CHANGING OF THE GUARD

"It'd be a tough one, but I think we'd pull it out,"

This is Kobe's response to how the current roster for the 2012 Olympics in London would fare against the famed 1992 dream team.

Lets start with the rosters.

1992:

Magic Johson, PG, 6'9", 220lbs, L.A. Lakers
Charles Barkley, PF, 6'6", 250lbs, Phoenix Suns
Chris Mullin, SF, 6'7", 215lbs, Golden State Warriors
John Stockton, PG, 6'1", 175lbs, Utah Jazz
Karl Malone, PF, 6'9", 255lbs, Utah Jazz
Clyde Drexler, SG, 6'7", 220lbs, Portland Trail Blazers
Michael Jordan, SG, 6'6", 200lbs, Chicago Bulls
Scottie Pippen, SF, 6'7", 210lbs, Chicago Bulls
Larry Bird, SF, 6'9", 220lbs, Boston Celtics
Patrick Ewing, C, 7'0", 240lbs, New York Knicks
David Robinson, C, 7'1", 235lbs, San Antonio Spurs

*I'm discounting Christian Laettner because he was probably the team's water boy. (at the very least he brought Michael Jordan food and caddied for him on the golf course.)

Those are some damn impressive players, with the best of all time (Jordan) and all Hall of Famers.

2012: (20 years later)

Carmelo Anthony, F, 6'8", 230lbs, New York Knicks
Kobe Bryant, SG, 6'6", 205lbs, Los Angeles Lakers
Tyson Chandler, C, 7'1", 240lbs, New York Knicks
Kevin Durant, SF, 6'9", 235lbs, Oklahoma City Thunder
Anthony Davis, F, 6'10", 222lbs, New Orleans Hornets
James Harden, SG, 6'5", 220lbs, Oklahoma City Thunder
Andre Iguodala, G/F, 6'6", 207lbs, Philadelphia 76ers
LeBron James, F, 6'8", 250lbs, Miami Heat
Kevin Love, F, 6'10", 260lbs, Minnesota Timberwolves
Chris Paul, PG, 6'0", 183lbs, Los Angeles Clippers
Russell Westbrook, PG, 6'3", 187lbs, Oklahoma City Thunder
Deron Williams, PG, 6'3", 209lbs, Brooklyn Nets


Now Charles Barkley said that only Kobe, LeBron, and Durant would make the Dream Team.
Before getting to my main points, I think that it could be argued that Chris Paul or Deron Williams, or Derrick Rose pre-injury could have replaced John Stockton. 

That brings me to another point.  I think that if Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Derrick Rose, and Dwyane Wade were on the team, that this argument would be significantly swayed. 

Before I make any statements about who would have beaten who, I'm going to state that it is impossible to compare any player, league, or team to one from another era.  I also think that many of us, including the players on the Dream Team and the old-timers who were watching the Dream Team dominate are caught up in their nostalgic ways.  It's human nature to look back at what once was and say that it was much better, harder, more talented, etc.  I think that statements like those are bullshit.  The League has never been more popular, and I think that the talent distribution has increased enormously.  Athletes have gotten bigger, faster, stronger overall, which is just a natural progression.  This is why we keep seeing records broken such as Roger Federer, Wayne Gretsky, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and hopefully Tiger Woods.  When you add to the fact that the talent pool has increased tremendously due to international exposure to basketball, this makes it harder for the US team to win now becaused of better teams throughout the world.  This also means that the talent pool in the NBA is deeper overall because these foreign players are infiltrating our league.  So I would say, on average, that the NBA is more talented now then it was back then.

The Dream Team's average height was 6'8".  But if you factor Christian Laettner out (because he didn't sniff the court) their average size is 6'6".  The 2012 squad, which everyone will play on, has an average height of 6'6".  Hmmmmm. Seems to me that the so called "huge size advantage" of the Dream Team is not as significant as some would say.  As for Jordan and Barkley saying no way would the 2012 team compete, well that is just utter nonsense.  Of course they are going to say that, they want to go down as the best team of all time.  Especially Michael Jordan, who is maybe the most competitive person ever on this earth. 

A couple of key points to make.  The era of the Hulk down low is just gone.  Today's most dominant center, Dwight Howard, has numbers that don't even get close to traditional centers after their first 8 seasons.  The game of basketball today is dominated by lightning quick guards, combo players, and the 3 point shot. 

This is taken directly from ESPN and I take no credit for my blatant plagiarism:
"The 1992 team was about 2½ years older on average (28.8-26.2). Other than Bird and Magic, every Dream Team member was 30 years old or younger. Every member of the current team is 29 or younger, other than Kobe, who is 33.
But the NBA experience level is about the same. The 1992 team had, on average, 7.3 years of experience per player. This year’s team has 7.1"


 I think that with Isiah Thomas who got snubbed so hard its ridiculous, the Dream Team would have been so much better, if possible.  I also think that Kobe's statement was meant to inspire his own team for the 2012 Olympics. 

Since I am too lazy to paraphrase most of this stuff, here are some really interesting numbers. Pay attention to the first paragraph in general. ESPN Article

Basically, the first paragraph says that the dream team would win about half of the time by a margin of one point.  That is as close as it gets ladies and gents.  So the deciding factor for that would be the game winning shot, defined as a one possesion game, when a player's team trails by 3 or less points.  These stats are from the playoffs, and I think they represent what would occur, since there would be similar pressure to preform.  Michael Jordan's playoff game winning shot percentage is 9/18 or exactly 50% which is damn good.  Kobe's is 7/25 or 28%.  (LeBron's is 5/12 or 41.7%).  So obviously, the Dream Team has the advantage here.  Those facts are from May 2011, so there have been a couple more shots by Kobe and LeBron.  Also, Durant will doubtless be the best closer of our generation at some point, the kid cannot be guarded. 

So, without further ado, my pick as to who would win.
Drum Roll Please..................
THE DREAM TEAM*

I put an asterisk there for a reason.  I think that if you replaced the 2012 team with Bosh for Anthony Davis (this could go either way, I think Davis could have an immediate impact, its just that Bosh is already an established Pro, Rose for (this is a difficult decision here, but I'm gonna say Deron Williams), Dwyane Wade for James Harden, and Dwight Howard for Kevin Love, it would be a different story.  So in that sense, I would pick the 2012 team.  But since that is not the case and we are arguing purely on the selected roster for the 2012 olympics, I think the Dream team would win. (Hope you're satisfied Davis).

I made a few edits like replacing Blake Griffin with Anthony Davis because of injury.  It could even be argued that you could replace Tyson Chandler with Dwight Howard, then replace Kevin Love with Anthony Davis.  Let's just say that I think the 2016 team could handle the Dream Team.