Spike Lee Watched Jordan, Magic, Barkley Play Cards For Eight Hours During `92 Olympics

Zachary Draves | Jul 26, 2024

Feb 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Movie director Spike Lee attends the 73rd NBA All Star game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Filmmaker Spike Lee captured the greatness of the 1992 Dream Team first hand, but without a camera in hand

One night in Barcelona, he was in a hotel room watching legends Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Charles Barkley play cards for nearly eight hours. Lee shared the story with SI/Now in 2013.

"I don't play poker, I don't play cards," he said. "Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and me all in one room for eight hours. I wish I could have had a camera in there. That was the funniest sh, you know what the rest is, I've ever hear in my life. For eight hours these guys was just going at it. Talking about oh your mother this and they were throwing down the cards on the table. Think about this, Jordan, Barkley, and Magic, just the four of us for eight hours and they had a game the next morning and I left, I left after six hours."

Lee again mentioned the story on ESPN's First Take in 2020 while talking about Jordan's stamina.

"So I know Michael Jordan only needed a couple hours of sleep" he said.

Jordan had arguably the most energy out of anyone on the Dream Team with his frequent golf games in addition to basketball practices and sight-seeing.

But it's a real shame Lee didn't bring a camera into that hotel room.

Zachary Drave is a contributor to Back In the Day NBA. He can be reached at zdraves1013@gmail.com and on Instagram @zdraves0633.

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