So I keep reading the latest on the Basketball world championships and the frequent references to the "Dream Team" annoy me.  Let's be clear - there was only ever one Dream Team.  That was the 1992 US Olympic side.  There will never be a team like it and the sides that have been fielded since have consisted of cocky undisciplined tossers who think they can single handedly beat the world.  As I've been pleased to see in recent years, they've been handed a reality check.

 

The one and only dream team looked like this -

 

Michael Jordan.  The greatest player ever to put on shoes.

Clyde Drexler.  "The glide".  He shoots three pointers better than Michael chooses to.

Charles Barkley and Karl Malone.  The two most devastating power forwards ever to step on the court.

Larry Bird.  Best passing forward and most rediculous shot maker.

Earvin Johnson.  One word - "Magic".

John Stockton.  Got assists?  John does.

Chris Mullin.  Total workhorse and three point destroyer of worlds.

David Robinson.  The most agile seven footer to take the floor.

Patrick Ewing.  The centre of his era.

Scottie Pippen.  Super star small forward.

Christian Laettner.  Yeah well he was good in college.

 

Coach: Chuck Daly.

 

"Where's Shaq?" I hear you cry.  Well at the time, he was yet to be drafted.  I wouldn't have replaced anyone in this side with him anyway if it were up to me and I'll tell you why.  Each an every one of these guys wasn't just an individual superstar who could score at will.  They were TEAM PLAYERS.  They all knew their role.  They all knew how to give the ball to the open guy.  They all knew what defense was.  They all ran their backsides off and they all respected the people they were playing against - even Angola.

 

In their entire campaign, Chuck never called a time out.  He never had to.

 

Their average winning margin during the 1992 olympics was 43.8 points per game with an average score of 117.3.

 

If this team had been frozen in time and thawed out each time the US took the basketball court, no other team in the world would have come close.  Sure thing, Argentina, Greece, Spain and Italy are all getting better but they're getting better against US teams that don't show up to training, who don't pass the ball, who don't field three point shooters and who don't play defense.

 

Drop the "Dream Team" tag folks.  There can be only one.