Dream Team

:For the TV series of the same name, see Dream Team.

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The Dream Team was the unofficial nickname of the United States men's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. This team is generally regarded as the single greatest collection of talent on one actually competitive basketball team of all time (and possibly in any sport). A 1989 rule change by FIBA allowed professional athletes to play in international competition for the first time. The Dream Team qualified for the Olympics after having a 6-0 record in the Men's Tournament of the Americas.

Related Topics:
United States - Basketball - 1992 Summer Olympics - Barcelona - 1989 - FIBA

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Two years later, a second Dream Team competed in the 1994 Basketball World Championships, finishing first. In 1996 and 2000, Dream Teams III and IV once again captured gold medals. (No Dream Team competed in the 1998 World Championships as an NBA lockout prevented its players from competing.) Though the nickname was bestowed by some upon subsequent American national teams, the perfomances of the 2002 World Championship and 2004 Summer Olympic teams (which finished sixth and third, respectively) all but denied it, and perhaps future teams, the right to the "Dream Team" nickname. The 2004 team lost three games on its way to a bronze medal, a record that represented more losses in a single year than the country's Olympic teams had suffered in all of the previous Olympiads combined. It was also the first time since NBA professionals became eligible that the U.S. men's basketball team returned home without gold medals.

Related Topics:
Basketball World Championship - 1996 - 2000 - Lockout - 2004 Summer Olympic

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