Dream Team

Dream Team, nickname given to the 1992 U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team, which went undefeated in eight games at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. It was the first U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team to include professional basketball players from the NBA.

History

In 1989 FIBA, the international basketball governing body, voted to allow professional players to compete in the Olympics. Previously, competition was limited to amateur players, and the U.S. men’s teams had been primarily made up of college athletes. Over the years, however, multiple countries found loopholes to skirt the rule, allowing their best players to play on their teams. The 1989 decision was seemingly made to level the playing field. The U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team was thus able to bring together some of the top stars from the NBA to compete in the 1992 games.

Roster

The roster of what has been called the greatest sports team ever assembled included Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls), Larry Bird (Boston Celtics), Magic Johnson (who had retired from the Los Angeles Lakers in 1991 after being diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS), Charles Barkley (Phoenix Suns), and Scottie Pippen (Chicago Bulls). Christian Laettner (Duke University Blue Devils) was added as the sole college player instead of Shaquille O’Neal, who at the time played on the Louisiana State University Tigers (O’Neal later played on the U.S. men’s team at the 1996 Games in Atlanta). Chuck Daly, the Detroit Pistons coach, was selected as the head coach.

Games and legacy

The Dream Team dominated the competition, scoring above 100 points and winning every game they played. They maintained on average a 44-point winning margin over their competitors. Their match against Croatia in the championship round was their closest game, but the U.S. prevailed 117–85 to win the gold medal. The Dream Team’s exhilarating performance at the Games has been credited with contributing to the global popularity of basketball. In The Last Dance (2020), the documentary chronicling Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, sports reporter Michael Wilbon summed up the team’s legacy: “The Dream Team is entirely responsible for the NBA’s profile taking a massive jump forward. It just shaped how the world felt about the NBA.” Other countries were inspired to improve their teams, and by the 21st century multiple countries were offering the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team more competition. International players have also increased their presence in the NBA. The season before the Barcelona Olympics, 7 percent of the NBA’s players were born outside the U.S.; 25 years later, in 2017, that proportion had grown to almost 25 percent.

Controversies and halls of fame

Despite the Dream Team’s thrilling performance at the Olympics, their run was not without controversy. Many commentators grumbled about the team not residing in the Olympic Village with other athletes but instead staying in a luxury hotel. Jordan initially refused to wear the mandatory Reebok warm-up suits provided by the U.S. Olympic Committee because his contract with Nike forbade his wearing competitors’ clothing. As a compromise, he and the other players were allowed to cover the Reebok logo using the flap of the jacket.

All members of the Dream Team, except for Laettner, have been individually inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; the team was inducted as a unit in 2010. Seven years later the team was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.