NOTEBOOK SAN JUAN – Larry Bird says the Dream Team he played on in 1992 had something very special.
“We can put together a team every year that would be a Dream Team,” said the Indiana Pacers coach. “The one thing we had about the team in 1992, we had a lot of older players who had been in the league a long time, players who had won championships.
We had everything – shooters, rebounders, passers, scorers and all of us were together and had played in the NBA for a number of years, so it was a great team, no question about it. We had all paid our dues.”
Bird, who has a lucrative deal with Miller beer, one of the sponsors of this Olympic qualifying tournament, faced questions ranging from his views on the original Dream Team matchups to subsequent Dream Teams to his position on if he would allow Mark Jackson to play for the Dominican Republic.
When a reporter observed that this year’s Dream Team is more athletic than the ’92 team, Bird used humor to make his point.
“Obviously,” said Bird, “your eyesight is not as good as it used to be.”
When the reporter persisted, Bird went from humor to cold hard reality.
“Who’s out there that’s more athletic than Michael Jordan?” asked Bird. Case closed. *
Jackson is runored to be a late addition to the Dominican Republic team because he claims his grandmother is a native of that country. Bird said if Jackson is ruled to eligible to play for the Dominican Republican, he would have no qualms about his point guard taking part in international competition.
“I’m very happy for Mark,” said Bird. “I want all my players to play in the summer time. I always tell our plays to stay in condition during the summer time because it cuts down on injuries when the season starts.”
A reporter than jokingly asked Bird if he heard that Reggie Miller’s mother was Puerto Rican.
“My grandmother is from Puerto Rico,” quipped Bird. “If you want, I’ll play.”