
The folks at 2K Sports set the Twitters ablaze this morning with the news that NBA 2K13 will give gamers the chance to once again play as the 1992 U.S. Olympics Men’s Basketball Team, or the Dream Team. I don’t even play video games and I’m tempted to buy it just so I can keep assigning players to guard Magic Johnson and see if they run away. Gotta make it realistic, 2K Sports.
One interesting note about the game, though, is that the Dream Team won’t include Scottie Pippen, because the guy who has had incredible money problems wouldn’t agree to 2K Sports’ terms. But at least we’ve finally stopped that whole silly debate about whether or not the Dream Team could defeat the 2012 U.S. gold medal team. Just kidding, Michael Jordan hasn’t yet begun to fight.
In response to Kobe’s claims that the Dream Team was older, Jordan (semi-wrongly) pointed out that Johnson and Larry Bird were the only players older than 30, but as SI.com’s Sam Amick clarifies, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, and Clyde Drexler were also 30 before or during the 1992 Summer Olympics. Since age ain’t nothing but a number, Jordan’s point is that the Dream Team had size and speed, and they would have killed inside and out.
“I just felt like we had enough size that we could contend with the 2012 team,” he said of the team that was without elite shot blocker Dwight Howard and relied heavily on the Knicks’ Tyson Chandler at center. “I think one of the things the 2012 team lacked was size, you know? We probably would have attacked them from inside and outside, and I think that would have been pretty much solidified [for the '92 team's defense] with shot-blockers as well as perimeter defensive players.
“In [terms] of how the game is played from an offensive standpoint and a defense standpoint — from a team standpoint — I feel like we were much more solid defensively. We could definitely guard the perimeter and force them to penetrate to shot-blockers, which I felt like would’ve made a big difference with this team in 2012. They only had one shot-blocker. Granted, I know LeBron [James] and some of those guys can still block shots. It’s not the same defense and it’s not the same intensity.”
And he rambles on. He also talked about whether or not the Dream Team could beat today’s European teams by 43 points per game like they did to the 1992 European teams, so I’m glad that we’ve opened that additional can of worms now. How long do we have until LeBron James stars in Space Jam 2? Because that’s obviously the next step in this ridiculous debate – could James defeat the Monstars? And if this movie happens – God knows it probably will – WE KEEP THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK.


welp, looks like i’ll be getting 2k13! burnsy, please move laettner to like the fifth row, please?
also, jordan is crazy if he thinks the 92 team could guard durant or james. nobody is big and quick enough now to cover them.
My family didn’t have a lot of money, but when the Dream Team jerseys came out, I didn’t want to be the only kid without one at my school. So I scrounged and my mom chipped in and soon enough, I was the proud owner of the cheapest available Team USA jersey… Christian Laettner.
i’m so sorry for that. :(
is Team USA allowed to hand-check… cause Jordan would shut down James and Pippen could shut down KD, or vice-versa.
Or they could just tell them its a finals game, someone had to win that shit fest
These cocksuckers had to go Ric Flair on Pao Gasol to beat Spain. 92 would shoot 102% from the field with Barkley, Malone, Robinson, and Ewing. 12 would have problems guarding Christian Laetnner.
Spain’s starting five pretty much starts in the NBA. Could you scrounge up a line up from who the 92 team played?
yeah, kevin durant really sucked in the finals, only scoring 30/game and shooting 55%, and that’s even with pretty much one of the best (perimeter) defenders covering him.
David Robinson is more accurate from 2 feet than Kevin Durant is from 23.
how was that 55% in the 4th quarter working out for him?
I was a super obsessive 9 year old with a rat tail during the 92 Olympics and I love the Dream Team. But, the 2012 team would murder them and bury them in a shallow grave.
Serious Question: in every other sport with objective measuring (race times, etc) we’ve seen huge increases in physicality and performance in the last 20 years. No one thinks Michael Johnson is faster than Usain Bolt, because we have actual numbers saying he isn’t. Why do people cling so hard to the 92 Dream Team when in every other sport with objective measurement we’ve seen increases in performance?
Or is basketballs the one sport where we reached a pinnacle of human achievement in ’92 that will never be seen again?
Also, fuck King James. And fuck Michael Jordan, too.
I just nodded to all of this.
probably because the people that were kids seeing the 92 team get all stupid and nostalgic about them. older people probably are upset that the current olympic team DOESN’T PLAY THE RIGHT WAY, DADGUMMIT!
The 92 team was jacked up on steroids, there I said it.
On what basis would the 12 team even come close? James and KD.
Kobe and Paul had to bail them out in 2 of the last 3 games.
Deron Williams, Westbrook, Chandler, Davis, Melo, Iggy, and Love would not even be considered to be part of the Dream Team.
The Dream Team would shut that Wide open jump shot shit down and the first time LeBron tried to do that elbow travel shit, you better believe they’d send Laettner in there to knock his ass down
Usain Bolt won this year’s 200m gold with the same time Michael Johnson won it with in 1996. Guess who’s still the 400m world record holder?
But none of that matters because basketball isn’t a race. This year’s team couldn’t guard the paint. Pao Gasol lit them up for 15 pts in a quarter but Barkley, Malone, Robinson, and Ewing would have struggled because of evolution?
So because Bolt didn’t re-break his record from 09, he’s not faster than Johnson in the 200m?
Finally, you say? Man, I must have been dreaming this whole thing up for twenty years, then.
[en.wikipedia.org]
Yeah, I forgot kids everywhere still rush home to play on their Sega Genesis.
I don’t really think you’re playing them so much as you are playing a video game. I mean, if I’m wrong, next time Barclay is on TV have him do the humpty-hump. Then I’ll KNOW that you’re really playing him.
“But at least we’ve finally stopped that whole silly debate about whether or not the Dream Team could defeat the 2012 U.S. gold medal team.”
This simulation will not settle the dispute, unless…can they punch each other in the nards? I feel as though this, and only this, would help get us one step closer to finding out once and for all who is the better USA.
Also, if video games could settle sports disputes we would all acknowledge that Warren Moon was the greatest quarterback in the history of forever.
which idiot is disputing that fact?
also, Haywood Jeffries would be the best receiver of all time
You could infect Jordan with Ebola before the game and he’d still lead the Dream Team to a win over the 2012 team.
Challenge. Accepted.