Such was the magnitude of the competition during practice between the stars who formed the 1992 Dream Team, that former NBA star Charles Barkley said every practice session by the day felt like a “Game 7.”
The 1992 Dream Team was a powerhouse comprising massive names. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird headlined the 12-man roster.
“It was crazy. First of all, we all got tremendous egos. You got to have an ego to be great. So Magic [Johnson] was pissed because Scottie [Pippen] just locked him up in the Finals. He wanted revenge,” Barkley said.
“Clyde Drexler kept insinuating that he was just as good as Michael Jordan. And Michael was ballistic. So you got those two matchups, you got me and Karl Malone, who were two best power forwards in the world. We are the best two, but [my mindset] is that I am the one. Then you got Patrick [Ewing] and David [Robinson] trying to prove who’s the best center in the world,” 11-time NBA All-Star continued.
Barkley revealed that the egos of the players pushed them to be the best — on an doff the court. He added that while Karl Malone was one of his best friends, he still wanted to prove a point to the Utah Jazz star.
“‘I want you to know,’ everybody was going at it like that and it was so intense. And it was so much fun because we had respect. Karl is one of my best friends, but I wanted him to know, ‘I’m the best motherf***ing power forward in the world.’
“And I get a chance to prove it. … Yeah, we get to prove it every day. So every day was like a Game 7. I mean it was so intense, but we still remained friends after it was over. But man, our egos… I’ve never been in my entire basketball life in things as intense as those practices. Everybody had something to prove, but it was so much fun though.”
The competitiveness between the teammates worked as they landed comprehensive wins in the Barcelona Olympics.
They started off beating Angola (116-48) and later registered dominant wins against Croatia (103-70), Germany (111-68), Brazil (127-83), Spain (122-81), Puerto Rico (115-87), and Lithuania (127-86). They faced Croatia in the finale again and beat them 117-85.
Kobe Bryant Boldly Claimed That The 2012 Team Could Beat The 1992 Dream Team
The 2012 USA team was one classic squad as well, and the late Kobe Bryant believed that his side would have beaten the 1992 Dream Team.
“It would be a tough one, but I think we would pull it out,” Kobe said, as reported by ESPN at the time. “People who think we can’t beat that team for one game, they are crazy. To sit there and say we can’t, it’s ludicrous. We can beat them one time.”
There was some backlash to these comments from Kobe, and while he did soften his stance, the Black Mamba was still confident that they could win a game.
“I didn’t say we were a better team. But if you think we can’t beat that team one time? Like I’m going to say no, that we’d never beat them. They are a better team. The question was ‘Can we beat them?’ Yes, we can. Of course, we can.”
The debate aside, there’s no one thing to take away from — both teams were stacked and they were on a mission to restore the lost glory for the US in the Olympics. Which they rightly did.
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