The Dream Team set the highest expectations for future iterations of Team USA. 32 years later, in Paris, LeBron James and Co. strived to live up to those standards, and it seems they found a way. On the latest episode of ‘The Shop’, James discussed the practices Team USA engaged in to prepare for their unbeaten run in the Olympics.
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“Early on in training camp, the practices were super competitive. Like we were like going at it, like 5-on-5 every single day. Pushing each other every day to practice,” LeBron James recalled.
The likes of James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and Devin Booker playing against each other every day is an All-Star weekend. And it’s quite reminiscent of the iconic 1992 ‘Dream Team’. The King thought so himself.
“You see any of the footages from the ’92 ‘Dream Team’, when they were in Monaco or Barcelona, like going at it? That’s exactly how ours have been,” Team USA’s flag bearer for the 2024 Olympics stated.
Team USA’s ’92 scrimmages were so iconic that they continue to make rounds even to this day. After all, they had 11 future Hall of Famers on their roster. And with that, came a certain pressure as anything less than gold would be considered a failure.
They won every game at the Barcelona Olympics by at least 30 points and it was in large part due to the chemistry they built during training camp. Coach Chuck Daly knew how to use the players’ competitive fire to bring out the best in them. He called for a game of Team Michael Jordan vs Team Magic Johnson.
“He [Coach] blew, threw the ball up, then went and sit down. I was there for an hour. We wouldn’t call on fouls,” Dream Team member Karl Malone was to say later. In 2024, Team USA went for a similar approach by having the stars compete against each other as often as possible.
It paid off in the biggest moments as Joel Embiid, KD, James, and Curry were all needed at their best to overcome Serbia during the semi-finals. Going into the 4th quarter, USA was down 13 to Nikola Jokić and Co.
That’s when it became clear that this group had already been through their ups and downs together. Even in the gold medal game, Team USA showed their resilience by staving off a French team that refused to go down after the first 3 quarters. Clearly their competitive practice runs helped them make a timely comeback in the semis and to defend against a potential comeback in the finals.
