Dream Team, Michael Johnson, Picabo Street among inductees into USOC Hall of Fame

Slam dunk! Dream Team earns spot in Hall of Fame

NORTHBROOK, Ill. — The Dream Team is still dominating.

The star-studded team that featured Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley and won the gold medal in Barcelona headlines this year’s inductees for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. The class, which also includes Michael Johnson, Picabo Street and Peter Ueberroth, will be formally announced Wednesday morning and inducted Aug. 12 in Chicago.

The other inductees are: Teresa Edwards (basketball); Mary T. Meagher (swimming); and Willye White (athletics); skier Sarah Will (Paralympian); Abie Grossfeld (coach, gymnastics); and Andrea Mead-Lawrence (veteran).

The inductees “have inspired many generations in this country with their courage and thrilling Olympic performances,” said Stephanie Streeter, the U.S. Olympic Committee’s acting CEO.

The 1992 Games were the first in which NBA players were allowed, and the Dream Team didn’t disappoint. Jordan, Johnson, Bird, Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John Stockton bulldozed their way through Barcelona, winning their eight games by an average of 44 points.

They got rock star treatment along the way, with even opposing players asking for autographs and pictures before games.

Wearing bright gold shoes, Michael Johnson left his mark at the Atlanta Games, becoming the first — and so far, only — man to win the 200 and 400 meters at the same Olympics. The world record he set in the 200 meters in 1996 stood until Jamaica’s Usain Bolt broke it in Beijing. His world record in the 400 meters still stands.

Johnson won two more Olympic gold medals and eight world titles.

Street, a three-time Olympian, won the 1998 gold medal in the super-G by a mere hundredth of a second. She also won a silver in the downhill in 1994. In 1995, she won the World Cup downhill title, the first in a speed event by an American woman.

Ueberroth, inducted as a special contributor, helped bring the games to Los Angeles in 1984, sparking the turnaround of what was once a very troubled Olympic brand. He later served as chairman of the USOC, giving it much-needed stability and paving the way for success in Beijing, where the United States won a record 110 medals.

Ueberroth continues to serve as the USOC as “President in an honorary capacity.”

Officially, it’s the US Olympic Hall of Fame presented by Allstate.