The Most Shocking Olympic Basketball Snubs 1984 Trials

In this video, we explore how future Hall of Famers like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and John Stockton were surprisingly left off the roster. We delve into the rigorous trials led by the legendary Bobby Knight, his controversial decisions, and the standout performances of players like Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing.

We’ll cover:

The legendary 1984 trials at Indiana University.
Bobby Knight’s coaching style and controversial decisions.
The standout performances and shocking omissions.
The final roster that went on to dominate the 1984 Olympics.
Learn how these trials shaped the future of American basketball and set the stage for the iconic 1992 Dream Team. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more basketball history and updates!

#nba #teamusa #olympics #michaeljordan #charlesbarkley #patrickewing #karlmalone #johnstockton #chrismullin #basketball

video footage and credit:

[jonnykilroy]

My favorite part about Knight describing Jordan is I don't think he's planning to say "this is the best player I've ever seen". Seemed like he thought about all the attributes in real time and was like you know what, this the best player ever 😂

[RCHorn]

I think that the record speaks for itself, They went undefeated against the NBA All Stars, IMHO, the 1984 USA Olympic Basketball team was only of the best ever in the history of the sport.

[jamesfields]

Herb Brooks said it best in 1979.

"Im not looking for the best players. I'm looking for the right players".

[BDIPFavorites]

Prior to the Olympics, the 1984 team of college players played 8 games against NBA All-Star teams including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre and they won all. Then they easily won the gold medal in the olympics. So the results speak for themselves.

[luisrodriguez-mbcc]

Jordan, Barkley, Mullin, Malone, Ewing and Stockton among the aspiring college kids for the 1984 Team were future members of the first Dream Team.

So much talent in that 1984 class.

[erwinjoseph]

Steve Alford was picked over John Stockton because he played for Indiana

[vincejoyce]

The 1984 and the 1960 USA Olympic teams were the most talented. But for me, the most talented USA Olympic team was supposed to be the 1968 team. Because of the civic rights movement, the backlash of the Vietnam War and preparing for the NBA draft, many of college top stars either boycotted or bypassed the tryouts. Noted absentees were: Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Pete Maravich, Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, Calvin Murphy, Bob Lanier just to name a few.

[MelloMood]

WOW, that's crazy....30 Hall of Famers and Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and John Stockton were cut.

[dominiclee]

The head coach has the final say on who is on roster. Best player may not be the right fit. With the exception of Michael Jordan, he fit into any team.

[leejones]

Another great snub, maybe even greater, was Rick Barry not making the "64 team. He was probably the best player who tried out.

[mattreedah]

Charles has said Stockton deserved to be on that team and was killing people in the trials

[aces]

Barkley wasn't a shock. We got to see some olympic prelims in Bloomington. Barkley had a reputation as a crybaby at auburn and must have been 300 lbs when he got to the tryouts. I've never liked Knight, but he was at the peak of his powers at the time, and there was no way he was going to bother with anyone who wasn't 100% committed. The Stockton snub is harder to reconcile if it's strictly about merit, but personal loyalties often win out. Regardless the squad he put together beat everybody by at least 20 points, so can't really argue with the results. 😊

[nysaxman]

Pearl Washington was another player that Knight didn't pick.

[shipwreckedpoet]

Thats quite the endorsement of Jordan from Bobby Knight. You rarely hear coach Knight go to that length of praise about any player. I would have loved to have seen those practices with coach Knight coaching Jordan.

[nubreaks]

In the modern era, this was probably the second-best Team USA and was definitely #2 for collegiates all-time to the 1960 team featuring Big O, Jerry Lucas, and Jerry West. As far as who missed out on the 1984 team, it was a case of an overabundance of talent. Almost all of the guys who made the team were All-Americans and had big names. All were projected to be NBA stars. But, as projections go...

[johnfu]

1984 was the last time the American college players were so talented when compared to others such that Coach Knight could have selected the team blindfolded and the Olympic result would most likely be the same. Who were on that invited group again? Jordan, Perkins, Ewing, Barkley, AC Green, Mullin, Dumars, the list goes on and on. When you have a group filled with future NBA greats, someone will have to be cut. The interesting thing is Knight ended up taking Leon Wood, Jeff Turner and Steve Alford over Barkley, Stockton and Malone. I guess the world works in a strange way.

[TriggerMN]

Still not nearly as awful as Georgetown’s John Thompson choosing his own point guard Charles Smith over both Mookie Blaylock AND Sherman Douglas, as well as his own recruit, high schooler Alonzo Mourning. It’s no wonder this team lost. Thompson’s personal biases ruined amateurism in American Olympic basketball and gave birth to the Dream Team, and professionals partaking in Olympic basketball.

[alexiscustodio]

Yes. The great Bobby Knight formed a team based on what his system needed...

[Jo-oc-]

Basketball is a team sport. Bobby knight was looking to create a team not a collection of the best individuals. There were no Snubs, I love Charles Barkley but he was not mature enough at the time.

[alfredmcglothen]

It’s amazing how easily they won in 1984 with the guys they picked with the main reason being Jordan of course and Patrick Ewing, but imagine if they had Barkley, Stockton, and Karl Malone like they had on the Dream Team , it would’ve been close to what the Dream Team did . I know all those guys were young, but they were very good even at that time .