Michael Jordan was a star even before he came to the NBA. His Airness had an Olympic gold medal to show off to his colleagues in the NBA after entering the league in 1984. Although it is a huge achievement to win a gold in the Olympics for any athlete in the world of sports, there was a time when Jordan didn’t want any part of it. Sam Smith’s controversial book The Jordan Rules dived deep into what were the reasons behind it. His Airness was hesitant due to his past experiences while playing for his country, which left a bitter taste for him.

His Airness was shaken by Team USA’s then-head coach Bobby Knight’s antics during the 1984 stint. The youngster could not comprehend the stressful environment despite being the best on the court.

Michael Jordan was hesitant to play for Team USA in 1992 because of past experiences

The Chicago Bulls no. 23 was hesitant to play for Team USA, popularly remembered as the Dream Team, in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for a multitude of reasons. Even though NBA players were finally allowed to play in the Olympics, Jordan wanted to stay away from the experience. The chief reason was obviously the fatigue factor after withstanding a grueling NBA season. However, there were possibly other reasons. His last stint playing for the country was demotivating because of the antics of USA head coach, Bobby Knight.

According to the book Jordan Rules, Bobby Knight wasn’t exactly the definition of a calm coach. Smith explained through Jordan’s testimony how Team USA’s assistant coach, George Raveling helping a young Patrick Ewing didn’t sit well with Knight. 

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Raveling in an attempt to help Ewing with his homesickness took him out and got back pretty late at night. Subsequently, Ewing wasn’t playing well on the court the next day, making Knight go all off on Raveling.

“He’s [Bobby Knight] saying, ‘You MF,  it’s your fault he’s playing like sh*t. You kept him out late, you MF.’ ” recalled Jordan. He further added, “And Raveling’s yelling, ‘F you, it ain’t my fault that he can’t hit a shot. F you. And the two of them, they’re cursing and yelling at each other on the bench all game and we’re winning, killing the other team.”

All this happened while the USA Basketball team cruised to the gold medal at the 84′ Olympics. Naturally, Jordan felt that this kind of environment wasn’t suitable for him. 

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Although His Airness had his reservations, he came back in 1992, forming the Dream Team, an iconic team that had the best basketball players in the world. Fortunately, this time the team was coached by Chuck Daly. Therefore, MJ had no issues with the coaching staff.

The Dream Team of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics

The USA basketball team at the Barcelona Olympics was aptly named the ‘Dream Team’. With the likes Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson on the squad, it was one of the most legendary combinations ever assembled.

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With the legendary players in the squad, the ‘Dream Team’ cruised to victory and won their first gold medal in the pro era. They held a perfect record of 8-0 destroying every team in their path.