The 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team, known best as the “Dream Team,” is considered by most to be the best of all-time. Led by coach Chuck Daly, the roster included Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and Christian Laettner. They obliterated the competition on their way to gold in ’92.
I have to introduce the team first because in 1992, the Air Jordan 7 model was released. The “Olympic” AJ7 colorway has been released numerous times and to this day, is still one of the cleanest colorways with its white upper, silver overlay, and red and gold rivets. It is the basis and inspiration for the new Trophy Room x Air Jordan 7 “New Sheriff in Town” collaboration.
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The history behind the sneaker
The Trophy Room x Air Jordan 7 is not just another retro of the “Olympic” iteration. With an added MJ signature on the heel panel, red under panels, metallic gold eyelets, and a heel tab that references the Olympic ring colors, this pair is all about game-winning energy. And it references an extremely important moment in basketball history, known simply as “The Greatest Game Never Seen.” (There’s some footage now floating around the internet, especially after The Last Dance came out).
In a closed door scrimmage before the ’92 Olympics even started, Team USA had a 5-on-5 led by Magic Johnson of the Blue Team and Michael Jordan of the White Team. Magic’s team consisted of Barkley, Robinson, Mullin and Laettner while MJ’s team had Malone, Ewing, Pippen and Bird.
The back-and-forth match ended up finishing with Jordan’s team winning 40-36. After winning, MJ was said to have paced the sideline with Gatorade in-hand (he just signed a multi-million deal with them) while singing the “Be Like Mike” Gatorade commercial jingle. Gatorade created the ad and song by taking inspiration from “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song),” from the film, The Jungle Book.
Many people think of this as a passing of the guard, where MJ took the reins to the NBA from Magic. Legendary.
How to cop
Now that 30 years have passed and multiple Hall of Fame inductions have occurred, the tribute sneaker seems like a great way to celebrate. Trophy Room released the sneaker over the weekend and now fans who weren’t able to secure it can have another chance via SNKRS app. Retailing for $225, you can purchase the Trophy Room x Air Jordan 7 “New Sheriff in Town” (SKU DM1195-474) on November 9. There’s even a clipboard included so you can work on your plays.
Photos via Nike
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