Dream Team Is Nightmare Only For Opposition

The thing about “Dream Teams” is they are too often a nightmare off the court. Even if the collection of stars manages to share the spotlight during play, they all leave in separate limos afterward.

Even on the dreamiest of Dream Teams, the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball squad, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley didn’t exactly make up a golfing foursome on off days.

On a different court, the United States has had its share of Davis Cup Dream Teams. Heck, Bill Tilden and anyone was a Dream Team throughout the 1920s. Don Budge and Bobby Riggs filled the bill in the ’30s, and Jack Kramer and Frank Schroeder did so in the ’40s. More recently, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe and doubles specialist Bob Lutz were a Dream Team in early ’70s.

Then there was John McEnroe, who was 41-8 in Davis Cup singles matches and teamed in doubles with Peter Fleming was 14-1. Add Jimmy Connors and it should have been an unbeatable mix. Instead, it was combustible soap opera.

Jimbo and Mac made Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant look like best buddies by comparison. Suffice to say, one seat at the team dinner table was always empty. If Connors was coming, you could count on McEnroe ordering room service. And vice versa. On the court they really didn’t get along. You actually had the feeling both were rooting against each other in their matches. Which brings us to the latest U.S. Davis Cup squad that will face Croatia in a first-round match next week at Home Depot Center in Carson. This isn’t a Dream Team, it’s a tight-knit family. Doubles specialist Mike and Bob Bryan are identical twins, but singles stars Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick make it seem like four close brothers.

On paper, this Fab Four truly is worthy of being billed as a tennis Dream Team with a combined Davis Cup record of 49-10. Agassi, who turns 35 in April, is 30-5 in singles play and was a member of three championship teams (1990, ‘92, ‘95). Roddick, meanwhile, is 14-5 in singles action and the Bryan brothers are 5-0 in doubles without having lost a set.

That’s all fine and Yankee-doodle dandy, but what makes this a dreamy Dream Team is what happens off the court. No better example is what Agassi did when U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe flew to Las Vegas to woo the eight-time Grand Slam champion into joining the team after a five-year absence. Before agreeing to do so, Agassi made some phone calls. But instead of speed-dialing his agent to see what kind of bonuses could be worked out with Agassi’s endorsement deals, he phoned Roddick and asked if it was all right with him if he joined the team.

“Yes!” came the answer.

Then Agassi called Bob Bryan. “Hell yes!” And called Mike Bryan, who, despite not hearing the previous call, answered in identical twin fashion: “Hell yes!”

Later Mike Bryan noted: “He didn’t want to threaten the team chemistry if he played only one or two matches this year. We said we would be thrilled to play with him. It was pretty classy for him to even call us and ask.” Classy also describes what Roddick did Saturday before the semifinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tenn. He withdrew because he didn’t want to risk re-injuring his sprained left ankle and thus jeopardize his — and the team’s — chances against Croatia.

“Obviously, with Andre on board and the Bryans playing as well as they are, I feel we have as good a shot as anyone,” explained Roddick, who is ranked No. 3 in the world. “I have to do that. The repercussions of this injury wouldn’t just affect me. It would affect my teammates and playing for my country as well.”

Compare that to the rash of NBA stars who send their RSVP regrets to the U.S. Olympic basketball team’s invitations. This is a Dream Team to embrace. Forget separate limos for each player. Roddick and the Bryans (and former Davis Cup teammate Mardy Fish, who Agassi is replacing) recently spent an entire week sharing a bus as they traveled through the Midwest playing exhibition matches and giving free youth clinics. OK, it wasn’t exactly a Greyhound short on legroom and long on cushion stains. It had six double beds, a kitchen Martha Stewart would envy, and three plasma TVs. Oh, yes, and it’s not like there were no chilly moments. One night Roddick and Fish found themselves locked out of the bus by their two traveling companions; on the shoulder of Interstate 94, at 3 in the morning, doing footwork drills and wearing only their boxer shorts and sneakers.

Why? It was their penance for losing an exhibition doubles match to the Bryans. Agassi better run his Davis Cup record to 32-5. Otherwise, who knows what his young teammates will dream up for him.