The United States' vaunted Dream Team—unquestionably the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled—rolled to a gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. Comprised of eleven National Basketball Association members and one collegian, the Dream Team's very existence was made possible by a 1989 agreement with the International Amateur Basketball Federation to allow professionals to participate in the Olympic Games. While the American team was greatest beneficiary of the rule change, its international organization, USA Basketball, had voted against the inclusion of NBA players. As David Wallechinsky noted, concerns were expressed that financial support for women's and junior basketball programs would diminish and that one-sided games would markedly reduce the television audience.

The American team, averaging 117 ¹/4 points per game, swept to eight consecutive wins in Barcelona, while holding its opponents to 73 ¹/2 points a game; the actual margin of victory could have been even...