Michael Jordan - USA v NBA Stars 1984 

Some people have said the NBA team wasn't really trying. But I don't buy that. Bird and Thomas definitely look like they wanted to win.

i met santa clause when i was 20

@@jeffreyyoungblood7438 lol not trying, they lost every game to college players, NBA players are competitive af, i doubt their pride would let them not try

in 1989 there was a summer all-star game in San Diego with Jordan, Magic, Drexler, and others. at halftime, my friend and I followed the teams into the tunnel (as if we belonged), and no one said anything. We hung out the entire half with all the players, MJ included. I didn't talk to him, but I did talk to Tony Campbell (not Elden) who was Magic's teammate with the Lakers. Clyde Drexler and Charles Smith (Knicks) were also cool.

@Constitutional Conservative lol, I was actually 19 going on 20.

I’ve watched this game 20 times. Knowing what he was going to become it is surreal

Magic wasn’t there either

I knew Knight cut Barkley, but why Stockton?

@@JermaineBulls preferred his boy, Alford

Yep, Barkley didn't meet Knight's weight goal for him. Thought he was lazy, uncommitted.

Karl Malone was cut too.

Wtf do u do

Such a different game. No one could shoot the deep ball back then. Everything was muck and grind in the paint.

Yep

​@CosmosHOSS It's not that they couldn't shoot it. The coaches just didn't see the 3 ball as an advantage back then.

Nah, mike was too busy 💩ing on his teammates.

This was just 1 of 8 games that the Olympic team played against NBA All-Stars... and they won all 8 games.

I agree. There was so much footage and untold stories left out in the documentary. And it was edited as if they were being interviewed around the same time which left too much for negative interpretation by the younger generations.

@Dan Chapowski because it's interesting. To me, more so than yet another video covering Jordan's chapel hill days. These tune up games are largely unknown to all but the more hardcore of MJ fans... and even then, there's not been much discussion on them

@@cnelsonlv999 Jordan wasn't cutting down his teammates

Couldn't have said it better myself

And most of the team would go on to play in the Association.

Goat... Lebron was not on that team....

Jon Koncak and Joe Klein were garbage

​@bobbylong3100 you're an idiot

Yeah you right

@@spectren4538 ...Both of you are wrong!

davidca96 ...Jordan didn't change the NBA or the world. Stop the nonsense, okay? Jordanite!

Coach Knight knew. He said MJ was the best basketball player he ever seen before he got drafted

Pointless post of facts that everyone already knows

The TRUE GOAT.

everytime we talkin bout boxing some white guy starts talkin bout rocky marciano

@@pateder2163 “Larry Bird was good but compared to Michale Jordan, Larry bird ain’t Shii” 🤣

In this clip-it looks like the only guy on the NBA all-stars who was putting up a fight was Bird. I remember this, but yet not that well. Olympic team had Jordan, Ewing, Sam Perkins, and Chris Mullen🤣🤣🤣 Isiah making mistakes left & right. I never liked him.

@@pateder2163 Balboa is the greatest boxing heavy weight champion named Rocky, period!

From the USA side, I only recognize Ewing Mullin and Jordan as future All-Stars, and Sam Perkins was a recognizable name. Other than these, who else was noteworthy in the future....

@@nomooon Stockton & Barkley were left off the team or it could've been a hall of fame game.

@@nomooon Alvin Robertson was fire...

@@UnbiasedBrim wow 4 time all star too. Never knew.

@@nomooon he also had the highest average steals per game ever.

Hahaha

The joke is Dean Smith is the only one to hold MJ to under 20 points per game

Damn lol 😆That Mike Jordan was something else.

He was already drafted by this time and making endorsement deals

If dean had truly recognized mike’s talent the maybe he let’s jordan win him a couple of more ncaa titles

Bob knight said Jordan would be the greatest after he watched these game. Bob knight has seen some dudes with game. That’s pretty big compliment.

Way ahead and not only his time but today's as well.

Ben DC4L Lol

Wait, your here too?

Big Time Aze W a t

yawn

Size didn't mean anything to Jordan. He had the ability to defy gravity.

That's why you have to draft the best available player instead of what you need. Can't blame the rockets tho they got 2 out of Hakeem

They had Sampson could u imagine Jordan and prime Sampson? Damn

@Guillermo Guzman Hakeem was Great Though

@@andrewburgess-linden9612 Hakeem paid instant dividends (NBA finals) while it took Jordan several years to embrace the team concept. Jordan is my GOAT, however.

@@newerafrican he took several years to get above average teammates and coaching yet still he made the playoffs every year

He probably was thinking, "If this is the best the NBA has....💩"

Agreed, this is a classic example of why Jordan the 🐐🐐🐐

I'd like to see those college kids play the lakers,pistons and celtics in a real nba game..hahaha

For perspective, based on today's all star game, let's take a mix of YOUNG(pun intended), veteran and prime USA players.... (PG) Trae Young (SG) James Harden (SF) Khris Middleton (PF) Brandon Ingram (C) Anthony Davis I can't imagine how they'd lose to college kids (even if we pick the don't pick the better NBA all stars)

'92 College Select did try, pretty much loaded too. Grant Hill Allan Houston Chris Webber Juwan Howard Jamal Mashburn Bobby Hurley Penny Hardaway Eric Montross Rodney Rogers

Exactly. The rook was in full control. The vets couldn't really stop him. Like at all.

That might be true if #12 in white, THE GOAT wasn't out there.

​@FavreianVengeance Lol, that's why number 12 lost all 8 games. Looks like Jordan had some help and all of a sudden the legends in the 80's can't fuck with Jordan.

@@saltymonkey8874 Bird beat Jordan 14 times in a row, including two playoff sweeps. I couldn't imagine him getting his ass handed to him that bad under any circumstances. But you're right that Jordan needed a lot of help.

Everyone but the Blazers

@@adamhammond9985rockets passed on him also

@@TheSands83 you wanna know how great Hakeem was? He was drafted in front of Jordan and literally nobody ever blames them for it. What people don't know, is they totally blew it when POR offered them Clyde AND #2 for Ralph Sampson!

@@adamhammond9985 should have been because he’s not on Jordan’s level as a player. He’s great. Top 10-15 but they fucked up not takin jordan

@@TheSands83 they made the finals his second season. And by '95 he had 2 ships to Jordan's 3. That's not a major screw up. 2 all time great players, one wound up being the GOAT. Their pick was fine

😅

@Gram Looner yeh,dude. they are. nba a joke league today

@Gram Looner yeh. even wnba is embarrassed to be associated.

@Gram Looner They play a more rugged, manly version of the game than the little bitches of the NBA.

The game today is so unbalanced. It's hard to watch and gets boring seeing these players just jacking 3s 80% of the time.

Gram Looner do u still watch today game or just highlights. Hard to watch without failing sleep.

I just came here from a lbron in highschool press conference where he dominated little boys before he was drafted and the bronsexuals were so proud. While mj dominated nba all star men before he was drafted.

@@davidvickers8425 The term "bronsexual" is so very odd to me... Being a fan of somebody, and being sexually attracted to that person, are extremely different things. I completely idolized Jordan in my younger years. I wrote reports about him in school, even. The only thing LeBron ever had over him was his size, and probably passing ability. James never considered himself a scorer, just a basketball player who tries to make the best in-game decisions. I don't think LeBron is, or ever was, as deadly of a scorer, as Jordan was. I also don't think LeBron, at his peak, was as good as Jordan, at his peak. However, longevity definitely means something. That is why I gotta give LeBron James the edge, and say that he is the greatest basketball player of all time. (It's accumulative)

@@LukeElectric You must be stupid, LeBron James never went to college, he was not mature. MJ retired 2 times yet had 6 championship rings. James was young , missed college games so he has had more opportunities to win in the NBA! Jordan knew how to speak to the press. James is an ever loving Chinese communist. MJ is the GOAT!

@@davidvickers8425 This is a bad take David, don’t let your feelings get in in the way of truth. MJ was drafted that year and was 22 by the end of the season. At 22 Bron was in the finals with the Cavs, cmon bro!!

@@LukeElectric You ended up being a bronsexual. LeCramp not even better than Bird or Dream. Not even better than Shaq. 6'9" 260 pounds freak of nature n has spent his whole career flopping as a fish. Most overrated player ever

Glad you wrote this. To watch Bird and Thomas together on the same team gave me chills. If they had been teammates, they either would have killed each other or been the greatest tandem of all time. Maybe rivalling Jordan and Pippen.

Ya, Bird was given the nod of top small forward of all time over Lebron James and Isiah was #2 after Magic all time at PG. I am inclined to agree with the G.O.A.T.

@@craigbabbitt7776 how is bird over bron?

@@JohnDoe-pk6fm Because you haven't even had an open mind to even watch Bird and see why

@@JohnDoe-pk6fmsimple, bird is a clutch player James is the choke king and excuses king . Bird would played would play in pain bron wouldn’t bron claims to be the goat. Bird has never made that claim.

Alvin was sick until he turned into an alcoholic

For real. That defense is scary

Patrick Ewing is a easily better Center than what the NBA All Stars had. Best shotblocker in this game, best rebounder easily.

Greatness

This team was so good that they cut John Stockton and Charles Barkley.

+trha2222 Alright haha.

+jay w Damn bru haha, that's too cold man.

+jay w I hear you. Video games are cool but nothing is ever as impressive as real life to me in terms of sports. Hell the video game industry said recently that they had trouble replicating Stephen Curry in a video game because they couldn't keep up with his shooting, that should tell you something about video games compared to real life players.

Dunk on Jerry Curl Reed.

I know. Imagine being an NBA all star getting posterized by a college kid like that.

Remember that in 1984 college ball was WAY higher level than now. Pre everyone leaves after their freshman season.

madhavyu I used to be amazed a mop up boy had to chase Ewing up and down the court every play, especially when he went to the foul line. I've never seen it since

😰 😂😁😅

H

madhavyu lmfao

You funny, he was sweaty as hell😅

All on the 92 dream team also

And Stockton

a PG rotation of Robertson and Stockton NEXT to Jordan is an absolute frontcourt defensive nightmare

@@perryellis1423 And mullen

No kidding. What a heck of a surprise for the seasoned NBA veterans!

Moa Def

Now a days players would complain that Knight is to rough. They would also cry and crack and demand a new coach.

@@Johnkoth Bobby knight wouldn't pull that with grown men or players with strong fathers like MJ...told MJ not to go baseline and he did anyways 😂😂

I wonder how they would have gotten along if Jordan went to Indiana instead of UNC considering they aren't much different from each other

Bobby Knight loved MJ. He loved MJ’s heart. Bobby Knight didn’t care so much if you won or lost as much as he wanted you to bleed on the court. And that’s what MJ did every time he stepped on the floor

The college kids won 6 out of 8 in 1988 including an 11 point victory when Jordan played. They are called exhibition games for a reason.

It would of been cool if Magic Johnson , Bernard king , and maybe Dr. J could of played this game.

I wouldn't say so here. I would say he was best college player though.

@@meg-k-waldrennope he was goat

@@meg-k-waldren Wrong. Many coaches already called MJ the greatest of all time before he even set foot in the NBA during this period

@@NoxLegend1 no they didn’t you clown

@walk hard yea right. Wade was better. Kobe gambled Alot on defense. His block and steal stats aren't impressive really. His all defense awards were really just given to him in the later part of his career.

I agree Wade was much better at defense than Kobe. Also the best shot-blocking guard of all time.

@walk hard Really? Kobe is a legendary player but defense was definitely his weakness.

shooting guard maybe but best defensive guard was John Stockton. most steals ever. not even close

Kobe was a better on ball defender than D Wade. Wade was a better shot blocker.

He had drug addict teammates in his early seasons. 1985-86 Bulls team outside MJ was probably worst playoff team ever yet MJ almost win them a game or two in that series against HOF stacked Boston Celtics. It took Pippen to mature, good role players, and a coach like Phil Jackson to piece it altogether. Then in 1995-96 the one time you could say MJ played on a Super Team with him, Pippen (Top 50 ever, All Defense Team), Rodman (All Defense Team, Rebounding Champion, and before you down his offense he had teams double teaming him because of his Offensive Rebounding), Kukoc (6th Man of Year and one of the greatest Overseas players ever), Harper (maybe not the scoring threat he was with Cavs and Clippers earlier in his career but still capable of getting 20+ points any game and was a lockdown defender). They went 72-10 with the Ring.

Kucoch was good, but the overseas players sucked back then compared to now. I doubt now he's even a top 15 overseas player. Pippen was the only other player than Jordan on that team that was an all time great. Jordan is head and shoulders above everyone though including Magic and Bird.

@@acl1218 you will be forgiven for that because you are clearly young!!

@@jayzee7538 or that they played against better and more well established teams.. just because you read something doesn’t mean you should take it as gospel.. they took their time make key changes just like the GSW did..

It’s more so how good the Celtics were at the time that’s really why it took him awhile to get to the finals

To be honest the NBA players were not playing to win they were there to give team experience

Lucianodadon be real would they risk injury just to shut up a few college kids and some of those nba players were not all stars. Bird , Thomas, Aguirre and maybe Two more there job was get the young boys confidence up and experience. And don’t forget they didn’t play the soviets team. Now if the NBa team really wanted to win they would cane with more effort but why ?

Lucianodadon yes they gave pride and yes I play basketball and football these games were exhibition games . At that time if that 1984 team had played soviet team during an exhibition they would have lost because back then the college players would only played together for a few days or couple weeks at most were Soviet’s team been together for months if not years and be talented enough to play NBA teams. So how do you get a young and talented but inexperience team ready to play in olympics. Let them scrimmage against pro players. The goal was to win gold medal not beat a nba group of players. The nba players played hard enough to make Olympic team better as a team and toughen them up. So tell what did the Olympic team win for wining those scrimmages and what did the nba players lose by not winning on scoreboard. The nba owners are not going let nba players risk injury . But they will let them play a few scrimmages to help TeamUSA build confidence. It was no guarantee 84 team would win and if the Soviet Teams has played it could have been a different outcome. Those teams send there best and grown men to play. That’s why the pros played to get those boys ready . It wasn’t their goal to win

It wasn't exactly a bunch of college kids. That team was actually loaded! Most of those guys still hold records in the NBA so they were pretty good just young at the time.

@@michaelleslie6992 I'll buy that for 1 game but they got beat like 8 times and trust me they tried

And a good music career too.

@@Donotask2323 Yes. Fabulous bass player

Wayman Tisdale's jazz album "Power Forward" is amazeballs.

We loved him in Indiana!! Forever a Pacer❤❤❤

That much contact on a dunk gets people ejected now days lol

@@joemattox7525 The game really is different. Every shot, even every dunk was contested back then. Today is the day of open jumpers, and often even uncontested dunks.

@forestgump8357 I understand why the game has evolved the way it has. How many careers back in the 80's and 90's would have been much longer and injury free if the game were played like it is today? They gradually started calling more and more fouls. Look at the raptors/Vince Carter vs the bucks with Ray Allen. The bucks made it a point to hammer Vince Carter every time he came in the paint. They really did a number on him. After the game they made it publicly known that it was their game plan the entire time. They had everyone they could spare wailing on VC because he would shut down and stop driving in because of the contact. So the next game between them was in Toronto. The raptors did the same thing to Ray Allen just to get even. This game turned into something you would see in professional wrestling. To me, more physicality is more fun watching but at the same time, I understand having to protect careers

@@joemattox7525 Very thoughtful response. I just wish that there could be some fusion of the intensity and out and out battles of the 80's and 90's with more on court safety they have today. Todays guys are often exceptional shooters, so much of the intensity is gone though. I will agree, on breakaways when there was a clothesline tackle of a foul, that should have been an auto ejection back in the day. As it was it was simply a "hard foul" where your opponent had been warned.

​​​@@joemattox7525don't understand it. They're not playing football ffs. Protect careers and turn it into shooting with no contested shots and pay the insane money. Yeah, great game. Injures happen. Earn your money

MJ had completed his Junior season and had been drafted by the Bulls three weeks before this exhibition game.

He hadn’t even played an nba game yet and he was clearly the best player on the court vs nba all-stars in their prime.

...on both offense AND defense.

Well stupid coach Bobby Knight left off the team a great player in Charles Barkley! glad to see Barkley got to play in the 1972 Olympics. For what ever reason Knight liked to dominate practices and did not stand for back talk from Barkley. Charles told it like it is, and knight was appalled!

@@pdgutierrez8784 You mean 1992 Olympic Team. The United States lost in 1972.

i know Houston got Akeem but they suffered as well. Not as bad as Blazers tho

The trailblazers have made a CAREER of making TERRIBLE player choices. Oden over Durant. Mychal Thompson over bird. larue martin over bob McAdoo. Terrible choices.

***** False

***** some would argue that the only reason houston won the two titles they did is because jordan was swinging a bat

***** Yeah Hakeem won two before MJ and YOU were born before your parents

Right... players today might be bigger, stronger and faster, but lack so much pure basketball skill. This to me is much better to watch than the 3 pt shootout and dunk contest that NBA games have become.

It's the fundamentals, players back then were hammered down learning that.

legioner cebu facts

If that's how you want to spin it. James never played college ball, Jordan did. James was younger.

Jordan outperform an NBA ALL-STAR team (8-0) while still in collage. Lebron?????

@@HessocreeD000 right on

International???? All them MFS from the states. U c the roster. Except Ewing

josefino72 2008 Olympic Team would've smoked them easily Who's guarding Kobe?!

@@dumisatonyjohnson8145 MJ OBVIOUSLY

@@dumisatonyjohnson8145 read my guy. He said the greatest college Olympic team

Look up the team that beat the dream team tho...

@@foclorelu4695 losing in a scrimmage is irrelevant.

Ewing was a Beast with Georgetown

Ewing run the floor like that on his first 5-6 years. Go watch the Knicks' BOMB SQUAD from '88-89 season and look who is running and rebounding all around to allow Newman, Jackson, Tucker, Strickland and Wilkins fire away at will

Ewing was very mobile until he had knee issues around ‘92. If you watch him pre-knee issues and post knee issues, he is 2 different players. After he knees went he became a plodding and slow power guy but prior he was very mobile

All very true 👍👍🏀

Athletically yes, but birds skill was on another level.

Bird was hands down the best NBA player at this point and the fact it was even a conversation if he was better than MJ at this point is incredible. The 63 point game definitely wasn’t the first time Bird had that “god disguised as Michael Jordan” thought.

@@bradjpeter yeah, but bird understood the team dynamic. Bird wasn't stingy, and his skills made everyone around him better. Once MJ realized that he was unstoppable.

@@echoromeo384 Absolutely, Bird was the greater player and a winner at this point. I'm just saying it's incredible that people, including Bird and Knight, were already talking about MJ possibly being the best pure basketball player already. Before he had even played a single pro game.

😂😂😂 11>6

@@Zoomboomdoom414 ohh when refs where gambling and making calls for mj and going to prision??..or when the NBA was full of janitors and carpenters??...KEEP the excuses coming ill send them right back!!...11>6 ....ill even do you one better, put mj record against KAREEM??😂😂😂 you lose again!!

@@cchoice4919 So you think Robert Horry greater than Lebron?

Dominique Wilkins says "Hold my beer". Actually he had already been in the league for a couple of years. He was equally as athletic as MJ, just not the extreme intensity / drive.

​@@tkuebler9561that's a highlight film

Interesting perspective. I watched this and thought the opposite. Today's players are much better.

JohnNY XD Wang today's players are better at dribbling and passing, and dunking for sure! Today's player have the Euro-step, which old school players didn't do at all. Floaters are better today. Today's players are better at speed; look how fast they get down the court. They're also better at stamina as they can run at a fast pace all game. We have better shooters, and whatever other skill we'd like to compare. The coaches are also better today. Trainers are better. Sports medicine is better today. It would be much more difficult for you to name something that we humans aren't better at today than we were in the 80s/90s.

Thank You anybody that says that is loopy

I recently seen an old high school video of Oscar robinson going up for a block and he touched the top of the square on the backboard. His elbow was over the rim. Crazy and that had to be from the 50s. How many superior high school athletes do you see do that today

Montaz Meah II tf do u mean marcilounus is the one who introduced the euro. U don’t know ur history

Bird was better, but MJ was coming fast.

The Olympic team is now made up of NBA players.

The NBA players now need to take care of their "feelings". They won't be able to handle humiliation. Kevin Durant for one.

They wouldn’t play for real anyway NBA All Star game SUCKS and has been for years

@@bossjimcurrysir3446 don't forget lecrybaby james

LeBron did this already

and the youngins now say Bird passing is crap and well below Lebron...yeah right i dont think so

it's cause Bird is white and unathletic....acheiving a 50-40-90 in a 4 year stretch on an era of tough defense proves them wrong...nobody will probably ever break that record

& Mullins & Thomas!

wolfsden3 Isiah was not on the dream team but dream team 2 in 96

The original Dream team was not in 1992. It was with Jerry West and Oscar Robertson.

History man. History! Never to be repeated again.

Umm Larry Bird was on the dream team too.

The 1960 had the better roster but when u have the goat anything could happen

@Dave Wesley Agreed. Even Magic once said if he and Bird ever played on the same team during their prime NBA years, the league could have just mailed in the stats, because no one would have beaten them.

This was not an amateur team, college basketball has a huge professional infrastructure behind it. In no way shape or form was it a true amateur team.

@@abejones9218 except for the fact that they weren't professionals

@Dave Wesley Bird says Jordan is the greatest ever

I didn’t know you could inbound to yourself!

Right.. thats when Bird & Magic ran the NBA they let them do anything..lol

@Patton I guess the game has gotten soft now.....

That team could have won the NBA title: Jordan, Ewing, Perkins, Mullin & Robertson as your five? Sounds good to me. A team of NBA all-stars couldn't beat them.

iss You guys are crazy. A team of amateurs isn't going to beat a team of pros over the course of a year.

Don't forget Leon Wood became an NBA red after

1stround knockouts Should of had 4...Barkley was selected, but pissed off Knight by showing up overweight and got dismissed

Jack W At least three hall-of-famers on the Olympic side...

And a scab he crossed the picket line

@@sfrank8687 Nobody cares about that in 2022.

@@pisces363 I do because my uncle was a ref!!!!! That's why I care

@@sfrank8687 Okay, other than you and maybe your family members, nobody cares. He did what he felt like he had to do years ago. It’s not relevant now, except to you.

@@pisces363 I'm from Philadelphia and when his name comes up we talk about how much of a bust he was

Pretty strong contest by Reid too. Great play on both ends.

This was pre-poster prints. LOL. Once magazines started making posters of dunkees, defenders started being more careful with how they challenge

Exactly!

no he wasnt. he was around 20 still in college. lebron kobe and kevin garnett, were already all-stars in the nba by that age.

"Ahead of his time" refers to that particular time period (Summer, 1984). Athletically and stylistically, MJ was ahead of others (i.e. pros) at that time even though he'd yet to play in the NBA. In the summer of 1984, KG was 8, Kobe was 6, and LeBron had not yet been born.

+uriwvu AND I WAS BORN 3 DAYS AFTER..🏃🛫👩‍👩‍👧‍👦👩‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👩‍👦‍👦🛬🏃🏀

uriwvu you killed that guys comment with facts lol

@@uriwvu not turning this into a Jordan v Bron thing but this is why Jordan would not dominate today's NBA the way he did in the 80s and 90s (and that's no knock on Jordan...Isiah was similarly ahead of his time as well...Kyrie is similar to Isiah as Kobe is to Mike). Many players today are just as athletic (maybe even more so) as Jordan was, while being taller and stronger. To prove my point it wouldn't be fair to even mention Bron so let's imagine Westbrook playing against the NBA players here. Nuff said.

His transition?

@@nuevaN.M He passed away in May 2009 from Cancer Treatment.

@@malachigross4486 Had no idea he'd passed away. Pretty cool though that you were able to hang out with him.

@@nuevaN.M I was an advisor and personal assistant. So we where pretty close. He was amazing! Thanks so much Mark.

Unless you’re playing against the Celtics 😂