Too bad Michael Jordan isn’t starring in some lame reality TV show about trying to turn his struggling franchise around. If MJ had cameras around him 24/7, maybe we would’ve gotten to see the laughter on his face when he was told about Kobe Bryant’s comments suggesting the 2012 U.S. Olympic basketball team could outduel the original 1992 “Dream Team.” Personally, I wonder whether the purported laughter was a snicker, a chuckle or a full-fledged, all-out, coughing, gasping and tear-inducing guffaw.
When asked for a reaction by reporters, Jordan stated, “I’d like to think that we had 11 Hall of Famers on that team and whenever they get 11 Hall of Famers you call and ask me who had the better Dream Team.”
Game over.
While many younger fans may not have experienced watching Jordan, Larry Bird, Majic Johnson and the rest of their Dream Team mates during their prime, the conversation can start and end with Jordan’s gracious hall of fame total.
Sure, the 2012 players are no pushovers. When it’s all said and done, Bryant, LeBron James will go down as two of the best that ever did it. Several other players may have hall of fame careers, but please believe, the tally won’t be 11. Even if it were, the 2012 team is full of young players who have not yet hit their primes. If all 11 NBA players from the original Dream Team retired immediately after the ‘92 Olympics, guess what? At least 10 of them would still be in the hallowed hall. Pippen may have been the odd man out, as he was still a pup. The twelfth man was Duke grad Christian Laettner, who never quite lived up to stellar reputation he built up in college.
Let’s assume Team Kobe wins the gold this year. If everybody besides Anthony Davis, the resident rookie, retired immediately afterwards, how many members would reach the hall? LeBron? Check. Kobe? Check. Carmelo Anthony? Uh…probably? Tyson Chandler? Nope. Chris Paul? Not yet. Andre Iguodala? *enter MJ chuckle* There’s simply no comparison.
In Bryant’s defense, he did say he thought his squad could win one game, not a seven game series. That let’s me know Bryant is not senile enough to think he plays on a better team. He simply thinks the all-around athleticism displayed by the diaper dandies would give them an advantage over the greatest basketball team ever assembled. Regarding athleticism, he may be right, but insane athleticism doesn’t win titles -skill and execution does. Otherwise the Los Angeles Clippers would have been the champions this year.
Besides, there’s one indisputable fact regarding the two teams. While people can reasonably argue and compare Jordan vs Bryant vs James or Bird vs Durant, when it comes down to the big fellas, the conversation ceases and desists immediately. While I’m a fan of Chandler, Davis and even the injured Blake Griffin, they would’ve been annihilated by Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley. In addition to being four of the greatest offensive postmen in NBA history, all of them were first-rate defenders.
Jordan was on point when he commented, “For [Bryant] to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done.”
And despite his team nightmare in Charlotte, Jordan is absolutely right about this one. The original Dream Team’s iconic status is nearly untouchable. Someone please tell Mr. Bryant to wake up.
