A Look Back at The 92 Dream Team – The All Time Best

History was made that year as the best of the best were grouped together as teammates to represent the USA in basketball. The starting five were: Michael Jordan and Earvin “Magic” Johnson at Guards, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley at Forwards, and David Robinson at Center. The second five featured: John Stockton and Clyde “The Glide” Drexler at Guards, Scottie Pippen and Karl Malone at Forwards, and Patrick Ewing at Center, with Chris Mullin and Christian Laettner as rotational reserves.

The true thrill for me was finally seeing Magic Johnson and Larry Bird on the same team. For years they battled each other on opposing teams, Magic and the Lakers going against Bird and the Celtics. To see them playing together, as teammates, was most satisfying to me.

Magic Johnson was a pleasure to watch in action, with his fakes, no looks, and behind the back passes. He was a master at running the team. He always had a high number of assists in a game. He could find the open man and quickly get him the ball. He was their clutch player. When the chips were down, along with the clock and the score, you wanted the ball in Magic Johnson’s hands.

Larry Bird was the same way. When the time came to put up or shut up, you get the ball to Bird. With his famous one dribble while stepping backwards to get behind the 3 point line and then launching a 3 point shot was a beauty to see. He could fire those 3 pointers from anywhere on the court. He had a few tricks of his own in the passing department too. A behind the back pass here and a no look pass there was not uncommon to see.

Then you have Michael Jordan all over the court, dunking the ball in every imaginable way there is to do it. Plus his pullup jumpers that never seemed to miss, truly a sight to behold. If you had to pick one player, in the clutch, that you wanted the ball in his hands to win the game for you, then Michael Jordan would be that player. He did it time after time with the Bulls.

Then there is Charles Barkley. Sir Charles! One of, if not the, most outspoken players ever to play the game. You could always count on Charles Barkley to say what was on his mind. If it happened to hurt your feelings then so be it. He was not shy. If Sir Charles had something to say, he would definitely say it. When it came time to play basketball, he was the man. His thunderous dunks rattled arena backboards all over the country. He could pump up and rally his team as well as anyone ever could. He was their go to guy.

Next up is another of my all time favorite players, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler. He was fun to watch. He could glide through opposing defenses like greased lightning and slam dunk it before they knew what hit them. It was great to see him play on this team with all the other great players.

John Stockton and “The Mailman” Karl Malone played together for the Jazz and played together well. Stockton had a knack for finding the open man also, but him and Malone worked great together. This mailman almost always delivered on Sundays.

The two big men, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson both were valuable assets to their respective teams. Both were masters at rebounding and scoring.

We can’t forget about the coach here either. The late, great, Chuck Daly. He was a good fit with this group of players and in my opinion, the best man for the job. Some people of late seem to think that this 92 Dream Team could be beat, by the team that was assembled in 2008. I disagree. You won’t find a better starting 5 than what was put on the floor together in 1992. You throw in the second 5 and as far as talent goes, it would be extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible to match that as a team that could beat them.