The U.S. Men’s Olympic team roster for the upcoming Summer Olympics was recently announced. The star-studded lineup, including the best players in the NBA, like LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, and Jayson Tatum, among others, will represent the nation in Paris this year. This current Olympic team will be assigned the same task that the 1992 Dream Team and the 2008 Redeem Team were assigned back in their day. To restore Team USA’s dominance on the global stage. So while the anticipation builds, NBA legend Charles Barkley, a member of the Dream Team, was recently asked to pick the best Olympic team of all time.
Sir Charles was put on the spot, during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, with the question because he has been part of two exceptional Olympic teams, in 1992 and 1996. In addition to that, the Redeem Team was stacked with some of the greatest players of all time as well, led by the late, great Kobe Bryant. However, it was an easy answer for Chuck.
Barkley believed that the 1992 team was unique and the first time anyone had witnessed such an assembly of superstars. More importantly, for Barkley, the 1992 team had the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, who will always be the pinnacle of basketball excellence.
Barkley said, during the show, that the presence of Magic and Bird will always hold the top spot for him because they are two of the most important players of all time, who saved basketball from obscurity and helped change the game. He said, “Those are the two most important figures in NBA history. Then you factor in Michael Jordan, who’s like a supernova, which they don’t come along that often…Nothing can beat that kind of starpower.”