What if There Had Been a Dream Team in 1964?

Going back in time to select a Dream Team from the era of Russell and Chamberlain.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup has me thinking about past international competitions, and about how much things have changed since the 1992 Sumer Olympics, the first to feature NBA players.

Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the 1964 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball team. Led by Jerry Shipp and Bill Bradley, the U.S. went undefeated (9-0) and won the gold medal, beating its opponents by an average of 30 points per game.

But what if professional basketball players had been allowed to play in the 1964 Summer Olympics? What might the U.S. roster have looked like? I’m going to go back in time and select a 1964 “Dream Team” using two rules:

1. The roster will consist of 12 players and one head coach. I’ll name five starters and seven reserves.

2. I will only consider each player’s accomplishments through the 1962-63 season, as it would have been necessary to have the roster in place before the end of the 1963-64 season.

With those simple rules in place, let’s begin with the starting five.