'92 vs. '12

If you haven't heard by now, Kobe Bryant made some controversial comments this week about this year's Olympic team vs. the original "Dream Team" from 1992. Long story short: Bryant said his team could be the Dream Team, which for years has been known as the greatest team ever assembled. Bryant's comments drew reaction from all over, including from the Greatest Of All Time, Michael Jordan, who laughed at Bryant.
I wouldn't go as far as His Airness did. Even though this Olympic team isn't at full strength and has some obvious weaknesses, it also has some major strengths, too, and is the prohibitive favorite to win the Olympics. So how does this team stack up with the best of all time?

POINT GUARDS
'92: Magic Johnson (33), John Stockton (30)
'12: Chris Paul (27), Deron Williams (28), Russell Westbrook (23)
Advantage: '12

I know it might sound blasphemous to give the nod to three young point guards who have combined to win zero championships over two Hall of Famers, but it's true. In 1992, Magic was coming off of retirement because of his HIV diagnosis, and though Stockton was a wizard on both ends of the floor, he also didn't have to play against guys who attack the basket as well as this year's point guards. Magic and Stockton were the only two players who didn't play in all eight Olympic games in 1992, and though Magic certainly would create some matchup problems for the '12 team's smaller point guards, '12 also is versatile enough to go big and put someone like Carmelo or LeBron on Magic. I have to give the advantage to the younger, more athletic point guards from the current team.

SHOOTING GUARDS
'92: Michael Jordan (29), Clyde Drexler (30)
'12: Kobe Bryant (33), James Harden (23)
Advantage: '92

This is one of two positions where the CLEAR advantage goes to the original Dream Team. Jordan was in his prime after winning the second of his six championships, and there has never been a better player than Jordan in his prime. Drexler was no slouch either, and the two combined to average 25 points per game during the Olympics. It's highly unlikely that Kobe and Harden will pull off a similar feat. At four years older than Jordan was in '92, Kobe has logged many more minutes than MJ had and is no longer entering his prime. He's still a deadly player, even if he's not quite the same as he was three or four years ago. What he does have going for him is the greatest killer instinct since Jordan. Harden, the NBA's reigning Sixth Man of the Year, is an up-and-coming star, but he's not quite at the level of either Drexler or Jordan. Williams and Westbrook both could log some minutes at the two if needed, but clear advantage to '92.

SMALL FORWARDS
'92: Larry Bird (35), Scottie Pippen (26), Chris Mullin (29)
'12: LeBron James (27), Kevin Durant (23), Andre Iguodala (28)
Advantage: '12

I know it sounds crazy to go against three Hall of Famers, but are you telling me you're willing to bet against LeBron and Durant? The two best players in the world right now? Not me. Larry Legend was limping at the end of his career, and he would never play another NBA game after winning a gold medal in '92. Pippen was a truly great defender, but even he would have a hard time keeping up LeBron and Durant. Mullin was an underrated scorer (his 12.9 points per game in the Olympics were fourth on the team), but both LeBron and Iguodala are elite athletes and defenders who would have given Mullin fits. This position is probably the greatest strength of the '12 team.

POWER FORWARDS
'92: Charles Barkley (29), Karl Malone (29), Christian Laettner (21)
'12: Carmelo Anthony (28), Kevin Love (23)
Advantage: '92

Even with Laettner, who was a token selection and shouldn't have been on the Dream Team, power forward was the team's strongest position. Barkley led the team in scoring with 18 points per game, and Malone was third on the team with 13 points per game. They both were in their prime and are among the top five or six power forwards to ever play the game. Carmelo isn't really a power forward and would have a hard time matching up with those two guys physically, and it actually might be better to switch him and LeBron, who would be a better physical matchup with Barkley and Malone. What Anthony does have is the ability to be one of the best scorers on the international level. He and Durant are a lethal scoring combination, and Anthony's game is tailor-made for the international game. Love, meanwhile, is a double-double machine in the NBA who can match up with some of the bigger power forwards in the game. Is he Barkley or Malone in their prime? No, but in four years, he could be at that level.

CENTERS
'92: Patrick Ewing (29), David Robinson (26)
'12: Tyson Chandler (29), Anthony Davis (19)
Advantage: '92

Center is by far the weakest position for Team USA. With Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum out with injuries, the country's two best centers won't be at the Olympics. Chris Bosh and Blake Griffin, who are both power forwards, could also have contributed at center but are out with injuries, as well. Ewing and Robinson would have dominated Chandler and Davis. Dominated.

Clearly, the '12 team isn't at full strength, especially in the post. Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum would be on this team if healthy. LaMarcus Aldridge might have made the team, as well, and Blake Griffin was on the team ahead of Davis until he injured his knee on Wednesday. Dwyane Wade, the leading scorer on the '08 Olympic team, also is out with a knee injury. He would have been on this squad ahead of Harden.

Still, even with that many potential players sitting out, the '12 team would be competitive against the '92 squad. You can't argue what that team did. It averaged 117 points and won all eight games during the Olympics by at least 32 points and an average of 43 points. Simply put, it was total domination. But it was a different time then. Basketball wasn't a global game. The Dream Team helped to drive that, and today, nearly every team in the Olympics has multiple NBA players. Heck, even teams that fail to qualify have NBA stars (see Dirk Nowitzki and Germany). The competition today is much tougher than that '92 team had to face.

The '12 squad also has youth on its side. The average age of the '92 team was 28.8 years old, compared to just 25.9 years old this year. Only two players (33-year-old Kobe Bryant and 29-year-old Tyson Chandler) are older than 28 years old, while the '92 squad had nine players 29 years old or older. So clearly the '12 team has some advantages. But not enough.

If we were talking a gold-medal showdown between these two teams, where I had to shorten my bench and put my best players on the floor, here's what I would do:

'92 starters: Magic, Jordan, Pippen, Barkley, Ewing
'92 bench: Stockton, Drexler, Mullin, Malone, Robinson
'12 starters: Williams, Durant, Carmelo, LeBron, Chandler
'12 bench: Paul, Kobe, Harden, Iguodala, Love

The matchups would be very interesting. I would probably put LeBron on Jordan, Carmelo on Barkley and Durant on Magic. Deron Williams would be giving up a lot of size and length to Pippen, but I'd rather have him on Pippen than Jordan. The depth is where the '92 team can pull away from the '12 team. I'd take Paul over Stockton, and the Kobe/Drexler matchup would be a good one. But the frontcourt advantage goes to '92. For '12 to have any shot, I'd have to ask Chandler, Love, LeBron and Carmelo to play a lot of minutes in the post.

LeBron, Durant, Carmelo and Kobe would keep '12 in the game, but the will of Jordan and the experience of the rest of the original Dream Team would be a bit too much in the end.