Dream Team: Birth of the Modern Athlete

Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Michael Jordan enter a league that only a few years prior had been on the verge of collapse. Against the backdrop of the 1980s, a generation of talent transforms the NBA into an economic powerhouse and a cultural force. As the 1980s become the 1990s, these players achieve stardom, huge stars not only in sports, but pop culture at large. In the lead-up to the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona, bonds are formed, rivalries are stoked, and relationships are tested.

Controversy follows the Dream Team as the squad descends on Barcelona. As the players mingle with fans and media, the public cant decide whether the American basketball stars are idols or bullies. On the court, the team sets a new standard for athletic dominance, but the most important game of all happens behind closed doors. Its existence is proven by unearthed video footage of the intersquad scrimmage nicknamed "The Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw."

Following the 1992 Olympics, NBA stars reach unseen levels of cultural, economic, and athletic dominance, but subsequent Olympic squads struggle to live up to the Dream Teams example. Star athletes must now decide how to use their newfound influence within the league and beyond the world of sports. While each member of the Dream Team finds life after basketball, the ripple effect of the 1992 squad comes into focus as global basketball explodes in the years following the Barcelona Olympics.