PHOENIX –Arizona State men’s basketball head coach Bobby Hurley appears in the new HBO documentary “We Beat the Dream Team.” In the documentary, Hurley discusses how his team of the best college basketball players could do the impossible and beat the Dream team. In 1992, before the legendary Dream team went to Barcelona to play in the Olympics, they practiced at UC San Diego, where they ran scrimmages against the college select team. The team featured future NBA players like Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, and Hurley.
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1993; Winston-Salem, NC, USA; FILE PHOTO; Duke University guard Bobby Hurley (11) in action against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at LJVM Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports
Then 20-year-old Hurley was coming off winning an NCAA championship at Duke just a few months prior, but he was still understandably a massive underdog. Hurley recalls how it felt walking into that gym and being starstruck to see all the hall of fame in the gym. However, that didn’t deter him from his competitive spirit.
“I found out today I might be picking up Magic [Johnson] a little bit full court,” Hurley said with a full set of braces. “So, you know, things are just happening for me that makes me happy.”
Hurley’s sentiment rang throughout the whole team about respecting the Dream team but not being scared to take it to them, and that’s what they did. The college select team jumped out early and aggressively dunked, pressing and being hounds against the older opponents.
The college select team had taken it to the Dream team, and by the time USA basketball head coach Chuck Daly blew the whistle, Hurley and his squad had won 62-54. In the team’s first scrimmage, the legendary Dream team had lost. The loss set a fire under players like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and other Hall of Famers. Their response was beating the college select team by 47 points during the next scrimmage, but Hurley and his team were the only rosters in the world to defeat the 1992 Dream team.
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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports
