The men's national basketball team of the

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won the gold medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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. Led by

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head coach

Lenny Wilkens Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, fi ...

, the team won gold for the second straight Olympics. Nicknamed Dream Team III, the team included five players who were Olympic teammates on the original "Dream Team", from the 1992 Olympic basketball tournament:

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone spen ...

, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, and David Robinson.

Gary Payton Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best know ...

was a late replacement for the injured Glenn Robinson.

Roster

With

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

intimating in 1994 that he would pass on the opportunity to participate in his third Olympic Games (previously in 1984 and 1992 (the "Dream Team")) to let others get their chance at a gold medal, USA Basketball officials sought to construct the team dubbed Dream Team III (Dream Team II was the moniker of the lesser-known 1994 FIBA World Championship team) with a winning combination of veteran players from the 1992 Dream Team that won the gold medal in Barcelona and some of the league's best young talent. The first 10 players of the 1996 United States men's national basketball team roster were announced in summer 1995, featuring young talent and first-time Olympians, including Penny Hardaway,

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a part-owner of Orlando City SC of Major League ...

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

, and Gary Payton, who was added as a replacement for an injured Glenn Robinson. Other veteran players who were first-time Olympians were

Reggie Miller Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, played his entire 18-year career in the National Basketball Assoc ...

and

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

. Mitch Richmond, along with Charles Barkley, were added in April 1996 completing the roster as the 11th and 12th members. Thus, the holdovers from the 1992 Olympic Team, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton, and Charles Barkley, coupled with the first-time Olympians and 1988 Olympian Mitch Richmond formed the 1996 United States men's Olympic basketball team roster.

Staff

*Head coach:

(

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

) *Assistant coaches: Jerry Sloan (

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), Bobby Cremins (

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), and Clem Haskins (

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) *Team physicians: Steve Haas (

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

), John A. Hefferon (

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

), and Bruce Moseley (

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

) *Athletic trainers: Steven Brace (

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

) and Ron Culp (

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

)

1996 USA results

* beat , 96–68 * beat , 87–54 * beat , 104–82 * beat , 133–70 * beat , 102–71 * beat , 98–75 (quarterfinals) * beat , 101–73 (semifinals) * beat

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

, 95–69 (gold-medal game)

1996 Olympic standings

*1. (8–0) *2.

(7–1) *3. (5–3) *4. (5–3) *5. (5–3) *6. (3–5) *7. (4–4) *8. (2–6) *9. (3–4) *10. (2–5) *11. (1–6) *12. (0–7)

References

External links

USA Basketball
official site {{Summer Olympics basketball tournament winners United States at the Olympic men's basketball tournament

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...