The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Led by Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Lenny Wilkens, the team won gold for the second straight Olympics. Nicknamed Dream Team III, the team included five players who were Olympic teammates on the original "Dream Team", from the 1992 Olympic basketball tournament: Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, and David Robinson. Gary Payton was a late replacement for the injured Glenn Robinson.
Roster With Michael Jordan intimating in 1994 that he would pass on the opportunity to participate in his third Olympic Games to let others get their chance at a gold medal, USA Basketball officials sought to construct the team dubbed Dream Team III with a winning combination of veteran players from the 1992 Dream Team that won the gold medal in Barcelona and some of the league's best young talent.
The first 10 players of the 1996 United States men's national basketball team roster were announced in summer 1995, featuring young talent and first-time Olympians, including Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Shaquille O'Neal, and Gary Payton, who was added as a replacement for an injured Glenn Robinson. Other veteran players who were first-time Olympians were Reggie Miller and Hakeem Olajuwon. Olajuwon, a native of Nigeria, became the third naturalized American citizen after Ernie Grunfeld and Patrick Ewing to play for the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team. Mitch Richmond, along with Charles Barkley, were added in April 1996 completing the roster as the 11th and 12th members. Thus, the holdovers from the 1992 Olympic Team, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton, and Charles Barkley, coupled with the six first-time Olympians and 1988 bronze medalist Mitch Richmond formed the 1996 United States men's Olympic basketball team roster.
United States men's national basketball team – 1996 Summer Olympics roster Players Coaches Pos. # Name Age Height Weight From PF 4 Barkley, Charles 33 Phoenix Suns SF 5 Hill, Grant 23 Detroit Pistons PG 6 Hardaway, Anfernee 25 Orlando Magic C 7 Robinson, David 30 San Antonio Spurs SF 8 Pippen, Scottie 30 Chicago Bulls SG 9 Richmond, Mitch 31 Sacramento Kings SG 10 Miller, Reggie 30 Indiana Pacers PF 11 Malone, Karl 33 Utah Jazz PG 12 Stockton, John 34 Utah Jazz C 13 O'Neal, Shaquille 24 Orlando Magic PG 14 Payton, Gary 28 Seattle SuperSonics C 15 Olajuwon, Hakeem 33 Houston Rockets Head coach Lenny Wilkens Assistant coaches Bobby Cremins Clem Haskins Jerry Sloan
Legend From describes teams affiliatedduring the Olympics
Staff Head coach: Lenny Wilkens (Atlanta Hawks) Assistant coaches: Jerry Sloan (Utah Jazz), Bobby Cremins (Georgia Tech), and Clem Haskins (University of Minnesota) Team physicians: Steve Haas (Washington Bullets), John A. Hefferon (Chicago Bulls), and Bruce Moseley (Houston Rockets) Athletic trainers: Steven Brace (Creighton University) and Ron Culp (Miami Heat)
1996 USA results beat , 96–68 beats , 87–54 beat , 104–82 beat , 133–70 beat , 102–71 beat , 98–75 (quarterfinals) beat , 101–73 (semifinals) beat FR Yugoslavia, 95–69 (gold-medal game)
References
External links USA Basketball, official site