The 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team, famously known as The Dream Team, is arguably the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled.
This legendary squad included Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, John Stockton, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, and the lone college player, Christian Laettner. The only potential improvement could have been the inclusion of Shaquille O’Neal, the number one overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft, instead of Laettner. However, with Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski as an assistant coach, Laettner was chosen.
Despite this minor controversy, Team USA dominated the 1992 Olympic Games, going undefeated and winning every game by a large margin. Their closest game was a 32-point victory over Croatia in the gold medal match.
In a surprising turn of events this week, TMZ reported that Clyde Drexler’s Olympic gold medal from the Dream Team has been put up for auction by Goldin Auctions, with a starting bid of $250,000. This is the first time a Dream Team gold medal has appeared at auction.
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The auction listing describes the medal as an incredibly rare item: “Scarce doesn’t begin to describe this medal, as no other have emerged on the market, and limited to only 12 issued to the players from that vaunted and historic team. Now available to a public hungry to secure this treasure and place it at the pinnacle of their collection. This is possibly the only opportunity one will have to secure a medal from this team, making this your chance to own a piece of not only basketball history, but world history as well.”
The Dream Team’s legacy was further explored in the 2021 docuseries “The Last Dance,” where Michael Jordan discussed his competitive relationship with Drexler.
Jordan took offense at comparisons made between him and Drexler, and according to David Halberstam’s book “Playing For Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made,” Jordan went out of his way to dominate Drexler during scrimmages.
Some teammates eventually urged Jordan to ease up, noting that they were now on the same team and there was no need to reopen old wounds.
In response to Jordan’s competitive nature, Drexler later made a subtle jab: “Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. A lot of times guys didn’t like each other from other teams, but as you get older, you’ve got to get beyond all of that and show some love and some respect for the people you played with and against.”
The reason behind the auction of Drexler’s gold medal remains unclear.
The listing does not specify why the medal is up for sale, and a representative from Goldin Auctions confirmed that Drexler himself did not consign it.
Nevertheless, this rare opportunity allows collectors and fans to own a piece of basketball and world history, preserving the legacy of one of the most iconic teams in sports.
