The National Basketball League season officially ended last month when LeBron James led the Miami Heat to an NBA Finals’ victory. Basketball fans can rejoice, however, because every four years, a present arrives on their doorstep: basketball at the Olympics!
The 2012 summer Olympic games, officially known as Games of the XXX Olympiad, are quickly creeping up. Taking place in London from July 27 to August 12, even non-basketball fans tune in to one of the most exciting Olympic competitions. The reason? Two words: Dream Team.
The original United States men’s Olympic basketball Dream Team debuted at the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona, Spain. 1992 was the first year The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) allowed professional players to participate in the Olympics, over the objections of Russia and the United States. Despite U.S. voting against the proposal, it did give Americans a big leg-up after placing a disappointing third at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul when only college players were on the team.
The following ten players were first selected for the team: Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and the legendary Michael Jordan. Now that’s why they call it a dream team! Clyde Drexler and Christian Laettner were added to the team, beating out Shaquille O’Neal despite Laettner having no professional experience.
The Dream Team lived up to the hype and its name and not only won the gold over Croatia in the finals; they crushed their opponents along the way. The U.S. beat its opponents by an average of 43.8 points per game.
Twenty years later, the U.S. is fielding another men’s Olympic basketball Dream Team and everyone’s wondering the same question: which Dream Team is the best team? 2012 Dream Team leader Kobe Bryant answered the question with full confidence, “It would be a tough one but I think we would pull it out,” Bryant said. “People who think we can’t beat that team for one game, they are crazy. To sit there and say we can’t, it’s ludicrous. We can beat them one time.”
Bryant’s bold statement does not come as a surprise considering his infamous ego, but it was foolish. This year’s Dream Team is formidable and should coast its way to a gold medal, but a team as dominant as the 1992 Olympic Dream Team may never be seen again. “There’s no question about it — we would kill them,” said 1992 US Olympic Dream Team member Patrick Ewing. “We were much bigger. Our bigs were much bigger and more athletic. We had Magic, Michael. I think we would dominate them.”
11 of the 12 players on the 1992 Dream Team were inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame. Even three of the four coaches were inducted, and the team as a whole was inducted.
The 2012 team is undefeated in pre-Olympic exhibition games, but has not exactly dominated. The U.S. beat Argentina by six points, and trailed Brazil by eight points in the first half. President Barack Obama sides with the 1992 Dream Team, arguing, “The Dream Team was never down eight.”
Leaving Michael Jordan with the last word is only fitting, “I guess we’ll never know. I’d like to think that we had 11 Hall of Famers on that team, and whenever they get 11 Hall of Famers, you call and ask me who had the better Dream Team. Remember now, they learned from us. We didn’t learn from them.”
The 2012 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team is a beast of a team bursting with talent. However, the 1992 US Olympic Team is the true Dream Team that I doubt will ever be matched. Who would you put money on in a one-on-one match?
Tagg writes on behalf of CableTV.com. He typically writes about sports and technology. When he’s not writing or tinkering on the latest gadget, he’s an enthusiastic soccer fan and coach. You can follow him on Twitter @CableTV.
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Paul, why did you name Clyde Drexler 2nd to last, just before Laettner? Clyde was 2nd in the MVP race, faced MJ in the Finals, etc. PLUS he was IN HIS PRIME. Drexler was a monster!
Who was the one player ( 11 of 12) who didn’t make it into the hall of fame?
Laettner’s definitely not in the HOF. Is he the only one? Laett was one of the all-time greatest college basketball players and it’s still weird putting him in the same sentence as the rest of the Dream Team. That’s coming from a Duke fan too!
I was too young at the time, but it was interesting to see in the recent Dream Team documentary that the only reason Isaiah Thomas wasn’t named to the team is that MJ didn’t want him on the team.