As
far as I am concerned, the 1992 United States Olympic Basketball team is the
greatest athletic team ever assembled.
The thought for this post is inspired partially by a documentary I
watched and partially by a conversation I had with someone about the subject. The documentary is entitled “the Dream Team.” The directors of the documentary did an
excellent job providing context for the team and their accomplishments. For starters, the 1992 Olympic Games was the
first time NBA players participated in the world games. Prior to 1992, the United States sent teams
comprised of college athletes to represent the country. That formula worked for awhile, but
eventually, the world’s other teams closed the talent gap. They sent representatives from various
professional leagues that were comprised of grown men. There was no way a group of 18-21 year old college athletes could compete with 23-30
year old professional athletes. In
1992, it is safe to say that US basketball was on a mission to prove a point to
the entire world. That point was simple:
Complete Domination.
The
documentary also revealed background information regarding the team’s most high
profile player, Michael Jordan and the coach, Chuck Daly. Anyone who watched basketball during the 1980’s
and 1990’s knows the Detroit Pistons stood in Michael Jordan’s way of winning a
title for quite some time. Seemingly,
every great player has to overcome a great obstacle before they can take a seat
at the table with the all-time greats.
For Jordan, it was conquering the Detroit “Bad Boys” Pistons. The Detroit Pistons played a style of
basketball that was aggressive, physical and in many peoples’ eyes, dirty. The man who was portrayed as the ringleader
of that Bad Boys team is Isaiah Thomas.
Chuck Daly was his coach for the Pistons and was also the coach of the Dream Team. Do you see the possible
conflict? Jordan stated that he agreed
to play on the Dream Team based on a belief that Isaiah Thomas would not be a
member of the team. Scottie Pippen took
it a step further and stated that he believes Isaiah was the leader of the
group that played the game in a dirty manner and that he did not want him on the team.
Despite the epic battles between Chuck Daly’s Detroit Pistons and
Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, the two developed a rapport on and off the
court during the 1992 Olympic games. They
both shared a love for golf, and through that love, the two became
friends. I personally believe their
ability to put the contempt they may have felt for one another aside for the
greater good is an interesting, seldom told sub plot of the 1992 Olympic Games.
I
enjoyed the behind the scenes footage of the team’s practices. We were able to see some of the battles that
Jordan had against Magic. Not only were
we able to see footage, but we were able to hear the players’ commentaries with
respect to their epic battles. The idea
that you had 11 hall-of-famers on one team, and they shared the ball and played
with one mission is a testament to each player.
The members of the team reads like a "who’s who" of professional
basketball. The roster included: (1)
Michael Jordan; (2) Larry Bird; (3) Earvin “Magic” Johnson; (4) Charles
Barkley; (5) Patrick Ewing; (6) Clyde Drexler; (7) John Stockton; (8) Scottie
Pippen; (9) Karl Malone; (10) David Robinson; (11) Chris Mullin; and (12) Christian
Laettner. Eleven of the twelve players
are hall of famers. It is hard to fathom
a team having more talent. As much
talent as that team had, there are always people who want to compare that team’s
accomplishments with other great, U.S. Olympic teams. I typically do not like to compare athletes
from different generations because factors surrounding each athlete make it
impossible to fairly assess each respective scenario. For instance, people view Wilt Chamberlain’s
great feat of scoring 100 points as one of the greatest moments in sports history. But, is that greater than Kobe Bryant scoring
81 points against a much more talented, athletic team?
Who knows. What I do know is it
sets the stage for spirited debate between people of all ages and backgrounds.
The
U.S. has fielded great teams since the 1992 Dream team. Some of the teams have carried the moniker “Dream
Team” as well. Of those teams, I think the
only team with similar talent would be the 2012 team. That team has not been fielded yet but I
think the team will consist of the following players: (1) Lebron James; (2)
Kevin Durant; (3) Carmelo Anthony; (4) Kobe Bryant; (5) Derrick Rose; (6)
Dwight Howard; (7) Chris Paul; (8) Dwyane Wade; (9) Deron Williams; (10) Tyson
Chandler; (11) Russell Westbrook; and (12) Kevin Love. Although Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose will
not be able to play because of their injuries, I believe that team, if able to
compete, could challenge the 1992 team. When
it is all said and done, this group has the potential to have 9 or 10 hall of
fame players. With that said, the
matchup between that team and the original Dream Team would be intriguing, in
theory. The individual match-ups would leave
basketball fans salivating. Lebron James
could go against Magic Johnson; Michael Jordan would battle Kobe Bryant;
Scottie Pippen would battle Kevin Durant; Charles Barkley would battle with
Carmelo Anthony; and Dwight Howard would battle Patrick Ewing. While those matchups would be exciting, the
edge still has to go to the original Dream Team. I think they would dominate the rebounding
category. They would be able to score
more easily because so many of their players were adept at scoring with their
backs to the basket. The 2012 edition
would rely on perimeter players to score, and that would be difficult with some
of the best perimeter defenders and some of the best shot blockers in the history
of the league playing on the original Dream Team.
Who
would win the game?
Peace
Follow me on Instagram @ MrMinter2011
.
No comments:
Post a Comment