Penny Hardaway recalls the dominance of the Dream Team II in the 1996 Olympics: 'We beat everyone by 30, we didn't have a close game'

The 1996 Dream Team is considered one of the best US teams ever, and some even say that it is the only other US Team capable of beating the original Dream Team. That 1992 squad is widely regarded as the greatest basketball team of all time. However, its 1996 counterpart was just as star-studded and dominant.

Former Orlando Magic guard Penny Hardaway was one of the members of that second Olympic Dream Team. During his recent appearance on the 'Out the Mud' podcast, Penny talked about how good that team was.

"To be on that team, it ain't an All-Star team," said Penny. "It's the Olympic team. It's totally different. And to be able to be with those Hall of Famers and those greats. Unbelievable squad. We beat everybody by 30; we didn't have a close game."

They beat their opponents by an average of 31.8 points per game

The 1996 team included five members of the original Dream Team - Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Karl Malone, and John Stockton. Hardaway, Shaquille O'Neal, and Grant Hill were the faces of the league during that time. Veterans Reggie Miller, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Mitch Richmond were also added to that team, while Gary Payton replaced the injured Glen Robinson.

With that kind of talent, they went on to sweep all of their eight Olympic opponents. As Hardaway said, no opponent came close to beating them with their smallest winning margin at 22 when they defeated Lithuania 104-82 in their third game of the tournament.

They went on to topple FR Yugoslavia 95-69 in the gold medal game. The 1996 Dream Team won their games by an average margin of 31.8 points per game. That's the second-highest average margin of victory by an NBA-led Dream Team in the Olympics, with only the first Dream Team having a bigger winning margin at 43.8 points per game.

Gil said the 1996 Dream Team was the most talented 

But while the 1992 Dream Team won their games more convincingly, former Washington Wizards All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas argued that Penny's '96 US Team was the most talented. According to Gil, all 12 players on that Atlanta squad were All-NBA team members that year.

"Grant Hill, Reggie Miller, and Mitch Richmond were the worst players on that team, the worst. Hakeem came off the bench. Shaquille O'Neal came off the bench…All 12 were All-NBA players that year," Arenas explained.

The Barcelona team will always be remembered as the greatest team ever and only a few will argue that. But that group had players like Magic who was retired, Bird who retired after the Olympics, and Christian Laettner who was a collegiate player. USAB could have easily put up a better team than what it sent to Spain. Meanwhile, they assembled the best possible squad for Atlanta.