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Best Olympic Dream Team: It’s not the 1992 or 2012 Teams

By Josh Hill

Team USA has had a history of great Olympic basketball teams, but the debate as to who is the best is one that will never die.
Team USA has had a history of great Olympic basketball teams, but the debate as to who is the best is one that will never die. /
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Team USA has had a history of great Olympic basketball teams, but the debate as to who is the best is one that will never die.
Team USA has had a history of great Olympic basketball teams, but the debate as to who is the best is one that will never die. /

Now that LeBron James and the rest of the 2012 Team USA Olympic team have taken home the gold medal, the raging debate as to who the greatest Olympic team has hit an all-time high.

But according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, neither the 1992 nor the 2012 Dream Teams are the best teams in Olympic history for the USA.

In fact, if you follow the numbers, despite a record setting margin of victory against the Nigerians in pool play, the 2012 Dream Team is only the fifth best team in mens Olympic basketball history — in terms of margin of victory of course and sheer dominance.

YEAR

AVG. MARGIN OF VICTORY

1956

53.3

1992

43.8

1960

42.4

1948

33.5

2012

32.1

1984

32.1

1996

31.8

1964

30.0

2008

27.9

1968

26.0

2000

21.6

1936

20.8

1952

19.5

1976

12.3

If you’re looking for the most untouchable USA basketball team, look no further than the 1956 team that literally blew through their competition in Melbourne. That team, a team that featured a young, unproven basketball rookie named Bill Russell, won their way to gold by an average margin of victory of 53.5 points.

The 1956 Olympic team is the best Olympic team when it comes to sheer dominance, beating their opponents by an average of 53.5ppg
The 1956 Olympic team is the best Olympic team when it comes to sheer dominance, beating their opponents by an average of 53.5ppg /

Not even the 1992 Dream Team that featured a roster of Hall of Famers could muster up a margin of victory average like that. They finish second all-time with an average of 43.8. The 2012 team ranks fifth with an average margin of 32.1, which is tied with the 1982  team.

Now, the context in which these teams played is very different. The 2012 team can rely on the crutch that the global competition is much, much more talented then that of years past. That’s a pretty massive handicap to consider in this whole debate and it inflates the 115.5 points per game they averaged when considered against the ’92 team’s 117.3 points per game.

Defendants of the 1992 Dream Team will continue to cite the margin of victory that team won by, highlighting and contrasting the gold medal games. The ’92 Dream Team beat Croatia by 32 points, while the 2012 team beat Spain by only seven. But again, Croatia only had two NBA players in Toni Kukoč (Chicago Bulls) and Dražen Petrović (New Jersey Nets).

The 2012 silver medal Spain team had six NBA players, most notably the Gasol Brothers.

But none of the Dream Teams can hold a candle to the sheer dominance that the 1956 Olympic team showed on their way to gold. Statistically speaking, the 1992 team trumps the 2012 Dream Team, but this is sports. If simple statistics settled arguments — well it just wouldn’t be sports.