On the 25th anniversary of the original Dream Team’s gold medal victory, we power rank the loaded roster.
Maybe the most impressive achievement of the greatest basketball team ever was reaching a level of dominance that remains as awe-dropping now as it was 25 years ago. The 1992 U.S. Men’s Basketball Team, “The Dream Team,” stormed through the Olympics undefeated on its way to the gold medal. The average score over six games was 113-73. They weren’t even that close. When your opponents are asking for your autographs before the game, that’s rarefied air.
The accolades, in retrospect, remain mind-boggling. Twelve players. Eleven honored with individual induction to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Dream Team itself named to the Hall in 2010. 15 NBA MVPs. 23 championships. Innumerable selections to All-NBA teams, All-Defense teams, All-Star teams. The average Dreamer’s career lasted 16 seasons, and most of those years they played every game — and played both ends, too. With all the honors and awards and successes, it’s tempting to try and evaluate them against one another. Scottie Pippen vs. Clyde Drexler? Charles Barkley vs. Karl Malone? David Robinson vs. Patrick Ewing? Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson? It’s seemed a knot of Gordian entanglement to try and definitely rank them by individual greatness. Until now.
Behold: all twelve original Dream Teamers, in order from the outskirts of the pantheon to the head of the table. For fun and perspective, we’re including their career-highs in various categories. Rank them yourself, then see how your list compares. With this group, ranking them is akin to watching them play: you really can’t lose.
12. Christian Laettner (18.2 pts, 8.8 rebs, 4.4 asts)
Christian Laettner was the lone collegian on the Dream Team, in part as an homage to the American Olympic tradition of having amateur ballers represent the country in the Games. There was controversy around Laettner’s selection — there was generally controversy around Laettner, period; there still is, including one fellow Dream Teamer’s wife having claimed he owes them $600,000 — as it came at the expense of more highly-regarded collegiate players, namely LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal and Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning. Attempts to justify excluding those two big men came on the grounds that with Patrick Ewing and David Robinson manning the pivot, there was no need for a third center. Yes, there was actually a point in history where the center position was that loaded!
While Laettner the pro never approached the heights Laettner the collegian did, his NBA career was still an unqualified success story: he made the All-Rookie First Team alongside O’Neal and Mourning; an All-Star in 1997, he consistently put up strong scoring and rebounding numbers while hitting as many as 35 percent of his 3-pointers one year, and once even finished eighth in defensive win shares. Back in the primordial pre-positionless NBA, Laettner spent time at all three frontcourt positions, and was a key starter during three playoff runs with the Atlanta Hawks and two with the Detroit Pistons. Compared to his Olympic teammates, Laettner’s career was the least impressive. Yet his is a resume 90 percent of NBA players and millions of fans would sign up for tomorrow.
11. Chris Mullin (26.5 pts, 6 rebs, 5.7 asts)
On every team, somebody has to be 11th-best. There’s no shame in that, and as one looks over Chris Mullin’s career it’s immediately apparent how incredible 11th-place is on this team.
Over 16 seasons, Mullin was named to five All-Star teams and four All-NBA teams. Part of his greatness was his durability, twice leading the league in minutes and playing every game in five different seasons. Part of his greatness was how wonderfully well-rounded he was in his excellence. Mullin did it all: he finished as high as third one year in points per game, led the league one year in free-throw shooting, finished second in both 2-point and 3-point percentage, and twice finished in the top-ten in steals per game. Six different seasons he hit more than 40 percent from downtown, a feat even more remarkable given that it occurred eons before today’s pace-and-space, let-in-fly ethos took hold. Mullin was taking threes when that meant walking barefoot 10 miles uphill in the snow before letting fly.
For 13 years Mullin starred in Golden State, before he spent three years in Indiana under head coach and former Dream Teammate Larry Bird. Mully’s star burned brightest in Oakland, paired for a few seasons with future Hall-of-Famers Mitch Richmond and Tim Hardaway. “Run TMC” won’t go down in history as an all-time Big Three, but they were as fun to watch as anybody. Mullin won’t go down in history as anywhere near the greatest Dream Teamer. But he was as fun to watch as any of them.
10. Clyde Drexler (27.2 pts, 8 rebs, 8 asts)
With each spot we climb in the rankings, it seems impossible to not underrate the next guy on the list. Exhibit A: Clyde Drexler. Clyde the Glide was a 10-time All-Star. A five-time All-NBA selection. He finished in the top-10 in MVP voting four times, in the top-5 twice. Four different seasons he finished in the top-10 in Player Efficiency Rating. And he didn’t excel on offense while taking it easy on the other end of the floor: Drexler finished top-10 in steals six times. Steals can be a misleading statistic, but check out the video above and it’s readily apparent when this man stole the ball it wasn’t just about his defense preventing the other team from scoring. When he got the ball out in transition, it was almost inevitable he was scoring on the break. That’s a lot of momentum swings, whether bringing the hometown Portland fans to a frenzy or deflating opposing fans all around the league.
It’s intriguing to wonder just how high Clyde may have flown into history with a couple of breaks here and there. If Michael Jordan were never born, Drexler would have been the preeminent two-guard of his era. His Trail Blazer teams were among the most talented non-champions ever, but their rise to contention coincided with the final years of the Showtime Lakers and the early days of the Bad Boy Pistons and Jordan Bulls. A break here or there and who knows where Drexler would rank among the greats. As it stands, he ranks 10th among the Dream Teamers. Nothing wrong with that.
9. Scottie Pippen (22 pts, 8.7 rebs, 7 asts, 3 stls)
A quick glance at the numbers suggests Scottie Pippen, for so long second-banana to Michael Jordan, should be ranked below the prize bunch of first bananas who comprised his teammates on the Dream Team. A deeper look at the numbers and career accomplishments shows what folly such an underestimation of Pippen is.
Seven times an All-Star. Seven times All-NBA. Five times he finished top-10 in MVP voting, including a third-place finish in 1994, the year Michael Jordan was playing baseball. That season, Chicago replaced MJ with Pete Myers. Myers’ PER was in 1994 was 10.6, meaning he was well below average. The Bulls replaced the G.O.A.T. with a below-average player, and Pippen still led them to 55 wins and within an infamous Hue Hollins whistle of possibly winning it all yet again.
His ten selections to All-Defense teams doesn’t adequately honor the extent of his disruptive defense, and statistics utterly lose the plot. Pippen only led the league in steals once; he never ranked among the elite shot-blockers or led the league in defensive win shares; he never won Defensive Player of the Year. But if you watched him play, you know that if Scottie Pippen were a Game of Thrones character, his title would be Breaker of Plays. His quickness, length, and acumen made him a rarity, capable of locking down guards on the perimeter, shutting down much stronger players down low, knowing when and where to rotate, knowing when to gamble for a steal, and quickly and ruthlessly turning those turnovers into easy buckets on the other end.
8. John Stockton (17.2 pts, 14.5 asts, 3.2 stls)
John Stockton is as good a player as there was on the Dream Team. He wasn’t the best, but he was as good as any, able to maximize his strengths and whittle away any weaknesses. The greatest players of his era talk about it openly now: when it came down to endgame and the Utah Jazz, Karl Malone wasn’t who they feared most. It was Stockton.
He’s the all-time leader in assists and steals, leading the league in dimes nine times and swipes twice. He was an All-Star ten times, all-NBA 11 times, All-Defense five times and a top-10 MVP candidate five times. Some guards pass well because they can’t shoot. Stockton was a sniper, annually ranking among the league leaders in shooting percentage, an exceptional feat for a guard. Four times he finished among the top-8 from downtown.
A few members of the Dream Team were paired as teammates in the NBA — Jordan and Pippen; Barkley and Pippen; Barkley and Drexler. But none of those duos were together as long as Stockton and Malone, and while that marriage undoubtedly brought both to certain heights they may never have otherwise achieved, it also robbed us of seeing what they could do when asked to do more on their own. What if Stockton had been a bit more selfish, looked slightly more often for the shot? We’ll never know. After seeing him play every game in 17 of his 19 seasons, we know enough to marvel, even a quarter-century later.
7. Charles Barkley (28.3 pts, 14.6 rebs, 5.1 asts, 2.2 stls, 1.6 blks)
It’s possible Charles Barkley’s personality has or one day will eclipse most people’s awareness of his career. It was Barkley, remember, who emerged as the star of the Dream Team’s run, leading the team in both scoring and near-international incidents. A deep dive into his NBA career should make it impossible to ever forget what a talent this man really was.
Barkley was a ten-time All-Star and 11-time All-NBA selection who won MVP in 1993. Those numbers only sort of acknowledge the swath of destruction he cut through the league over the years. Despite being undersized most nights and being his team’s focus point on offense for over a decade, Barkley still led the league in two-point shooting five times; six times he shot 60 percent or higher from inside the arc. Pound-for-pound, that’s about as remarkable an achievement as any NBA player has ever pulled off. He went up against bigger guys night in and night out, and they knew he was coming, and they still couldn’t even slow him down, much less stop him.
Greatness is doing it all, then doing it all again and again. Perhaps Barkley’s most impressive feats highlight his diverse skill set and his endurance. How many players — ever — could average 28 points a game? 14 rebounds? 5 assists? Over two steals? Nearly two blocks? How many could play 16 seasons and average double-digit rebounds in 15 of them? It’s as true off-the-court as on: “Only Charles.”
5. Karl Malone (31 pts, 12 rebs, 4.7 asts, 1.8 stls, 1.5 blks)
Karl Malone is inextricably tied to John Stockton, and not just because of how well they played together, but how much they played together. For the first 18 of his 19 years in the NBA, The Mailman never missed more than two games. In a season. Two! Never! That longevity helped him retire as the game’s second-leading scorer all-time. If you reached the pros and your name isn’t Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Malone scored more points than you. More than Jerry West, the league’s logo. More than Wilt Chamberlain. More than Michael Jordan. More.
But he’s not a compiler; the years he enjoyed were available to him because he was great as he was for as long as he was. He won two MVPs (and finished in the MVP top-10 14 times!) because he did so much so well. He averaged 10+ rebounds 10 times, made the All-Defense team four times, twice finished top-10 in steals, eight times led the league in free throw attempts, and in addition to being second all-time in scoring is also second in defensive rebounds and minutes played. He was always out there, and he was always making plays while he was out there.
As great as Malone was, he doesn’t quite make the elite cut among Dream Teamers. But if Michael Jordan’s parents had a headache that one magical night and he never existed, Malone would have won a half-dozen scoring titles and multiple titles. Add that to “second-leading scorer all-time” and suddenly the Mailman’s lethal elbows are making room for him at the front of the line.
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.
4. David Robinson (29.8 pts, 13 rebs, 4.8 asts, 4.5 blks, 2.3 stls)
Only four NBA players have ever recorded a quadruple-double. David Robinson is one of the four. The Admiral was a blessed hybrid, fast and athletic enough to run the floor like a forward, able to shoot from outside better than many guards, and big enough to dominate the low-post and protect the rim. When you have a free moment today, let your thoughts rest for a bit on how good Robinson really was.
He won an MVP award and finished top-3 five times. He was Defensive Player of the Year. He led the league in scoring in 1994, doing so in memorable fashion by scoring 71 points the final night of the season to pass Shaquille O’Neal atop the leaderboard (some morally-questionable San Antonio fouls late in the game extended the action and helped him seal the scoring title). Twice he led the NBA in rebounds and blocked shots. Three times he attempted more free throws than anybody. Twice he led the league in offensive win shares; three times he led it in defensive win shares. Every one of his career highs is an astonishing number for a 7-foot-1 human being.
Robinson was ahead of his time in many ways; his game would translate rather nicely to today’s style. His numbers already do, especially one modern statistic: over a four-year stretch, Robinson’s average PER was 30. A PER of 30 is considered “runaway MVP candidate.” Four years of runaway brilliance gets you as high as number four on the Dream Team rankings.
3. Magic Johnson (23.9 pts, 13.1 asts, 9.6 rebs, 3.4 stls)
How bottomless was the talent was on the Dream Team? Magic Johnson, who’d be on most people’s short list for greatest basketball player ever, is (arguably) only the third-best player on this team. But if ever third deserves gold rather than bronze, it’s here, in the case of the eternally illuminant Magic.
Fear and ignorance of HIV cost the NBA four full years of Johnson, years he would have been transitioning from late summer to the early autumn of his career. Even with all that lost time, in fact in the face of that lost time, his achievements resonate even more than they already should. Magic won three MVP awards, and finished in the top-three in voting for nine consecutive years. He led the league in steals twice and assists three times; he averaged 10+ assists for nine consecutive years. Five times his team won it all, and three of those times he was named Finals MVP. The last year he played before retiring due to illness, he’d led Los Angeles to their ninth Finals during his reign.
The ’92 Olympics was supposed to be Magic’s swan song, but he returned in the 1996 season and reinvented himself as a low-post threat, still able to eviscerate teams with his passing. It would have been cool to get to see Magic reinvent himself while reinventing himself. It would have been cool for him, for us, for everybody.
2. Larry Bird (29.9 pts, 11 rebs, 7.6 asts, 2 stls)
Larry Bird’s presence on the Dream Team almost never happened. Back trouble had ended his career prematurely the prior season, and initially he dismissed the thought of joining the Barcelona-bound NBA players, saying the spot should go to a younger player. But getting Bird and Magic together, finally on the same team after all those years as adversaries, and with both facing medically-induced retirement, had so much excitement and energy behind it that ultimately nothing could stop it. Bird played, and as a result he’s the second-greatest player from the greatest team ever.
Bird’s accomplishments are so gaudy that to spend time staring at any one is to miss something spectacular elsewhere. If you’re dwelling on the three consecutive MVP awards or the two Finals MVPs, you might not know he nearly shot 50/40/90 over his entire career, finishing at 50/38/89. If you focus on the three All-Defense selections, or how he didn’t actually master the three-pointer until 1985, then went out and led the league in 3-pointers made the next two seasons, you may miss out on the fact that he was named All-NBA First Team his first nine years in the league. As great as LeBron James has been since day one, even he didn’t do that.
Bird and Magic shared such symmetry from college through retirement. One wonders what might have been if only they’d had a little more time. Of course, even if they had, it might well have just ended up with them banging their heads against the wall after coming up short against the #1 player in our rankings.
1. Michael Jordan (37.1 pts, 8 rebs, 8 asts, 3.2 stls, 1.6 blks)
In 2017, what on Earth is left to say about Michael Jordan’s career? The numbers are so mind-boggling they may as well lose all meaning. Ten times All-NBA, but does that really convey how great he was? Do the five MVPs? The six Finals MVPs? No single stat or highlight or anecdote could encapsulate the totality of MJ’s MJness. Let’s look at five lesser-known but equally-enlightening facts that remind us why the G.O.A.T. is the G.O.A.T.
Jordan, who was once named Defensive Player of the Year, was selected nine times to All-Defense teams. Think about everything he did on offense. About the energy required to take all those shots, much less the skill and focus needed to make them when every single person playing and watching knows it’s all on you. Then think about him making nine All-Defense teams.
Speaking of offense: Jordan’s rookie year, he averaged 29.3 points per game in the playoffs. That was the only time in 13 postseasons that he didn’t average 30+. The. Only. Time.
Ten times, Jordan led the league in buckets made. The first time he was 23. The last time, he was 34.
Nine times, Jordan played all 82 games. The first time he did so, he was 21 years old. The last time, he was 39.
Perhaps most amazing: Jordan averaged 30+ points per game in 8 of his 15 seasons. The other 11 Dream Teamers, in 175 combined seasons, averaged 30+ once.
Next: Every NBA team's greatest draft pick of all time
There’s a lot of ways to say Michael Jordan was the greatest player on the greatest team ever. Pick whichever you want. Even when comparing the best of the best, his best elevates above the rest.