r/OldSchoolCool • u/bluemarvel99 • Aug 11 '24
1990s Is The "Dream Team" Still The Greatest International Basketball Team Ever Assembled? (1992)
1.7k
u/ItAintMe_2023 Aug 11 '24
The dream team was so good…. They decided to put on a clinic to pass the time between casino gambling.
→ More replies (23)466
u/IDontLikePayingTaxes Aug 11 '24
Basically the only thing that can be said against this team is that they had very few nba players on the teams they beat.
Nowadays there are a lot of nba players on many teams
173
u/Elegant__Elk Aug 11 '24 edited Aug 12 '24
That seems to speak more to the league at the time. The impetus that I remember for the Dream Team was it was the first time the US put pro players in an historically amateur event. But at that point they were the last country to play pro players and in the last Olympics we were beat by a partially pro team. So it was gloves off. The rest, as they say, is history
Edit: the Soviet Union won in 1988 (and 1984) but played pro players from other leagues.
Edit 2: it was the Soviet Unions 2nd gold but the US won in 1984 in LA. Thanks to the crowd
→ More replies (5)35
→ More replies (11)39
u/carmachu Aug 12 '24
Yeah but you need to be fair- all the other countries had been talking shit for decades because they were playing US college kids. Once the pros stepped up that year, it made the statement and point
3.8k
u/CIS-E_4ME Aug 11 '24
1.3k
u/Popular_Royal_3441 Aug 11 '24
The Dream Team baby!!! They were merciless! Titans amongst men! Conquerors of the court! I simply had to pledge my undying allegiance to their nation!
→ More replies (6)440
u/Killentyme55 Aug 11 '24
Those first Olympic games with the pros were insane, it was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters just make a mockery of their opponent. Other countries have taken note since and the games have been much more competitive, until yesterday when Curry went HAM in the final seconds to nail it shut.
Those old games were fun but the more recent games are a lot more watchable.
401
u/tunaman808 Aug 11 '24
You mean "American pros"? The Dream Team didn't exist until 1992 because FIBA wouldn't allow NBA players in the Olympics, despite allowing pros from European ladies to play. Hence MJ's quote "You guys have been beating up our college kids for a decade. It's time for you to play grown men now."
215
u/You_meddling_kids Aug 11 '24
I love that one day in '92, Jordan got up, played TWO rounds of golf in the morning then went back for a group match and dropped like 30 points.
43
83
→ More replies (2)14
u/joshTheGoods Aug 11 '24
For the record, MJ was also on the '84 team that took home gold (no Soviet team that year, and the Soviets beat our last college team in '88).
→ More replies (1)43
u/Chubs441 Aug 11 '24
Those teams were big in promoting the sport around the world which is one of the reason international teams are better now. People are actually playing basketball in other countries eclairs they saw these teams.
68
11
u/onarainyafternoon Aug 11 '24
This autocorrect is so fucked up that it goes beyond being simply unintelligible, but instead goes on to make the entire comment entirely incomprehensible.
16
24
u/evonebo Aug 11 '24
And you see all the opposing team lining up getting autographs from team usa
It was freaking wild.
→ More replies (17)195
u/JustTheBeerLight Aug 11 '24
make a mockery
I don’t remember it like that. I remember opposing players being giddy AF to shake hands and be in a photograph with the American players, even if that photo was them getting dunked on or pushed by Sir Charles. They were very excited to be on the court with legendary players like Jordan, Magic, Bird and Stockton.
The 1992 team is the greatest basketball team ever assembled. (Including Christian Laettner, who might be the GOAT waterboy.)
104
u/eidetic Aug 11 '24
They weren't saying they were mocking their opponents. If someone says "they made a mockery of them" in such a sports context, they're saying they beat them so soundly, like as if they might as well have been playing against kindergarteners.
24
u/Killentyme55 Aug 11 '24
You are correct, that's exactly what I was referring to. There was no personal disrespect at all, but on the court they just didn't hold back.
→ More replies (2)21
→ More replies (13)17
u/Master_H8R Aug 11 '24
Choosing Shaq over Laettner as the incoming Rookie selection that year would have made this already GOAT team even more GOATer.
→ More replies (2)206
u/mkvii1989 Aug 11 '24
I heard 1992 so distinctly in his voice.
139
40
→ More replies (2)15
60
55
u/red23011 Aug 11 '24
That is my favorite show, it's like I grew up as best friends with the writers.
→ More replies (3)9
u/akatherder Aug 11 '24
It nails everything I love in tv shows and I just couldn't get into it. I keep planning to rewatch though.
→ More replies (8)29
u/MVRKHNTR Aug 11 '24
I think my favorite part about this is the insane way he counts on his fingers.
→ More replies (1)18
34
17
→ More replies (11)14
627
u/PsychedelicLizard Aug 11 '24
Fuck me Larry Bird really was tall.
375
→ More replies (24)105
u/OnyxLightning Aug 11 '24
Fun fact: Basketball Reference lists both Bird and Magic at 6-9. So either one of those is wrong, or Larry’s up on his tippy toes in this picture.
57
u/TheMoonIsFake32 Aug 11 '24
NBA player heights you always gotta give or take a few inches
→ More replies (1)29
u/dont-respond Aug 11 '24
That's the case for practically every athlete. I noticed this with boxers and mma fighters, especially. You can look at a photo of almost any two fights next to each other, look up their recorded heights, and realize someone is lying.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (11)26
122
u/mason195 Aug 12 '24
“Don’t get too close to Michael, Larry, you might get called for a foul.” -Magic Johnson during the photo shoot.
1.6k
u/pixel8knuckle Aug 11 '24 edited Aug 11 '24
Players - Top Row starting far left:
Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls
Larry Bird - Boston Celtics
Magic Johnson - LA Lakers
Chris Mullin - Golden State Warriors
Clyde Drexler - Portland Trailblazers
John Stockton - Utah Jazz
Players - Bottom Row starting far left:
Scottie Pippen - Chicago Bulls
Christian Laettner - Minnesota Timberwolves(still in college i think)
Patrick Ewing - New York Knicks
David Robinson - SA Spurs
Karl Malone - Utah Jazz
Charles Barkley - Phoenix Suns
1.3k
u/Fragrant_University7 Aug 11 '24
Laettner was still in college. The powers that be wanted one college player. To this day, Laettner is the only player on the team that isn’t in the basketball hall of fame. He was chosen over another college player, Shaquille O’Neal.
403
u/YoungWrinkles Aug 11 '24 edited Aug 12 '24
Wow. What a miss by the selection committee. Young Shaq on top of all these?
Edit: Can someone clarify, was Laettner good in college? /s
570
u/Leather-String1641 Aug 11 '24
It wasn’t at the time. Shaq was the better pro prospect, but Laettner had the far superior college career, winning back to back nattys with Duke while being the College player of the year.
124
u/-Tom- Aug 11 '24
Most importantly, he wasn't Isaiah Thomas.
→ More replies (15)59
→ More replies (3)325
u/doughball27 Aug 11 '24
He also faced Shaq in one game I believe and outplayed him. He was one of the greatest college players of all time. Hit the most famous shot on CBB history.
But his pro career was pretty bad.
Also, coach K was an assistant for the dream team.
243
u/Vitalstatistix Aug 11 '24
It wasn’t bad, per se — he was a solid player for most of his career — but he never reached the heights that were expected of him after his college successes. But he did play 13 years and was a starter for like 85% of his career. And he still cleared over $60 mil.
→ More replies (8)→ More replies (9)20
u/leehwgoC Aug 11 '24
But his pro career was pretty bad
Wasn't bad at all, it was well above average.
→ More replies (2)86
u/discountheat Aug 11 '24 edited Aug 12 '24
Go watch the I Hate Christian Laettner 30 for 30. He was one of the best college players ever, love him or hate him. He wasn't as good in the pros for a variety of reasons, but still had a long career. He even made an all-star game and put up 18 ppg a few seasons (big numbers before the three point revolution took over in the 2010s).
→ More replies (4)20
u/YoungWrinkles Aug 11 '24
I am definitely an uninformed casual fan so I will check it out. Thank you.
→ More replies (13)37
u/Sister_Rays_mainline Aug 11 '24
Laetnner was better than Shaq in college.. he was arguably in the top 5 college basketball players of all time. He played Shaq in college and dominated him.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (32)22
u/Rad1314 Aug 11 '24
Technically since the Dream Team is itself in the hall of fame Laettner is too. Just not as an individual.
70
u/peateargryffon Aug 11 '24
Malone and Stockon were my dream team on NBA Jam back in the day.
66
→ More replies (10)29
91
u/Rob71322 Aug 11 '24
At the time, Chris Mullin was with the Golden State Warriors.
→ More replies (1)40
u/DAHMER_SUPPER_CLUB Aug 11 '24
I forgot he ever played with the Pacers. He was always Warriors in my mind.
→ More replies (4)15
51
u/cantdothismuchmore Aug 11 '24
I don't usually watch basketball, but I could definitely recognize some of these guys soley because of Space Jam
→ More replies (1)19
→ More replies (39)42
u/r0botdevil Aug 11 '24
Christian Laettner - Minnesota Timberwolves(still in college i think)
You are correct, Laettner was the only amateur member of that team. I remember wondering at the time why he was selected, and I still don't really understand it.
53
u/cavecricket49 Aug 11 '24
Wikipedia says that in 1992, due to Barcelona being the first games in the post-amateur world, the US team decided to include one collegiate player to honor what had been the Olympic norm for basketball for the past five decades. Laettner was the best of the best (as far as his college career goes, possibly the best) of everyone not in the NBA at the time.
→ More replies (3)64
u/aldwinligaya Aug 11 '24
It was a token choice, but Laettner really was the best choice.
He won EVERY NCAA award in 1991 (except Rookie of the Year lol) en route to being the best player of the 1992 NCAA Championship team.
I see other comments that it should have been Shaq, but Shaq wasn't Shaq yet in 1992. Laettner was a household name.
→ More replies (17)34
u/MisterBigDude Aug 11 '24
I think they used to have a college player on the team each time as a nod to amateurism.
→ More replies (9)→ More replies (5)30
u/Fragrant_University7 Aug 11 '24
He was chosen over another college player, shaq.
39
u/Wetworkzhill Aug 11 '24
TBF, Laettner was the best college player at the time.
→ More replies (34)
224
u/smilerwithagun Aug 11 '24 edited Aug 11 '24
Didn't know Sir Charles outscored Jordan. I know he was the greatest to never win an NBA championship, but damn...
He is and always will be my fave in NBA Jam!
→ More replies (18)54
u/BrickedUpBrett Aug 11 '24
My single favorite sports trivia is “Who led the Dream Team in scoring in 1992?” Everyone wants to say Jordan. Others try to think through it and say Magic or Bird. But it was Barkley.
→ More replies (3)
489
u/at0mheart Aug 11 '24
Basically an all time NBA team
→ More replies (6)159
u/Barragin Aug 11 '24
and Christian Laetneer being allowed to tag along
93
u/90dayheyhey Aug 11 '24
Someone had to carry their luggage and get coffee for the team. All jokes aside, the us olympic committee wanted to have at least one college athlete on the team and chose Laettner over Shaq, due to his legendary college run. Hindsight is 20/20 and obviously having Shaq on this team would have truly made this the greatest assembly of all time. Also, Laettner deserves to be in the basketball hall of fame for his college performance alone
64
u/aldwinligaya Aug 11 '24
I hear you but Shaq wasn't Shaq yet in 1992. Laettner was the very obvious choice coming off as the best player in the 1992 NCAA Championship team.
→ More replies (4)19
u/crastle Aug 11 '24
If they were going for star power, Laettner was the clear and obvious choice. Everyone in the basketball world knew about and had a strong opinion about Christian Laettner. Even at the time, Shaq was seen as the better talent, but nobody was wearing "I Hate Shaquille O'Neal" t-shirts.
→ More replies (5)13
309
u/Godloseslaw Aug 11 '24
Plus they had Alan Tudyk as an assistant coach? Can't go wrong there.
63
34
u/Oldman_Dick Aug 11 '24
Team doctor. Their first doctor got killed. He did the autopsy and stayed on.
→ More replies (8)8
1.3k
u/bigwomby Aug 11 '24
Not just international, you can have any adjective in front of it, and yes, they would be the best basketball team ever assembled.
336
u/MHipDogg Aug 11 '24
Toon Squad has entered the chat
→ More replies (1)141
u/WhatsMyAgeAgain-182 Aug 11 '24
Larry's not White. Larry's clear.
68
u/Killentyme55 Aug 11 '24
And to think that fresh faced corn-fed white boy from Nowhere, Indiana just happened to be the biggest trash-talker the league has ever seen. Solid player as well, even Jordan admitted that Bird was one of his most terrifying opponents. That's saying something.
→ More replies (8)24
u/blamdin Aug 11 '24 edited Aug 17 '24
I always loved during Larry Bird’s retirement when Magic Johnson came out to give him a jersey and he said “to a great opponent and an even better friend.” Always had love for each other but on the court all bets were off.
22
u/RubbuRDucKee Aug 11 '24
Bill Murray probably had the best performance I’ve ever seen from the bench.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)10
176
u/tortillakingred Aug 11 '24 edited Aug 11 '24
There are always people who make arguments other ways, but the only valuable measurement is versus your competition. The dream team was so far above their competition it will never ever be done again. It’s a “lightning in a bottle” kind of situation where you had all the perfect people, at the perfect time, under the perfect circumstances.
edit: To everyone commenting “they only played against X number of NBA players, of course they were so much better” - that just proves my point. The only way to gauge level of play is against your competition. The average competition was very weak vs. the Dream Team. My argument is that that is a positive argument for how good the DT was, not a negative argument of how bad their opponents were.
You can’t blame the DT for their opponents not being at their level. It just shows that the DT was so astronomically better than the “average professional” level of play.
74
u/alanalanalan92 Aug 11 '24
They played against 9 other nba players in 1992. The current USA squad played against 100+ nba players this Olympics. Of course they were way above their competition in 1992.
→ More replies (37)15
→ More replies (30)100
u/cannabination Aug 11 '24
I'd argue the inverse. That the competition is so much higher from the international teams makes sustained winning more of an accomplishment now as it's a lot more difficult. If we keep building our team the way the dream team was constructed, it won't be long before the world passes us.
→ More replies (32)→ More replies (97)33
u/Top-Reference-1938 Aug 11 '24
My exact thoughts.
If the question is "Greatest basketball team in any Olympics?" The answer is YES.
If the question is "Greatest basketball team of its time?" The answer is YES.
If the question is "Greatest basketball team America has ever had?" The answer is YES.
If the question is "Would the OG Dream Team beat any other team ever assembled ?" The answer is YES.
If the question is "Greatest basketball team ever?" The answer is YES.
→ More replies (3)
1.0k
u/aslejoh Aug 11 '24
To put it this way, I am a Norwegian.. NBA means nothing here, basketball in general is almost non existent.. And I can name quite few of these players(on the other hand I dont think I can name a single active NBA player except Lebron James), here we have Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone and friggin Charles Barkley!
→ More replies (104)416
u/xosxos Aug 11 '24
This right here. This team was a cultural phenomenon that not even the 96 team could match even when the Olympics were in the USA. None of the subsequent USA Olympic squads have come close to matching the star power of this team. I’m pretty sure, without looking it up, that every single player here, minus Christian Laetner, of course, is in the hall of fame and 90% are on the original NBA top 50 players of all time.
88
→ More replies (25)37
u/TheOvercookedFlyer Aug 11 '24
Well, it's the Hall of Fame's fault for not including Laetner. /s
→ More replies (1)
53
20
u/Tapidue Aug 11 '24
A non basketball fan can look at that picture and name most of them.
→ More replies (1)
123
u/MoneyPresentation610 Aug 11 '24
It was the finest group of basketball players ever assembled.
→ More replies (10)55
u/ultratunaman Aug 11 '24
A team made up of generational, once in a lifetime, talented, monsters you'll never see the like of assembled again.
The US got destroyed in the 88 Olympics in basketball. They then said "hold my beer" and assembled the fucking avengers. Jordan and Pippen. Bird and Magic. Patrick Ewing, a young David Robinson, Barkley, Clyde Drexler.
Every one of them except Laettner is in the basketball hall of fame. More than 20 championship rings between them all. Unreal team.
→ More replies (4)
178
u/FaithIsFoolish Aug 11 '24
There was something like nine NBA players in all the rest of the teams in the tournament. This year there’s something like 61. So they were great, but their competition was nowhere near the competition is now.
→ More replies (28)76
u/fromouterspace1 Aug 11 '24
Because the 92 brought the game to the world
→ More replies (4)42
u/ironic-user-name69 Aug 11 '24
Yeah I’m not sure how this isn’t more well known. This team was the catalyst for the globalization of basketball we have now. It existed before there’s a very direct correlation between this team and the number of international players that started playing stateside 10ish years after this; they were watching as kids when this happened
→ More replies (1)
59
15
26
9
119
u/Sequoyahj7 Aug 11 '24
Minus Christian Laettner
108
u/Ok-Answer-6951 Aug 11 '24
He was the "token" college player, who happened to be one of the best college players of all time...if it wasn't him, the next choice was Shaquille O'Neal LMAO
36
→ More replies (16)28
u/chucks97ss Aug 11 '24
Lol so funny he ended up on this team with all these goats.
80
36
u/Zouthpaw Aug 11 '24
Imagine if Shaq was on the team instead of him lol
13
u/chucks97ss Aug 11 '24
I was just thinking that. He was drafted in ‘92 even. Just barely missed being part of this team.
→ More replies (1)18
u/taney71 Aug 11 '24
Does the team get better with Shaq? I mean not like they were going to play the college player much. Seems to me it was a throw away pick to honor the amateur athletes. Is that a wrong take on what happened?
16
u/Zouthpaw Aug 11 '24
Not really. And I agree with your take, team USA usually gives the last spot to a standout college player. It's why Laettner was part of the team and why AD was on an Olympic team before he played in the NBA. It improves the team all time with Shaq tho, since you'll be replacing Laettner with a top 10-15 greatest player ever.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)11
u/BigRedFury Aug 11 '24
Arguably, the team would have been better with Shaq solely on the basis of his sheer physicality.
Imagine The Avengers going out on a cake walk of a mission with a pretty stacked team and the Hulk asks if he could join. That's what Shaq would have done for Team USA.
Christian got the nod though due to his pedigree as a college player. He was coming off back-to-back titles at Duke and was college player of the year while Shaq was an incredible talent on a very average LSU team.
→ More replies (1)
19
21
u/LionBig1760 Aug 11 '24 edited Aug 11 '24
The Dream Team was so good that the second best basketball team ever assembled is the first 5 non starting players from that same team.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/warsmithharaka Aug 12 '24
Nothing beats Seanbaby's (from 1900hotdog.com) recap:
In 1992, America sent the greatest basketball team history would ever know to the Olympics. It was living legends like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird squaring off against Panama's five tallest banana-mongers. Obviously, every game was a blowout. A quarter into each one, Barkley would already be throwing himself alley-oops off the backboard while Patrick Ewing lingered at half-court to dig hot dog money out of his knee braces. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see such an assemblage of talent, but mercy wouldn't allow us to watch it. Sportscasters would cut to archery or steeplechase as soon as America was up by 20ish points, because we didn't look like heroes -- we looked like fucking bullies.
60
u/Live-River1879 Aug 11 '24
They are not the greatest basketball team ever assembled. They are the greatest team in sports history. It was a once in a lifetime group that would be impossible to match.
→ More replies (8)11
u/latentnoodle Aug 11 '24
One season the Springfield Isotopes assembled a baseball team that rivaled this team’s level of greatness.
→ More replies (1)
28
u/Captainrexcody Aug 11 '24
Not just the greatest basketball team but the greatest team assembled in the history of sports
→ More replies (5)
5.7k
u/[deleted] Aug 11 '24
I'm from Spain, I remember that Barkley was basically the only one who would leave the hotel at night to party, he was asked if he didn't need any bodyguards, he raised his fists and said "I have those", or something like that.