"I'll give him a history lesson": Chris Mullin responds to claims about 2024 Team USA Basketball being better than his Dream Team (Exclusive)
The Hall-of-Fame player hardly seemed interested in comparing teams out of respect for the different eras and he found the answer to be self-explanatory.
It involved the inevitable question that props up during every Olympics. How would the current U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team match up with the 1992 “Dream Team?”
“You know the answer to that!” Mullin said to Sportskeeda.
After Team USA’s double-digit win over Serbia last week, however, Serbia coach Svetislav Pesic said “this American team is better than the original Dream Team from 1992.”
Mullin chuckled when hearing that quote before suspecting that he only said that to soften the current Team USA squad.
“He needs to wake up, maybe jump in the Serbia sea or something to wake his ass up a little bit,” Mullin told Sportskeeda. “Maybe, I’ll see him. I’ll be in Paris, so I’ll look him up. I’ll give him a little history lesson.”
Chris Mullin interview (Exclusive)
Mullin spoke to Sportskeeda about whether Team USA should feel worried about its quest to win gold, informing Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry he would play in the Paris Olympics as well as memories of both the 1992 Dream Team and the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.
Editor’s note: The following one-on-one interview has been edited and condensed
What do you make of Team USA’s exhibitions so far with both the blow-out wins and close ones?
Chris Mullin: “This is the impact that the NBA and the Dream Team and sharing of knowledge and information over the decades that the rest of the world has really gravitated toward and participated in record numbers. That was one of the main goals – to globalize the sport of basketball. When the NBA and FIBA got together to open up the Olympics to NBA players in ’92, part of it of course was to level the playing field and have all teams use their professionals. But it was also to globalize the sport. That worked to perfection.”
Barring [Kevin] Durant continuing to be out or any other major injuries, do these close games to South Sudan and Germany give you any pause on U.S.A’s chance to win gold?
Chris Mullin:“They’ve had three close games, but I wouldn’t say it’s alarming. I would say it’s just the fact of the matter. The problem, there are a lot of factors to that. No. 1 is these rosters are full of NBA players. So there are better players on the team and there is more talent [elsewhere]. No. 2, the fear factor does not exist because they’ve competed against or with these players that they’ve matched up against. They feel they belong. So as opposed to coming into the game in awe and wanting to meet people, they’re trying to come in and win that game. That’s a totally different mindset than from decades ago.”
What was it like to formally inform Steph that he would be part of USA Basketball and to present his jersey to him?
Chris Mullin:“It was great. I was so appreciative that USA Basketball and the Warriors asked me to do that. It was my honor and my pleasure. It was a cool thing we did after one of the games at home there. Steph, after all of these years, has participated for USA Basketball. But timing wise, he was not in the Olympics. So it was a cool moment, and I’m happy that he’s getting this experience. Steph was very grateful and very appreciative.
Before ’92 when you had to be an amateur, it was really a timing thing. If you were in high school and the Olympic year came, you may have missed out. You had to be able to time that up in college and in your prime years and playing great. But now there are a few more chances to get on there These guys play in their prime for so long. But with Steph, between his injuries and deep playoff runs, the timing just hasn’t worked out. But now it has. It reminds me back in the day when it was all amateurs. You really only had one chance to make it. You didn’t really get two chances at it.”
Steph has already won four NBA titles and is the greatest shooter of all time. But what do you think an Olympic gold medal would mean for his career?
Chris Mullin:“It adds to his legacy. It’s something that he obviously doesn’t have. For myself and if you talk to most guys, it’s a totally separate experience. You got your college career. You got your NBA career – playing in All-Star games and winning championships. But the Olympics stand on its own. It’s a whole different part of your career. You’re representing your country. So to me, it always stood out as a separate part of my career.”
I know you said you’re not into comparing, but how would you imagine a scrimmage with the ‘Dream Team’ and the current group playing out?
Chris Mullin:“It probably would be a great matchup. But the fact that we’re all 60, it might be a little closer than you think (laughs).”
I didn’t mean in your 60s. I meant when you were playing! (laughs)
Chris Mullin:“‘Oh, I thought you meant if we got together tomorrow (laughs). We’ll leave that one alone. It’s quite obvious. But we’ll leave that one out there for the people to talk about. You know the answer to that, anyway. You know, right?’
Well, Serbia’s coach is quoted as saying ‘this American team is better than the original Dream Team…’
Chris Mullin:“Yeah because he’s got to play against this team! (laughs). Who was that guy, anyway? I’ll look him up. It’ll give me something to talk about.”
Svetislav Pesic.
Chris Mullin:“He needs to wake up, maybe jump in the Serbia sea or something to wake his ass up a little bit. Maybe, I’ll see him. I’ll be in Paris, so I’ll look him up. I’ll give him a little history lesson.”
What are your favorite memories of being on the Dream Team?
Chris Mullin:“Anytime you go through that experience, the ultimate is receiving the gold medal, being on the stand with your teammates and listening to the national anthem. That’s the culmination of the summer. But then you look back at practice sessions and when you travel with each other. These guys, a lot of them were really just opponents. You never really spent a whole lot of time together. We’re talking about pre social media. But we also didn’t hang out as much as the guys do now. There was a very unique when NBA players were first eligible and then that group together and spent that entire summer together and forged great relationships. They did a good job with setting a standard with how an Olympic team should compete and play.”
Beyond the Dream Team’s talent, you have said over the years that it also stems from everyone buying into their roles and sacrificing. What did it take for such high-caliber talent to do that?
Chris Mullin: “There was a good complement of talent and a complement of personalities. If you look at the dynamic of that team, a lot of the players on that team were in their prime years at 28-32. But there was tremendous respect across the board. In a few days, it became a team. We weren’t a group of All-Stars. We became a team. Part of that was the selection of the talent, so they meshed well. Everyone was also very secure in what they had already done in their career. So no one was trying to prove any points. No one was trying to establish themselves on who they are. Everyone knew exactly what each other’s strengths and weaknesses were.
Chuck Daly and his staff did a great job with putting in a simple game plan that worked for that team. They were high IQ guys and high skilled guys. Across the board, every position was covered. I was more than thrilled to get that call. It was the highlight of my career. I would’ve done anything they asked me. I knew what my game was. I knew where I fit on that team. I went out there and played the way I needed to with whatever group I was on the floor with.”
Much has been made over the years of the intense scrimmage you all had at the beginning of camp. What were the highlights?
Chris Mullin: “Obviously Magic [Johnson] and Michael [Jordan] with their exchanges. That was fun to be in that gym and get an up-and-close personal look on that one. It was cool to experience that. That was part of the process with building the team. Magic wasn’t necessarily relinguishing. But he had Michael earn that. Larry and Magic were like, “This is this guy’s time. He is the man now.’
What rites-of-passage moments did you have in that scrimmage or any other time with feeling tested and wanting to show your worth?
Chris Mullin: “Each session, I was either matched up with Scottie [Pippen] or Clyde Drexler. They were built-in matchups. There also is a dynamic to teams where you have a competition and you’re going at it. But there’s also a healthy competition where you’re making each other better. It’s not so much squashing a guy next to you. It’s about holding your ground and competing like crazy. But also making each other better.”
What were your favorite fandom moments in Barcelona?
Chris Mullin: “Anytime Charles [Barkley] left the hotel, it was a big roar. He walk along La Rambla and carry on, and people would follow him like the Court Jester. Magic was similar. People were always following him. Then you had Larry Bird sneaking out of the backdoor and people didn’t know where he was. Or you had John Stockton walking through town and no one even knew who John was. That was the way the team was made up. We had these high profile, big-time personalities and incredible superstars. And then we had a lot of low-key personalities. They all meshed together. It all made sense.”
Did you join the circus or usually lay low? How did that trip play out for you?
Chris Mullin: “Probably in the middle. I got out and about a little bit. But for the most part, I spent a lot of time with Larry and Patrick [Ewing]. We had a lot of gym time [available]. We would play late games like 9 or 9:30 pm, so we would go to the gym and just shoot around and kill some time [beforehand]. So, Patrick, Larry, David Robinson and I would get a little workout in to keep that NBA routine shootaround-type of thing. Otherwise, it was us being on the bus together and traveling back-and-forth. All of those things were really cool experiences. When we bump into each other, it’s all smiles, hugs and laughs. “
With your ’84 Olympic team, you’ve said that ‘it’s one of the most underrated Olympic teams of all time.’ Why do you think so?
Chris Mullin: “Look at the roster. And historically speaking, it’s the last amateur team to win a gold medal. Wayman Tisdale was one of the best players in the country. A lot of those guys don’t get credit because of obviously the ‘Dream Team’ came after that. But at some point, they will because historically that is the last amateur basketball team to win a gold medal. Joe Kleine, Alvin Robertson and Vern Fleming and Leon Wood were great, great players. They’ll get their due.”
What were your favorite Bob Knight stories playing for him on that team?
Chris Mullin: (laughs). “That was 1984, so that probably wouldn’t be happening these days (laughs). Bobby was cool. I liked Bobby. We got along. I don’t know if I would’ve played four years for him. But four months was okay. Bobby was obviously a big stickler for defense. So he was always on me and Wayman Tisdale because we were offensive players. One day at a practice session in Bloomington, I was guarding Michael and was shuffling my feet. I probably fell down, but the ref called a charge. Bobby Knight stopped practice and said, ‘Wait, wait, hold on.’ He asked the trainer, Tim Garl, and said, ‘Tim, come out here with a piece of tape and a marker.’ He put a piece of tape and put it on the floor where I fell and wrote, ‘Chris Mullin played defense’ on the spot and put the date on it. He said, ‘I’m going to take a picture of this and send it to Coach [Lou] Carnesecca.’ So I said, ‘Coach Knight, with all due respect, that was the first charge I ever took and it was a highly overrated experience. I’ll never do it again.”
(laughs) How did Knight react to that?
Chris Mullin: “He looked at me like he wanted to throw me out of practice.”
Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sporting Tribune. Follow him on X, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.