When was the dream team selected

Johnson finished seventh in MVP voting in the season, the highest finish among any players that did not make the Dream Team.

Though just 25 at the time the roster was announced which would have made him the youngest of the NBA players on the roster, Johnson was coming off his third straight season averaging at least 20 points and 10 assists. A three-time champion still in his prime and in the midst of seven straight All-Star appearances, Worthy certainly warranted a closer look. At the time, Worthy had a longer list of NBA accomplishments than Pippen who snagged a forward spot and whose inclusion could have been an unstated factor in swaying Jordan's decision to play.

While Christian Laettner won the Wooden Award in as best player in college basketball, it's hard to look back and justify his selection over Shaquille O'Neal. Not only was O'Neal set to become the No. From a purely positional standpoint, O'Neal's roster fit would have been far cleaner even before getting into the actual comparison with Laettner. Shaq's presence would have added another interesting wrinkle and unlike Laettner, it's hard to imagine him not playing an important role in the legendary closed door scrimmage.

All rights reserved. Phoenix Suns. Boston Celtics. You can understand Kobe and Shaq wanting to chill in the summer -- in the last three years, they've played more than games a season if you count exhibitions and playoff games -- but, let's face it, most of the elite players are back in the gym at this time of year anyway and they love competition. What could be more fun and more competitive than going against some real NBA competition on a daily basis in training camp, and then going out and doing the same against some very decent international competition?

But as long as our best decide to stay on the sidelines, the dream team concept will continue to die a slow death. We can't offer the team up as any kind of dream team without an accompanying laugh track. Maybe we should call it the Power Nap Team. But U. They can only extend the invitation and hope for the best.

That isn't going to change. Shaq already has his gold medal. Think he's starving for another? Kobe turns 24 in two weeks; how frightening is that? He'll be Olympic material both for Athens and Beijing. But he has to want to go. They all have to want to go. They all have to understand that they are going as both ambassadors and basketball players. The team understood that. They knew they were the chosen few, a group selected as much as for their popularity as their ability.

But, since then, we haven't seen too many Lithuanians or Brazilians asking teammates to snap their picture when they're guarding Vin Baker or Gary Payton. No one from Yugoslavia is going to be asking Wallace or Pierce for their autographs later this month at Conseco Fieldhouse. But the world already has awakened and quashed the notion that this, or any succeeding entry, will qualify as some sort of dream team. There was only one.

But what a one it was. Message Board. NBA en espanol. NBA Insider. ESPN Auctions. More from ESPN Aldridge: The best team I ever saw You had to be there in Dream Team Letters Users sounded off on whether They made history, with Christian Laettner and Clyde Drexler later joining the team.

I'm going to form part of the best team in history," Barkley said after knowing he'd been included. Like the Beatles".