| Club: | 1996 United States men's Olympic basketball team |
| Manager: | Lenny Wilkens |
| League: | 1996 Summer Olympics |
| Top Scorer: | Charles Barkley[1] |
| Ppg N: | USA |
| Ppg: | 12.4 |
| Rpg N: | USA |
| Rpg: | 6.6 |
| Apg N: | USA |
| Apg: | 4.5 |
| Prevseason: | 1992 |
| Nextseason: | 2000 |
The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Led by Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Lenny Wilkens, the team won gold for the second straight Olympics. Nicknamed Dream Team III,[2] [3] the team included five players who were Olympic teammates on the original "Dream Team", from the 1992 Olympic basketball tournament: Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, and David Robinson. Gary Payton was a late replacement for the injured Glenn Robinson.[4] [5]
With Michael Jordan intimating in 1994 that he would pass on the opportunity to participate in his third Olympic Games (previously in 1984 and 1992 (the "Dream Team")) to let others get their chance at a gold medal, USA Basketball officials sought to construct the team dubbed Dream Team III (Dream Team II was the moniker of the lesser-known 1994 FIBA World Championship team) with a winning combination of veteran players from the 1992 Dream Team that won the gold medal in Barcelona and some of the league's best young talent. The first ten players of the 1996 United States Men's national basketball team roster were announced in the summer of 1995, featuring young talent, and first-time Olympians, included the likes of Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Shaquille O'Neal, and Gary Payton, who was added as a replacement for an injured Glenn Robinson. Other veteran players who were first-time Olympians were Reggie Miller and Hakeem Olajuwon. Mitch Richmond, along with Charles Barkley, were added in April 1996 completing the roster as the eleventh and twelfth members. Thus, the holdovers from the 1992 Olympic Team, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton, and Charles Barkley, coupled with the first-time Olympians and 1988 Olympian Mitch Richmond formed the 1996 United States Men's Olympic basketball team roster.