In 2012, Kobe Bryant stirred controversy when he claimed that the London-bound U.S. men’s basketball team could beat the original Dream Team in a hypothetical matchup. LeBron James joined Bryant and said their squad was good enough to topple the Barcelona team. Of course, the members of the Dream Team took turns in refuting Kobe.
However, aside from the back-and-forth between the NBA legends, the bigger revelation was Michael Jordan admitting that the Dream Team wouldn’t have been as dominant in 2012.
“If we’re in this same situation as 2012 with the talent we had, could we compete against the talent that’s in Europe now? I think we could. Would it be as dominant as it was in ’92? Probably not. I still think you’d see the separation between the two [American teams], but I think international play has gotten better—tremendously it’s gotten better. You’ve got more of those guys coming and playing in the NBA than what it used to be. I think globally basketball has grown, and I think the Dream Team had a lot to do with it,” Jordan said
The Dream Team’s global impact
In 1992, the gap between the United States and the world was so wide that many thought the U.S. would rule international basketball for a long time. But as Dream Team member Clyde Drexler once said, their dominance was a rude awakening for the rest of the world, inspiring everyone to get better.
“That’s why you see so many good European players in the NBA today,” Drexler said. “A lot of them were trained not only in their countries but also in our country as well. They grew up watching the greats and the legends of the game and so they were able to mimic and work on their games just the way we had.”
Ten years after the Dream Team’s historic run in Barcelona, Argentina ended the United States’ 58-game winning streak, beating Team USA at the 2002 FIBA World Championships in Indiana. Not only did the Americans’ unbeaten streak end, but it also ended in their backyard.
The 2002 debacle was followed by a bronze medal finish in Athens, forcing the Kobe-led Redeem Team to an American renaissance at the 2008 Olympics.
However, the U.S. basketball got another taste of the humble pie last year when their team finished fourth in the World Championships. As a result, the current “Avengers” squad was born.
Winning margin is no longer a valid argument
Every U.S. Team has always been compared to the original one, with the Dream team consistently winning the debate. But a handful believes the 2024 team would be the 1992 squad in a hypothetical matchup. With ten times more current NBA players on the international roster in the 2024 Olympics than in 1992, the Dream Team can no longer use their margin of victory as a barometer of greatness.
Ten years ago, the leader of the Dream Team admitted they wouldn’t have been as dominant playing in the 2012 Olympics. Fast-forward to today, and the level of competition is through the roof—five of the last six individual NBA awards were given to international players, and four of the five 2024 All-NBA Team members were foreign-born players.
If MJ admitted his superstar-filled squad wouldn’t have been as dominant in 2012, we can only imagine what he would say about playing in the 2024 Olympics.