The 1992 United States Olympic team aka the Dream Team is considered the greatest team ever assembled. Theycompiled an 8-0 record at the Barcelona Olympic Games with an average margin of victory of 43.8. Coached by a Hall of Famer, the late Chuck Daly, the “Dream Team” was the first team made up primarily of NBA players, eligible to compete in international basketball for the first time because of the change of FIBA rules in 1989. Eight players from the team have been enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and two more (Malone and Pippen) are in the Class of 2010. The prior inductees include Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, and John Stockton. Hall of Fame coaches Mike Krzyzewski and Lenny Wilkens assisted Daly, while Chris Mullin, a 2010 Hall of Fame finalist, and college standout Christian Laettner of Duke University completed the roster. The ’92 Dream team was inducted into the USA Olympic Hall of Fame in 2009.
Archive for the ‘2010 Hall of Fame’ Category
Hall of Fame Enshrinement Class of 2010: Scottie Pippen
Category 2010 Hall of Fame, Chicago Bulls, NBA
If you look up “complement” in the dictionary a picture of Scottie Pippen should sit next to it. The wingman, Robin, peanut butter to Jordan’s jelly, all describe the player that Scottie Pippen was.
Without Pippen there would have been no 6 championships. The player that he was has often been sought out by teams looking to complement their best player. Pippen was a 7-time All-Defensive first team selection, and not many wing men carry that accomplishment.
Scottie Pippen was a seven-time NBA All-Star (1990, 1992-97) and a member of six NBA championship teams with the Chicago Bulls (1991-93, 1996-98). He was a three-time All-NBA first team honoree and was voted to the NBA All-Defensive first team from 1992-99, along with two stints on the All-Defensive second team. Pippen won two Olympic gold medals as he was a member of the 1992 USA Basketball “Dream Team” and returned to help lead the USA to gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
He won NBA All-Star MVP honors in 1994. Pippen also played with the Houston Rockets (1998-99) and Portland Trail Blazers (1999-2003). He is a native of Hamburg, Arkansas and played collegiately at the University of Central Arkansas (1983-87).
Hall of Fame Enshrinement Class of 2010: Karl Malone
Category 2010 Hall of Fame, NBA, Utah Jazz
You either loved him or you hated him. If you lived in Utah or Louisana you were a fan, anywhere else you thought he took too long talking to himself at the free throw line. Whichever way you loyalty lies Karl Malone is one of the top five players all-time to play his posistion.
More of a football player than basketball player, ‘The Mailman” attempted more free throws and grabbed more defensive rebounds than any player in NBA history. Malone will forever be linked to fellow Utah Jazz teammate John Stockton. The two combined for the most dynamic guard and forward duo in the history of the NBA. Although Malone never won a championship he played in the playoffs every season and his post-season production were equal to his phenomenal regular season stats.
Karl Malone was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (1997, ’99) and a 14-time NBA All-Star for the Utah Jazz. He was named one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in 1996 and ranks second on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 36,928 points. Malone was selected as an All-NBA first team forward from 1989-99 and was named to the league’s All-Defensive first team from 1997-99. He won two Olympic gold medals, competing as a member of the 1992 USA Basketball “Dream Team” and the 1996 USA Olympic champions. Malone played collegiately at Louisiana Tech from 1981-1985. He finished his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2003-04.
