The 1992 Dream Team comprised the best players the NBA had to offer. The squad went on to win an Olympic Gold in Barcelona, and the 1996 team also followed the same standard. Featuring five players from the ‘92 roster, college stars almost humiliated the Dream Team 2, as per Paul Pierce.
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The Boston Celtics legend recently opened up about humiliating the 1996 Dream Team 2 while on the latest episode of Undisputed. A part of the USA Select team, Pierce mentioned how they were once up 20 in an exhibition game against the official DT2 roster.
“So I played on the Select team, going into my Sophomore year in college and we almost beat the Dream Team. We played the Dream Team on national television Skip. This was on national TV.”
“We played ‘em in a real game. A real game on national TV. Auburn Hills, y’all better pull this up. We was up—I think we was up 20 on ‘em.”
.@PaulPierce34 says his USA Select Team almost beat the Dream Team 2 👀
“We were up 20!” 😂 pic.twitter.com/HSBwE4pqTv
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) July 10, 2024
The 1996 Dream Team had players like Shaquille O’Neal, Scottie Pippen, Grant Hill, John Stockton, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Penny Hardaway, Hakeem Olajuwon, Mitch Richmond, Gary Payton, Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller.
The USA Select team featured the best college players of their time. Some notable names were Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups, Brevin Knight, and Paul Pierce. And while this was supposed to be a practice or an exhibition game, the USA Select team did have a notable lead by halftime.
Paul Pierce was not lying when he said they almost took down the second Dream Team in front of the nation. By the end of regulation, the USA Select team only lost by a 6-point differential.
Was Paul Pierce’s Select Team better than the 96 DT?
The 1992 Dream Team is often dubbed as the best Olympic roster to be ever assembled and many current and former players attest to that. But Washington Wizards legend, Gilbert Arenas seemingly favored the ‘96 Dream Team instead.
“Dream Team 2 is the best-assembled talent. 96 [dream] team is the best talent that we ever put together. In Dream Team 1, you got MJ, Pippen, Pat, Malone, Clyde, Stockton, and David, Those are the All-NBA players, and then the weakest on this team was Magic, Bird, and Mullin.”
“The Dream Team 2, Barkley, Penny, Malone, O’Neal, Hakeem. O’Neal came off the bench, and Hakeem came off the bench. The weakest on this team were Grant Hill, Reggie Miller, and Mitch Richmond. All 12 were All-NBA players.”
While Arenas may have chosen the second Dream Team’s roster over the first one, not many seemed to agree with the two-time All-Star. And based on the fact that they almost lost to a group of college players who had yet to be drafted into the league, the talent pool on the 1996 Dream Team does seem questionable.
