I am about to show you two different photo graphs…
One is the 1992 Dream Team lead by players such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan who won gold at the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
The other is the 2012 ‘Redeem Team’ that will be lead by LeBron James, Kobe Bryant & Kevin Durant and will no doubt be clear favourites to win the Gold at the London Olympics this month.
Personally, there is a reason why I have laid these two photo’s are out the way they are so take a good look at it.
The Dream Team is on top.
The Dream Team was an unstoppable force. Any opponent from any country was completely dismantled before halftime. They would put up numbers in a hurry, and before anyone else knew it, the game was over. 40, 50, 60 point victories, at no stress at all to any of their players. Michael Jordan would drop 30 points, in 20 minutes, after playing 36 holes of golf on the same day.
20 years later, NBA icon, 5-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant came out and said that “HIS” team could defeat the Dream Team. That automatically put a target on his back, and the rest of the players, too. Recent NBA Champion & Finals MVP LeBron James has agreed to the comments, as well as Kevin Durant.
They all think (excuse me for paraphrasing) that they could beat them because the Dream Team was too old, and too slow.
CHECK OUT OUR 1992 DREAM TEAM VS TEAM USA PODCAST
Let’s break it down a bit here.
Starting 5’s (1992 Left, 2012 Right):
Magic Johnson < Chris Paul
Michael Jordan > Kobe Bryant
Scottie Pippen < LeBron James
Charles Barkley > Kevin Durant
David Robinson > Tyson Chandler
Bench > Bench
BREAKDOWN:
Magic Vs CP3:
At the point they were in their careers, Magic was too slow; it’s simple as that. College Kids had no problems guarding Magic— Chris Paul could do some serious damage against Magic, via being able to get to the rim after one easy iso-move. So, I’d have to give this match up to Cp3 any day of the week.
Michael Vs Kobe:
Even though these two are arguably the best two shooting guards of all time, you gotta give this one to the G.O.A.T. Michael Jordan was only 29 at the time, entering the prime of his career. Kobe’s 33, and on the downfall. Michael’s defense would just be too much for Kobe to handle.
Pippen Vs LeBron:
I wanted to give this one an ‘=’ because they literally cancel each other out. Calm down for a second here folks. LeBron is the better player, hands down. But in a matchup it’s too close. Pippen was the best defender in the world, and could score. LeBron’s a top tier scorer, and can defend well. It’s too close. If anything, the only edge LeBron would have would be that LeBron’s a better passer then Pippen. But still. It’s so damn close. So LeBron gets this one, just.
Charles Vs Durant:
It’s quite difficult to compare these two; Kevin Durant being a natural Small Forward, and plays the perimeter game, Charles being a Power Forward, post playing dynamo. But, in a game situation, Charles has the edge. He’s a better rebounder, and is used to guarding a SF- Kevin’s offensive game would be limited due to Barkley’s intimidating style of defense. Charles would undoubtably be unstoppable on the defensive end, with KD being left hopeless for low post defense. Sir Charles gets the edge on this one for sure.
Robinson Vs Chandler
This matchup actually makes me laugh. To even be comparing someone like ‘The Admiral’ (or even backup Patrick Ewing) to a mere 1 x Defensive Player of The Year is beyond me.
Admiral’s post game would cause a massive headache for Chandler, and ‘Admiral’ would have the hands down edge in the rebounding division. Robinson get’s this one… bit of a “No Brainer”.
Bench Vs Bench
(1992 Bench: Chrisian Laettner, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Karl Malone)
(2012 Bench: Carmello Anthony, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Andre Igoudala, Kevin Love, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook)
Okay. Both Benches are absolutely phenomenal skill wise, but the 1992 squad has the obvious edge. Size in Patrick Ewing, strength in Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin, and inner chemistry with the Utah tandem Stockton & Malone.
The only thing they give up is speed, and they’d loose that one pretty badly. But, the dream team was just too deep; after all, there was 11 total hall of famers in one squad, and as Michael Jordan said: “That can never be done again. Ever”.
CONCLUSION
1992 OLYMPIC DREAM TEAM > 2012 OLYMPIC TEAM.
My Final Score: 98-85
Don’t let those words fool you though people.
Let’s just take a few more things into account. The 2012 olympic team is missing Dwight Howard, and Andrew Bynum due to injuries.
If these players were to be subbed in for others, it would be a completely different story. Howard & Bynum would end the only flaw that the 2012 team has faced; lack of size. Add D-Wade, Chris Bosh into that then you have got a team full of future legends. 11? Probably not.
But taking all things into account, it would be a bloody great game to watch.
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