The 1984 United States men’s Olympic basketball team will forever go down in history as the final amateur-level U.S. team to win an Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball.
Considered one of the strongest teams in U.S. history at the time, legendary coach Bob Knight was at the helm of the team; and, alongside him was Steve Alford, a 19-year-old who had just completed his freshman season of college at Indiana.
Seventy players attended the start of trials for the team and shortly after Knight finalized his roster of 12 players. The 1984 team was filled with a plethora of talent, including players like Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Wayman Tisdale and Sam Perkins, among others.
Prior to competing in the Los Angeles Olympics, the 1984 team played eight exhibition games against teams composed of NBA players, many of whom were All-Stars. Despite the tough competition and not having any professional players on the roster, the Olympic team went a perfect 8-0 throughout their exhibition games, beating teams with legendary players such as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale and Isiah Thomas.
On an eight-game winning streak, the 1984 Olympic team traveled to Los Angeles for thebeginning of the games. With massive expectations, they proceeded to go 8-0, winning all eight games by double digits. In Team USA’s fourth game of the tournament, Alford scored a game-high 18 points on a perfect 8-8 shooting from the field, setting an Olympic record for the most made field goals in a game without a miss, and helping lead the team to a 120-62 victory over France.
Two games later in the first round of the knockout stage, Team USA found themselves in a tight contest against West Germany, however, Alford came through with a prolific performance once again, scoring a team-high 17 points, recording a team-high four steals, and dishing out a team-high three assists.
Alford, Knight, and Team USA went on to win their next two games, defeating Canada and then Spain to secure the Gold Medal and forever etch their names into Olympic history.
