Since the restriction limiting professional players was lifted before the 1992 Barcelona games the United States, which was already a major force in international men’s basketball, got even better—much better.
After taking bronze in 1988, following their golds in ‘84 and ’76 the original Dream Team arrived in Barcelona as rock stars and throttled the competition. Since then USA Basketball has rolled out five more teams filled with NBA stars with similar results—save for the 2004 team.
Here is one writer’s ranking of those six teams, taking into account how the rest of the world has caught up since then in addition to how they fared in those games.
6. The 2004 Team; Placed: Bronze. Head Coach: Larry Brown. Average score was USA 88, Opponents 84. Roster: Carmelo Anthony (SF), Carlos Boozer (PF), Tim Duncan (PF), Allen Iverson (PG), LeBron James (SF), Richard Jefferson (SF), Stephon Marbury (PG), Shawn Marion (SF), Lamar Odom (PF), Emeka Okafor (PF), Amare Stoudemire (PF), and Dwyane Wade (SG). After the U.S. team placed an unfathomable sixth-place at the 2002 World Championships, which were held in the United States no less, an almost full turnover of the roster (only Shawn Marion was back) was unable to completely reverse the trend in 2004. The youthful U.S. squad, coached by the legendary Larry Brown lost their first ever Olympic games, three in total, with professionals on the roster. Most embarrassing was a 93–74 loss to Puerto Rico to start things off in a game that was never close. With six of the 12 U.S. players being 22 or younger the team was heavily reliant on veterans Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, and Stephon Marbury. Notably absent from the roster were NBA stars Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Kidd for various reasons.
5. The 2000 Team; Placed: Gold. Head Coach: Rudy Tomjanovich. Average score was USA 95, Opponents 73. Roster: Shareef Abdur-Rahim (PF), Ray Allen (SG), Vin Baker (PF), Vince Carter (SF), Kevin Garnett (PF), Tim Hardaway (PG), Allan Houston (SG), Jason Kidd (PG), Antonio McDyess (PF), Alonzo Mourning (C), Gary Payton (PG), and Steve Smith (SG). Though they placed gold, this was where the wheels started coming off. U.S. teams were accustomed to dominating the sport; the rest of the world was suddenly catching up. International selections were all of a sudden being made in the NBA Draft and no longer could the U.S. just show up, pressure the guards into easy turnovers and win. Four U.S. wins were by 12 points or less including a two-point squeaker against Lithuania in the semifinals where the team rallied in the last 90 seconds and watched a Lithuanian desperation three-pointer fall short as time ran out. Much like the 2004 team, stars like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were absent from the squad.
