Any discussion about the greatest basketball teams ever assembled always includes the 1992 Dream Team. For the longest time, NBA players weren’t allowed to participate in the Olympics, but once FIBA removed that rule in 1989, the door was opened to form one of the greatest teams of all time.
Some of the biggest names in NBA history, like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Charles Barkley, were on the team, and they blew away the competition. The U.S. had to settle for the bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics, but there was no stopping them this time around.
The 1992 Dream Team Called Zero Timeouts On Their Way To The Gold Medal
The head coach for that uber-talented team was Chuck Daly, who had led the Detroit Pistons to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. Daly had told Magic that a coach for a group with this much talent shouldn’t have to call timeouts, and his players didn’t let him down, as he didn’t have to call even one of them on their way to winning gold.
When you are winning games by the margins that those guys were back then, there really is no need for a coach to intervene. The smallest margin of victory for the Dream Team was 32 points against Croatia in the gold medal game, which shows just how unstoppable they were. The top scorer for the 1992 Dream Team was Charles Barkley, who averaged 18.0 PPG, with 4.1 RPG and 2.4 APG. Michael Jordan played well, too, averaging 14.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 4.8 APG as he won his second Olympic gold medal. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took a seat back, as they averaged 8 PPG and 8.4 PPG, respectively, which should tell you how good the rest of them were.
The 1992 USA Dream Team may well be the best team ever in basketball history. We had Jordan, Bird, Magic, Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, John Stockton, and other greats all on one team. It is probably the last time we will ever see 11 Hall of Famers come together on one team.
The USA Dream Team had great success in 1992, and they won again in 1996 and 2000, but then disappointed in the 2004 Olympic Games when they lost to Argentina in Semifinals. After that, they formed the 2008 Redeem Team, led by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, and they beat Spain in an amazing game for the gold medal. Many fans still debate which is the better team, the 1992 USA Dream Team or the 2008 Redeem Team, but to be honest – even though Kobe and LeBron are great players, Michael Jordan and the 1992 Dream Team would be unstoppable, and they would win that game as well.