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Dream Team dreaming: How great can this U.S. men’s basketball team still be?

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PARIS — Five words changed basketball forever, not just in the United States but around the world.

“If they’re in, I’m in.”

That was Michael Jordan’s response when asked to join Team USA for the 1992 Olympics.

Rod Thorn and Russ Granik, the two deputies to NBA commissioner David Stern, had compiled quite a list of stars interested in playing. Household names like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.