Great Performances

The Stuff of Dreams
Magic Johnson. Larry Bird. Michael Jordan. Clyde Drexler. Charles Barkley. Patrick Ewing. Chris Mullin. Scottie Pippen. Karl Malone. John Stockton. David Robinson. Christian Laettner. Twelve players, five starters, no salary cap. Just a short list of the most overwhelming full-court athletes in Olympic history — the slammingest, jammingest, swishingest, dishingest, most electrifying guys ever to take a roundball to the hoop. And we've got their numbers:

Tallest: Robinson, 7'1''
Shortest: Stockton, 6'1''
Highest paid in NBA last season: Bird, $7,070,000
Heaviest: Malone (256 pounds)
Biggest shoe size: Size 16 (Barkley, Robinson, and Malone)
Youngest: Laettner (22)
Oldest: Bird (35)
Number of guys who've already earned basketball gold medals: Three (Ewing, Mullin, and Jordan)
Most MVP awards won: Three (each by Bird, Johnson, and Jordan)
Most NBA championships won: Five (by Johnson)
Number of guys to win an NCAA, an NBA, and an Olympic championship: One (Jordan)
Longest middle name: Eight letters, Patrick Aloysius Ewing
Most NBA career points: Bird (21,791)
Number of guys with no hair: Two (Jordan and Barkley)

Club Wed
Just call it the Love Track. Since 1960, three husband-and-wife teams have competed for the U.S. in Olympic track and field, and this year two more couples will try to snare the gold ring at Barcelona.

Sandra Farmer-Patrick, 29, and David Patrick, 32
Her event: 400-meter hurdles
His event: 400-meter hurdles
Residence: Pflugerville, Tex.
Family history: As newlyweds in '88, these two experienced a nightmare Olympic trials. David finished a frustrating fourth, .03 seconds away from a trip to Seoul, and Sandra was disqualified in her semifinal for running in the wrong lane.

Shelly Steely, 29, and Aaron Ramirez, 27
Her event: 3,000 meters His event: 10,000 meters
Residence: Albuquerque, N.M.
Family history: They met at the 1989 World Cross Country Championships in Norway, when a flush Shelly ended up buying beers for a financially strapped contingent from the U.S. men's team, including Aaron. They exchanged vows in September of '91. It's the first Olympics for both.