Grant Hill is revisiting one of basketball’s most discussed scrimmages nearly 34 years later, offering new details about the day a college Select Team beat the legendary 1992 Dream Team led by Michael Jordan.
Speaking on the “Cousins with Vince Carter & Tracy McGrady” podcast, Hill described how unexpected the matchup felt for the young college stars invited to train against the Olympic roster before the Barcelona Games.
“I don’t think we knew we were going to be playing against them,” Hill said. “Because what we were doing was the day before — we were practicing in terms of trying to show them what the international teams would do, how they would play.”
Hill explained that the Select Team initially expected a controlled practice setting rather than a full scrimmage against one of the most talented teams ever assembled.
“So I thought it would be like a control scrimmage or maybe, you know, we’re on offense, they’re on defense and half court,” Hill said. “When we arrived they were like, ‘Let’s go. Let’s play.’”
The roster included future NBA stars such as Hill, Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Bobby Hurley and Allan Houston. Hill recalled the moment former Kansas coach Roy Williams assigned him to defend Jordan.
“And Roy Williams was the coach — he was at Kansas at that time,” Hill said. “So I remember he was like, ‘Alright, you know, you five-star. Grant, you got Jordan.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh.’ Like I’m just like, you know, I got who?”
The Dream Team featured Jordan alongside Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley. Hill said the Olympic group approached the scrimmage casually early on, while the college players treated it like the biggest opportunity of their careers.
“But man, we went out there and I think they almost came at it like an all-star game,” Hill said. “We’re going against our heroes we’ve never seen them before and we’re trying to measure ourself against them.”
The Select Team shocked the basketball world by winning the scrimmage. Hill credited Houston’s perimeter shooting, Hurley’s playmaking and Webber’s physicality around the basket for changing the game.
“So we got the better of, you know what I’m saying?” Hill said. “Like Allen Houston caught on fire — he might have hit like ten threes. Bobby dribble penetration was great. Weber was just banging on everybody inside. Penny and I were making athletic plays.”
Hill also admitted the upset did not last long once the Dream Team responded with playoff-level intensity over the following practices.
“I think we stunned everybody. I think we stunned ourselves,” Hill said. “Now the next two days we could barely get the ball over half court.”
He pushed back on long-running stories suggesting coach Chuck Daly intentionally rested Jordan during the scrimmage.
“They tried to say in a doc Chuck Daly rested Michael Jordan,” Hill said. “And the next day, man, Michael picked up whoever was bringing the ball up.”
Hill compared the experience to a scene from Space Jam after Jordan and Pippen raised the defensive pressure.
“They were like Michael and Scottie,” Hill said. “It was just Space Jam movie where you lose your power. Monster. That’s what it was man.”
