By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
In 1992, USA Basketball used professional NBA players in the squad for the Olympic Games, which resulted in the creation of the unbeatable juggernaut called “Dream Team.” Spearheaded by Michael Jordan and featuring pretty much the creme de la creme of players at that time, that version of Team USA obliterated all competition in Barcelona’s Olympics and cruised towards the gold medal.
According to four-time NBA champion and French national team legend Tony Parker, watching the “Dream Team” delivering such a show and having them play in Europe was a huge inspiration. Not only to him but also to fellow European basketball greats and former NBA champs Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki.
“It had a huge impact in Europe. If you see interviews that I did or Dirk [Nowitzki] or Pau Gasol, we all were affected by the Dream Team,” Parker said while interviewed by ESPN’s Marc J. Spears in the Roundball Rap. “Manu Ginobili. We all talk about it. That was the point that we where ‘wow basketball is cool’ and ‘I want to go to the NBA’. That was the first time I saw them in real life, because before it was the tapes. Now, it was in Europe and all of them were there It was pretty cool. A pretty cool experience. It definitely started for me after the Olympics.”
“It had a huge impact in Europe. If you see interviews that I did or Dirk or Pau Gasol, Manu Ginóbili – we all were affected by the Dream Team.” @tonyparker on how the Dream Team forever changed the landscape of basketball worldwide.
via Roundball Rap with @MarcJSpearsESPN pic.twitter.com/MpeIbQVH4D
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) May 6, 2020