Dream Team 1992 Revisited: Relive USA's Basketball Olympic Triumph at Barcelona '92

The Dream Team made its official debut July 26th, 1992, opening up Olympic play against Angola. 

On July 27th, 1992, the U.S. men’s national basketball team — more commonly referred to as The Dream Team played against Croatia in the group phase who was at that time considered to be one of the best teams in Europe. 

Team USA will play without Magic after he strained a leg during the Croatia game 

Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt, playing in his fourth Olympics, boosted his team by scoring 24 points. Over his five Olympic games, Schmidt would become the top cumulative scorer in history, scoring a total of 1,093 points. 

After sweeping the group stage, NBA superstars Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird rode their momentum toward a quarterfinal win to the tune of 115-77. 

The Dream Team team faced Spain in the final game of the first round. Expectations were so high that The New York Times described the 41-point rout as a “normal, standard victory.” 

Despite falling to the U.S. in this game, Lithuania would not leave the Olympics empty-handed, as they ultimately ended up winning the bronze medal.