Quote (JayBomber @ Aug 1 2024 01:54am)
Nah 2024 USA Avengers Basketball Team better than 1992 Dream Team. Way more skillful n Athletic. :o
Would win 4-2 in a 7 game series. MJ and Barkley is not stoping Lebron on a fast break going for the dunk, too small with Jordan and too slow with Barkley.
Magic not gonna go through 12 Screens to chase Curry full court hitting those 30 Ft no Look Threes b)
Bird gonna try guarding KD and Ant man good luck!
Ewing gonna foul out guarding AD All Dayvis!
Only thing with that 1992 Dream Team that I didn't like was that Larry Bird was already dealing with that serious back injury. That version of Larry Bird wouldn't be able to defend LeBron James at all. Even healthy it would be a challenge. But they also had Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Karl Malone and Chris Mullin. To go along with Jordan, Magic and Barkley like you mentioned.
I assume Magic or Pippen would split defensive duties on LeBron as those were the two most versatile and strong defenders outside of Jordan. And actually Michael Jordan was so fiercely competitive he may have just taken on the challenge of defending LeBron one on one despite the size difference. Kobe Bryant once said the 2012 Team USA would beat the 1992 Dream Team because they were older.
I can't disagree with Kobe (they were older) but I just feel like that 1992 Dream Team was special. Sure I'd rather have Hakeem Olajuwon or Shaq on that team over Robinson or Ewing. As Olajuwon wasn't a US citizen quite yet and Shaq was too young. Both Olajuwon and Shaq were on the 'Dream Team 2' team that won the gold medal in 1996. I think that 1996 team was tough because let's face it... Olajuwon and Shaq were the two most dominant and physically gifted centers at that time. They had faced each other in the NBA Finals the previous summer.