Team USA Basketball: Exploring The “What If” Dream Teams Of Yesteryear

When some people think of professional basketball in the ‘70s, very specific themes come to mind. Cocaine, disarray, afro’s, gold chains, boring NBA stars, exciting ABA stars, and more cocaine. But, when I think of the ‘70s, the only thing that comes to mind is “parity”. So I’d like to think this team embodies just that.

There are only two teammates on the entire list (Jo Jo and Cowens), other than that all of the stars represent their own respective teams. Hell, four of the players aren’t even NBA players. Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, and David Thompson all represented the ABA.

*Spoiler* They didn’t know the ABA would merge until a month afterwards. *End Spoiler*

The ‘76 team’s lineup is pretty standard. A balanced backcourt duo of Walt Frazier and Pete Maravich, the oh-so-cool Doctor, scoring juggernaut Bob McAdoo, and the MVP of MVP’s, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And despite that collection of champions, MVP’s, scoring phenom’s and cultural icons – the bench finds a way to solve anything left desired.

Reigning finals MVP Jo Jo White. Three highly explosive scorers in George Gervin, David Thompson and Tiny Archibald. The Flint Tropics superstar, Rick Barry. A shooting big men who can draw defenders away from the basket in Dave Cowens. And, the ABA’s-poor-man’s Wilt Chamberlain, Artis Gilmore.

The glue that will ultimately hold this team together is head coach Red Holzman. By ‘76, Holzman’s Knicks had begun to plummet like a grand piano, but his emphasis on exquisite passing, defense and floor spacing will be ideal for this diverse roster.

Next: The 1984 Team