Dream Team: Birth of the Modern Athlete Episode Rating Graph

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.

Dreams become reality as the final roster for the 1992 Men's Olympic Basketball team is introduced to the world. Just as the team begins its quest for global domination, an announcement from Magic Johnson shocks the world and throws his future into question. In the face of overwhelming scrutiny from the media, the Dream Team players realize they must overcome personal differences and chemistry issues to prove their legitimacy.

Controversy follows the Dream Team as the squad descends on Barcelona. As the players mingle with fans and media, the public can't 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."

A triumphant Dream Team returns from Barcelona to a transformed NBA. As Magic Johnson and Larry Bird decide to retire, old rivalries re-emerge and new feuds are forged. When Michael Jordan temporarily retires, it leaves a power vacuum in the league that his former Olympic teammates compete to fill. As the Dream Team members mentor a new class of talent, they are forced to reckon with the ways they transformed the league and the culture of professional athletes.

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 Team's 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.