- 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team
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David Robinson shoots a free throw.
The 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the "Dream Team", was the first American Olympic team to feature active NBA players. Often considered one of the strongest teams assembled in any sport, it defeated its opponents by an average of almost 44 points en route to the gold medal against Croatia at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona.[1] Chuck Daly served as coach, assisted by Lenny Wilkens, P. J. Carlesimo, and Mike Krzyzewski.[2]
Contents
Forming the team
At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the United States national basketball team, made up of college stars, finished in a disappointing third place.[3] After FIBA opened the Olympics to professional players in April 1989, USA Basketball began looking to the NBA to supply players for its 1992 Olympic roster.[4] The first ten players for the Dream Team were officially selected on September 21, 1991: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls, John Stockton and Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz, Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks, Chris Mullin of the Golden State Warriors, David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, and Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers (later traded to the Phoenix Suns).[5] David Robinson had played with the 1988 Olympic team, and was especially eager to earn a gold medal at Barcelona.[3]
Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers was added to the team on May 12, 1992, along with Christian Laettner of Duke University. Laettner was the only player selected for the national team without any professional experience, and beat out Louisiana State University's Shaquille O'Neal for the final spot on the roster.[6]
Success on the court
Tournament of the Americas
The Dream Team made its debut on June 28, 1992, at the Tournament of the Americas, an Olympic qualifying event in Portland, Oregon. The team defeated Cuba 136–57, prompting Cuban coach Miguel Calderón Gómez to say, "You can't cover the sun with your finger."[7] The next five games were also easy victories for Team USA, who ended the tournament on July 5, 1992, with a 127–80 victory over Venezuela.[8]
Olympics
At the Olympics, opposing teams were overwhelmed by the talent of the American roster, losing by an average of 43.8 points per game.[9] The closest of the eight matches was Team USA's 117–85 victory in the gold medal game against Croatia.[10] Charles Barkley was the Dream Team's leading scorer during the Olympics, averaging 18.0 points per game.[11]
Fans in Barcelona greeted the Dream Team with great enthusiasm. Fans gathered outside the team's hotel, hoping to see their favorite players. "It was like Elvis and the Beatles put together," remarked Chuck Daly.[12] Opposing basketball players and athletes from other sports often asked to have photographs taken with the players.[13] Barkley noted, however, in a 2010 interview, that there was a dark side to the Dream Team's fame:
“ And what people don't understand, we got death threats. In our hotel, you had to have a picture ID to get in there, and we went to the pool on the roof of the hotel, there was like 10 guys standing around with Uzis. So it was kind of funny, it was like: Girl in bikini; dude with an Uzi; girl in bikini; guy with Uzi. People thought we didn't want to stay in the Olympic Village because we wanted to be big shots, but it was because we were getting death threats. They had told us this would be considered great by one of these terrorist groups if they could take out the Dream Team.[11] ” Legacy
The "Dream Team" is regarded by many as the greatest basketball team ever assembled. The team was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and is one of only eight teams enshrined in the Hall of Fame.[14] In addition, as of 2011 eleven of the twelve players on the roster (all but Laettner) and three of the four coaches (all but Carlesimo) have been elected to the Hall of Fame as individuals.
Roster
USA National Basketball Team rosterPlayers Coaches Pos. # Name Height Weight DOB (Y–M–D) From PF 4 
Laettner, Christian 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Duke C 5 Robinson, David 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) San Antonio Spurs C 6 Ewing, Patrick 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) New York Knicks SF 7 Bird, Larry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Boston Celtics SF 8 Pippen, Scottie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Chicago Bulls SG 9 Jordan, Michael 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Chicago Bulls SG 10 Drexler, Clyde 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Portland Trail Blazers PF 11 Malone, Karl 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Utah Jazz PG 12 Stockton, John 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Utah Jazz SF 13 Mullin, Chris 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Golden State Warriors PF 14 Barkley, Charles 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Phoenix Suns PG 15 Johnson, Magic 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Los Angeles Lakers - Head coach
- Assistant coach(es)
- Mike Krzyzewski
- Lenny Wilkens
- P.J. Carlesimo
- Legend
- From describes teams affiliated
during the Olympics
Olympics results
Game Point for USA Point for opponent Opponent Point differential 1 116 48 Angola +68 2 103 70 Croatia +33 3 111 68 Germany +43 4 127 83 Brazil +44 5 122 81 Spain +41 6 115 77 Puerto Rico +38 7 127 76 Lithuania +51 8 117 85 Croatia (Gold medal match) +32 Source: [2] Statistics
Player GP GS FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% PPG RPG APG Charles Barkley 8 4 59 83 .711 7 8 .875 19 26 .731 18.0 4.1 2.4 Larry Bird 8 3 25 48 .521 9 27 .333 8 10 .800 8.4 3.8 1.8 Clyde Drexler 8 3 37 64 .578 6 21 .286 4 10 .400 10.5 3.0 3.6 Patrick Ewing 8 4 33 53 .623 0 0 .000 10 16 .625 9.5 5.3 0.4 Magic Johnson 6 5 17 30 .567 6 13 .462 8 10 .800 8.0 2.3 5.5 Michael Jordan 8 8 51 113 .451 4 19 .211 13 19 .684 14.9 2.4 4.8 Christian Laettner 8 0 9 20 .450 2 6 .333 18 20 .900 4.8 2.5 0.4 Karl Malone 8 4 40 62 .645 0 0 .000 24 32 .750 13.0 5.3 1.1 Chris Mullin 8 2 39 63 .619 14 26 .538 11 14 .786 12.9 1.6 3.6 Scottie Pippen 8 3 28 47 .596 5 13 .385 11 15 .733 9.0 2.1 5.9 David Robinson 8 4 27 47 .574 0 0 .000 18 26 .692 9.0 4.1 0.9 John Stockton 4 0 4 8 .500 1 2 .500 2 3 .667 2.8 0.3 2.0 See also
References
- ^ The Original Dream Team. nba.com. Retrieved on August 12, 2010.
- ^ a b Games of the XXVth Olympiad – 1992. usabasketball.com. Retrieved on August 12, 2010.
- ^ a b Tim Povtak. "Robinson is riveted on gold". Orlando Sentinel. June 30, 1992. Retrieved on August 13, 2010.
- ^ Jack McCallum. "Lords Of The Rings". Sports Illustrated. February 18, 1991. Retrieved on August 12, 2010.
- ^ Sam Smith. "Olympian Jordan: 'We'll kill 'em'". Chicago Tribune. September 22, 1991. 13.
- ^ "Drexler, Laettner join Olympic team". Reading Eagle. May 13, 1992. Retrieved on August 12, 2010.
- ^ Tim Povtak. "Dream Team dazzles in laugher". Orlando Sentinel. June 29, 1992. Retrieved on August 13, 2010.
- ^ "From Rip City to Barcelona". Associated Press. Toldeo Blade. July 6, 1992. Retrieved on August 13, 2010.
- ^ "Nightmare is over for U.S." Reading Eagle. August 9, 1992. Retrieved on August 14, 2010.
- ^ Steve Luhm. "Reflecting on the Dream Team". Salt Lake Tribune. August 12, 2010. Retrieved on August 14, 2010.
- ^ a b Sheridan, Chris (August 13, 2010). "Charles Barkley relives Dream Team". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/halloffame10/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&page=100812-dreamteam. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
- ^ Alex Sachare. When Seconds Count. Sports Publishing LLC, 1999. 192. ISBN 1-58382-015-9.
- ^ Bryan Burwell. At the Buzzer! Doubleday, 2001. 150. ISBN 0-385-50145-5.
- ^ 1992 Olympic champs into Hall of Fame. Associated Press. ESPN. August 3, 2010. Retrieved on August 12, 2010.
External links
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 Players Coaches Contributors Teams 1960 United States Olympic Team • 1992 United States Olympic Team ("The Dream Team")
1992 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball team - United States Categories:- USA national basketball team
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
- 1992 in basketball
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