Hall of Fame Ceremonies For USA Dream Team Moved To August

Sports News - January 21st, 2010 - Written By John

For the first time since taking gold at the 1992 Olympics, the USA Dream Team will be reassembling on Aug. 13 in Springfield, as many of the members plan on being enshrined in the NBA Basketball Hall of Fame.

Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley are all eligible this year, as are Scottie Pippen and Karl Malone. All are expected to make the Hall in their first year, and the remaining others will likely be in attendance for support as the entire group will be celebrated as a whole.

The players were expected to be enshrined as a group a month later, but with many of the players eligible to be inducted individually, the Hall of Fame decided to move the ceremony date to the same one the Class of 2010 will enter.

The '92 team is considered to be "the greatest basketball ever assembled", ripping through the Olympic games with blowouts through the championship. In many of their appearances, opponents would be so overcome with adoration that they asked for autographs during and after games. As ESPN's Jake MacMullen pointed out, the Dream Team never called a single time out in the entire tournament.

Per MacMullen, the ceremony to honor the Dream Team originally scheduled for September conflicted with the world championships in Istanbul. So, moving the date up allows this year's American team to be in attendance.

Many of the participants of the '92 team have already acknowledged they would be in attendance.