At the still-tender age of 21 and without NBA players on the US OlympicBasketball roster Jordan still led the U.S. team in scoring with an average of 17.1 points per game.
This was an incredible time for the United States in Olympicbasketball history as this win was still relatively on the heels of that bitter-loss to the USSR way back when in 1972.
1992 Dream Team and 1960 US Gold Medalists Team
Michael Jordan and the US team had very little trouble in the tournament, goingundefeated, and winning by a whopping average of over 30 points per game.
This 1984 Michael Jordan Olympic team is seen as one of the best basketballteams ever not only for the United States Olympic teams but for the world stage as well. There have been only two teams that could come ever so close to challenging this US team in athletic supremacy and cohesiveness and that would be the 1992 Dream Team and the 1960 US Gold Winning Team.
Canada and Mexico Popularity
Jordan was the overall team leader in total points in 3 games, including thegold medal game where he scored 20 points on 70% shooting from the floor. Michael Jordan’s career was launched from this tournament as they gave the world the first chance to see who was going to become the leading NBA star for years to come.
Up until the 1984, Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, Michael Jordanwas only famous on the national-American stage and Canada and Mexico as well as a few other select countries that televised locally, the NBA games.
Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games
Podium Gold: USA / Silver: Spain / Bronze: YugoslaviaCoach Bob Knight (Indiana University)Michael Jordan – Patrick Ewing – Sam Perkins – Chris Mullin – Alvin Robertson – Steve Alford – Vern Flemming – Joe Kleine – Jon Koncak – Wayman Tisdale – Jeff Turner – Leon WoodLeaders Jordan 17.1pts / Mullin 11.6 ptsRecord 8-0
Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games
Although it is difficult to find words that can describe this truly remarkable team, one only has to look at the roster to know what this 1992 Olympic Games team had in store for the rest of the world. This was the first time that NBA players were allowed to play on any US Olympic basketball team andMichael Jordan took full advantage of this shared-spotlight with a game to recall for all time.
Larry Bird
Surrounded by the likes of NBA legends like Larry Bird as well as John Stockton and all the other NBA ballers that made up this great Olympic team, it was easy to see the how and why this US Olympic Basketball team was destined for gold and glory.
Charles Barkley
Sir Charles Barkley was the team overall scoring leader for the United States squad but it was Michael Jordan who stood up to the challenge of the Croatian silver medalist team in the gold-medal game as he poured in 27 points and went crazy stealing the ball 22 times.
117.3 Points Per Game
The U.S. Olympic basketball team of 1992 averaged an Olympic record 117.3 points a game, and won by an average of 43.8 points. Croatia was the opponent that came the closest with a final deficit of 32 point in the final round of the gold medal game (117-85).
Gold: USA / Silver: Croatia / Bronze: Lithuania
Chuck Daly (New Jersey Nets)
Michael Jordan – Charles Barkley – Larry Bird – Clyde Drexler – Patrick Ewing – Magic Johnson – Christian Laettner – Karl Malone – Chris Mullin – Scottie Pippen – David Robinson – John Stockton