Name the Top 7 players that missed out on a roster spot on the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Dream Tea in order?

Question

Here's mine:

1: Isiah Thomas

2: Dominique Wilkins

3: Hakeem Olajuwon

4: Joe Dumars

5: Kevin Johnson

6: Mark Price

7: Reggie Miller

And no, I don't think a rookie Shaquille O' Neal deserves to be on the Dream Team at that point of his career.

Answer 1

1: Isiah Thomas

2: Dominique Wilkins

3: Hakeem Olajuwon

4: Joe Dumars

5: Kevin Johnson

6: Mark Price

7: Reggie Miller

Answer 2

The summer of 1992 was after Shaq's junior year at LSU (which turned out to be his last year at LSU, he went hardship to the NBA).

Shaq was in the running to be the "college representative" on the 1992 team, but Laettner beat him out for it, probably because Laettner had just won back to back NCAA titles and was a senior, while Shaq had just finished his junior year.

I think your list looks pretty good.  Other than Olajuwon who, as someone pointed out earlier, was not a U.S. Citizen at the time (he became a U.S Citizen after the 1993 season, a year later).

I don't know if you remember this, but when the Dream Team was announced, they originally only announced 10 players, and said that two would be added to the roster at a later time.  They also said that one of the two additional members would be a college player.

Jordan, of course, told the Olympic committee that he would not participate in the Olympic tournament if Thomas was added to the team.  Those two guys hate each other to this day (Thomas had "frozen" Jordan out of the all star game when MJ was a rookie... Thomas told his teammates to not pass the ball to Jordan, whom Thomas felt was getting way too much publicity as a rookie).

Clyde Drexler was the 11th man added to the team, and then Christian Laettner was chosen as the collegiate representative.

There really was room for only one more pro player after Drexler's addition to the team was announced.   I think that Isiah Thomas or Dominique Wilkins were the absolute only choices they could have made, had they chosen to go to an all-NBA team and leave Laettner out of it, which is what they should have done.

I'd probably say:

1) Thomas

2) Wilkins

3) Dumars

4) Miller

5) Tim Hardaway (he was 2nd team all-NBA in 1992, the only 1st or 2nd team All-NBAer that wasn't already on the dream team)

6) Kevin Johnson

I gotta tell ya though... looking at these guys (plus, we can include Mark Price), you'll see that Thomas and Wilkins were the obvious top two...then there's a bit of a drop off to Dumars and Miller...then there's a huge drop off when you get down to Hardaway and Price.

The NBA players on the original Dream Team, plus Thomas and Wilkins, were so far above anyone else in the NBA that it really would have diminished the team by having those other guys there.

One can argue that Thomas or Wilkins might have been a better choice than Drexler... but I think that other than Laettner, we sent our best team over there, although Wilkins and Thomas could have stepped in for several of the actual dream teamers and the team would have been just as good.

Answer 3

the iceman

Answer 4

reggie miller for me

Answer 5

Isiah didn't miss it because he was on bad term with Michael Jordan.So it was either him or Jordan,which one would you pick?

Answer 6

Hakeem Olajuwon was Nigerian at the time he wasn't a us citizen so he couldn't make the team any way.

1. Isiah Thomas

2. Dominique Wilkins

3. Joe Dumars

4. Mitch Richmond

5. Tim Hardaway

6. Kevin Johnson

7. Mark Price