
No matter how much I hate him, I respect his game.
Now, it was insinuated that I was asking about him,
but I never threw his name in there.
I don't know what went into that process.
I met the criteria to be selected.
But I wasn't.
The Dream Team, based on the environment,
and the camaraderie that happened on that team...
It was the best harmony.
Would Isiah have made a different feeling on that team? Yes.
- [commentator 1] Magic Johnson angry. - [commentator 2] He's very upset.
[Wilbon] At that point, Magic and Isiah had had their thing.
Bird and Isiah have had their thing.
And Scottie. That's half the team.
They did not want to play with him.
Everybody puts it on Michael
'cause we knew that dislike was out in the open.
[commentator] They left the bench although there's 7.9 seconds remaining.
The Pistons just left.
But there was a lot more to it than that.
You want to attribute it to me, go ahead, be my guest, but it wasn't me.
[reporter] With Jordan, Pippen, Magic and Bird leading the way,
this team's billed as the greatest ever assembled.
[interviewer] What did you treasure the most
about that experience that summer?
The practices... and the camaraderie.
You know, how the guys bonded together.
[singing] ♪ Sometime I dream That he is me ♪
♪ I just wanna be like Chuck... I mean, Mike ♪
[photographer] Great!
You can't get too close to Michael. It's a foul.
- Hey. - [all laughing]
You haven't committed a foul in almost a year and a half, man. How can you talk?
My goodness.
I don't think you ever fouled out of a game.
When did he ever foul out of the game?
I'm the young guy with the elder statesmen.
That's right, that's right. They all have to listen to me.
Whatever I say, goes.
[cameraman] Who's that?
[Johnson] Man, I had some of my fondest memories just hanging out with Michael.
We played cards every night against each other,
and if I had the upper hand, he wanted to play another hour.
Another hour.
And then, he never wants to just beat you.
He wants to put his foot on your neck and just... [grunts]
I mean, "You're not satisfied with beating me,
you wanna crush me, too?"
"Yup."
They had a practice game in Monte Carlo.
And Magic and Barkley's team got off to a big lead.
- [player 1] Ball! - [player 2] Whoo! Yes!
That was the greatest basketball, I think, that we all were involved in.
Great passing, great shooting, great defense.
All NBA players going back and forth at each other.
[Malone] Let's go.
There was real trash talking going on from...
Particularly from Charles and Magic toward Michael.
Don't be cheatin' on me!
Magic always got under Michael's skin for some reason.
[Johnson] Right there. Right back at it, baby.
I'm coming after you. Free throws.
It's all right! That's all right! Here we go!
[Jordan] God damn. You don't play no defense. That's weak.
[Johnson] We ain't in Chicago Stadium no more.
We're up about eight points, I think. Something like that.
And I went over and tapped him.
I said, "Look, man, if you don't turn into Air Jordan, we gonna blow you out."
Man, what did I say that for?
[Thorn] Michael proceeded to score every time down the court.
He was like, "You wanna know who the guy is?
Here's who the guy is."
[Johnson] He broke the huddle, hit a three. Bam!
Came back down, hit another three. Bam!
He came through the middle and just shook everybody. Bam!
Before we know, they was up two. [laughs]
- Yes! - [whistle blows]
Yes!
He drove to the basket and the referee called a foul,
and Magic threw the ball up to the top of the arena
and was screaming about,
"Just like the NBA, he gets every call! Same thing over here!"
[Johnson] All they did was move the Bulls stadium right here.
That's all they did. That's all they did.
[Jordan] This is the '90s.
[Johnson] I don't care if it's the '90s or not. What's that supposed to mean?
[Jordan] This is the '90s.
How you like that ass kicking we gave y'all?
[Barkley] No, no, no. Come on, now.
[Thorn] After the practice, they get on the bus to go back to the hotel.
And for a couple of minutes, there's no talking.
When we got on the bus, it was... It was... Whoo! Man.
And all of a sudden, Magic says to Barkley,
"Hey, Charles, I guess we shouldn't have pissed the man off."
And then everybody, "This is the greatest practice ever. We love this!"
Ooh, la, la!
[McIntyre] After that game, everyone acknowledged we're in a new era.
Michael Jordan was the alpha-alpha.
Period.
- [man] Michael! - What's up?
Game on the line, who would take the last shot?
Me.
- That's a dumb question. Me. - Yeah.
[Costas] But now, a cavalry rides to the rescue.
As the Olympics open to NBA players,
the US sends the greatest team ever assembled.
The United States will be the overwhelming favorite in Barcelona.
Among the competition, though, there's one team that stands out.
Like the USA, it's loaded with talent.
Croatia has built a basketball powerhouse.
There's Toni Kukoc, the 6'10" wizard they call the left-handed Magic Johnson.
A lot of excitement about tomorrow's game against Croatia,
our first chance to see Toni Kukoc against this kind of competition.
What do you know about him and them?
I don't know a lot about him,
but if you listen to Michael and Scottie, they know a whole lot about him
because, apparently, there was some mixed emotions
about him going to Chicago.
With the second pick in the second round, the Chicago Bulls select Toni Kukoc.
Toni's certainly an outstanding young prospect.
I also think that he's an outstanding young man.
[Kukoc] But after I was drafted by the Bulls,
the situation at home was not so great,
'cause of the war and everything.
[Costas] Yugoslavia is, of course, a country divided.
In June, two of its republics, Croatia and Slovenia,
declared their independence, igniting a bloody civil war.
[Kukoc] I just decided to play a couple more years in Europe first.
[Toni speaking Croatian]
Just to be there, kind of, just to, uh, not take off completely.
And I was making considerably more in Europe
than I would make my first couple of years here.
We're not talking a little money, we're talking a couple million.
Jerry went over to watch Toni play in what was then Yugoslavia
and said Toni Kukoc is gonna be the future of the Chicago Bulls.
[Stack] Jerry was fawning over Toni so much
while our team here was winning championships.
And it just... It rubbed a lot of the players the wrong way, unfortunately.
The timing of this Kukoc thing is where the problem has been all along.
He went out to negotiate with Kukoc
while Pippen was waiting to sign the deal that he's currently under.
They put him on hold while they negotiated with Kukoc.
Krause, you know, he's willing to put someone in front of his actual kids,
who have given him everything that we could give him.
At that time, I have no idea what was going on with the Bulls.
I don't know the frictions between Scottie and Jerry, Michael and Jerry.
So, going to the Olympics, I kinda thought everything was okay.
[commentator] The major story line that carries into this game
involves European star Toni Kukoc.
In the Dream Team locker room, before the first game against Croatia,
Michael just said, "Hey, guys. Kukoc. Leave him for Scottie and me."
[commentator] Kukoc being played by Pippen.
And Kukoc went to the reverse.
There's Jordan with the step on Kukoc.
Kukoc trying to return it, Pippen with the steal.
Well, I didn't play a good game.
I got surprised by how strict they played defense.
I didn't expect somebody to be next to me literally the whole game.
[commentator] Jordan and Pippen are intent on showing their superiority.
Toni Kukoc became a great teammate and I love Toni Kukoc for who he is,
but the way he was introduced to me and Scottie was...
I didn't appreciate it and it drove my energy.
[commentator 2] And at this point, Toni Kukoc...
zero points, zero rebounds for the Croatian team.
Jordan and Pippen have been all over him.
I felt bad for Toni and I thought Michael and Scottie were out of line.
He was terrified.
[commentator] And it's Pippen again.
Here's Pippen...
Third foul. Pippen with a setup from below.
Well, to this point, it has been all Scottie Pippen.
[Pippen] Jerry paved the way for a lot of hell on Toni Kukoc.
Not only was it just me and Michael,
but every guy on that Olympic team looked at that kid and felt like,
"He may not even think about coming to the NBA after he played against us."
[commentator] The pressure continues.
It wasn't anything personally about Toni...
but we were gonna do everything that we could to make Jerry look bad.
[commentator] Eighteen off a 19-5 run.
Jordan rejected Kukoc. Here's a three-on-two.
Pippen, all the way!
[all cheering]
[Costas] A 33-point victory.
Pippen also holding Toni Kukoc to four points.
I know Scottie was a little pissed about all the publicity surrounding Kukoc,
and he proved today that if they gonna give anybody in Chicago any more money,
it better be him.
I still hear talk that he just had a bad game, he was nervous, but...
if he's that nervous, then he can't come to the NBA and play two games.
They didn't know me.
I don't see a reason... Why would they try and take it on me?
They don't know me at all.
That's the first time we meet.
[reporter] Scottie says he doesn't think he could play in the NBA.
Do you agree?
Yeah, that's a little bit unfair and unjust to him. You gotta realize,
the guy was playing against 11 of the best players in the league.
Once we were in the finals, because obviously...
the United States is gonna be the second finalist, then we'll play.
[commentator] Coming up shortly, the Dream Team,
the US Men's Basketball Team, will take on Croatia for the gold medal.
This is the second meeting between the United States and Croatia.
The last time they met, last week, the United States won by 33 points.
[McIntyre] The second game when we played them,
Kukoc came back and I give him credit.
He came back and played a much better game than he did the first game.
[commentator] Toni Kukoc certainly has turned it around
from his performance in the earlier meeting against the United States.
[Wilbon] Americans didn't understand how tough people like Toni Kukoc were.
They had no idea.
Some people have no idea about the war-torn situations,
and the poverty and the oppression that guys like Kukoc came from,
that produced them, that hardened them.
So, it was stupid to call him soft.
He had to fight to gain their respect... and he did it.
To come back after being totally emasculated,
it showed me a lot about Toni Kukoc.
[commentator] Kukoc now has 16 points, six assists.
I remember Michael coming to the locker room saying,
"He played pretty well. He's tougher than we thought."
[commentator] ...117-85 and they have, as expected, won the gold.
[Stern] The team won the '92 Olympics.
And then, Michael decided
that he didn't want to display the Reebok logo
that was on his uniform.
[reporter] Maybe Michael Jordan did come to the '92 Olympics
with an innocent desire to recapture his pure love of sport,
but money quickly complicated the sentimental journey.
Reebok had spent millions to outfit the teams in Barcelona
and expected all US athletes to display its logo,
especially the high-profile Dream Team.
[Jordan] Harvey Schiller. What a dick.
[man] Who is that?
[Jordan] The guy who said if we don't wear our uniforms,
we can't accept our gold medal and all that stuff.
[man] Is that still a big issue? They still talking about that?
[Jordan] Nah. They said they are going to try to hide the Reebok on it.
But they can't hide it like I'm gonna hide it.
They in for a big fucking surprise.
[Bay] Michael was so singular in his competitive drive
and the drive that extended to his partners, like Nike,
that he could not bear the thought of wearing the Reebok logo on a global stage,
receiving a gold medal at the Olympics.
So he covered the Reebok logo up with the United States flag.
[commentator] Michael Jordan draped in the American flag...
[Bay] It was extraordinary.
[commentator] I think that is not solely for patriotic reasons.
Here in Barcelona and the Olympics, these folks have done a job taking basketball,
and Michael Jordan, particularly, to unbelievable heights.
[Wilbon] Michael was the face of the Dream Team,
and the Dream Team changed everything about international basketball.
The Dream Team's entirely responsible for the NBA's profile
taking a massive jump forward.
It just... It shaped how the world felt about the NBA.
Michael Jordan, the Dream Team,
helped bring sports into that place of cultural influence globally.
So it wasn't just music that was cool,
it wasn't just fashion in the US that was translating into other countries.
All of a sudden, it was the NBA.
I think it was the first time that sports was being sold in a cultural way.
We were selling Americana.
And then what attached to it was this incredibly handsome, successful player...
his swagger, and people wanted to be part of that.
After the Olympics, Michael was the most recognizable,
the most popular sports figure,
but really, cultural figure, in the world.
He was really a global superstar.
Everyone around the world knew Michael Jordan.
♪ Sometimes I dream ♪
♪ That he is me ♪
♪ You've got to see That's how I dream to be ♪
Once he got to the point where it was "Be like Mike"...
♪ If I could be like Mike ♪
...that changed everything for him.
There's pressure to be like Mike.
If you're gonna be like him, you've gotta be clean, you've gotta be Teflon.
You've gotta be completely spotless as a person,
and no human being is like that.
- ♪ Be like Mike! ♪ - ♪ Be like Mike! ♪
♪ Like Mike, if I could be like Mike ♪
Any African-American in this society
that sees significant success
has an added burden.
And a lot of times, America's very quick to embrace
a Michael Jordan or an Oprah Winfrey or a Barack Obama, uh...
so long as it's understood that you don't get too controversial
around broader issues of social justice.
Part of the reason he remained popular is that
he never did anything to piss anybody off.
Probably the most controversial thing Jordan said in his career
was when Harvey Gantt was running for Senate
to be the first African-American from North Carolina
to serve in the US Senate.
Michael would not come out and endorse or support Gantt
and, uh, was quoted as saying, "Republicans buy sneakers, too."
[reporter] Democrats in North Carolina have nominated Harvey Gantt
as their candidate for the Senate.
If he defeats incumbent Jesse Helms,
Gantt would become the state's first black senator.
1990 North Carolina Senate race.
You have the infamous Jesse Helms
and an African-American by the name of Harvey Gantt.
The stakes are really high.
Jesse Helms was a reprehensible figure
in terms of his racism and conservative politics.
Nothing cool about Jesse Helms.
[reporter] Jesse Helms can take full credit or blame
for killing a new National African-American Museum.
Helms also stood against the Martin Luther King holiday.
I'm not saying to you that we wouldn't have segregated schools,
or largely segregated schools,
under a Freedom of Choice plan, such as I've suggested,
but I will say to you that that would be the choice.
Michael refuses to do a commercial to support Harvey Gantt
and the statement that emerges, "Republicans buy Nikes, too,"
sounds as though Michael is saying,
"My personal wealth is more important than my politics
as it pertains to the issue of race."
I don't think that statement needs to be corrected
because I said it in jest on a bus with Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen
and it was thrown off the cuff.
My mother asked me to do a PSA for Harvey Gantt.
And I said, "Look, Mom, I'm not speaking out of pocket about someone I don't know,
but I will send a contribution to support him," which is what I did.
[reporter] Conservative incumbent Jesse Helms won a fourth term,
defeating liberal black Harvey Gantt.
[Helms] There is no joy in Mudville tonight.
[crowd cheering]
[reporter] Gantt was not bitter in defeat,
but this contest proves that race is still a powerful issue in American politics.
[crowd chanting] Harvey! Harvey!
Michael did lose some credibility with an African-American audience
and people were disappointed because he did not come out and support Gantt.
Everybody in the world respects Muhammad Ali.
You know why? Because he stood for something.
He stood for something even if it meant sacrificing a payday.
We respect that.
Ultimately, Michael Jordan may be forgotten.
Muhammad Ali won't be forgotten.
[Jordan] I do commend Muhammad Ali for standing up for what he believed in,
but I never thought of myself as an activist.
I thought of myself as a basketball player.
I wasn't a politician when I was playing my sport. I was focused on my craft.
Was that selfish? Probably.
But that was my energy, that's where my energy was.
I'll be honest that when...
it was reported that Michael said, "Republicans buy sneakers, too..."
Uh...
For somebody who was, at that time,
preparing for a career in civil rights law and in public life
and knowing what Jesse Helms stood for,
you would've wanted to see Michael push harder on that.
On the other hand,
he was still trying to figure out, "How am I... managing this image
that has been created around me, um,
and how do I live up to it?"
It's never gonna be enough for everybody. I know that, I realize that,
'cause everybody has a preconceived idea
in terms of what they think I should do or what I shouldn't do.
The way that I go about my life is I set examples.
And if it inspires you, great. You know, I will continue to do that.
If it doesn't, then maybe I'm not the person that you should be following.
[O'Neil] In '97 and '98, the ticket requests went through the roof
because there was a question mark, "Did Michael wanna play or retire?"
That year, we put our tickets on sale on a Saturday morning, at ten o'clock.
And people lined up at the Chicago Stadium.
By noon, the entire season was sold out,
but then, every request was a battle for the rest of the season.
Michael, on most nights, would need anywhere from 12 to 20 tickets.
Other players would want some.
It was funny, too, because at some point, I had to limit the players.
We didn't have unlimited tickets in those days.
[indistinct chatter]
Does it matter where they are, man? Or you want 'em just in the building?
They could be in the locker room next to God.
Bam.
- Next to who? - God.
- You just got one from him. - [all laughing]
Just kidding.
No, he ain't. No, he ain't, dude. No, he ain't.
Hang on, that's a lie.
- Do not take that off the tape either. - You better.
- He's not kidding. - Shit!
[man] Lord, I am with you.
- I was just kidding. - He's not kidding.
- Don't edit that off. - Get your ass on outta here.
I gave you a ticket, get the hell out.
Thank you. Make sure y'all don't edit that off. He ain't kidding.
The road was sometimes more challenging than at home
because you were dealing in other people's arenas.
When he played down at Atlanta, the Bulls played there,
they had more people than you'd have for a football game
in the Atlanta Dome, just to see Michael.
["Rosa Parks" playing]
[reporter] NBA record 62,046 fans packed into the Georgia Dome
to see what may have been Michael Jordan's final game in Atlanta.
Right now, if we had another 15,000 seats,
I believe we could still sell them for this game.
It's the hottest thing I've ever seen.
All I know is when the tickets came in this morning,
my wife ran downstairs and she was crying, she was so happy.
So, I'm the hero.
[commentator] Oh!
There's nothing you can do about that. See that's Michael Jordan at his best.
[O'Neil] Everywhere you went, people wanted tickets,
but it became overwhelming.
We gonna see Michael Jordan!
This is what you call a Pope and Jesus phenomenon.
[crowd exclaiming]
♪ Ah ha, hush that fuss ♪
♪ Everybody move to the back of the bus ♪
♪ Do you wanna bump and slump with us? ♪
♪ We the type of people Make the club get crunk ♪
♪ Ah ha, hush that fuss ♪
♪ Everybody move To the back of the bus... ♪
[man 1] We saved a lot of money
and we traveled 24 hours to see Chicago Bulls.
- [man 2] It's a dream! - [man 1 laughs]
Tonight's game is sold out.
Do not purchase tickets from scalpers on Seventh Avenue.
They are counterfeit.
[O'Neil] And everybody in the world begged me for tickets.
Movie stars would come in and celebrities would come in.
You got to know people.
I can beg. I'm a beggar.
If there's tickets to be gotten, I will find 'em.
♪ Say ah ha, hush that fuss ♪
♪ Everybody move to the back of the bus ♪
♪ Do you wanna bump and slump with us? ♪
♪ We the type of people Make the club get crunk... ♪
People expect him to still put on a show and he does that every night.
Hey, look, I wanna be like Mike also. [laughs]
-[Jordan] What up, fighter? - [exclaims]
Michael doesn't pass me the ball.
- You heard it here first. - He doesn't pass me the ball at all.
[Lee] I want Michael to play as long as he wants.
He's at the top of his game.
It's a shame what Krause and Reinsdorf are doing. I don't understand.
[Seinfeld] The similarity between the Bulls and Seinfeld?
The show of the '90s, the team of the '90s,
and I'm trying to make quitting the move of the '90s.
Let the new people in.
- Hey, partner. How you doing? - How you doing?
Haven't seen you since the photo shit.
These are a couple of your good fans right here.
- Every day we come in to watch the game... - Nice to meet you.
- ...they're watching your show. - [laughs]
Sooner or later, you gotta get tired of Seinfeld.
[Jackson] Let's go, guys.
- Hi, Phil. - [Jackson] How are you doing?
All right, have a good game.
- Principal's kicking you out. - Good to see you.
I'll see you, Jerry.
[man] All right...
This is not gonna work, by the way. I would get that out of there.
- How you doing? - [man] All right.
Have a good game.
[Jordan] When you get to the top, it's great to be admired and respected.
I'm not saying that wasn't fun.
But every time I would get by myself,
I'd think about the end of the season and the ultimate goal,
holding up that championship trophy
and being recognized as the best team in the world.
It's something at the end of this rainbow that I'm fighting for
and I'm going to give every little bit to get to it.