Just one more week – seven days – until the NBA season’s tip off with three games – the Hawks versus the Pistons, the Cavs versus Chicago, and the Warriors hosting the Pelicans, where the Warriors receive their “Rings.” However, before we talk about this 2015-2016 NBA season, let’s talk about the “Dream Team.”
The 1992 USA Men’s Olympic basketball team, also known as the “Dream Team”, came into existence after the USA, using college players only, finished third in the 1988 Olympic basketball competition. In 1989, the governing body of international basketball, known as “FIBA”, opened Olympic basketball competition to professional athletes. This significant policy change led to the “Dream Team”, which is the two greatest collection of basketball talent ever to be called a basketball team.
Consisting of twelve players, eleven NBA players and one collegian who had yet to play in the NBA, the 1992 Dream Team was an unbelievable collection of talent and personalities. Alphabetically by last name, then, this initial dream team included the following basketball legends.
- Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers
- Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics
- Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers
- Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks
- Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers
- Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls
- Christian Laettner of Duke University
- Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz
- Chris Mullin of the Golden State Warriors
- Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls
- David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs
- John Stockton of the Utah Jazz
Chuck Daly was the head coach of this team with P.J. Carlesimo, Mike Krzyzewski, and Lenny Wilkins as assistant coaches. And, as we all remember, the Dream Team destroyed their competition in a sportsmanlike manner, went 8-0 in Olympic competition, and walked away with the Gold Medal.
OMG, What a Team!
Did you ever wonder just who would be on your personal all-time “Dream Team”? Well, here’s mine.
Center – Bill Russell. Wilt Chamberlain is an extremely close second, Wilt was more ball-dominant than I’d like in a center, and it’s impossible to ignore Russell’s eleven rings in thirteen seasons. What about Kareem, you ask? See “Power Forward” below.
Power Forward – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Move the lanky Kareem to the PF position where his primary mission is offense and he has Russell behind him as a rim protector. Tim Duncan and LeBron James are my other choices here.
Small Forward – Larry Bird. This position was my most difficult choice, but in the end Larry Legend’s spectacular outside shooting won the position over LeBron and Magic, especially since rebounding is not an issue (see Center and Power Forward above).
Shooting Guard – Michael Jordan, over Jerry West and Kobe Bryant.
Point Guard – Oscar Robertson, over Magic Johnson and Jerry West.
NBA games in seven, yes seven, days. Like the Carly Simon song says, “Anticipation, Anticipation. Is making me late. Is keeping me waiting.”
About the author – BILL HARVEY, Call Sign “Stats”, is the Editor of Hoops Business. He is a former basketball player, basketball referee, Army officer, and college instructor in technical writing with a public relations and journalism background. He is also the editor of the Net Set blog at http://thenetsetblog.com. BA degree from Xavier University and MA degree in Information Management.