20 Worst 'Superteam' Fails in Sports History

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Einstein proved that the speed of light is a cosmic constant and thus can never be broken.

So it is in sports with "dream teams." Assemble the best of the best, and you may come up with a point-scoring, rebound-devouring, precision-shooting, fan-pleasing, athletic machine.

But, there'll always be two gears that don't fit just right, or some loose flap that causes drag and slows the whole thing down.

This unbreakable barrier of collaborative perfection was broken once and only once—in 1992.  

The creation was called "The Dream Team." It was Jordan, Pippen, Johnson, Bird, Stockton, Malone, Ewing, Robinson, Mullin, Barkley, Drexler and Laettner.

It was 8-0. It never choked. It never faltered. It decimated its opponents.

It lived up to every expectation. 

And then the gateway to the alternate reality closed and the cosmic constant of sports alliances ruled once again—and still does. 

After the Dream Team phenomenon, there has been other fraternization of mighty athletes. While some of  these alleged "superteams" have come endlessly close, none have broken the barrier.

Click on and behold sportsdom's best attempts at superteams.

20. 2011 Philadelphia Phillies

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Four amazing pitchers. Four!

According to Pat Jordan in a March 31, 2011 New York Times article, the staff was, "hailed as the best four-man rotation in baseball, maybe the best ever."

This holy quartet had a combined three Cy Young awards, 10 top five Cy Young finishes, six 20-win seasons, 13 All-Star appearances, two NLCS MVP awards and one World Series MVP. 

All the same, the Phillies phizzled. 

19. 2006 Team USA in the World Baseball Classic

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Called "one of the greatest assemblages of U.S.-born players ever," the team was bounced even before the semifinals.

In the words of Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Tribune, "Americans got shown how their game should be played." 

18. 1998 Minnesota Vikings

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A 15-1 record for the regular season.

Cunningham + Moss + Carter = Scoring Machine.

But in the NFC title showdown, kicker Gary Anderson ruined his perfect record and gave a burst of momentum to the Falcons, who won the game in overtime. 

17. 2003 Los Angeles Lakers

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Bryant, Shaq, Malone, Payton. 

"We got a near perfect team,'' Shaq said. "Near" being the key word in that sentence.

Guess the Pistons (with not a single big-star player) were nearer.

16. 1992-1993 Michigan Wolverines

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Sports journalist Thomas Neumann said, "There is little debate in the college basketball world that those five players, who joined the Michigan Wolverines as freshmen in the fall of 1991, represent the greatest class ever recruited." 

Juwan Howard. Jimmy King. Ray Jackson. Chris Webber. Jalen Rose.

Despite the hype, the hopes, the insane amount of talent—the Fab Five never brought Michigan a championship win.

15. 1998 Atlanta Braves

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Five starting pitchers with at least 17 wins each.

Four players with at least 31 home runs.

One hundred and six regular-season wins.

A clean sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the division series.

This team was so good they actually bored us.

Journalist Tim Sullivan put it best in his Oct. 1, 1998 article for the Cincinnati Enquirer, "The Braves are as boring as C-Span, and as relentless as rust. Bobby Cox chooses a pitcher from his Cooperstown rotation, constructs a lineup card of quality parts, and counts on the law of averages to take its course."

But that law of averages took a deviant course when the Braves met the Padres.

14. 2001 St. Louis Rams

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Dubbed "The Greatest Show on Turf," the Rams steamrolled their way through the 2001 season. For a third consecutive year, they scored at least 500 points.

They were double-digit favorites throughout the playoffs. Odds-makers put them as 14.5-point favorites against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. 

But a superteam wouldn't let this happen in the last 29 seconds of regulation.

13. 2010 Nadal and Novak Djokovic

A little math equation for you:

 No. 1-ranked tennis player + No. 2-ranked tennis player =  doubles team unworthy of ranking.

The tennis "dream team" got spanked in the first round of the 2010 Rogers Cup in Toronto.

Stay single, men. Stay single.

12. 1990 Buffalo Bills

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No one doubts this team was amazing.

Phrases like "one of the best football teams of all time," "best Bills team of all time" and "best offensive team of all time" are threaded through sports messages boards and forums everywhere.

But one key thing that makes a superteam truly super is that they don't choke. 

Wide right! Wide right!

11. 2007 New England Patriots

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No one doubts this team was amazing.

Phrases like "one of the best football teams of all time," "best Patriots team of all time" and "best offensive team of all time" are threaded through sports messages boards everywhere.

(Having déjà vu yet?)

But one key thing that makes a superteam truly super is that they don't choke.

10. 1998 Brazil FIFA World Cup Squad

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Sure this squad had Ronaldo in his prime, but it wasn't a one-man show by any means; Team Brazil was jam-packed with talent.

There were Roberto Carlos and Cafu, who according to an article in the World Cup Blog were, "two of the most dangerous attacking fullbacks the world has ever known."

There was Rivaldo. Bebeto. And master coach Mario Zagallo. 

As expected, the team blazed its way to the finals.

What followed is still one of the great mysteries of World Cup history.  

9. 2011 Boston Red Sox

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Starting in early January 2011, we heard how the new Red Sox squad could be the best MLB team ever assembled.

And then we heard it again and again.

And then the Red Sox went on to start the season 0-6.

They bounced back, then famously fell apart again. 

8. 2004 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team

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They were dubbed the rock stars of the quadrennial Olympic games. They gave a gold medal guarantee. 

Five of the NBA's greats together on one team. The thought of a repeat of '92 bounced through the collective mind of a U.S. fanbase. 

Then, before it began, it ended.

7. 2004 New York Yankees

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The Yankees' franchise is often referred to as an empire.

And on paper, at least, the 2004 squad appeared to be the empire at its peak. The payroll was in the unfathomable neighborhood of $200 million. 

And then the team made history—just not the way they had hoped.

6. 2005 USC Trojans

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Veteran sports announcer Keith Jackson said of the 2005 Trojans, "I've always felt the 1972 USC team was the best I've ever seen, and 1995 Nebraska joined them. If this USC team beats Texas, they are right there with the other two."

Here's what the Trojans had going for them:

The momentum of 34 consecutive wins.

Back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners.

Two All-Americans in the same backfield.

Alas, it wasn't enough.

5. 1998 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

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For the first time, there were NHL players on the ice representing the U.S.—and a menacing lineup they were.  

Two years earlier at the 1996 World Cup, many of these players had taken down the Canadian juggernaut led by Gretzky.

Egos raged, as did expectations.

When the team flopped, some members went for the gold in another event: hotel room trashing.

4. 2002 French FIFA World Cup Squad

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The defending World Cup champions were also the reigning UEFA European Football champions. FIFA ranked them No. 1 in the world. 

France had hopes to become the first team in four decades to win back-to-back World Cups. 

It might've helped if they had even scored a single goal.

3. 1980 USSR Olympic Hockey Team

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A whole team of not only pros but Eastern Bloc megastars.

Truly the best of the best.

And remember that that there was not just one territory to cull from but 15 (what today is Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.) 

Then along comes the U.S. "team of destiny" and slays the giant with a slingshot.

2. 2002 Miami Hurricanes

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Touted by some, including Virgina Tech coach Frank Beamer as ''the best football team ever in college football,'' the 2002 Hurricanes were unbeatable.

But a true superteam would find a receiver to catch that desperate blind pass on 4th-and-1 in double overtime—even if it had to conjure him up from another realm.

1. 2011 Miami Heat

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The thought that NBA megastars James, Wade and Bosh would end up on the same team seemed so implausible that when it did happen, there was suspicion of collusion.

But even with the mighty troika, the Heat couldn't break the superteam barrier. 

Jury Still Out: 2011 Philadelphia Eagles

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Okay, so the tide could be turning on this one—both with the media and on the field.

But in preseason, the term "dream team" hadn't been tossed around so much since the 1992 Olympics.