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How much is 1992 dream team basketball cards worth


1992 USA Basketball Dream Team Basketball Card Guide and Highlights

It’s impossible to quantify the greatest team ever. It’s hard enough to compare the 1927 New York Yankees to the 1996 squad. Different players, different eras — one could argue that baseball itself changed dramatically in those seven-plus decades. 

It gets even harder to when you cross sports. Were the Showtime-era Lakers better than the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s? You can make all the Venn diagrams you want, but you really can’t come up with some criteria to say which is better. 

But then there’s the 1992 USA Men’s Olympic Basketball squad — the Dream Team.

Getty Images

They plowed through the competition — if one could really call it that — in Barcelona. In eight Olympic games, they won every game by more than 30 points. There were no bumps on the road to gold. 

Three decades later, the legacy of the Dream Team can still be seen. Eleven of the 12 players on the roster have gone on to the Basketball Hall of Fame. It’s a collection of generation-defining superstars: Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, David Robinson and, of course, Michael Jordan.

See also: 1992 USA Basketball Dream Team Rookie Card Guide

Members of the 1992 USA Men’s Olympic Basketball team have appeared together and individually on USA Basketball cards in several sets over the years. Some are subsets in larger NBA releases. Others are standalone products that are nothing but Dream Team cards.

Here’s a look at key places where you can find them.

1991-92 Hoops

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1991-92 Hoops is one of the first places collectors could find basketball cards of players wearing their instantly iconic Dream Team jerseys. Found in Series 2 packs, ten players and all four coaches are part of the subset. Clyde Drexler, the final NBA star selected for the team, and college standout Christian Laettner, are the only two missing.  

These 14 cards all use studio shots with players wearing their jerseys. 

For assistant coaches Mike Krzyzewski and P. J. Carlesimo, both have their RCs in 1991-92 Hoops.

The Dream Team isn’t the only Olympic content in the set. A handful of cards highlight players from past USA teams going as far back as Walter Davis in 1976.

There’s also a special unnumbered gold foil insert with the USA Basketball logo on the front and a brief background on the initial selections for the 1992 team.

1991-92 Hoops McDonald’s

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Big Macs and McDonald’s fries might not be a healthy choice, but the fast food chain was a major Olympic sponsor in 1992. From a special Gold Medal Meal that was highlighted by a triple cheeseburger to Dream Team collectors cups to a steady stream of television commercials, there was plenty of Olympic content to digest at the time. 

For basketball card collectors, there was also a 62-card Hoops set that featured some cards of the Dream Team. For those around the Chicago area, it’s actually a 70-card set thanks to an exclusive eight-card Chicago Bulls expansion.

Most of 1991-92 Hoops Basketball checklist is NBA cards. However, there are a dozen USA Basketball cards that were included one per four-card pack. The initial ten selections plus Coach Daly have individual cards. There’s also a team card with all 11 on the front.

The design is the same are the regular 1991-92 set. Along with card numbers, photos are different.

1991-92 SkyBox

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The 1992 Dream Team cards found in 1991-92 SkyBox follow a similar path as their Hoops counterparts. A subset in Series 2, there’s the same lineup of ten players and four coaches. Capping things off is a three-card puzzle that forms a panoramic team photo. 

The squad shows up again on a special gold foil non-numbered insert.

Although he’s not available in packs, a Clyde Drexler card was available through a mail-away offer. To receive one, collectors had to send in ten Series 2 wrappers and $1.00. A total of 10,000 of the Drexler cards were available.

1991-92 SkyBox Mark and See Minis

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The SkyBox USA cards were shrunken down and included in a couple of Olympic-themed activity booklets. All 14 total cards were included in the books in the form of perforated sheets. When separated, the standard player cards measure 2 1/4 by 2 3/4 inches. A team photo is also available. In one book, it can be separated into three individual cards. For the other, it’s one larger panoramic card measuring 7 1/4 by 3 1/2.

These are some of the toughest 1992 Dream Team cards released for the Olympics. For starters, they were part of a pair of magic marker activity books geared at young children. Similar to a sticker book, they were meant to be used. 

Even those that may have survived the backseat drives to the grocery store and grandma’s, there’s also the perforated sheet factor. Like Sports Illustrated for Kids cards, they had to be separated carefully to avoid small tears and creases. The thinner stock doesn’t help matters, either.

1992 Impel U.S. Olympic Hopefuls

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As a whole, 1992 Impel U.S. Olympic Hopefuls (also known as U.S. Olympicards) covers a lot more than just basketball. Just 11 of the checklist’s 110 cards are focused on the Dream Team. Still, they’re a key part of the multi-sport product. That said, the most valuable card in the set belongs to boxer Oscar de la Hoya.

1992 SkyBox USA

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Although this full standalone release focuses on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball team, there’s only one that actually shows players in their USA Basketball uniforms — and it’s an insert.

The main set has 110 cards. The first ten players each have nine cards, acting as a resumé of sorts. Cards breakdown individual accolades and accomplishments. It’s also perfect for nine-pocket pages. Players, though, are all pictured in NBA uniforms, not the ones they’d wear in Barcelona. The four coaches each have two cards. A pair of checklists follow. The base set rounds out with Magic Johnson offering his thoughts on his teammates.

A team card, which is on plastic stock, is where the Olympic threads come in. 

1992-93 Hoops “Tournament of the Americas”

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Technically, this 12-card subset centers on the Olympic-qualifying tournament that marked the Dream Team’s international debut. Like the Olympics, USA dominated from start to finish and made it to Barcelona with ease. These cards are part of 1992-93 Hoops Series 1 checklist.

Series 1 packs also have a team card.

1992-93 SkyBox Olympic Team

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Running under the theme of “The Road to Gold,” this 12-card insert set highlights everything from exhibition games leading up to Barcelona through to the gold medal. Each Dream Team member appears on their own card. Found in Series 1, these are fairly easy pulls at 1:6 packs.

1993-94 SkyBox Premium USA Tip-Off

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This insert set, only available through a redemption trade card found in Series 2 packs, is kind of like a passing of the torch. Eleven of the set’s 13 cards pair a 1992 Dream Team member with a counterpart representing the United States at the 1994 FIBA World Championships. Michael Jordan is the only player from the 1992 Olympics not to appear here while Tim Hardaway and Isiah Thomas each have solo cards.

Since they started producing basketball cards in 2009-10, Panini has worked USA Basketball cards into several products in a variety of ways. Base cards, inserts, autographs and memorabilia cards have all brought modern spins to the USA Basketball program. Not all are exclusive to Dream Team members, but many of the 12 players have been featured on new cards over the years.  

Starting in 2014-15 and moving up through the years, several Panini Flawless set have included both autographs and rare base gem cards. Other places to find Dream Team signatures include 2014-15 Panini Eminence, 2015-16 National Treasures, 2017-18 and 2018-19 Flawless, and 2017-18 and 2018-19 Opulence. 

2019-20 Eminence has scarce Dual Autographs with such iconic pairings as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Karl Malone and John Stockton, and Charles Barkley and David Robinson.

For those who like to build massive player rainbows, 2019-20 and 2020-21 Panini Mosaic both have Dream Team members in the base set. That means lots of parallels as well.

If sports cards were a way to quantify the greatest teams of all time, the scope, longevity and ongoing popularity of cards highlighting the 1992 USA Men’s Olympic Basketball members is proof that they’re one of the best ever — if not the best.

How much are the Dream Team basketball cards worth?

How much are the Dream Team basketball cards worth?

CardPrice
Full PSA 10 Player Set 1991 Skybox USA Dream Team Michael Jordan$3,499. 99
2019 Panini Mosaic Fast Break Blue Prizm /85 Patrick Ewing #253 TEAM USA HOF$0.99
1991 Skybox Team USA 2 JORDAN, STOCKTON, MALONE, MAGIC #545 GEM MINT PSA 10$11.50
1991-92 NBA Hoops Michael Jordan 1992 USA Basketball Team #55 K980$0.99

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Did the Dream Team lose?

In late June, the Dream Team first met together in La Jolla, California, astounding and intimidating the collegians who watched them practice. However, on June 24, the Dream Team lost to the NCAA team, 62–54, after underestimating the opposition.

Who was the original basketball Dream Team?

For the first time in Olympic history, the United States team would feature active NBA stars Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley. They became known as the 'Dream Team' defeating their opponents by an average of 44 points en route to the gold medal.

What happened to Dream Team?

Cancellation and final series. ... With declining viewing figures and repetitive storylines, Sky decided not to renew the Dream Team contract, and in April 2006, the director of programmes at Sky One, Richard Woolfe, confirmed the show would not return after the tenth series.

How much is a 1990 Larry Bird card worth?

Larry Bird Basketball Trading Card Values

1980 Topps Single Panel #30 Larry Bird
1989 Fleer Stickers #10 Larry Bird$2.03
1989 NBA Hoops Hoops #150 Larry Bird$0.49
1990 Fleer All Stars #2 Larry Bird$1.40
1990 Fleer #8 Larry Bird$0.34

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How much is Magic Johnson Skybox card worth?

Magic Johnson #138 1990 Skybox

Sale Date ▲ ▼Title ▲ ▼▲ ▼ Price
2021-12-201990 SkyBox Magic Johnson #138 Basketball Card PSA 9 MINT #138$11. 50
2021-12-18Earvin Magic Johnson #138 PSA -1991 Skybox Los Angeles Lakers LA$13.00
2021-12-171990 -91 Skybox MAGIC JOHNSON #138 PSA 9 MINT Clean Card! New Slab HOF #138$7.25

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Who were the 12 members of the Dream Team?

The 1992 Olympic Dream Team was just that: the greatest team ever assembled. The roster was made up of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, and Christian Laettner.

Who were the starting 5 for the Dream Team?

Kobe Bryant has picked his all-time Team USA starting five, and he's keeping it old-school. The future Hall of Famer named Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a conversation with FIBA. Jordan, Johnson and Bird were each part of the Dream Team.

Who was the best player on the 1992 Dream Team?

Michael Jordan The Dream Team needed to prove to the world that US was where the greatest basketball players were, and the NBA was still the most competitive league for the best players in the world. The team had the greatest player of all time—Michael Jordan. They had the greatest point guard of all time—Magic Johnson.

Who is the youngest person in the dream SMP?

Thomas Simons (born Ap [age 16]), better known online as TommyInnit, is currently the youngest member of the Dream SMP and a Minecraft YouTuber, Twitch streamer who became friends with the Dream Team over the summer of 2020.

What impact did the Dream Team have on the NBA?

  • The Dream Team — especially the impact of Jordan’s popularity — helped contribute to the globalization of basketball in the NBA. Foreign players have become a huge part of the game. Yao Ming and Andrea Bargnani have been No. 1 picks, and Dirk Nowitzki and Giannis Antetokounmpo have won the NBA MVP award since.

How many gold medals did the dream team win in basketball?

  • Team USA also have dominated Olympic Basketball with professional players. They have won five gold medals since the Dream Team; the only loss coming in 2004 when it finished with the bronze. The Dream Team was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame.

Why was the 'dream team' called The Dream Team?

  • That came at the perfect time, because the NBA was full of legendary players at the time. Why was it called the 'Dream Team'? On Feb. 18, 1991, the Sports Illustrated cover featured five members of the team in Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing with the words "Dream Team" across the front.

Was the 1992 Dream Team the best basketball team ever?

  • The 1992 United States men's basketball team is one of the greatest basketball rosters ever assembled. That is why the legacy of the "Dream Team" — which has been brought to light again with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in ESPN's " The Last Dance " documentary — still carries on almost 30 years later.

Dream Team 1992 is a unique team in the history of the sport. Could the Dream Team have been assembled at another time: earlier, later, this year? - Blogg on the floor - Blogs

We remember the greatest.

Dream Team's performance in Barcelona 1992 is one of the iconic moments in the history of the Olympics. For the first time ever, an American basketball team was made up of NBA stars, , and it went through its opponents on its way to gold without noticing resistance.

No one managed to avoid defeat - neither the Croats with the magical Drazen Petrovic and the young Toni Kukoch (-33 in the group and -32 in the final), nor the Brazilians with the Games' top scorer Oscar Schmidt (-44), nor the bronze-winning Lithuania with Sabonis and colorful jerseys (-51, only the first rival Angola got worse, losing 48:116).

After that, the Americans brought NBA stars more than once, continued to win the Olympics, once they still lost, and now for the first time they came to the basketball tournament not in the status of favorites - and have already managed to confirm this status, having melted in front of France.

But no American team is remembered and praised as much as Dream Team. Neither the one that won the home Olympics in 1996, nor the "Ready Team" of 2008, nor the last champions of Rio.

Of course, the superiority effect also works. After losing at 19On the 88th, the Americans realized it (even somehow late - after all, the last time they took Olympic gold outside of North America was in 1964, and on European soil - in general in 1960). Finding that students were no longer able to regularly beat adult foreigners, the US Basketball Federation convinced first FIBA ​​and the IOC to allow professionals to compete, and then the NBA to send stars to the Games.

But Dream Team's worldwide and timeless influence came from the fact that it was not just a team made up of stars. It was a team of all the best basketball players on the planet at that time.

Of the 10 players selected to start the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, 9 made the Dream Team. Another, Scottie Pippen, started instead of an injured Byrd. 11th - John Stockton, the best NBA assistant, who ended up in the second symbolic five of the season.

Another angle on the completion of the application: 9 Dream Team players represented the first or second five of the NBA season, accompanied by living legends Magic and Bird.

The 12th, as you know, took a student as a tribute to past US amateur teams. But not the advertised Shaquille O'Neal, who will become the first draft pick, but Christian Leittner - more mature (both in terms of passport, and mentally, and in game terms), more experienced (already played for the national team at the World Cup, at the Pan American Games and at the Games goodwill) as leader of the Duke University championship team and NCAA Player of the Year.

Never in any sport has a team of all the strongest players in the world gathered. It's as if the combined team of the two countries, reinforced by Borje Salming, would compete in the USSR-Canada Super Series. Probably the closest analogy is from the same 1992: Agassi, Sampras, Courier and the veteran McEnroe in the US team at the Davis Cup, but even then there were athletes from other countries equal to them in tennis: Becker, Edberg, Lendl.

There was no one equal to 11 NBA stars (we leave Leittner's mascot out of the equation) in 1992. Only Olajuwon is waiting for his American passport.

It just so happens that scoring NBA greatness ratings is my hobby, and it fits in nicely with Dream Team history.

Using my NBA Hall of Fame formula for the end of the 1991/92 season, the rating of American players who played in the 1992 All-Star Game would look like this:

  1. Magic Johnson
  2. Larry Bird
  3. Michael Jordan
  4. Isaiah Thomas
  5. Charles Barclay
  6. James Worthy
  7. Karl Malone
  8. Clyde Drexler
  9. John Stockton
  10. Dominic Wilkins
  11. Patrick Ewing
  12. Joe Dumars
  13. David Robinson
  14. Scottie Pippen
  15. Chris Mullin

. ..and beyond Rodman, Dougherty and the rest of the Kevin Johnsons and Tim Hardaways.

Isiah Thomas was so hated by everyone that his candidacy was not even discussed in the federation so as not to risk losing other key players - and without Thomas as teammates, Jordan and Byrd did not agree to participate for a long time.

Worthy and Wilkins would not have been physically fit to compete in the Olympics - both had knee surgery midway through the season. And Joe Dumars was considered the first choice to replace in the event of an injury (or if the Magic was not allowed to play) - in some ways it was he, and not Laitner, who was the last player in this stellar lineup.

15 top stars of the NBA season by historical rating - and 11 of them get into the Dream Team, another one in the reserve (Dumars, like Shaq, will play later in the World Cup-1994 and OI-1996), two are simply injured, and only Isaiah Thomas is out of the question - as the very exception that confirms the rule.

Of course, the team was assembled not at the end of the 91/92 season and not even during its course - the plan for recruiting the squad was invented back in February 1991, the first 10 participants (without Leittner and Drexler) were announced in September, before the start of the season, when finally convinced Larry Bird to join. Healthy Wilkins could claim the last position, but tore his Achilles - at 1994th and he will be called to the team for the World Cup.

As a result, the greatest of the best, the best of the greatest, went to Barcelona.

One can argue for a long time whether greatness in the NBA has vanished in the 21st century, but it will no longer be possible to make such a team, and for another reason. Foreigners have taken over the NBA, among the best players are now the Greek Antetokounbo, Serbian Jokic, Slovenian Doncic, Cameroonian Embiid, Frenchman Gobert. Crusaders from the world of sports, the Dream Team went on a campaign for the lost kingdom, returned the gold to America, but enchanted the whole world, who wanted to reach for their divine status (the Crusaders never dreamed of this). Basketball is no longer a US monopoly, and not even an NBA monopoly, but the Metcha Team has secured its uniqueness with this.

For example, this is what an expanded list of candidates for the US team this year to 15 people would look like, if the same rules are accepted - participants in the 2021 All-Star Game, the choice of the 15 most deserved according to the formula, no one refuses:

Doesn't look as powerful as in 1992 - plus Kawai would definitely miss the Olympics due to the operation, a few more stars are not quite healthy, and by analogy, someone else needs to be unhooked, like Isaiah. There were no such unshelled youth as in the third line of the 2021 version in Dream Team.

Okay, it's a pandemic, the Olympics have been postponed, let's reschedule here too: Westbrook and Lowry will be credited with last year's All-Star Game. At the same time, as an analogue of MVZ, we will write Butler into the NBA team of the season, and Green and Holiday into the first defense team. Alternative version of the top 15 candidates:

It makes no sense to define a student in 12th place - the level of top NCAA players has fallen too much, because the most promising players no longer stay in college for more than a year. Basketball players of the caliber of Shaq and even Leittner are not here.

By the way, which coach should be appointed to the national team? We also evaluate on the basis of the formula: in 1991 (a year before the announcement of the final composition), the US Basketball Federation had five official candidates: Chuck Daly, who got this job, as well as Lenny Wilkens (he was taken as an assistant), Don Nelson, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Larry Brown. These are the five best current coaches I rated at the end of the 90/91 season, if you take into account only those who won at least 40% of the matches that year (Bill Fitch and Dick Motta lost their coaching form, Pat Riley at 90/91 took a break from basketball).

The person with the most recent championship was appointed as the main one, his assistant - with the previous one.

According to these rules, the five candidates for the 19/20 season would look like this: Popovich, Rivers, Spoelstra, Carlisle, D'Antoni. Popovich would be in charge, Spo would be his assistants.

If we move back a year, determine by the 18/19 season, then Kerr would be the candidate instead of D’Antoni, he would become the main one, Popovich helped (now the opposite is true in the US team). Perhaps Steve in 2021 is better able to step aside and trust his leaders, and we would not see such a dead end game.

But in reality, LeBron preferred cartoons to his compatriots, and his participation was the only factor capable of once again uniting NBA superstars in the team.

Okay, what would Dream Team look like if they were going for gold for America back in 1988, and not after that bronze? 15 candidates:

Head coach - Pat Riley, assistant - KC Jones. David Robinson (most likely) or Danny Manning would go for the NCAA.

In the late 80s, the generational change in the NBA was just beginning - Ewing, Drexler, Karl Malone, Stockton at 1988th for the first time got into the team of the season, but only Carl was selected to start the All-Star Game. The team would have had two illustrious centers in the person of Karim and Moses - the third, Parish, did not make it to the MVZ that year. Ralph Sampson was also injured again, whose career broke just in the 87/88 season.

Lots of talent, but still less than in 1992. All players of the Barcelona national team could already play in 1988, but not all future superstars managed to acquire this status. Not the best time to assemble a Dream Team, especially since Bird is starting to have serious problems with his legs and back, and the Lakers players are so tired after the final with Detroit that they want to strangle Riley (Karim literally gagged Pat in the locker room with a towel, if only he did not again promise the journalists that LAL would defend the title in a year).

If Danny Ainge is in your top 15 all-stars, then something is wrong. In this case, the generation that joined the NBA in 1983-1985 and formed the backbone of the 1992 team is still too young.

If "Dream-Team" were assembled, on the contrary, only in 1996, the composition would be similar to the classic one. Without Byrd and Magic, but with Hakim Olajuwon and Shaq, and the formula identified Reggie Miller, Penny Hardaway, Richmond, Kemp and Payton as alternative candidates. By the way, all these new faces, except for Kemp (Grant Hill instead) went to the Olympics-96.

It is interesting to look completely into the past. Could the collective team of the NBA and ABA-1972 (so far without newcomer Julius Irving) avoid defeat by the USSR team? Judge for yourself:

Only Archie Clark is not a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Bill Sharman helps Red Holtzman on the coaching staff. The brightest student is Bill Walton.

In this team, almost half of the squad are players who are used to being the second or third option in their clubs, so there would certainly be no problems with the distribution of roles. But this is the only advantage of the failed Dream-Team-1972 compared to Dream Team 1992.

The second best team in US history is considered to be the Redeem Team of 2008, which also had the task of regaining the gold medals lost by the Olympics earlier.

Here's what a perfect named set of candidates would have looked like in 2008 (Shaq is gone because he didn't make the All-Star Game that year): Hansbrough, his 00s collegiate basketball Leittner.

Recall that the real "Team of Redemption" with Kobe, LeBron, Kidd, Wade, Paul and Dwight also played Carlos Boozer, Michael Redd, young Bosch, Carmelo and Deron Williams, and neither Billups nor Hamilton went from Detroit and not even Sheedy Wallace - but the non-star, but very useful Tayshawn Prince. That team was made up of stars, but only Kidd was young, over 30. Kobe was then considered an uncle mentor - but in the composition in the picture there are 7 people older than Bryant at once.

Such a set of stars could be considered worthy of the Dream Team title, but it would be even better if it gathered in 2006, for example. The leaders were even closer to their ideal form.

Duncan, Iverson, Stoudemire, and LeBron, Wade (as well as Carmelo and Boozer) who remained by 2008 were on the bronze team, but even more top players refused to participate. And no one refused from Argentina.

An even weirder Jackson-Riley coaching duo. In general, we can easily identify a student - this is Emeka Okafor (who also went to the real Olympics in Athens), but it would be such a bright flick on the nose of the student association if the newcomer LeBron was taken to the youth place, who went straight from school to the NBA bypassing the game for the university.

The 2004 Ideal Team looks threatening on paper, especially the top five, which included exactly the same five people that were selected to the 2003/04 NBA All-Star Team. But the globalization of the NBA has already begun - that year, foreigners Novitski, Stojakovic, Kirilenko, Yao and Magloir went to the MVZ, a year earlier Nash and Ilgauskas played there. A year later, Ginobili, the best player of the 2004 Olympics, will make his debut.

The same Olympics, where even without Dream-Team it became extremely clear: The concept of a national team super team is a thing of the past millennium.

The “Dream Team” is now literally just a dream: even if all the best players in the United States decide to come together again at the Olympic Games, one of the rivals will definitely have stars of equal size and brightness.

Photo: East News/AP Photo/John Gaps III; globallookpress.com/imago sportfotodienst

"We play, countries fall apart." How the USSR championship lost one of the most famous clubs

Dinamo Tbilisi withdrew from the USSR Championship for political reasons. Thus ended the glorious history of the club and the darkness began.

The end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s was a period of absolute chaos and chaos in the USSR. The superpower was approaching its collapse. A harbinger of great change was observed in all spheres of life, including in sports. The last USSR basketball championships were held with a creak. The composition of the participants changed right at the height of the season. Even the most eminent and titled teams left. For example, Dynamo Tbilisi in the championship-1990/1991.

The exit of the Georgian club was not due to financial problems. It all happened for political reasons shortly before the declaration of independence of the republic on the second anniversary of the bloody events in Tbilisi. With the release of Dynamo from the Soviet championship, the glorious history of the organization, as well as the entire club basketball of Georgia, ended. We talk about the decline of Dynamo in the new material of the Championship from the special project Forgive, Soviet Sport.

Sorry, Soviet sport. How the USSR team won the last glorious victories
The new special project "Championship" is about how 30 years ago the great Soviet sport disappeared in a country that was collapsing before our eyes.
Now the name of the basketball Dynamo Tbilisi is not at all heard from the word. Few people know and remember that once upon a time this organization was truly great. Dynamo is one of the most titled clubs in the USSR. 4-time national champion (only CSKA has more victories), 8-time medalist (4 bronze and silver each), 3-time winner of the USSR Cup. Importantly, Dynamo is one of three Soviet clubs that won the Euroleague (formerly the European Cup), the strongest club tournament in the Old World. The other two are CSKA and SKA (Riga).

If we make a conditional summary rating of basketball clubs throughout the history of the USSR, then Dynamo can be safely included at least in the top 3. CSKA is the undisputed dominant force. Next come Dynamo and Zalgiris. Dynamo in the USSR experienced glorious times. Many talented performers passed through the club's system, Zurab Sakandelidze and Mikhail Korkia, the champions of the 1972 Olympics, stand out among them. Sakandelidze, in fact, became the creator of the famous "three seconds". His competent tactical foul made it possible to carry out an attack with Alexander Belov's winning throw into the ring of the US team after Ivan Edeshko's pass across the entire court.

Without him there would be no three seconds. The tragic story of the hero of "Upward Movement" Sakandelidze
It was Zurab who made the victory in Munich possible, although this is overlooked. The underestimated victor left too soon.
To fully understand the picture with the release of Dynamo from the USSR championship, you need to immerse yourself in the atmosphere that prevailed in Georgia in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In April 1989, a rally was held in Tbilisi. The main requirement is “Declare national insubordination to the authorities of Soviet Georgia; form a provisional government of Georgia; abolish the Abkhazian, Adjarian and South Ossetian autonomies.” Some of the students went on a hunger strike until "until Georgia becomes an independent state." Purely protesters gradually grew and reached 10 thousand people.

The authorities of the republic have ceased to control the situation. The top leadership of the USSR had to intervene. Mikhail Gorbachev instructed to disperse those gathered at the Government House. In Tbilisi, they began to draw in the military. The calculation of the authorities was that the protesters, at the sight of soldiers and military equipment, would quickly disperse. However, it turned out differently - the rally participants built barricades and made it clear that they were not going to retreat.

Collision avoided. The military used batons, tear gas and even sapper shovels. 21 people died in the stampede, 18 of them women. More than 250 people were injured. These events became a kind of turning point, after which a clear course towards independence was outlined in Georgia.

Now directly to sports. In the same 1989, Dynamo (Tbilisi) left the top division of the USSR football championship. Representatives of the First League "Torpedo" (Kutaisi) and "Dynamo" (Batumi) followed suit. A separate championship of Georgia was organized, in which 12 professional teams took part.

Basketball twins of the capital "Dynamo" did not immediately decide on such abrupt moves and continued to participate in the USSR championship until the end of the 1990/1991 season. The bright, spectacular and unpredictable Dinamo team from Tbilisi played two preliminary rounds, but did not take part in the final stage.

"The whole country was watching this." How a simple provincial club threatened the hegemony of CSKA
Avtodor did the almost impossible in the 1990s. All the best went to the capital, but in Saratov there was always a way to get out.
On February 2, 1991, Dynamo defeated Shakhtar (Neryungri) at the Sports Palace in Tbilisi with a score of 100:73. The performance of the players of the Georgian club: Sanadze (24 points), Daushvili and Shengelia (21 each), Tskhvediani (10), Tortladze, Chkheidze (8 each), Periashvili, Ustiashvili (4 each), Baramidze, Darsadze (0). One familiar surname stands out on the list - Shengelia. This is Kakha Shengelia, the father of CSKA forward Tornike Shengelia, whose transfer to the army from the Spanish Basque Country last summer caused a flurry of criticism in Georgia. The head coach was the legendary Levan Moseshvili, who headed Dynamo for a long 26 years (1972-1998).

Dynamo head coach Levan Moseshvili.

Photo: RIA Novosti

The meeting with Shakhtar was Dynamo's last match in the USSR Championship, after which they were withdrawn from the tournament. The team went with a balance of 20-12 and could well compete for medals. The second Spartak (27-12) and the third VEF (26-12) at the end of the season had the same number of losses as Dynamo had at the time of their departure.

It is important to understand the chain of further events in the country. February 28 19For 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Georgia banned the holding of a referendum on the preservation of the USSR on the territory of Georgia. On March 31, 1991, a referendum was held on the restoration of Georgia's independence. 90.5% of voters took part in it, of which 98.93% voted for the declaration of state independence.

April 9, 1991 - on the second anniversary of the dispersal of the rally with victims - at 11:56 Tbilisi time, at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council of Georgia, Chairman Zviad Gamsakhurdia announced the restoration of Georgia's state independence. On this path, Georgia and Russia parted ways. Not only in sports, but also in socio-political terms.

It is worth noting that sport (and basketball in particular) was a harbinger of the collapse of the USSR. In the 1990/1991 season, the Lithuanian Zalgiris refused to play in the championship. Confusion reigned in the country, which was transferred to the results of matches of the domestic championship. The champion unexpectedly became the Estonian "Kalev", which included the first American of the Soviet championship, George Jackson. CSKA finished fourth. The second was "Spartak" (Leningrad), a year later, won the unrecognized championship of the CIS.

The Russian dream team was deprived of a great victory. The only title of "Spartacus" - unrecognized
The CIS Championship is a reflection of the "troubled era" of the 1990s. In high offices, in one fell swoop, the efforts of a whole galaxy of talented players were crossed out.
In Georgia, they prefer not to remember the situation with the removal of Dynamo from the USSR championship. There is simply no material about this in the local media. Unless the official website of the Ministry of Sports contains the so-called “chronicle of Georgian basketball”, After 1991 years the list is very stingy.

“Georgian basketball has been developing independently since 1991. In 1994, men's and women's teams of Georgia were formed to participate in the qualifying tournaments of the European Championship. Several Georgian basketball players played in famous European clubs, Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Zaza Pachulia represented American NBA clubs.

The Georgian Basketball Federation, founded on June 4, 1991, became a member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the European Basketball Confederation on July 10, 1992 years old, joined the FIBA ​​European Federation since 2003. Presidents: Alexander Chkheidze (1991-1995), Avtandil Sakvarelidze (1995-1997), Georgy Katamadze (1998-2001), Besik Liparteliani (2001-2013), Mikhail Gabrichidze (2013-present) "- a tiny part of the entire text" annals of Georgian basketball” during the period of independence.

A significant part of the material is devoted to the period of Soviet times, when there really was something to brag about. Georgians especially like to savor Dynamo's victory over star Real Madrid (90:83) in the 1962 Euroleague final. By the way, at the semi-final stage of that season, the team from Tbilisi won the series against CSKA (152:137 on aggregate). Real Madrid (10 wins in the Euroleague) and CSKA (8 wins) are the most titled clubs in Europe. Once upon a time, a team from the capital of Georgia played with them on the same level, or at least not much inferior.

You can forget about those times. Now club Georgian basketball drags out a miserable existence. The national team is more or less competitive, but only due to the early departure of players to foreign clubs and their development in other places. The chronicle mentioned above on the website of the Ministry of Sports has not been updated for at least 5 years, since Gabchiridze is listed as the current president of the federation. Since 2017, this post has been occupied by Paata Guraspauli.

Championship level is very low. There is not a single club from Georgia even in the fourth-ranked European Cup tournament, the FIBA ​​Europe Cup. You can not even dream about the Euroleague and the battles against Real Madrid and CSKA.

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As for Dynamo Tbilisi, even by Georgian standards, the club has slipped. The team miraculously made it to the playoffs of the 2020/2021 season as the seventh seed, having won the last 4 matches of the regular season. Probably, in the first round, the club from Tbilisi will beat the second-seeded Kutaisi. Dynamo doesn't even have a working official website. The old hosting has expired. An indicative moment that clearly characterizes the overall picture.

Oddly enough, almost the only attempt in recent history to bring Georgian basketball out of a coma came from the Russian side. In the 2015/2016 season, the Georgian "Vita" was admitted to the VTB United League. When licensing, many shortcomings were closed in order to give the Tbilisi club the opportunity to play at the highest level. The best Georgian player of the season was also determined, which emphasized the importance of the country for the league. Vita defender Irakli Chikladze received the award.

“We decided to play and disgrace the whole of Europe. It’s good that there were no broadcasts to Russia”
There were no even the most basic conditions for work. The “charms” of the 1990s were experienced by all clubs, including Spartak and CSKA.
Nevertheless, it was not possible to create at least a slightly successful project in Tbilisi. Vita didn't even come close to the level of the United League and, due to financial problems, withdrew from the tournament a round before the end of the regular season. Overall balance after 30 matches - 1-29. The only victory was won over Tsmoki-Minsk (81:80) not without some luck. Georgian clubs to this day continue to be in oblivion even after the disappearance of Vita from the basketball map. Soviet times will forever remain the most successful for clubs from this country.

Georgia was in the USSR on a privileged account. According to economists, three out of four rubles in the republic's budget were funds from outside, mainly from the RSFSR. It is not surprising that after parting with the USSR championship in sports, there was a total decline, which has no end in sight. Basketball Dynamo Tbilisi is the clearest proof of this.

Ex-Spartak basketball player, current Khimki head coach Andrey Maltsev shared his memories of Dynamo.

Dinamo from Tbilisi was a serious team. They had good financial conditions at that time. Their base was excellent on the Tbilisi Sea, where the team held training camps. I remember that they were one of the first in the USSR to make a three-point arc there for themselves and another one to it, which was 20 centimeters further. We kept thinking, why are they hitting so far? And they trained it. It is now Steph Curry hits from the center circle and this does not surprise anyone, but before all the same, such long-range hits were an event.

Dynamo is an original team. Everyone knows Deryugin, who got to the Olympics from this team. There were always snipers there, I even caught Tornike Shengelia's dad when he played there. At the age of 16, he was connected to the composition. The team has always tried to run, play sparkling, made a lot of long-range shots.

They looked after their youth and educated them. It seemed to us that peers from Tbilisi are always a year or two older, but maybe it seemed. We just arrived without knowing anything about the razor, and those guys already wore mustaches. But the relationship has always been very good. It is clear that everything was on the site. Trips to Georgia turned out to be emotional. In addition to games, it was very hospitable. The people there were very fond of basketball. Already in those days, 10 thousand spectators were not a question for them. True, all men and all in airport hats. When something got out of control, they could throw coins. It came in very painful. They smoked right in the hall.

It was a strong team that fought for the highest places. It's just that no one has ever been with them. Kondrashin was treated very respectfully in Georgia. As for the moment when Dynamo left the championship, it was so long ago. It seems that we played with them at the very beginning, we still had time, and after that they took off. In my opinion, they and the Lithuanians were the first to leave. I also found the USSR championships, where we played against them for bronze. At some point, many teams, due to what was happening around, began to leave. The championship of the USSR began, and the CIS ended already. None of us had much interest in politics. We play, countries fall apart. Well, what can we do when such giants leave the championship? Dynamo left without screams and noise. There were no events, in my opinion. It wasn't just in basketball. All sports followed this path. It was a pity that it all fell apart. Each allied team had its own corporate identity. The championship was very interesting, - said Maltsev in an interview with the correspondent of the "Championship" Marat Araslanov.

Andrey Maltsev

Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, Chempionat

The then head coach of CSKA Ivan Edeshko does not remember the moment with the removal of Dynamo, but notes the originality of the team.

"Dynamo" is a strong team, in which the players of the Union team played, my friends. They, like the rest of the teams of the Soviet republics, had their own corporate identity. They didn't look like anyone. Honestly, I don't remember the situation with Dynamo Tbilisi and their removal from the championship. Times were difficult then. The teams that were able to find sponsors and money for fees and salaries played. Even I had to leave CSKA abroad, work there as a coach, ”said Edeshko.

"Memory for a lifetime". Russian scorers dominated foreigners in the 1990s
Zakhar Pashutin's 55 points is the championship's eternal record. Biryukov's 13 three-pointers would be envied even in the NBA. Now one can only dream of such a thing.
Former Spartak basketball player, now the head coach of Dynamo Kursk, Vasily Karasev, also emphasizes originality as one of the main characteristics of Dynamo.

“I personally didn't play many games against Dinamo Tbilisi. They played for the youth team, they went. At that time, I tried to think about my basketball, how to play well myself, than about some other things. This probably affected more those people who played a lot and were at the peak of their careers and who had a longer relationship with this team.

At that time I was still quite a young man. It was clear that the exit of the team itself was bad. Everyone felt that everything was going to the collapse of that powerful Russian basketball that we remembered. Just after all, the Baltic teams, Ukrainian ones came out. Of course it was bad. Moreover, Dynamo Tbilisi is an original team. With crazy fans. It has always been difficult to play against them, especially away. If they love, then they love, if they hate, then with all their hearts. We almost had fights in games all the time. Dynamo was a big part of Russian basketball. It ended and it was frustrating.

I didn't have any acquaintances at Dynamo at the time. There were those with whom they played in the Union team - young players who were just approaching the main team. Everything was kind of ambiguous. They had joy and euphoria that they were leaving and some kind of new life was beginning for them. We had some misunderstanding. Again, I repeat, I will not say that they were friends, good acquaintances. There was no close communication, ”Karasyov said.

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