"Comprehensive" and "complete" would be the best words to describe the 18 different signatures that are found on this truly rare 1992 Olympic Dream Team signed official Molten Barcelona Basketball. Not only does it boast
each of the 12 Dream Team players' signatures in silver paint pen, but it also includes the four coaches as well as the team trainer and team physician! This is unprecedented on any Dream Team signed item, let alone the heavily coveted Molten Olympic ball!
During the summer of '92, a powerful lineup of 12 American basketball players set off to win an Olympic gold medal in Barcelona, Spain. Called the "Dream Team," they represented the first American Olympic squad to feature active professional NBA players and proved to be unbeatable. Described by many as the greatest sports team ever assembled and called "the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet" by no
less an authority than the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the unstoppable crew obliterated each of its opponents by an average of nearly 44 points per game in capturing the coveted gold medal.
They beat Croatia in the championship game by the score of 117-85, which was close by their standards. The Dream Team had blown out earlier opponents by the following margins: Angola (68 points); Croatia (the first time, 33); Germany (43); Brazil (44); Spain (41); Puerto Rico (38); and Lithuania (51). Led by Co-captains Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, the team was coached by longtime Detroit Pistons head coach Chuck Daly who was assisted by fellow NBA coaches Lenny Wilkens and P.J. Carlesimo along with Duke's legendary Mike Krzyzewski. Every player on the squad brought impressive credentials to the table including Magic, Bird, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen and David Robinson. The 12th and final player was the reigning NCAA Player of the Year out
of Duke, Christian Laettner, who acquired this team-signed ball a nice parting gift for his contributions to the historic gold medal team.
This lot offers the prized basketball signed by each of the aforementioned coaches and players. What's more, it was also signed by U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team Trainer Ed LeCerte as well as Team Physician Dave Fischer, making it the most complete Dream Team multi-signed basketball in existence. A Molten Official JB77 basketball, it is branded on one panel with "Official of the Barcelona '92 Olympic Games." This particular
basketball belonged to Dream Team member Christian Laettner who has consigned it to SCP Auctions. Each of the members signed it with a shiny silver paint pen (9/10 by our standards) and the following four players added their U.S. Men's Basketball Team uniform numbers: Laettner #4; Ewing #6; Malone #11; and Stockton #12. Notwithstanding its Dream Team association, the rare multi-signed basketball includes the autographs of 11 Naismith Hall of Fame players and three Hall of Fame coaches. As a Dream Team signed ball, it sets the bar to the highest standard of any future example that surfaces in the hobby.
Full LOA from PSA/DNA. LOA from Christian Laettner.