This is the Strength of the Number One Active Basketball Player

Goodwin warmly welcomed the three of them, but he had already guessed the purpose of their visit.

After all, if they were merely catching up, there was no need for all three to come together.

Sure enough, after a round of pleasantries, both sides immediately got down to business.

Mike Krzyzewski said without hiding anything, "Goodwin, we came to invite you to join the Dream Team as its core. Without you, the Dream Team would be like a body without a soul!"

Mike Krzyzewski was actually quite helpless. He knew very well that if Goodwin refused, Kobe Bryant would definitely withdraw as well.

That would mean the Dream Team would lose two superstars, and their chances of winning Olympic gold would plummet.

And if they failed to win the championship, Mike Krzyzewski did not even dare imagine how the outside world would judge him.

As for why Goodwin and Kobe Bryant had to join the Dream Team—even without them, the team still had plenty of elite players and could assemble a powerful roster—Mike Krzyzewski knew that only with Goodwin and Kobe Bryant could the Dream Team become truly competitive and secure the gold medal.

The facts were right there, too.

What kind of roster did they have at the 2004 Athens Olympics? Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion, Carlos Boozer, Richard Jefferson, Lamar Odom—weren't they all All-Stars?

Yet they only came away with bronze.

At the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the Dream Team's roster was equally stacked: Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier, Chris Bosh, Elton Brand, Hinrich, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, Joe Johnson, Brad Miller, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade.

Which one of them was not the core of an NBA team and an All-Star?

And the result? Only third place.