During the summer of 1992, the NBA took center stage as the world watched the greatest team in sports ever assembled joke, pose, and finally play its way to the gold medal at the summer Olympic games. The team was named the “Dream Team” and it featured eleven of the NBA’s best players. Names like Michael Jordan, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Larry Bird headlined the games and the play of Scottie Pippen and “Sir” Charles Barkley stole the show. After only eight games, the world of USA basketball would never be the same.
Since 1992 two more teams called themselves the “Dream Team” and two were simply labeled as “Team USA” but one thing is for certain, International basketball has taken a step in the right direction thanks in part to the NBA and its Dream Team era. Over time the faces of those players may have changed, but the goal has always stayed the same and that’s the goal of bringing home the gold medal. After dominating men’s Olympic basketball for years, the men’s USA basketball team lost to the USSR in the 1988 Seoul games which cost them a shot at winning the gold medal, but they did come home with the bronze.
The United States Olympic committee decided that since the rest of the world were sending their best players into the Olympic games that when it came to basketball it was time for them to do the same. The decision was made in 1989 to allow players from the NBA to represent their country in the 1992 Barcelona games. That one decision was the most important decision in the history of international basketball with one goal in mind; to put together the best possible team that they could.
The goal of putting a great basketball team of NBA players together seemed impossible especially when it came to dealing with the egos of today’s athletes, but what seemed impossible became a reality. Established veterans like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and future Hall of Famers/MVP’s like Michael Jordan and best friend Charles Barkley were added to the team. Big men David Robinson and Patrick Ewing were added to control the paint and guards Clyde “The Glide” Drexler and John Stockton were added to run the show.
The man picked to coach the team was Chuck Daly who had won two of the last three NBA Championships with the Detroit Pistons. Knowing that no other team would ever be as potentially great as this one, sportswriters around the world dubbed the 1992 men’s Olympic team as the “Dream Team”. After only three weeks of practicing together, the Dream Team was ready for the world. “We were in a definite no win situation,” said Chuck Daly; “we had to come back with the gold medal” (The Dream Team).
Despite being lead in overall scoring by Charles Barkley, different players would step up on different nights to take control and led the Dream Team to victory with not just scoring, but great passing and leadership ability as well. Michael Jordan who at the time was the most popular basketball player in the world showed that he is a great defensive player as well as an offensive player by averaging five steals per game during the tournament. Other players like David Robinson and Patrick Ewing provided tough interior defense and the flow of the games offensively were controlled by Magic Johnson and Scottie Pippen.
The Dream Team’s first game was on July 26th against the African nation of Angola and the United States defeated them 116-48 with Charles Barkley leading the way with 24 points. Against Brazil, Barkley set a USA Olympic record by scoring 30 points on 12-14 shooting. The rest of the tournament the Dream Team faced Croatia, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Puerto Rico, Lithuania. During the game against Lithuania, one of the Lithuanian players actually sat on the side line and took pictures of the Dream Team with his camera.
Many celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Spike Lee, and Arnold Schwarzenegger made the trip to Barcelona to witness the gold medal game between the United States and Croatia. The Dream Team defeated Croatia 117-85 and they were led by Michael Jordan who scored 22 points with Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing scoring 17 and 15 points (The Dream Team). During the eight games, the Dream Team went undefeated and averaged 117. 3 points per game the most by a team in Olympic history while defeating teams by an average of 43. 8 ppg.
You will see a team of professionals in the Olympics again,” said Coach Chuck Daly, “But I don’t think you’ll see another team quite like this. This was a majestic team. ” Chuck Daly also went on to say that he had an exceptional group of players who really understood the goal and wanted to share (The Dream Team). With the rest of the world having four years to prepare themselves, the third group of NBA players to call themselves the Dream Team knew that their road to the gold medal in the 1996 Summer Games were going to be more difficult.
The same excitement that overcame the fans at the Barcelona games overcame the fans in Atlanta because the Dream Team had the home court advantage. Dream Team III was composed of many young up and coming stars in the NBA at the time like Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway but the team also included some battle tested veterans. Players from the first Dream Team like Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and John Stockton were added to the team. The rest of the roster included 1988 Olympian Mitch Richmond, Grant Hill, Gary Payton, Reggie Miller, and Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.
Before the Olympics began, Dream Team III had three weeks of practices that were so competitive that some say that they were actually more competitive than the actual Olympic games. During the three weeks of practice, the Dream Team faced Brazil, China, and Greece in three different exhibition games in various NBA arenas. David Robinson was so impressed by the progress of the team he stated that this team was the most talented team that had ever been put together and Charles Barkley stated that no matter what team the NBA puts out there, it will be the best.
After three weeks of practice, the preliminary round of the tournament began with the Dream Team taking on Argentina. After a very slow start, the Dream Team defeated Argentina 96-68. After a couple more slow starts, the Dream Team faced China and it was the outcome of this game that showed the entire world that this team could be compared to the team that took the court in the 1992 Summer Games. The Dream Team defeated China 133-70 with the help of some great defense and five three point shots by Reggie Miller who finished the game with 17 points.
The Dream Team faced Brazil in front of a crowd of 31,740 and three of the team’s stars decided that his game would be their breakout game. Scottie Pippen wowed the crowd with terrific defense on Brazil’s leading scorer and then Orlando Magic teammates Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway scored combined with Shaq also grabbing 11 rebounds. While playing against Australia, Charles Barkley showed his MVP form in front of a crowd of 34,069 by scoring 24 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in the Dream Team’s 101-73 victory (96 Olympic Gold)
The gold medal game featured a showdown between two undefeated countries, the United States and Yugoslavia who were led by NBA star Vlade Divac. The game was witnessed by an Olympic men’s basketball record crowd of 34,600. For one few times in Dream Team history, the team was down by seven points midway through the first half caused by terrible shooting, but by the time half time arrived the team had taken 43-38 lead. When it was all said and done, the Dream Team became the first team to defeat Yugoslavia by a final score of 95-69.
Once again the stars came out and this time they were led by David Robinson who was playing his last International basketball game. He ended the game with 28 points and only missing two of eleven shots the entire game. Reggie Miller finished the game with 20 points and Penny Hardaway scored 17. Once again the goal of capturing a gold medal was met, but the next four years would see major changes in the idea of the Dream Team (96 Olympic Gold). By the time the 2000 Summer games arrived, the world finally felt that they had caught on to the “Dream Team” concept.
The NBA tried to convince its new generation of stars to play for their country and win the Gold Medal but many declined the offer. After the Atlanta games, Karl Malone spoke of the hardships of the Olympics. When this team came here we thought we were doing something for our country, but it turned into something we didn’t expect. We’re taking heat for either being too good or for not winning by enough, and then we have to look over our shoulders and have bodyguards with is wherever we go. I think players in the future may look at what we went through, and it might be hard to convince them to play in the Olympics.
I would tell them that representing your country is worth all the hassles, but don’t be surprised if some guys start to turn down the invitation (Slam Dunk). Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and Jason Kidd were the first players to join the team, but Duncan broke his ankle before the Olympics began so he had to sit out of the games. With only Jason Kidd on the team, the NBA decided to send a group of players to the Olympics who were very talented even though they didn’t have the championships to show for it in an attempt to give them something to fight for.
Many basketball insiders called the 2000 team the “B” team of the NBA. Knowing that these players were not the best that the NBA had to offer, the title of the Dream Team was removed from the team and they were simply called Team USA. Other than Jason Kidd, the team included all-stars Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Antonio McDyess, Ray Allen, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and Vin Baker. Team USA also included veteran players Tim Hardaway, Allan Houston, Gary Payton, Steve Smith, and two time defensive player of the year Alonzo Mourning.
The team was coached by former NBA all-star Rudy Tomjanovich who coached the Houston Rockets to back to back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. Team USA defeated China and Italy without any trouble but against Lithuania, the USA only won by nine points which was a bit of a disappointment considering what teams in the past had done. The next game against New Zealand, Team USA got back on track by defeating them 102-56 and then they defeated France 106-94. Russia was the next victim of Team USA loosing to them by fifteen points.
During the semi-finals, the USA faced Lithuania once more and they were forced to make a comeback in the game’s final minute and half before they could secure an 85-83 win, but only after Lithuania’s game winning shot fell short at the buzzer (Games). Even though Team USA wasn’t as star-studded as the previous two Olympic teams, they still achieved the goal of winning a gold medal, but the path that they took to get there was much tougher than the path of teams in the past.
With that being said, Team USA helped the United States Men’s basketball program to reach 109 wins with only two losses spread across 14 different Olympic games. Despite the fact that the era and aura of the Dream Team was destroyed, the memories of the games will live on forever. Names like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Vince Carter will always be remembered for having great NBA careers, but also for bring home the gold medal for their country and doing it with a class and a grace that will never be seen again.