![]() ![]() Two weeks before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, 2008 gold medal winner Kobe Bryant sparked a massive debate by comparing the current team to the 1992 Dream Team.īryant told reporters last week that the current Olympic team, which defeated the Dominican Republic 113-59 in their first pre-Olympic tune-up last night, could defeat the 1992 Dream Team, had the two teams been able to play in their prime. men's Olympic basketball team is already making headlines, but most of it has come from their talk off the court instead of their play on it. OlympicTalk is on Apple News.The 2012 U.S. MORE: Michael Jordan’s note to Bobby Knight before 1984 Olympic final 1 over Alonzo Mourning and Laettner a month before the Olympics. Shaquille O’Neal was upset, but he had one fewer year in college than Laettner and, admittedly, wasn’t as fundamentally sound. He was the obvious choice after leading the Blue Devils to a repeat national championship and earning Player of the Year honors. The last spot had to go to a collegian: Duke’s Christian Laettner. Other than Thomas, the top players who didn’t make the Dream Team, based off All-NBA honors or All-Star voting in 19: Dominique Wilkins (All-NBA second team in 1991), Kevin Johnson (All-NBA second team and All-Star Game starter in 1991), Tim Hardaway (All-NBA second team in 1992) and Michael Adams (most 1992 All-Star votes among non-Dream Team players and Thomas). When Drexler was named to the team, he was leading the Portland Trail Blazers through the Western Conference Playoffs and to an NBA Finals matchup with Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.ĭrexler was upset he wasn’t among the first 10, questioning being passed over for Johnson and Bird, who were on the decline, and Mullin, according to “Dream Team.” That went to Clyde Drexler, who finished second in NBA MVP voting in the 1991-92 season. He was the only 1992 NBA All-Star starter not among the first 10. Obviously Thomas’ omission was much talked-about. “In the next 11, 12 months, It could that another Scottie Pippen will emerge, be it Reggie Miller of Indiana, or it could be an Isiah Thomas,” USA Basketball President Dave Gavitt said on the NBC Selection Show in September 1991. It would include at least one collegian, an ode to the history of Olympic basketball, and perhaps another NBA player. The last two players to fill out the roster were named nearly eight months later. If there was any debate, it was over Mullin, whom Daly liked as a versatile shooting guard/small forward, and Barkley, for his less-than-sterling reputation, according to “Dream Team.” Barkley ended up leading the Olympic team in scoring, while Mullin had the most points for anyone who didn’t start at least half the games. He explained his reluctance here.Įverybody else seemed on board from the get-go. Jordan was coy about his participation that summer of 1991. The 1991-92 NBA season would be his last, in part due to back problems, but he accepted after two dozen phone calls from Johnson, according to the 2012 book, “Dream Team.”īird recalled growing up in French Lick, Ind., watching the Olympics on one of this two TV channels and hearing his dad glowing about what it would be like to stand on the medal podium, listening to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Olympic men’s basketball player in history). “If he hadn’t have been playing,” Johnson said of his longtime rival who had, in recent years, become a friend, “I don’t know if I’d be sitting here today, too, because a team wouldn’t have been a team without Larry Bird on it.”īird, turning 35, would be the oldest player on the team by nearly three years (and, to this day, the oldest U.S. “Originally said he would not compete in the Olympics because he felt the Games are more for the younger folks,” NBC’s Marv Albert said to Johnson (Bird didn’t appear on the show due to a prior commitment). Of those players, it was reported on the show that Bird and Jordan were initially reluctant to accept roster spots. ![]() The Kukoc Game | MJ’s 1996 Olympic Choice Those 10 players, in order of the reveal:ĭREAM TEAM: Why Isiah Was Left Off | Jordan Nearly Said No | Roster Decisions The first 10 members of the Dream Team were announced on a selection show on NBC on Sept. The committee was tasked with reviewing performances from the 1990-92 NBA seasons. ![]()
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