By Jonah Sharf On April 7, 1989, FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, voted to drop restrictions on professional basketball players competing in international events, leading the way for the possibility of the “Dream Team” that the US sent to the 1992 Olympics. The Dream Team was one of the greatest basketball teams of all time,…
Category: Olympics
Today in Sports History: April 6
By Jonah Sharf On April 6, 1896, the first-ever modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, leading the way for the Olympic games we know today. In the first modern Olympics, 241 athletes from 14 different nations competed in 43 events in 9 sports. Despite 169 Greek athletes (over 65% of all athletes) competing in…
Today in Sports History: January 20
By Jonah Sharf On January 20, 1980, President Jimmy Carter called for the 1980 Summer Olympics to be moved from Moscow due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, making his first announcement that if the games weren’t moved, the US would likely boycott them. The games were not moved, and the US did end…
Today in Sports History: October 1
By Jonah Sharf On October 1, 2000, the US men’s basketball team defeated France 85-75 to win the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. This marked USA men’s basketball’s 12th gold medal in the past 14 Olympics. While all-time greats such as Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Shaq, Allen Iverson, Karl Malone, and…
Today in Sports History: September 25
By Jonah Sharf On September 25, 2000, during the Summer Olympics, dunking legend Vince Carter of the USA pulled off what is considered one of the greatest dunks of all time, jumping over France’s Frederic Weis. The dunk is known as “le dunk de la mort” in France, or “the dunk of death.” While this…
Today in Sports History: September 21
By Jonah Sharf On September 21, 1991, USA Basketball announced 10 of the 12 players who would be on team USA’s Dream Team in the 1992 Olympics. The players named were Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, and John Stockton. The final two…
Today in Sports History: August 21
By Jonah Sharf On August 21, 2016, the US Men’s Basketball team defeated Serbia to win the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The team was led by Kevin Durant, who scored 30 points on 10/19 shooting, and Demarcus Cousins, who scored 13 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in just 17 minutes. Among the…
Today in Sports History: August 12
By Jonah Sharf On August 12, 2016, American swimming legend Katie Ledecky won her fourth gold medal and fifth medal overall of the Rio Summer Olympics by winning the 800 meter freestyle. Her total of four gold medals and one silver medal made her the most decorated female US athlete at a single Olympics, and…
Today in Sports History: August 8
By Jonah Sharf On August 8, 1992, the legendary USA Men’s Basketball team—the “Dream Team”—defeated Croatia 117-85 to win the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The team consisted of some of the most legendary players of all time, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Charles…
The Multi-Faceted Coaching Style of Mike Krzyzewski
By Jonah Sharf Longtime Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been a part of the coaching staff for many legendary teams, whether it’s as an assistant coach for the 1992 USA Basketball “Dream Team,” head coach of the 2012 USA Basketball Olympic team, or the head coach of many amazing Duke teams including five…
