The Dream Team Tapes
Season 1 was the #1 New Sports Podcast of 2020 and covered 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 Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone and the others. Renowned sportswriter and author Jack McCallum was there with the guys and brings us the thrilling memories, personal stories, and sometimes surprising anecdotes of the twelve historic players.
Season 2 joining Jack McCallum with J.A. Adande for an epic examination of the incomparable 2008 US Olympic Men's Basketball Team and the legendary players that defined a new generation of NBA basketball. They talk to players and coaches including Carmelo Anthony, Phil Jackson, Jason Kidd, Chris Bosh, Robert Horry, Jerry Colangelo, Deron Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and more, bringing you an insider's study in athletic challenge, transformation, and ultimate victory. Assembling icons like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade, The Redeem Team composed the greatest single team since the superlative Dream Team of Jordan, Johnson, and Bird from 1992. The US team was in shambles following the rise of Olympic teams around the world and their humiliation at the 2004 Games. It was the gold medal in ’08 or total failure — there was nothing in between. What The Redeem Team achieved signaled a total rebirth of USA Basketball —and some would say basketball in general — whose legacy we are living out today.
1
S212: Bonus Episode pt. 2
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 we're bound to have a reduced NBA schedule in the future. Our takes on the state of the NBA game--are there just too many threes being hurled up unless Steph Curry is shooting them?- are also covered in this loaded discussion.
30 min
2
S2E11: Bonus Episode pt. 1
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 U.S. faces in the upcoming Olympic Games, are rolled out on the first of two bonus episodes.
44 min
3
S2E10: La Busqueda Para El Oro (The Search For ...
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, Dwayne Wade and, of course, the late, great Mamba. Interviews with Craig Miller, Mike D'Antoni, Chris Bosh, Coach K, Sean Ford, Jason Kidd, Deron Williams.
46 min
4
S2E9: Cruising and Snoozing
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 even ponder the relative merits of Whitney Houston vs. Mariah Carey, Olympians in their own way. Interviews with Jerry Colangelo, Chris Bosh, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony, Jim Boeheim, Craig Miller and Mike D'Antoni.
55 min
5
S2E8: No Excuses
48 min
6
S2E7: Lucky 7's
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 summer of 2007, which one is really in charge on the court?
39 min
7
S2E6: Redeem Team BK: Before Kobe
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 of the FIBA World Championships.
40 min
8
S2E5: Coach K's Ways
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 streets of Chicago.
44 min
9
S2E4: The Godfather
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 Redeem Team great, including of course Mike Krzyzewski, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, but the first Great Man to come along and change the course of USA basketball's history was Jerry Colangelo. Colangelo has owned, general managed, and coached the Phoenix Suns basketball team, he was Chairman of Basketball Operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, he owned the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League, he was instrumental in relocating the Winnipeg Jets hockey team to become the Phoenix Coyotes, he built a basketball program at Grand Canyon University, and he's been president of the NBA Board of Governors. And that's not even the most interesting part of his bio. This episode also includes stories and interviews with Portland Trailblazer and Redeem Teamer Carmelo Anthony, Redeem Teamer and now assistant coach for the LA Lakers Jason Kidd, NBA champion and Redeem Teamer Deron Williams, and winningest coach in NBA history Phil Jackson, among others.
37 min
10
S2E3: The Future King and The Greek Tragedy
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 thrust into the spotlight at the 2004 Olympics. The experience is anything but golden and the U.S. Olympic program arrives at a crossroads. On this episode you'll hear from Dwyane Wade (Redeem Teamer, 3-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat, 13-time NBA All-Star), Carmelo Anthony (Redeem Teamer, 10-time NBA All-Star and current Portland Trail Blazer), Deron Williams (NBA champion, former Utah Jazz point guard, and Redeem Team member), Grant Wahl (Former senior writer for Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports correspondent, host of podcasts including "Fútbol with Grant Wahl" and "American Prodigy: Freddy Adu"), Craig Miller (USA Basketball's Chief Communications Officer extraordinaire, headed PR for the 1992 Dream Team and the 2008 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team), and Sean Ford (USA Basketball's National Team Director).
48 min
11
S2E2: Kobe's 1st Quarter
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 played the pivotal role of "team energizer." Hosts Jack McCallum and J.A Adande examine the young Kobe — fresh out of high school, clueless in many ways about the NBA baskeTball game — and, with a lot of Zen Master insight from guest (and winningest coach in NBA history) Phil Jackson — follow Kobe through the highs of championship glory, the painful lows of a sexual assault charge, and the dismantling of a mini-dynasty.
38 min
12
S2E1: On Top Of The World
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 “college guy” many first dismissed as unable to handle pro players) the US overcame the stifling embarrassment of their 2004 showing and won a decisive gold victory in 2008. Hosts Jack McCallum and J.A Adande begin a fascinating exploration of how the 2008 "Redeem Team" also succeeded in much more: it not only made the tough and fundamental move of changing a culture that had grown toxic in the years following the Dream Team’s world conquest in 1992 but also marked an historical inflection point in NBA basketball that set the stage for everything — and every superstar player — that has come since. Hear a revealing interview with current Portland Trailblazer and former Redeem Teamer, Carmelo Anthony, as well as interviews with Redeem Teamer and now assistant coach for the LA Lakers, Jason Kidd, the one and only Phil Jackson of numerous Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers NBA victories, and Coach K himself, Mike Krzyzewski.
28 min
13
Introducing Season 2: Kobe, LeBron & The Redeem...
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 legendary players that defined a new generation of NBA basketball, including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Jason Kidd. Season 2 features guests including Carmelo Anthony, Phil Jackson, Chris Bosh, Robert Horry, Jerry Colangelo, Deron Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and many more, bringing you an epic examination in athletic challenge, transformation, and ultimate victory.
1 min
14
Lasting Impressions (S1:E8)
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 is the Dream Team’s enduring legacy, one many did not see while they were beating teams by fifty points. Their participation in the Olympic did exactly what Boris Stankovic said it would do—it grew the game around the world. The course that the NBA is on right now, as the most international of all sports, was set in that fateful year of 1992.
28 min
15
Vive Barcelona (S1:E7)
The real story of the greatest team in NBA history
40 min
16
The Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw (S1:E6)
The real story of the greatest team in NBA history
22 min
17
The Once and Future King (S1:E5)
The real story of the greatest team in NBA history
19 min
18
A Magic Act Like No Other (S1:E4)
The real story of the greatest team in NBA history
19 min
19
The Cool Kids All Sign On...But They Don't Incl...
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 transgressions of Charles Barkley, Larry Bird’s reluctance to participate because of an aching back, and the never-ending discussion of why Isiah Thomas was not a Dream Teamer.
26 min
20
Boys To Men (S1: E2)
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 hidebound tradition. Almost everyone in this country thought: The Olympics were for the college kids. But someone in another country, a Serbian named Boris Stankovic, thought differently. This is the story of how he changed minds and rules, and from that cataclysmic decision emerged the 1992 Dream Team.
19 min
21
Why I Had to Pull Out the Operation Card to Get...
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 wondering why Clyde Drexler would suddenly start talking about why he was as good as Michael Jordan.
29 min
22
Extended Trailer Season 1: The Dream Team Tapes
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 Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone and the others. Renowned sportswriter and author Jack McCallum was there with the guys and brings us the thrilling memories, personal stories, and sometimes surprising anecdotes of the twelve historic players.
3 min
23
Trailer Season 1: Introducing The Dream Team Tapes
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 Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone and the others. Renowned sportswriter and author Jack McCallum was there with the guys and brings us the thrilling memories, personal stories, and sometimes surprising anecdotes of the twelve historic players.
1 min