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The 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the "Dream Team", was the first American Olympic team to feature active professional players from the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team has often been described as the greatest sports team ever assembled.[2][3][4]

The team was collectively inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2009, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017. The Naismith Hall of Fame calls the team "the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet".[7] In addition to the team induction, 11 players and three coaches have also been inducted individually into the Naismith Hall of Fame.

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Prior to the 1992 Olympics, FIBA rules specifically prevented NBA players from participating in Olympic tournaments, and only amateurs were eligible for the U.S. Olympic teams, which were composed of collegiate and, at times (especially in the 1950s), AAU players. Other countries used their best players from their domestic professional leagues.[8] In the 1988 Summer Olympics, the Americans lost to the USSR and settled for bronze, their worst finish in the history of the tournament.[9]

The first ten players for the team were 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.[16] On May 12, 1992, Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers was chosen over Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons for the final professional roster spot.[8] As an acknowledgment to the previous amateur system, the U.S. basketball committee decided to include one collegiate player on the team:[17][18] Christian Laettner of Duke University was added on May 12, 1992, chosen over Louisiana State University's Shaquille O'Neal.[19]

Most of the players on the team were at or near the peaks of their NBA careers.[20] Bird had back trouble but was selected due to the team's historic nature. Robinson had played with the 1988 Olympic team and was eager to earn a gold medal at Barcelona.[21]

Johnson had retired from the Lakers in November 1991 after testing positive for HIV. His teammates expected Johnson to die from the disease, and he later described his selection for the Olympics as "almost like a life saver", evidence that he could still overcome the illness and live a productive life.[15] The Australian Olympic delegation prominently threatened to boycott the games in protest of Johnson's presence, fearing that he might infect other athletes. Their threats backfired, however, as Johnson received even more public support.[22] Ewing, Jordan, and Mullin had won gold at the 1984 games; Malone had not made the team and saw his non-selection in 1984 as a challenge.[8]

Jordan declined head coach Chuck Daly's suggestion that Jordan serve as the public face of the team, and Bird and Johnson were selected as co-captains.[15] Over the previous 13 NBA seasons leading up to the 1992 Olympics, these three superstars combined had won 10 NBA championships and received seven NBA Finals MVP awards and nine regular-season MVP awards.

After the selection of the first ten members of the team, Johnson released an official statement in support of Thomas, but years later it was discovered that his support was less than enthusiastic. In the book When the Game Was Ours, Johnson said, "Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics. Nobody on that team wanted to play with him."[26]

The selection committee considered several college players including Harold Miner, Jimmy Jackson, and Alonzo Mourning in addition to Shaquille O'Neal and Christian Laettner.[27] O'Neal was the number-one pick in the 1992 NBA draft, but Laettner's Duke Blue Devils teams won consecutive National Championships in 1991 and 1992. Coached by Mike Krzyzewski, who also was a first-time assistant coach for the Olympic program, Laettner was the Naismith College Player of the Year and scored the game-winning basket as time expired in the 1992 NCAA Eastern Regional final. Although O'Neal was a two-time Consensus NCAA First Team All-American in 1991 and 1992, his team lost in the second round of the 1992 NCAA men's tournament. Laettner's college success and coach's endorsement ultimately secured his position on the team.[28]

To help the team prepare for the Olympics, a squad of the best NCAA college players was formed to scrimmage them. USA Basketball selected players whose style of play, it hoped, would resemble that of the Europeans the Dream Team would face. Members included the penetrating guard Bobby Hurley, all-around players Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway, outside shooter Allan Houston, and the tough Chris Webber and Eric Montross.[15] Hill and Hardaway would play for the 1996 national team, and Houston on the 2000 team.[29][30]

The team trained for the Olympics in Monaco for six days, practicing two hours a day and playing exhibition games against other national teams. During their time away from the court, the squad spent time enjoying the nude beaches, Monte Carlo's casinos,[20] and dining with royalty.[8] There was no curfew; as Daly stated, "I'm not putting in a curfew because I'd have to adhere to it, and Jimmy'z [a noted Monte Carlo nightclub] doesn't open until midnight."[20]

For one scrimmage, the group divided into two teams: Blue (led by Johnson, with Barkley, Robinson, Mullin, and Laettner) and White (led by Jordan, with Malone, Ewing, Pippen, and Bird). Drexler and Stockton did not play because of injuries.[a][20][35] Daly told the teams to play "All you got now. All you got." White won, 40 to 36, in what Jordan recalled as "the best game I was ever in" and Sports Illustrated later called "the Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw".[20]

Because of the team's unique celebrity, the Dream Team did not stay in the Olympic Village due to security concerns.[36] The Olympic Village had only four guards at the gate when the team arrived to pick up their credentials; one of the guards, upon seeing the Dream Team, grabbed his camera and his child while the team members were mobbed by other Olympic athletes. Daly also stated that the beds in the Village were a problem, as two of his athletes were over seven feet tall and he considered comfort a priority to keep the team rested.[37]

As a result, the team stayed at Barcelona's Hotel Ambassador, where USA Basketball occupied 80 of the hotel's 98 rooms.[36] Fans were not allowed to enter the lobby, but did gather outside the hotel, hoping to see their favorite players. "It was like Elvis and the Beatles put together," Daly said.[38] Opposing basketball players and athletes from other sports often asked to have photographs taken with the players.[39][20]

Opposing teams were nonetheless overwhelmed by the talent of the American roster, losing by an average of 43.8 points per game. This was the second largest Olympic Games point differential, surpassed only by the 53.5 point per game margin achieved by the 1956 US Men's Basketball Team. The Dream Team was the first to score more than 100 points in every game. Its 117.3 average was over 15 points more than the 1960 US team.[41] Johnson later recalled, "I look to my right, there's Michael Jordan ... I look to my left, there's Charles Barkley or Larry Bird ... I didn't know who to throw the ball to!"[15][4]

Sports Illustrated later stated that the Dream Team was "arguably the most dominant squad ever assembled in any sport" and compared it to "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East, Santana at Woodstock."[20] In 2009, the team was elected to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame. The following year, the team was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[50]

Barkley later said, "I don't think there's anything better to representing your country. I don't think anything in my life can come close to that." Bird called the medal ceremony and the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" "the ultimate experience." Johnson said, "The 92 Dream Team was the greatest moment of my life in terms of basketball, bar none." Jordan said that the biggest benefit for him from the Olympics was that he learned more about his teammates' weaknesses. He later defeated Barkley, Malone, and Stockton in three NBA finals.[15] As of 2014, 11 of the 12 players on the roster (all except Laettner)[51] and three of the four coaches (all except Carlesimo) have been elected to the Hall of Fame as individuals.

Global interest in basketball soared due to the Dream Team.[15] In one game, an opposing player guarding Magic Johnson was seen frantically waving to a camera-wielding teammate on the bench, signaling to make sure he got a picture of them together. Daly said of the opposing teams "They'll go home and for the rest of their lives be able to tell their kids, 'I played against Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.' And the more they play against our best players, the more confident they're going to get".[52]

Kobe Bryant and LeBron James said they believed their 2012 Olympic team would win against the Dream Team. Bryant said, "[T]hey were a lot older, at kind of the end of their careers. We have just a bunch of young racehorses, guys that are eager to compete."[55][56] Barkley said that he "just started laughing" upon hearing Bryant's comment and that the Dream Team would win by double digits.[55] Jordan added, "For [Bryant] to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done... Remember now, they learned from us. We didn't learn from them."[57][58] Bird joked, "They probably could. I haven't played in 20 years and we're all old now."[59]

The original Dream Team, the U.S. basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, was a phenomenon on and off the court. It mattered not that it dominated the Olympic competition, beating its eight opponents by an average of 44 points. What was important was that the Dream Team, the first U.S. Olympic team to include NBA stars, gave fans a glimpse of basketball at its finest, and an entire world responded. 2351a5e196