Last Dance... ESPN (1 Viewer)

[zeetes]

Your looking through a lense based on what they went on to do in the NBA. At the time the Dream Team was selected, there wasn’t that much controversy about the selection of Laettner.

he was only selected because of coach k.

he was by far, not even close, to the best of the ncaa. blah blah whatever title he was given.

he proved that in the nba.

oh i forgot about grant hill, bobby hurley, jj redick, (lol danny ferry, joke of all jokes), etc. etc.

why was isiah thomas left off? it wasn't whitey laettner. jordan forced that sheet out of being a birch. that isn't competition; that is being a petty birch. too many stories collaborating him being a ho about it.

why was the chief (easily the best center, definitely best defensive, of that era) left off? er. omg he was a celtic.

the original dream team is a joke within itself.

 

[gavinj]

he was only selected because of coach k.

he was by far, not even close, to the best of the ncaa. blah blah whatever title he was given.

he proved that in the nba.

oh i forgot about grant hill, bobby hurley, jj redick, (lol danny ferry, joke of all jokes), etc. etc.

why was isiah thomas left off? it wasn't whitey laettner. jordan forced that sheet out of being a birch. that isn't competition; that is being a petty birch. too many stories collaborating him being a ho about it.

why was the chief (easily the best center, definitely best defensive, of that era) left off? er. omg he was a celtic.

the original dream team is a joke within itself.

You are caught up in hindsight rather than putting yourself in the position of the selection committee in 1992.

The last two spots went to Drexler and Laettner because of the positions they played. They didn’t know if Larry Bird and Chris Mullin were even going to be healthy enough to make it through the Olympics. Fortunately they did, but the team had to be ready to deal with potential injuries and Shaq and Mourning wouldn’t have been much help as outside shooters.

Put it this way, you are selecting backups.

Drexler could play the 1, 2, and 3.
Isaiah could play the 1.

Laettner could play the 3, 4, and 5.
Shaq could play the 5.

 

[zeetes]

You are caught up in hindsight rather than putting yourself in the position of the selection committee in 1992.

The last two spots went to Drexler and Laettner because of the positions they played. They didn’t know if Larry Bird and Chris Mullin were even going to be healthy enough to make it through the Olympics. Fortunately they did, but the team had to be ready to deal with potential injuries and Shaq and Mourning wouldn’t have been much help as outside shooters.

Put it this way, you are selecting backups.

Drexler could play the 1, 2, and 3.
Isaiah could play the 1.

Laettner could play the 3, 4, and 5.
Shaq could play the 5.

eh. i don't think a college player should have taken a spot of a proven athlete (which laettner proved to be an average, then below average in his career).

coach k is the only reason why he was on the team. anything else is meaningless, but that is the truth.

he stole a proven veteran's spot, no matter who.

 

[gavinj]

eh. i don't think a college player should have taken a spot of a proven athlete (which laettner proved to be an average, then below average in his career).

coach k is the only reason why he was on the team. anything else is meaningless, but that is the truth.

he stole a proven veteran's spot, no matter who.

They decided to put an amateur on the team a year before they decided who it was going to be.

And Isaiah Thomas’ coach, Chuck Daly, was the head coach of the Dream Team. And he’s the one who picked Chris Mullin lol.

 

[zeetes]

They decided to put an amateur on the team a year before they decided who it was going to be.

And Isaiah Thomas’ coach, Chuck Daly, was the head coach of the Dream Team. And he’s the one who picked Chris Mullin lol.

true.

very true.

 

[gpupil]

He was very good in spot duty...off the bench...if he could get open he was a pretty deadly shooter....but he wasn't going to play 30-40 minutes a game very often....

I completely agree about Kerr. He was really pushed in this doc to the point that I wonder if he gave a nice size contribution to the directors. Like you said a good shooter and very useful in spot duty, but the comparisons to Paxson were completely wrong. Paxson was a starting point guard on 3 championship teams. He was a much better all around player than Kerr.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

I completely agree about Kerr. He was really pushed in this doc to the point that I wonder if he gave a nice size contribution to the directors. Like you said a good shooter and very useful in spot duty, but the comparisons to Paxson were completely wrong. Paxson was a starting point guard on 3 championship teams. He was a much better all around player than Kerr.

I like Steve Kerr, but his legacy as a player is a bit overrated because of that one shot, and now that he's the coach of a very successful team, it sort of tints his playing career a bit. Definitely not the player Paxson was, but a good complementary player on that Bulls team.

He's also self-effacing, took a punch from Jordan and managed to build a relationship from there. It makes for good TV.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Your looking through a lense based on what they went on to do in the NBA. At the time the Dream Team was selected, there wasn’t that much controversy about the selection of Laettner.

There was a ton
Laettner over Shaq was just as confounding then as now - it wasn’t even Manning/Leaf level

 

[sfidc3]

If you have to pick one college player, you know that guy is going to be the 12th man on the 12 man roster. So you pick the guy with the most versatility who could play the most roles off the bench. It was the right choice.

The whole selecting one college player thing was a huge controversy back then...I get what you are saying as Laettner had a great college career (on a ridiculously talented Duke team) and he could shoot the ball well at the college level but he was just not quick or athletic enough to even sniff this team.

laettner proved to be laettner in the pros. white man that can't jump, or play. he was your token white guy. such a shame. he was just as useless in the pros as the team which should have included thomas, or at a minimum, shaq.

I wouldn't go that far, I certainly wasn't a Laettner fan (UMD fan who hated Duke) but he had a long and decent NBA career (13 years and 13 points and almost 7 RB's a game)...that is far from a "token" white guy...but he had absolutely no place on the Dream Team....

There was no way Isaiah was ever going to be on the Dream Team....

Your looking through a lense based on what they went on to do in the NBA. At the time the Dream Team was selected, there wasn’t that much controversy about the selection of Laettner.

How old were you back then? There was plenty of controversy about the Laettner selection....

I completely agree about Kerr. He was really pushed in this doc to the point that I wonder if he gave a nice size contribution to the directors. Like you said a good shooter and very useful in spot duty, but the comparisons to Paxson were completely wrong. Paxson was a starting point guard on 3 championship teams. He was a much better all around player than Kerr.

Totally agreed, they played different roles. I think the fact that Kerr had gone through a devastating loss (dad was murdered), worked his way into being a really good college player, got drafted into the NBA, stood up to Jordan in practice and hit some huge shots earned him a role in this doc...Not a huge fan of his (I can't stand GS) but I do think he was a significant part of the Bull's later success....

 

[gavinj]

How old were you back then? There was plenty of controversy about the Laettner selection...

20. Nah, there wasn’t much outside of Louisiana. It’s all right, it worked out for everyone involved except Isaiah Thomas.

 

[sfidc3]

20. Nah, there wasn’t much outside of Louisiana. It’s all right, it worked out for everyone involved except Isaiah Thomas.

I had been living in the DC area for a few years when this all happened. There was plenty of controversy about it here, I remember reading multiple articles in the WAPO and sports mags about it....

 

[Beast]

Present Tense to wrap it all up was such a perfect song. Pearl Jam were a huge 90s band. Eddie and Jeff grew up in Chicago. They were basketball fans (band's original name was Mookie Blaylock). I tweeted this, but the words and the sounds of the song are perfect. It starts slow and quietly, builds to a crescendo towards the end, and then the guitar at the end is just tailing off like fleeting moments of time. I got chill bumps when it started up.

 

[itztime]

Present Tense to wrap it all up was such a perfect song. Pearl Jam were a huge 90s band. Eddie and Jeff grew up in Chicago. They were basketball fans (band's original name was Mookie Blaylock). I tweeted this, but the words and the sounds of the song are perfect. It starts slow and quietly, builds to a crescendo towards the end, and then the guitar at the end is just tailing off like fleeting moments of time. I got chill bumps when it started up.

The friendship between Rodman and the band also.

Eddie Vedder Recalls When Dennis Rodman Surprised Him With Jane's Addiction Tickets

The 10-part Michael Jordan documentary series The Last Dance wrapped Sunday night (May 17), but Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder had one final story about Chicago Bulls power forward Dennis Rodman.

www.billboard.com

 

[Beast]

Read an article somewhere that said Eddie had actually mentioned Present Tense as representative of the '98 Bulls maybe 14 or 15 years ago. Wonder if they asked him about it since there was the friendship with Rodman as well.

 

[zeetes]

another goat. great video.