Olajuwon Gives Dream Team III Imposing International Flavor

USA Basketball made most of the 1996 men’s Olympic basketball roster official Sunday, announcing a squad that includes four players from the 1992 team and one naturalized U.S. citizen.

Named to the first 10 of 12 spots were: Orlando guard Anfernee Hardaway and center Shaquille O’Neal, Detroit forward Grant Hill, Utah forward Karl Malone and guard John Stockton, Indiana guard Reggie Miller, Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon, Chicago forward Scottie Pippen, San Antonio center David Robinson and Milwaukee forward Glenn Robinson. Olajuwon, a naturalized U.S. citizen who competed for his native Nigeria as a teen-ager, was cleared to represent the United States last week.

Malone, Pippen and Stockton were on the original “Dream Team,” as was Robinson, who also won a bronze medal in the 1988 Games, the last all-collegian national team.

The other two roster spots are expected to be filled next spring.

One could be given to Magic Johnson, who has expressed a desire to play in the Olympics a second time.