92 Dream Team...Best Team Ever Assembled?

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There have been several teams in different sports to claim this title....but when you look back at the roster this dream team had at the time? Well, let's just say it was pretty legendary.

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I’m not saying they weren’t, but some members were past their prime, like Bird and Magic. I think the international game improved a lot in the following years too.

2019 lsu

truly astounding to consider the fact that ten of the twelve Dream Team members were named among the top-50 greatest players of all time.

not only did they win their games in Barcelona by an average of ~45 pts, they didn’t call a single timeout. not one…even for garbage time subs lmao

2002 Brazil.
2009 Barcelona.

I’d still go Dream team, but the 2002 Brazil World Cup championship team was unreal. A handful of players that are in the conversation for best player ever at their positions. The Dream Team’s bench is all-time greats too tho

The 94 World Championship team may have been better


What that team did was disgusting

It had
KJ
Nique
Shaq
Coleman
LJ
Thunder Dan
Dumars
Mark Price
Zo


It was just a dunk fest and they laughed at people while doing it.

To me, the Dream Team is more iconic, but that 94 FIBA team may have been actually better due to not having wasted spots (Bird, Laettner, Magic)

Yes they are the best team ever. Truly great.

People read too much into the Shaq snub. Laettner was the obvious choice with Coach K on staff.

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The selection committee considered several college players including Harold Miner, Jimmy Jackson, and Alonzo Mourning in addition to Shaquille O'Neal and Christian Laettner.[27] O'Neal was the number-one pick in the 1992 NBA draft, but Laettner's Duke Blue Devils teams won consecutive National Championships in 1991 and 1992. Coached by Mike Krzyzewski, who also was a first-time assistant coach for the Olympic program, Laettner was the Naismith College Player of the Year and scored the game-winning basket as time expired in the 1992 NCAA Eastern Regional final. Although O'Neal was a two-time Consensus NCAA First Team All-American in 1991 and 1992, his team lost in the second round of the 1992 NCAA men's tournament. Laettner's college success and coach's endorsement ultimately secured his position on the team.[28]

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92 Team was overwhelming, and did exactly what they were supposed to do. In dramatic, legendary fashion.

However, from a landscape, grit, and competitive standpoint, I think I actually have even more respect/admiration for the 2008 Redeem Team. If any of y'all haven't checked out the documentary Netflix did on that squad, they put so much in perspective. The international game had caught up. The 92 team showed the world just how far ahead the USA was. They set the bar. Threw down the gauntlet. Which the rest of the world spent the next decade + 2 years picking up. By the time the '08 team was coalescing, the rest of the world wasn't just hoping to get an autograph with NBA royalty after the game--they wanted/felt justified in considering themselves favorites to punk USA basketball in front of the world. Again. Better talent had closed the gap, and better team chemistry circumstances made them tough outs. No disrespect to the 92 legends, but by the time 04/06/08 rolled around, USA couldn't simply show up and out-talent our opponents in inter play. You had to hoop. Go out, execute, and earn it. The 08 team did that against a whole heap of disadvantages. By necessity, a completely different mindset than 92.

And I loved that Redeem Team for it