Greeks, Afros, Olympics—and What the Heck is a FIBA?

The Dream Team is often hailed as saving USA Basketball, as if it was in some sort of funk, but nothing could be further from the truth—before 1988, USA Basketball had finished as low as second once in all of its history. Back in the summer of 1988, the American team flew into Seoul with a staggering 86-1 record in the Olympiad—its lone loss being the controversial 1972 Munich Gold Medal Game (using controversial here may be the understatement of the century). A team of plucky collegiate superstars, led by David Robinson, not only failed to bring home the Gold, but failed to make it to the Gold Medal game, 'only' earning Bronze. (Speaking of which, how the heck did 1988 Yugoslavia—with Toni Kukoc, Vlade Divac, Drazen Petrovic, and Dino Radja— not win the Gold Medal game?) Back in America, it was time for change, and not of the political variety. With FIBA—the International Basketball Federation, but the acronym is French, because the French love running ... (link)