FROM the 1950s to the 1980s, when only amateur players were permitted to suit up in FIBA-sanctioned world competitions, the United States was represented by players from the
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) – and not the star athletes from the topnotch National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) schools in the country – during the World Basketball Championship (now known as the FIBA World Cup).
The Americans topped the 2nd WBC in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1954 behind a team called the Peoria (Illinois) Caterpillars, a talented and experienced group which had not only captured the 1954 AAU national title but had also secured top AAU honors in 1952 and 1953.
Team USA, however, claimed a second championship in Madrid, Spain in 1986 behind an NCAA Division I selection that included future NBA stars Tyrone (Muggsy) Bogues, Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr (now the head coach of the Golden State Warriors), Brian Shaw (currently the Denver Nuggets bench boss), Kenny Smith and “The Admiral” David Robinson.
In 1992, or two years after the FIBA instituted the “open basketball” policy that allowed professionals to play in its games, the Americans employed an all-pro roster for the first time ever to the Barcelona Olympics.
That old medal-winning unit was known as the Dream Team composed of the superstars from the NBA that included future Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Earvin (Magic) Johnson, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing and Robinson.
Two years later (1994), the U.S. sent another all-NBA team to the World Basketball Championship. That contingent, which was called Dream Team II, merrily captured the gold medal behind future Hall of Famers Reggie Miller, Dominique Wilkins, Joe Dumars and Alonzo Mourning, enigmatic Shawn Kemp, pesky point guard Kevin Johnson (now the city mayor of Sacramento, the California capital), and “The Diesel” Shaquille O’Neal, the tournament Most Valuable Player who’s now a minority owner with the Sacramento Kings and will be a cinch for selection to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 (following a five-year wait) as a first-year eligible candidate.
With an NBA work stoppage (lockout) in the summer of 1998, USA Basketball was forced to send a hodgepodge team of players from the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), professionals playing overseas and two players from NCAA Division I schools to that year’s WBC in Athens, Greece. Head coach was Rudy Tomjanovich of the NBA’s Houston Rockets.
In the 2002 WBC, before a home crowd in Indianapolis, the Yanks reverted to an all-NBA lineup but the team that included Reggie Miller, Paul Pierce, Shawn Marion, Elton Brand, Andre Miller, Jermaine O’Neal and Baron Davis disappointingly lost thrice against Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain (in the fifth-place game) to fall to its lowest-ever tournament finish of sixth place with a 6-3 overall record.
Four years later in Saitama, Japan, the WBC cast featured 24 teams from the previous 16. Team USA again employed an all-NBA unit to represent the country in the 2006 WBC. The Americans were beaten by Greece, 101-95, during the knockout semifinals and later settled for the bronze medal with a 96-81 thrashing of 2004 Olympic champion Argentina. Spain, despite the absence of tournament MVP Pau Gasol, who sat out the championship game due to a foot injury, blasted favored Greece, 70-47, in the finals for its first and only World diadem so far.
Entering the Final Four, Spain, Greece, the U.S. and Argentina all carried identical 7-0 records – a first in World annals. The 2006 U.S. World team was mentored by the venerable Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University. Among his players were Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Joe Johnson and Dwyane Wade.
The third-place finish would mark the last time that Coach K would suffer an international defeat as his teams would later capture the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2010 World Basketball Championship and 2012 London Olympics with a perfect win-loss record each time.
The 2010 WBC tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, was a Kevin Durant show as the Oklahoma City Thunder star propelled Team USA to a gold-medal finish and an unblemished 9-0 record. The 6-foot-9 Durant was “Captain America” with a USA World record-setting 22.8-point average.