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Ranked by greatness: The 1992 Dream Team

By Matthew Miranda

1992: Michael Jordan (L), Magic Johnson (M) and Clyde Drexler (R) of Team USA, the Dream Team, sit on the bench during the men's basketball competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Icon Sportswire)
1992: Michael Jordan (L), Magic Johnson (M) and Clyde Drexler (R) of Team USA, the Dream Team, sit on the bench during the men's basketball competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Icon Sportswire) /
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5. Patrick Ewing (28.6 pts, 12.1 rebs, 3.4 asts, 4 blks, 1.5 stls)

Patrick Ewing’s accomplishments deserve a special recognition among Dream Teamers, and that’s saying something, because the accomplishments stand tall all on their own.

The New York Knick center finished top-10 in MVP seven times and was All-NBA seven times, too. Ewing entered the league being compared as a defender to Bill Russell. Nobody is Bill Russell, but it’s also pretty unheard of for defenders to be Patrick Ewing. Thrice he led the league in defensive win shares; thrice he was named to All-Defense teams. He was top-10 in blocked shots a remarkable 13 times. But Ewing was as dominant a force scoring as he was shutting others down: from 1986-1998, he averaged over 20 points per game.

What makes Ewing’s achievements take on added merit is what’s immediately apparent when comparing his career to those of the other Dream Teamers. Seven of Ewing’s teammates — Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin — at some point played in a Big Three alongside two other Hall of Famers. Stockton and Malone spent 18 seasons together. David Robinson won two titles after Tim Duncan came to San Antonio. Over the 11 years Ewing made the All-Star team, only three Knicks ever joined him — and Mark Jackson, Charles Oakley and John Starks are no Hall-of-Famers. Ewing’s efforts were Herculean, Hadean, unlikely, ill-fated, yet relentless.

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