Michael Jordan Forced Charles Barkley & Others on Team USA to Give Up Personal Agendas With Powerful Gesture

Michael Jordan had already racked up pretty much everything, and mind you, this is until his basketball break. An NCAA Championship in 1982, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1985, and his first NBA Championship with the Chicago Bulls in 1991 (yes, ’93 too, but we will wait). He also won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team in 1984 and was named the NBA MVP in 1988 and 1991. Winning was basically second nature to him at that point. So when the 1992 Dream Team came around, MJ wasn’t feeling it. But then Magic Johnson stepped in and somehow convinced him to give it another go.

The 1992 Dream Team was loaded with legends: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and more. The mission was simple: make a statement and dominate. They steamrolled Croatia in the gold-medal game, 117 to 85, with Chuck Daly calling the shots from the sidelines. But with all those egos and superstar personalities, sparks were bound to fly. That’s where Michael Jordan stepped in, making a key sacrifice that kept everyone in check.

Magic Johnson opened up during the LA Dodgers All-Access event, saying, “Outside the Lakers, it was the greatest basketball I have ever really been involved in. Chuck Daly took care of the egos on day one. He called us into a meeting and said, ‘Michael Jordan gonna be the captain of the Dream Team.’ Michael said, ‘No, I don’t deserve to be the captain. Magic and Larry should be the captain.’ So when he did that, everybody had to leave their egos at the door, and so Larry and I led the team.”

The 1992 Olympic roster featuring Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, and John Stockton was pure legend. With so many powerful personalities, clashes were almost inevitable, and Barkley’s own dominating nature only added fuel to the fire.

Both he and Jordan, 1984 draftees, were central figures on what many call the most dominant team ever assembled in any sport. Barkley even led Team USA in scoring (144 pts) and efficiency, proving he was far more than a supporting piece. Though he and Jordan became close friends in Barcelona, their bromance eventually fell apart in the early 2010s, highlighting how clashing personalities were always part of the dynamic. So, in giving up the captaincy, he set the tone that personal glory had to take a backseat to the team’s success as the Dream Team won all eight of their matches by an average margin of 44 points!

They came back from Spain, Jordan won 2 more rings with the Bulls in ’92 and ’93 before deciding to follow baseball, all for the love of his father. After a brief break, the big man came back to his ‘home’, the hardwood, to win 3 more rings with the Bulls, but stayed grounded forever.

Even after winning his fifth NBA championship in 1997, Michael Jordan was asked by SLAM Magazine where he put himself compared to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. MJ didn’t hesitate:

“I don’t put myself above them,” Jordan said. “I think that we’re all on parallel ground here. They educated me about a lot of things about the game from a team standpoint. So I can’t put myself above... I had an opportunity to go against them in the peak of their careers while I was still young. And I went against them when I was at the peak of mine when they was on the other end. So it was a passing of trends there…I like to consider myself parallel to them.”

In the playoffs, Jordan never got past Bird (0-6), but he did manage to beat Magic once (1-4). Those 1986 and 1987 first-round series against Bird and the Celtics were brutal for Jordan and the Bulls, though Game 1 and 2 in ’86 were unforgettable—Jordan dropped 49 and an NBA-record 63 points, yet on a losing cause! Together, these three legends racked up 14 championships, and of course, they teamed up for the iconic 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona. But did MJ really feel that Larry and Magic were better than him?

Was Michael Jordan better than Magic Johnson and Larry Bird?

Jordan’s résumé towers over almost anyone’s in basketball history. He dominated offensively with 10 scoring titles while also proving elite on defense, being the only guard ever to win both a scoring title and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season (1988). His six championships in six tries, paired with six Finals MVPs, gave him an untouchable aura of perfection on the biggest stages. Add in his five MVPs and a career 30.1 scoring average, and Jordan set the standard for two-way dominance and clutch greatness. That said, Magic and Bird’s impact can’t be dismissed when weighing “better.”

Lakers legend Magic Johnson revolutionized the point guard position at 6’9”, leading the Lakers to five championships in the ’80s. His 42-point, 15-rebound, 7-assist masterpiece as a rookie in the 1980 Game 6 Finals remains one of the greatest single-game performances in history. Across his career, he spent his whole career with the Lakers, averaged 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 11.2 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks, and racked up three MVPs. Bird, meanwhile, became the face of Boston’s resurgence.

He won three MVPs in a row (1984–1986) while delivering three titles (with 2 Final MVPs), highlighted by his 1986 run where he averaged 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in the Finals. His clutch shooting and complete game cemented him as perhaps the most skilled forward of his era.

In many ways, the debate hinges on what one values most: Jordan’s perfect Finals record and historic scoring feats, Magic’s ability to lead a dynasty that went 5–4 in the Finals, or Bird’s blend of elite scoring, playmaking, and winning that carried Boston to three titles. Jordan may hold the statistical edge and global fame, but Magic and Bird’s head-to-head battles—like the 1984 and 1987 Finals—were the foundation for the NBA’s popularity explosion. Without their nine combined rings in the ’80s, Jordan’s stage in the ’90s may not have been as bright.