On April 7, 1989, the International Amateur Basketball Federation became the International Basketball Federation (but kept the acronym FIBA): 56 votes for and 13 votes against. A change, initiated by its secretary general, Borislav Stankovic, which opened the door to professional basketball players at the Olympic Games.
Enough to allow, two years later, the American federation to announce the famous “Dream Team”, which would have to recover the Olympic gold (lost in 1988) during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
The absence of Isiah Thomas
It was on September 21, 1991 that Chuck Daly, the coach of the Detroit Pistons and new American coach, announced the composition of this dream team. In fact, only ten names had been revealed that day, Team USA keeping two places warm, including one for a university player at the end of the NCAA season.
But the field was already impressive with Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Chris Mullin, John Stockton, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen and Patrick Ewing…
“Given the way the process has gone, it will be more of an All-Star Team.”, Chuck Daly explained. “And who can dispute the names that came out of it?”
Difficult indeed. Even if the absence of Isiah Thomas, leader of the Pistons, who had just won two of the last three NBA titles, was already causing a lot of talk. Jack McCloskey, the Pistons GM, had even slammed the door on the selection committee following the absence of “Zeke”.
“Due to my inability to convince a majority of the committee on the subject, I feel that I can no longer contribute to it.”wrote Jack McCloskey in his letter to the 12 other members (PJ Carlesimo, Mike Krzyzewski, Rod Thorn…). “The commission told me that Isiah had to prove himself again next year, while others could have a horrible year and still be on our Olympic team. That's ridiculous, because we're penalizing maybe the 'biggest kid' who ever played basketball.”
It is still unclear why Isiah Thomas was excluded from the “Dream Team”. Did Michael Jordan condition his arrival on the absence of the leader of the “Bad Boys”? Or did the members of the selection committee rather anticipate possible problems? The fact remains that many members of the team (Magic Johnson…) did not want Isiah Thomas on the team and that his absence ultimately suited everyone.
A team for history… and general knowledge
“It's only special because it's going to go down in history.”explained Charles Barkley. “I’m proud to represent our country, but I just want to be there because this team is going to make history. And I’m going to be the answer to a trivia question. It’s going to be incredible. I’m going to be part of the greatest team ever assembled. It’s going to be huge. They’ve already told us that.”
A few months later, Clyde Drexler and Christian Laettner would round out the lineup, while Jerry West answered those who wondered whether a group with so many superstars could work.
“How many superstars are there in this league? Three or four? Let’s start from a different perspective. Every player on this team is a great player, even if some are better than others. And all these guys are not only great players, they want to play as a team. They’re not selfish. So I think we’re going to have a very tight-knit group.” Confirmation the following year, the “Dream Team” crushed everything in its path.
