As we touched on last week, NBA TV’s documentary “The Dream Team” was pretty, pretty, pretty great. While we gave you a look at some of the top plays and what we learned from “The Dream Team,” it’s important to remember that there were two more “Dream Teams” – the 1994 “Dream Team II” and the 1996 “Dream Team III.”
The “Dream Team II” was created for the 1994 World Championship and consisted of a younger roster compared to the original “Dream Team.” Despite its youth, the team dominated the competition, winning games by an average of 37.7 points and finishing with a perfect 8-0 record to bring home the gold medal. The team consisted of Derrick Coleman, Joe Dumars, Kevin Johnson, Larry Johnson, Shawn Kemp, Dan Majerle, Reggie Miller, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Mark Price, Steve Smith and Domnique Wilkins; Don Nelson was the coach. Of note is that Tim Hardaway was selected to be on the team but couldn’t play due to the injury. The same couldn’t be said for the infamous “Dream Team” snub, Isiah Thomas.
Like the first “Dream Team,” “Dream Team II” scrimmaged against a select team of college players that included Michael Finley, Damon Stoudamire and Tim Duncan:
The top 10 plays from “Dream Team II”:
For the 1996 Summer Olympics, “Dream Team III” was determined to protect the home court advantage (the ’96 Olympics were held in Atlanta) and did so easily, winning the gold medal by beating Yugoslavia in the finals. Coached by Lenny Wilkens, the team consisted of 5 original “Dream Team” members: David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Scottie Pippen. Rounding out the squad were Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee Hardaway, Grant Hill, Reggie Miller, Hakeem Olajuwon and Mitch Richmond.
https://dailymotion.com/video/xe2yt
In a recent interview on the Dan Patrick Show, Charles Barkley said that this 1996 team was nothing compared to the 1992 team:
“…in Atlanta man guys were arguing with Lenny Wilkens and talking about who should be starting. 1992 was like the greatest thing ever as far as camaraderie and everybody getting along. Then in ’96 I was like ‘you guys are kidding me, I played with the greatest team ever, and you guys aren’t that good and you’re complaining about who is starting and who is getting playing time?’ You have to be kidding me. It was incredible.”
Barkley is probably right; both “Dream Team II” and “Dream Team III” can’t hold a candle to the original “Dream Team,” but both teams won a gold medal and we should not forget about their own greatness.
What do you remember about the second and third Dream Teams?
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