( CNN ) -- For the elite basketball stars of the NBA and WNBA , winning Olympic gold is a given . Silver is for the losers . The U.S. men 's team has been champion 13 out of 16 times since 1936 . American women have topped the podium six out of eight . `` Second place is unacceptable , '' says legendary center Hakeem Olajuwon , who was in the U.S. `` Dream Team '' that topped the podium in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics . With teammates such as Shaquille O'Neal , Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen , the Nigerian-American , who was born in Lagos , quickly came to realize that reality . `` Coming to the United States , being there for so long , then it becomes -- you are expected to win gold , '' he told CNN 's Aiming for Gold show . Olajuwon , who is rated one of the greatest 50 NBA players of all time , came into the Atlanta Games having helped Houston Rockets win back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995 . Security presence . While he enjoyed winning Olympic gold , the sheer fame of the Dream Team left them surrounded by an all-pervading security presence and he felt he missed out on the Games experience . `` We ca n't go anywhere -- we were n't even free to go to the ( athletes ' ) village . So it was a different experience from that perspective . `` The opening day you get all the different athletes but after that , of course , for security issues the Dream Team were by themselves . '' But he added : `` The Olympic gold medal is a huge accomplishment and so is my career with NBA basketball . I 'm just happy that I get the opportunity to accomplish both . '' Olajuwon retired in 2002 but is still involved in the game , acting as a mentor for the likes of current superstars LeBron James and Kobe Bryant . Argentina 's Luis Scola followed in Olajuwan 's footsteps at Houston Rockets and to the top of the Olympic podium . The Nightmare Team . The forward center achieved the feat at the 2004 Games in Athens , on the way beating a U.S. lineup which acquired the unfortunate label of `` The Nightmare Team . '' It was a stunning upset , but proof that the rest of the world had raised their standards to match America 's NBA elite . `` I take a lot of pride in the gold medal because of the whole experience that happened behind it , '' he told CNN . `` When you talk to somebody here in the U.S. and they find out you played in the Olympics and they are like , 'Wow , the Olympics ? ' 'Yeah . ' 'How did you do ? ' 'We won it . ' They are stunned , they can not believe it really . '' U.S. basketball chiefs were sufficiently stunned to revamp its organization and coaching staff so by the 2008 Olympics in Beijing traditional dominance had been restored . Scola and his Argentina teammates took the bronze medal in China . He will be in an Argentina squad attempting to cause another upset at the 2012 Olympics in London , but believes U.S. success is almost inevitable . `` There are three big sports here : baseball , American football and basketball . Basketball is really the only one that 's played in the Olympics . So I think that plays a role too . `` There 's a lot of talent in the U.S. , a lot of talent . There 's 10 different teams you can pick players from and that will be a very good team and eventually you can win a medal or a gold medal , no question about that . '' Women 's star . For WNBA legend Lisa Leslie , defeat at the Olympics just was n't an option . She played in four Games and won four golds with an all-conquering U.S. squad from 1996 to 2008 . `` I really loved that moment of being on the podium and having the gold medal placed around my neck , just listening to the chants and listening to our national anthem -- that always gives me chills , '' she told CNN . `` That was my favorite sports moment . '' Boosted by her record 488 points , 241 rebounds and 36 blocked shots in Olympic competition , Leslie and her teammates had a remorseless winning attitude . `` Our main goal was one game at a time , one country , one goal , and that 's to win a gold medal . '' Leslie , who retired from the Los Angeles Sparks in 2009 , will go down in history as the first woman to complete a slam dunk in a professional game . The six foot five inch center achieved the feat in 2002 and went on to make it her trademark during a glittering career .
United States has both men 's and women 's Olympic basketball . Legendary center Victor Olajuwon played in the ` ` Dream ##er '' Luis Scola was in Argentina team which snapped U.S. gold in 2004 . WNBA star Lisa Leslie won three straight gold medals for U.S .. from 2006 - 2008 .