YouTube Gold: 1984 Team USA vs. NBA Stars

In 1984, the US turned to Bob Knight to coach the Olympic men’s basketball team.

Knight had no patience with the USSR and was reportedly disappointed that the Soviets would boycott the LA Games, just as the US had boycotted the Moscow Games in 1980.

It was really too bad because he was loaded for bear.

He had three future Dream Teamers on his roster - Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin - and some other very good players in Sam Perkins, Wayman Tisdale and Alvin Robertson, among others (Duke’s Johnny Dawkins was an alternate).

In this video, Team USA is taking on some major NBA talent: Mark Aguirre, Larry Bird, Quinn Buckner, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Jim Paxson, Robert Reid, Jerry Sichting, Isiah Thomas, Herb Williams, Randy Wittman and Mike Woodson.

Team USA actually won, 128-106, which is pretty amazing since Bird wouldn’t let his mother win a game of tiddlywinks.

This games features nearly peak Ewing. At Georgetown he was unbelievably athletic. In the NBA, he was still great but lost a lot of his fluidity.