1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team

Roster

Olympic trials

Trials for the team were held in April 1984 at Knight's regular base of operations at Indiana's campus in Bloomington. Seventy players attended the trials. Kentucky post players Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin chose to skip the trials, in order to concentrate on the upcoming 1984 NBA draft, and Keith Lee of Memphis State, Len Bias of Maryland and Kenny Smith of North Carolina, ultimately pulled out as well. Knight led the trials with assistant coaches George Raveling, Don Donoher and C. M. Newton, whittling the prospects down to twenty, by the end of the first week of the trials.

During the trials, Auburn junior Charles Barkley impressed with his performance – most observers felt he and North Carolina shooting guard Michael Jordan were the two top performers. However, Barkley's and Knight's strong personalities did not mesh, and Barkley was one of the last cuts from the roster. Released along with Barkley, in the penultimate cut from 20 to 16 players in May, were John Stockton of Gonzaga, Terry Porter of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and Maurice Martin of Saint Joseph's.

Knight's final cut to twelve players came in June, and the final four let go were Tim McCormick of Michigan, Lancaster Gordon of Louisville, Johnny Dawkins of Duke and Barkley's Auburn teammate Chuck Person (Dawkins and Person served as alternates for the team). The most controversial selection was Knight's own Indiana player, Steve Alford, who was the team's youngest member at 19 and not expected by most to make the team.

Prior to the Olympics, the team played eight games against NBA All-Star teams including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre and won all eight. NBA players played in their offseason.

Olympic tournament

The team went 8–0 in the Olympic tournament, averaging 95.4 points per game, and holding their opponents to 63.3. (Their closest contest was an 11-point win over West Germany in the quarterfinals; ironically, the Germans were only in Los Angeles as a replacement for the boycotting USSR.) Four players averaged double-figures in scoring: Michael Jordan (17.1), Chris Mullin (11.6), Patrick Ewing (11.0) and Steve Alford (10.3). Wayman Tisdale led the team in rebounding (5.9 per game), while Leon Wood led the team in assists (7.9 per game).

Results

• USA 97, China 49
• USA 89, Canada 68
• USA 104, Uruguay 68
• USA 120, France 62
• USA 101, Spain 68
• USA 78, Federal Republic of Germany 67; quarterfinals
• USA 78, Canada 59; semifinals
• USA 96, Spain 65; gold medal game

Legacy

The 1984 Summer Olympics was a coming-out party for Michael Jordan, who led Team USA in scoring and dazzled the worldwide viewing audience with his athleticism and speed, including during the sweep of the NBA All-Stars before the Olympics. In addition to Jordan, the team featured two other future Hall of Fame members in Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin (both of whom would later reunite with Jordan, as a part of the 1992 Dream Team). Jordan recalled that while this Olympic experience was exciting, it had also been demanding because of Knight: "I don't know if I would have done it if I knew what Knight was going to be like."

The Olympics and trials helped the draft stock of several players. Vern Fleming and Jeff Turner parlayed their Olympic exposure into first-round spots in the 1984 NBA draft, while several players who were cut from the team, either received strong recommendations from Knight (future Hall of Fame member John Stockton and Tim McCormick), or benefited from exposure from the trials (Charles Barkley and Lancaster Gordon).

References

References

1. "[http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/moly_1984.html 1984 USA Men's Olympic Games Roster & Results] {{webarchive. link. (2010-07-16 ." ''usabasketball.com.'' Retrieved on August 18, 2012.)
2. (April 14, 1984). "Bowie, Turpin to Skip". TheDaily Times.
3. (April 14, 1984). "Olympic Cage Quest". TheDaily Times.
4. Cunningham, Carson. (2009). "American Hoops: U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball From Berlin to Beijing". University of Nebraska Press.
5. Blanchette, John. (April 24, 1984). "Stockton makes Olympic cut". Spokesman-Review.
6. Bondy, Filip. (2007). "Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever". DaCapo Press.
7. Blanchette. (May 14, 1984). "Basketball school is over for Stockton". Spokesman-Review.
8. (May 14, 1984). "Barkley won't go for gold". Times Daily.
9. (June 28, 1984). "Knight Makes Up His Mind Early, Announces Olympic Cage Squad". TheDaily Times.
10. [https://vault.si.com/vault/1984/07/23/hooray-for-the-red-white-black-and-blue ''HOORAY FOR THE RED, WHITE, BLACK AND BLUE!'' by Curry Kirkpatrick] ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''
11. [https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/team-usa-basketball-world-cup-1984-olympics-michael-jordan-bob-knight/9nvwt5a6fewk1k2smvugtdwpe ''Remembering Michael Jordan and the 1984 Olympic trials'' by Sean Deveney] ''[[The Sporting News]]''
12. [https://www.theherdnow.com/video-michael-jordan-lit-up-an-nba-all-star-team-in-a-pre-1984-olympic-exhibition-win/ ''VIDEO: Michael Jordan lit up an NBA All-Star team in a pre-1984 Olympic exhibition win'' by Michael Hulse] {{Webarchive. link. (2020-06-06 ''[[The Herd with Colin Cowherd]]'')
13. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120702210002/http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/player/p/pid/93474/sid/2941/tid/379/_/1984_Olympic_Games_Tournament_for_Men/index.html USA 12 - Wayman Tisdale.]
14. Smith, Sam. (1993). "The Jordan Rules". Simon and Schuster.