92: “I don’t know anything about Angola, but they in trouble.” 24: “I don’t know anything about South Sudan, but - holy shit we losing in the last minute!”
It doesn't matter who is "better," or who would win. The Dream Team was The Dream Team. They changed the basketball world. The fact that there are now so many international players in the NBA today can be directly traced to the superstars of that team. No one else will ever change basketball the way did because they already did it.
Nah. The fact that there are now so many international players in the NBA today can be directly traced to the *END OF THE COLD WAR* and *GLOBALIZATION TAKING OVER*
It kind of does tho when you’re comparing the two… this is basketball. Why are we trying to ignore the actual basketball being played to talk about global impact? I agree that the dream team helped spread basketball globally, which has resulted in more resources being put towards basketball in foreign countries. However, that doesn’t make the team better at basketball at the end of the day.
@@michaelgieseler2799 To talk the actual basketball: * Take the 2024 team to 1992, the 1992 team wins. * Bring the 1992 team to 2024, the 2024 team wins. And every time we mention how "washed up" Bird was because of his back, let's mention how washed up KD is because of his calf. The Supreme Team already had to send one guy home, and they got a player to take the "Christian Laettner role: happily sit on the bench". [If I'm a fan of any team, it's the Celtics, so I'm only half joking.]. And Embiid is hobbled, the Dream Team did not have a second player unable to deliver peak performance. Only three players on the Dream Team had won the MVP as of 1992, three times each. And they were the only active players with MVPs. The Supreme Team has four MVPs, with four, two, one, and one. Player for player, ranking the teams will come down to ear preference, not basketball ability.
@@UnconventionalReasoning KD averaged 27 ppg last year on 52-41-86 shooting splits while playing 75 of 82 games at 35. Bird averaged 20 ppg on 47-40-93 shooting splits while playing only 45 games at 35. Let’s not be dumb and act like KD is the same as bird who’s career was over at KD’s age… Sure, Joel is hobbled, but you can’t act like everyone from 92 performed top tier. Look at MJ who averaged 15 ppg on 14 shots/game with 45-21-68 shooting splits… yeah, MJ wasn’t hobbled, but he might as well be underperforming like that lol
@@michaelgieseler2799 None of what you said matters because even though KD shoots the way he does (and he's one of my fav. players) the era that they play in makes scoring much easier.
Most people don’t know that tbh. You gotta either be old enough to have seen him, or you gotta be a big basketball nerd to know those details. A lot of casual fans get involved in the debate, which is why stuff like that gets left out.
That's the dumbes thing about rewriting history. Chris Mullin was a franchise player for over a half a decade. Pippen was that for one season. Next year his team was sub .500. People look at history and just look at rings. Mullin was amazing in Golden State.
I mean, Chris Mullin was great. But he never dropped 27 a night or was in the top 5 in MVP voting. There’s no need to exaggerate; he was an absolute snoring machine. (Definitely more than just a shooter)
I’m not even American, but the dream team made everyone all over the world fall in love with basketball. It is the without a doubt the greatest team ever assembled in the history of sports.
I live in a country with long basketball history, we didn't care about the dream team, but I don't like how they are disrespecting European and South American basketball players from the past in order to prop up the current players. They need to say Oscar Schmidt, Dražen Petrović, Arvydas Sabonis were dog shit and by extension the players that they dominated were even bigger dog shit in order to prop up their favorite players of the present and I am not cool with that.
My personal opinion, the Dream Team wanted to make a statement every game, and they did. They were the most competitive group of athletes ever assembled for a single team, and the stories of their intra squad scrimmages are legendary. The current team is very talented…
@@deandreray3500 Hakeem, Shaq and Robinson would murder the lineup of Ewing and Robinson. Plus they had Penny, Grant, Payton and half the 92 dream team.
@@Poetryinnonmotion Sorry bruv. Curry putting Johnson on skates and the guards will be raining 3's. The SF lineup of Tatum, Bron, KD wil overwhelm Pippen and older Bird. AD, Bam and Embiid can hold their own against Ewing, Barkley and Robinson. 1996 had Hakeem, Shaq plus Penny, Grant and half the original dream team and 2008 had a prime Kobe, Bron, Wade and Howard. No one is beating the other by more than 20pts though
@@KingRivera-qg8lj It's the Skip Bayless sensationalism over reality. People tuned in to see what other crazy stuff the dude would come up with next, and to see what he had to say after things didn't pan out.
Why is the stupid media still comparing the dream team with the current US team as they did in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020? lol 😂 they don’t have anything good to talk about, just wasting their energy on same cliche of comparing teams from different era sports talk.
@@cadecrusader No one really wants to listen to them talk about regular stuff they want that controversial crap that will get them views. Pinning the nba fans against eachother is the best way to keep them engaged. Most people will only listen to former/current players talk about basketball, not these guys like Nick Wrong or SAS unless they're bringing up topics for click bait.
Context matters to people who actually know basketball & played the sport at a high level. Context doesn’t matter for simple minded casuals whose basketball knowledge comes from nostalgia & bias. Stick to your simple minded casual hate channels
@@LL-zm9go People who are disrespectful towards the players of the past are the simple minded casuals. Also, being a professional basketball player does not mean you have good takes about basketball. In fact, NBA players often have the worst takes. The ones disrespecting past players are the real haters. Prime MJ would easily average over 40 today on above average league efficiency. Players that media calls bums that played against the dream team such as Oscar Schmidt, Dražen Petrović and Arvydas Sabonis would all average over 25ppg on above average efficiency in today's NBA.
Biggest what ifs in basketball What if Magic Johnson kept his Magic Johnson in his pants? What if Larry Bird paid someone to shovel his mom’s driveway?
I don't think much would have changed. I think the Bulls and Rockets continue to win the next 7 titles. Worthy dropped down to 15 points per game after Magic retired and retired at 32. Vlade Divac was still very inconsistent and Sam Perkins went from being a very good third option to a spot up 3 point shooter coming off of the bench by the time he made it to Seattle a year and a half later. Looking at the Celtics, Reggie Lewis- their only young hope- died tragically due to his heart condition. Mchale and Parish were declining and Bird would have been declining. The Celtics and the Lakers were the favorite to win the title every year from 80 to 90. 10 years of contending is almost unheard of. Even the dominant Bullsof the 90's were not close to that. By 91 both of these teams were headed to a rebuild. All Magic and Bird sticking around for a few more years would have done is delay the inevitable for a few more years.
Magic would have still been the Magic we know and love Larry would have been himself for longer, and would probably drop a 60 that night because the guy he paid for didn’t live up to his standards
@@Davivd2 The only thing to extend the window in Magic's case would've been another star coming. Iirc Charles Barkley said in the past that him becoming a Laker almost happened and Philly pulled out at the last second. With Magic still on the roster instead of retired I imagine Jerry West would've tried harder to get it workable or perhaps even Barkley himself would've straight out demanded he get traded to LA he was a big fan of Magic, advocated for him to play in the All Star game in 92 and wore his jersey # that season to honor him after he came out he had HIV... Who knows? At the very least a duo of Magic just at the end of his peak and Barkley at the peak of his powers is immediately a contender and the favorite to make the Finals out of the west.
@@themindgamer5084Ewing was a bit better in the Olympics. Unlike with the Knicks, with the Dream Team, Ewing could focus on defense and rebounding. On O, all the Dream Team needed from their centers were screens and spot ups, and Ewing was a bit better in those areas than the Admiral.
@@peterb4428 And Ewing outplayed him with the Dream Team. Marginally. They were role players with the Dream Team, and Ewing was a bit better in that role. Honestly, that’s the sort of role that Ewing probably should have been playing throughout his NBA career. He was supposed to be the next Bill Russell, but for some reason, instead of putting offense-first players around him (analogues of Cousy, Heinsohn, etc.), the Knicks chose to surround Ewing with defense-first players like Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, and Doc Rivers. That forced Ewing into shouldering more of an offensive load than he probably ever should have had to, and he was never able to reach the heights he was “supposed to” as a result. Lol, the most prominent offense-first player on the Knicks during Ewing’s prime was John Starks, and SG was the one position where that was a bad idea, since the path to the Finals inevitably went through Reggie Miller and MJ every year.
The all the members of the 1992 Dream Team had a hyper-competitive edge that just isn't seen in basketball nowadays, but the true magic of that team is with so many egos involved, they actually really enjoyed playing with each other and creaming the competition. That kind of chemistry is beyond lightning in a bottle, it was a once in a lifetime phenomenon; no othe rUSA team came close to it. And people who just think it's about building an All-Star team, or argue that Isiah, Nique and Shaq should have been on that team = you've just ruined that chemistry; those 50 point wins would have been 30.
Shaq could have been on the team. And should have been over Latner if they wanted a "college kid." Throw him in for 15 minutes a game. Back when Shaq could run the floor as well as any big man alive? You think Angola was in trouble with 6'4 Barkley? Yeesh... Shaq would have went 90% from the field. Because 90% of his shots would have been dunks.
This is why I watch your videos instead of ESPN. You always give fair analysis and always explain any biased opinions you have. Best NBA channel on RUclips and it’s not close for second.
Since I'm a guy who lived through that era, I was 15 back in 1992, I can tell you for a fact, that no team has ever come so close to dominance as the Dream Team! I mean, opposing teams would take pictures before and after the games, and opposing players would approach Dream Teamers during games for autographs, jerseys, caps, and sneakers for Chrissake! I remember Arturas Carnisovas taking pictures of the Dream Team, while his Lithuanian national team was getting blown ooff the court, in an era with no internet, no social media and no smartphones! People who weren't born yet back then, or people who were too young to remember, they just missed it! What an amazing time to be growing up as a basketball fan!
fun fact: John Stockton broke a bone (or something) in his leg. and luckily it wasn’t severe enough that he’d have to be replaced. however, if he did needed to be replaced; the replacement wouldn’t have been Isiah Thomas. it would’ve been Joe Dumars.
I don't understand how the narrative of Isiah Thomas not getting selected has changed so much since 1992. Among my friends, among my Grandparents, and among talking heads at the time, it was pretty clear that Isiah Thomas wasn't selected because of his and the Detroit Pistons poor sportsmanship when walking out of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals after it was over. If Isiah Thomas would have been selected, it would have been a HUGE controversy, since that is all the media and ANYONE who watched the NBA talked about after the 1991 NBA Finals (about two solid weeks from what I can remember at that time)! The Detroit Pistons walking out after losing the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, THAT is the reason Isiah Thomas wasn't selected, and if he had been selected I guarantee we would ALWAYS talk about him in regards to what a controversial choice of putting him on the team would have been! Sportsmanship is an important quality in an Olympian, and Isiah proved he didn't have that the year before.
@@TheXev funny how the Pistons get all the crap for the walkout when the Celtics did the same thing. funny how Isiah gets the blame for the walkout when it was Laimbeer’s idea. i think you can read in between the lines.
@@markjackson6431 the difference is Celtics did it while playing away and escorted by the police. Pistons did it at their home court, on their own initiative. They did not want to shake hands and left, they have no excuse.
Arguably the top 4 players in the world are on other teams (Shai, Giannis, Luka, Jokic), the Dream Team had all the best players and no one outside of the US was even close to that level in 1992. The 92 Dream Team will never be replicated because the gap between the US and the rest of the world was enormous. This current Olympic team will most likely win, but there is a 10-20% chance they can lose to Germany, Serbia, or Canada on any given day.
Or... Maybe this team IS better than the dream team. Maybe they're on the same level. But, we won't ever know because no one can EVER hope to reach the Dream Team's dominance because the level of competition in terms of the international players was so much less than now.
@@OliverGuiterman and you can thank the high international competition to the 1992 Dream Team. They globalized the game in Barcelona...greats like Tony Parker, the Gasol brothers, Dirk, etc etc took interest in the game after watching.
Not gone lie, coming from a younger fan you’re so unbiased I appreciate it. I was expecting you to ride hard for the dream team and say they would win but you really just dispelled some misinformation and actually said let’s wait and see how the avengers actually do and that the convo has a lot of variables besides “this guy is old” or “competition differences”. Made me excited and hopeful for us to take gold
Great video, Jonny! Like you, I am annoyed by the media's distorted arguments against the 92 Dream Team and how so many have felt like they need to tear down the 92 Dream Team (and other players from the 80s, 90s, and before) to boost the 2024 team and current NBA players. I think that the 92 or 96 Team is the greatest team ever, but I also think there is much to appreciate and like about the 2024 team (and today's NBA) without putting down past teams and players. The narrative against Magic and Larry (and omission of Charles) is especially infuriating. Great video again. Have a great day :)
Thank you, Jonny. This video was very insightful and presented well. I especially appreciate you clearing up the notion of Magic Johnson being "washed" due to his early retirement.
Thank you for the Magic Johnson point. He was pushed out of the league due to the pressure and stigma of having a disease few really understood at the time not because he was old and declining. Colin ciwherd always sounds like he gets his takes off of mene sites on facebook.
The "Iron Curtain" prevented players from Eastern Europe from playing in the NBA. The satellite states of the Soviet Union started to break away in the late 80's paving the way for players in those countries to be open to playing in the NBA. Many would be drafted, but would take time for them to even make it over to the States. There were dozens of legendary players that never really got a chance to play in the NBA for this reason. Toni Kukoc for example possessed all of the talent and skill of Luka Doncic or Nikola Jokic, but was taller than Luka and more athletic than either of them, yet was a bench player for the Bulls and never made an Allstar team. His game would be tailor made for today's NBA. Drazen Petrovic would blow the minds of fans if he played today. He was a shooting extraordinaire. Reggie Miller said he had the fastest release he ever saw, faster than Curry. Don't buy the nonsense pushed by guys like Nick Wright and Colin Cowherd. Their understanding of basketball lacks historical context and is ridiculously skewed. I suspect money is a large factor in their bias.
This applied to all team sports. In football (soccer) there were no players from Eastern Europe, Africa, or Asia in England, Spain, or Italy (where the best leagues were) but now you can find dozens of them in under 20 teams of clubs in these countries. The players haven't got more talented, but the world simply got smaller.
Arvydas Sabonis is perhaps the greatest basketball player ever, but American fans don't know because they tend to only watch American basketball. They don't know the old USSR players like Sergei Belov or Vladimir Tkachenko. When Sabonis was in the NBA and overweight and held together with duct tape and toothpicks, he was still handling a healthy prime Shaq.
@@elonmusksellssnakeoil1744 Sabonis was definetly one of the greatest players ever, but NOT the greatest. That title belongs to Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
@@firas.alhamdani and it was a good thing that players stayed in their countries. Today we have a fcked up world where a couple of countries get all the talented players. The age limit for playing abroad that existed during the cold war was a wonderful thing and it should be implemented today, but of course there is no chance of that happening today as it goes against the interests of the mega rich. Also, one of the main reasons why there were no foreign NBA players was that NBA players weren't allowed to play for their national teams and for players from all around the world that was a big deal. Dražen Dalipagić could have been one of the first great foreign NBA players but he declined playing in the NBA because he wouldn't be allowed to play in Eurobasket, FIBA world cup and the Olympics.
This fake debate is laughable & simply created to keep current players topical for the sake of having a discussion that shouldn't exist. Farces like this were not a thing before social media. Today's media creates content like this to stroke themselves by maintaining favor for current players.
so true, as soon as Lebron retires they will find another player to add to the GOAT debate as the last thing the want is for it do about Kareem, Jordan, James etc without a current player involved
@@deandreray3500 the 1992 had super prime MICHAEL JORDAN !! And Barkley, EWING, Robinson and Malone at their pick. O’neal was a beast, but he was Orlando’s Shaq. Any team with a prime Jordan, And Magic just leaving his is almost impossible to beat
@@deandreray3500 It is difficult to compare the 1992 and 1996 teams, since five players were on both. Yes, the 1996 team had Hakeem and Shaq, the best center trio in history. But they didn't have Jordan or Magic. And as much as people want to dismiss Bird, he did play 18 mpg. I: Jordan, Magic, Bird, Clyde, Ewing, Mullins, [Laettner] III: Hakeem, Shaq, Grant, Penny, Reggie, Mitch, Gary
"Hi.... I spend all my time trying to convince everyone that THIS is the greatest time in history. Everything RIGHT NOW must be the best! That means I am the best too! If I don't feel that I am a part of the greatest everything under the Sun... how will I feel special? How will I justify my weak, boring, whiny existence?"
The mainstream sports media constantly disrespects the legends. Honestly, the Dream Team is not overhyped - they’re in contextualizad with great reverence. Never had the world seen a collection of Hall of Famers at that time. 2024 may ring true if this US teams wins but we can’t be disrespectful to the past to push an agenda that may fall flat on its face. We need to learn respect.
you had, -the GOAT -2 basketball eternal icon, the best player awards in both ECF and WCF being named after them -3rd most scoring leader -Top assist and steal leader -6 different MVP winner, bunch of rings and all of them included on HoF without mentioning their Dream Team inducted (yeah, Christian Laettner is in college Hall of Fame). until all the players in currents team had finish their career and we had the clear view of it, the OG Dream Team still the greatest team ever assembled.
While this is true…none of those things were true AT that time. Credited a team with the players did AFTER the fact is some weird hindsight revisionist bullshit. This team was amazing. Probably the greatest team ever assembled. Both in hindsight, and at the time. But let’s not make it out to be even more than it was.
The 1992 was my favorite. No team had a chance after they started playing like a team. By far a more dominant team, way better attitude and star power. The 2024 team won't be famous a few years from now, and I don't care if they win the gold or not. The 80s and 90s were more fun to watch, and the players worked harder. Thanks for the great content.
I think its hard to call this the greatest team ever assembled when theyre all from a league where the debated top 3 guys are foreign players. Not saying the 2024 team is or isnt the best, but its not as clear cut as people make it seem.
Here's the question that I don't see anyone asking. How is it that the sports media goes out of its way to convince everyone that the current stars today are better than the players of the past, while _simultaneously_ trying to convince everyone that the best player among the current stars on Team USA is a player who was drafted over 20 years ago? Make it make sense.
Here's the thing... It undermines the argument -- for both the USA and international teams -- when you point out how much more skilled the world is, but it's 39 year old LeBron that has to bail out the USA team in an Exhibition game. If the game and the players keep getting better and better, then why is it the old guy (yeah, he's special, but he's the old guy) the one rescuing them? Why would the stacked team even have a close game with an international team with far fewer NBA level players?
Exactly, if Lebron was the best player in the world in 2006 and basketball is so much better now than 20 years ago then why is 40 years old Lebron saving the US team?
I really appreciate you putting time and effort into research. It's just gross how the LeMedia just doesn't stop the lies, it's exhausting reading these guys lies for me, I would assume they'd get tired of spewing them at some point. Also can they make up their mind about Pippen? is he the greatest player ever that never gets any credit or a bum who ain't better than Jayson Tatum???
Pippen is what these so called 'analysts', or more like talking heads, need him to be. Pippen is great when they are talking about the 90s NBA so they can try to push down Michael Jordan. But when talking about the Dream Team they can claim he was bad.
This argument is ridiculous! In my opinion, the 1992 Dream Team is unequivocally the greatest basketball team ever assembled. The impact they had on the sport is profound and far-reaching. Not only did they dominate their competition, but they also revolutionized international basketball. Their unmatched skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship set a new standard for excellence. The impression they left on fans and players alike, and the significant changes they brought to the global perception of basketball, are undeniable.
As italian, I can easily state 1992 Dream Team is greatest team ever assembled in ALL SPORTS. That was the golden age of basketball, the heroes era. Sorry for this generation, but it is what it is. Now players seem more technical, but it's faulse: they may have more skills, but not more technic, which is different from skills. On the contrary, in the past there was much more attention to the fundamentals. The record of consecutive 3s is not Curry's, but still Hodge's .... Jordan's gregarious at Bulls, that made the first 19 attempts in 1991 ASG shootout. After these 2024 Olympics, there mustn't be duscussion anymore ..... two narrow wins in the semi and in the final .... and a -17 with Serbia. Ridiculous. Someone should remember that 1992 team won every game by an average gap of ...44 points!! ....and 33 points in the Final, with Croatia. And they didn't train: they used to play golf during the day and cards during the night. While this 2024 team have been very concentrated and motivated (which is good, don't misunderstand me) And stop with the narrative that now european national teams are stronger because there are many european players in the Nba.... Yugoslavia in the late 80s-1990 would eat any other european team of the last 30 years !! 1992 Croatia team (with Petrovic, Kukoc, and Radja all in their prime, and the 2,18 m Vrankovic) would destroy this 2024 France team! 1992 Dream Team would eat alive this 2024 one!! Magic is the 2nd best player ever, and he easily eat on Curry's head. Pippen would lockdown Durant and Rodman would do the same with Lebron, while Jordan used to score 40-50 against Rodman's Pistons, free of hit him. Between Larry and KD only who saw basketball only on videogames can pick up KD Not to mention Robinson, Barkley, Drexler, Stockton, Malone, Ewing, Mullin ...... I just bately mentioned Michael for mercy..... People don't have idea 😌 Basketball, and sports in general, is not the equation: athleticism+skills There's something else that we've missed in the recent decades ...in all sports. That's that "it" about Phil Jackson used to talk
People totally disrespect The 1996 USA squad with Shaq,Grant Hill,Reggie Miler,Gary Peyton,Penny Hardaway and Hakeem they had more players in their prime and a mix of others from the 92 squad!!!!
What makes me like your channel so much is that you does not pick one side. Sure, you glorified the 90s and 80s, but it is not like you make the current era look bad. And by glorifying, i meant giving the 80s and 90s a shout out without being over the limit. Like you said in one of your recent videos, most fans nowadays pick one side and decided to ignore the other but you sir, is different. I appreciate that ❤
We've witnessed the mainstream media diss each player of this generation. Now they have to diss the older generation to prop up the very generation they heavily criticize.
The Americans had the best Team ever in the world and they dissrespect them. Crazy. For the current Team I have no words as an European. They dominate nothing. Like Noah Lyles says " the world champion of what??"
What all these “analysts” seem to ignore is that Magic could’ve easily played 5-6 more years had he not been forced to retire. Not to mention the Dream Team had so much depth they didn’t have to rely on one player to help them win and had two of the best facilitators in NBA history.
lol exactly..i dont understand how so many people think that over dribbling and jumping higher automatically equates to being a "better basketball" player 😂. Kobe and Jordan and alot of older players never had to over dribble to get to their spots and look how they turned out.
I tell people every Era is better in they own way. If you want to watch beautiful ball movement look up some games from the 50s. All they did was pass and cut and run around screens. It's so beautiful!!!
@@anthonyhernandez2111because a lot of the people who like the rhetoric never played the game they cant appreciate easy basketball with ball movement they rather watch someone dribble it 21 times just to jack up some dumb off balance shot
Another thing to consider is the physicality of the era of the Dream Team that lines up far better with the Olympic rules than the NBA game of today. I think it's really sad they work up these narratives to achieve views instead of simply focusing on the actual team and the challenges they are going to face in the games. Still, as much as I'd love to rag on the media for doing this, they wouldn't bother if it didn't work. In answer to the questions, I don't think the Dream Team was overhyped at that time it was the most amazing gathering of talent for the Olympics ever and they won gold. I don't think anyone could say they underachieved. When it comes to this years team, they should win but I don't consider it a given and it definitely was considered a given for the Dream Team.
The original Dream Team is NOT overrated. They’ve simply become forgotten. Guys like CC have taken that moment in history for granted and it shows. It’s painful, frankly.
They haven't become forgotten. There are sports entertainers, who are instructed to endorse LeBron over MJ, so they are forced to undermine the original Dream Team in any way they can.
No doubt about it. There is only one Dream Team. That team is the greatest team ever assembled and would beat any other team any day. That team is the American National Team for Barcelona 92. End of story.
I hear South Sudan wants a rematch. Nobody in 92 wanted the dream team to humiliate them in front of the world. Barkley ripped everybody. He wanted to send a message to Bobby Knight for not letting him on the 84 Gold team, he was #13, and cut. One tough guy elbowed Robinson a couple times. Barkley came off the bench. And made a point to literally run him over in the lane, then taunted him. MJ loved it.
Having NBA players in your roadster doesn't mean your country has better competition when most of these players are bench or role players. This is a really dumb argument. A lot of countries had NBA talent back them too, the NBA was not looking out there to much.
Agreed 100000%, Jonny. It’s sad the amount of disrespect the 92 team gets. Nick Wrong should just never be allowed near a mic or a camera again… but then again those Klutch checks must be nice so I can’t get too worked up about his stupidity. Great video!
The Dream Team is head and shoulders above everyone else for the simple fact that those players were all extremely well educated basketball players. Watch how they react to whatever scheme was thrown at them. They had ZERO problems adjusting.
I mean the level of competition was much much much lower, so it’s hard to make that case. They were just so good and so dominant it wouldn’t have mattered. The game is way more global now. There’s way more players outside the states. In 1992, the dream team faced 9 NBA players. That’s it.
@@andrewarnold9751 Why do y'all feel the urge to repeat some random graphics thrown around on social media? Yes there are more NBA players from other countries now, but that doesn't only mean that international bball has gotten better. It can also mean that it's "easier" (still hard as hell) to make the NBA and that the NBA overall is worse than it was. Yes, the world has caught up, no doubt about it, but teams like Croatia were great and they still got beat badly by the Dream Team. Bonus question: how many NBA players were on the Greece roster that beat Team USA? 😉
@@airtime23you just claimed the world HAS caught up, which completely contradicts what you said in the previous sentence Also. This isn’t a quiz, and you haven’t even asked an initial question, so there’s no irrelevant “bonus question” allowed.
Did you say Croatia was great? There three best players would all have good NBA careers, that consisted of no all stars. And that was the hardest competition, by far. That proves my point, it doesn’t go again it.
@@andrewarnold9751 So Petro and Kukoc were not great players? And why does everybody think a great team is a collection of All Stars? It's not! And again: how many NBA All Stars did Greece have? Hoe many All Stars are on the World Champs Germany? Who besidef SGA is an All Star on Canada. Ah and I forgot about South Sudan who almost beat the US...how many All Stars? By the way I believe the original Dream Team (and also DT2 and DT3) would not have had any problems with these teams. No way they struggle like that against a team led by Wenyen Gabriel (with all due respect).
A big thing people tend to forget is that the dream team only faced like 9 NBA players on other teams, this team will face 60 something. The competition these days is sooooooo much stronger.
The problem with that argument is that the reason non Americans weren't playing in the NBA has very little to do with how skilled they were. It is too late to write a lengthy comment but the core reasons are political, players weren't allowed to play abroad before they would reach certain age (this age limit varied from time to time and from country to country), NBA players weren't allowed to play in FIBA competitions which was a big deal for non American players and the salaries of NBA players weren't that much better than salaries in the rest of the world and the NBA also wasn't that eager to have foreign players, especially not from enemy countries. It was a different time, a different political era.
The dream team only played 9 nba players that Olympics and none of them were even in the mvp conversation. This team has fsced 61 nba players including an nba mvp, 2 nba champs,the head of the best young team in the nba (sga). And that’s not including the chance of them having to play Greece and France
4:35 this is why I tell people that don’t get carried away about Michael Jordan destroying the Lakers in the championship. The Lakers were shorthanded, and if you give me a bet of a healthy Lakers versus that Chicago Bulls team, I would say the Lakers will beat them . Now, Johnny has opened up another can of debate that has nothing to do with comparing 2024 to 1990s. It was comparing the team of the 80s to the dynasty of the 90s.
This is a mandate not of Colin Cowher or Nick Wright. This is coming from the EPA who needs people to actually pay attention to this. Who has the Olympics?
You Americans just have no clue how good European basketball was in the 80s and 90s. The Euroleague back than was tough. No offense but you guys have just recently discovered that basketball is played in Europe too as well as other places while we were following NBA in that time European basketball back then was good. Real good It's just that the Dream team was so much better I guarantee you that if you time travel this USA 2024 team to 1990, they probably would win but not by 20, 30 or 40 points but 5 or 10 points max I have eyes and see as well as I'm 54 years old so I have seen 80s and 90s basketball and trust me, this 2024 team is nowhere close to the 1992 team Sorry to shatter your dreams
Exactly. The disrespect to European and South American legends is huge and it comes out of ignorance. Americans of all generations are ignorant but the old ones have at least watched the US players of the 1980s and 1990s for themselves so they can't that easily be convinced that those players were trash. Dražen Petrović, Oscar Schmidt and Arvydas Sabonis were all better players than anyone on today's South Sudan, Australian or German team. That's the (for some Americans) harsh truth.
I watched every game of the 1992 Olympics live on TV. Yes, the game itself was different, but every team played the same game, so the chances were even. And the competition was top-notch. Croatia and Lithuania were great, even on an NBA level. Even Brazil, CIS, and others played well. Many games were tough and evenly matched. But Dream Team beat everyone by a 40-point margin. The current team almost lost to Germany and Sudan and played awfully. They aren't a team yet. I tought that "almost" lost to Sudan - will be similar wake up call, as lost pick up with younglings ;-) was for DT. But few days later Gerrys almost beat them up... And among this young "stars" Old Man is the best player.... No , God NO! There is no comparasion...
@@JimBrave-ri1oc Back when players took pride in representing their countries, yes, it used to be like that, players viewed FIBA world cup and the Olympics as more serious and more important than the NBA or Euroleague or whatever league they played in.
Basketball is a product, the media is the marketing, they have to tear down the past to make the product seem better. Because the product itself can't stand on its own merit.
Jordan and Pippen locked down future teammate 23 year old Toni Kukoc like we have never seen, Kukoc was considered the best player in Europe at the time, best player outside the NBA by some.
You probably heard that in one of the movies about the dream team, Kukoč being the best player playing in Europe isn't quite true, Oscar Schmidt was better than him. If you meant Kukoč was the best European player then that's not quite true either as Arvydas Sabonis and Dražen Petrović were better than him (those two were already in the NBA by the year 1992). In either case Kukoč was one of the best players playing in Europe in 1992 and one of the best players playing outside of the NBA and he was one of the best European players at the time. Kukoč, Petrović, Sabonis, Oscar Schmidt would have no problem playing in today's NBA, nor would Vlade Divac and Predrag Danilović have any problems playing in today's NBA but those last two are Serbians, they were under UN sanctions in 1992 so they weren't able to participate in the Olympics.
I will consider the 2024 dream team if they prove a point in the olympics. Like winning every game with 20+ points above. That i will consider them 2nd best dream team and 3rd 1996. But for now the 1992 is 1st and 1996 2nd in my list.
I can't believe Nick Wright is using Johnson's retirement announcement due to HIV as an argument that he wasn't that good anymore. This guy knows no limits.
Larry Bird had a garbage broken back at age 35 and STILL played harder than any of these bums today! With his bad back, in his final season, Larry Bird averaged more rebounds per game than LeBron ever did in a single season! And LeBron compared to Magic is a fking JOKE. LeBron’s career assist/turnover ratio is 7.4/3.5…… that isn’t even close to Magic Johnson. What a joke.
@@iamsuperior4087 Magic was always pass-first, he actually made his teammates better. LeBron has played 500 more games than Magic, and still is only about 800 asts ahead. Of course LeBron is also about 1500 turnovers ahead.
@@DemonKingBadgeryeah and LeBron has almost 23,000 more career points than magic. Let’s stop acting like LeBron isn’t an all time passer because of turnovers. Volume scorers get turnovers from many others situations other than passing the ball. Magic took 13 shots/game and never had to had the burden of carrying an offense with scoring and playmaking like LeBron has.
I'm a big fan of the current USA team, but I also thought it was ridiculous when they dismissed Magic and didn't even talk about Barkley. Why do these commentators feel like they need to lie and hide the truth?
You should have also mentioned the inside presence of Robinson and Ewing who IMO would dominate the 24 team inside they were big and athletic compared to Embid and Davis who can shoot better but are softer. I think that is the strength of the Dream team is their inside presence. You don’t need the Admiral and Ewing would need to shoot the ball just play defense and protect the rim. Get put backs and secure rebounds. The Dream Team was the most well balanced team in history with no weakness anywhere. I don’t believe that Tatum is better than Pippen BTW, and I’m not even a Pippen fan.
The Dream Team is not over hyped. The 2024 team is. The main problem with current narrative is that MJ, the GOAT, is on the Dream Team. That alone places the Dream Team FAR AHEAD of the of this current iteration of Team USA Basketball.
Still better than Lebron who lost 6 finals and had two 3rd place finishes with team USA after having more help than any player in the history of the nba
@@1vaultdweller Orlando Woolridge, Dave Corzine, John Paxson, Gene Banks…that’ll get ya past 60-win 1st Rd opponents in 3 straight postseasons. Bird/McHale/Parish/DJ…Moncrief/Cummings/Pressey/Pierce…all in their primes. Yeah, that makes sense. CHI made the playoffs MJ’s first two seasons, unlike CLE Lebron’s first 2 seasons. MJ in his first 5 years matched up with 8 playoff teams who averaged 57 wins. Lebron in his first 5 years matched up with 8 playoff teams who averaged 51 wins.
@@margarinetaintedgreen8140next someone could name a whole bunch of players Lebron drag to the finals. I swear you people move the goal post to fit pointless narrative. On both sides
I'm from Germany and I was 7 years old 1992, but I can still remember the Dream Team, the excitement, the whole world saw what a beautiful game basketball is. This team did much more for basketball than any other thing ever!
92 MJ is prime MJ. Lebron right now is well old. This isn't even a comparison as to what team is better. It's a joke. Disney needs to make money, they market lies to make money.
Dream Team was loaded with a bunch of guys who were no nonsense dogs and winners and you could see it in their mindset. This current team has number of primadonnas on it, lead by the ultimate one who takes plays off, hence the reason he at this age is not better than Magic was then. Magic was win first, the other guy in my opinion currently is media attention and media control first, winning third if at all. People could point out his recent heroics but he does this with Lakers when we play bad teams. He shows out. Then he'll either sits against a really good team or or go out of his way to put up numbers that had no actual impact on the game. This is why he's in some games even when they've long been determined.
People can say whatever they want but at the end of the day there’s this. Players with championships. Dream Team - 23🏆 Championships Team USA 24 - 15 🏆 Championships Just saying 🤷♂️ .4 players on the 92 team have more championships 🏆than the 24 team COMBINED. MJ🐐, Magic, Bird & D Robinson = 16🏆
Most of the recent Olympic teams have been heavy on players from deep in the playoffs and the finals because they are still conditioned. Many better players in the league are on vacation and don't want to come back and risk injury. So, naturally the recent teams would feature fewer championship holders since only one team can win in a given year.
AMEN!!! THANK YOU!! I'm sooooo tired of the comparison. What no one seems to understand is that the 92' dream team were DAWGS on defense! Absolute DAWGS!! The other thing is that the Croatian team if it had been combined with Serbia (Yugoslavia) MIGHT have hung with Dream Team. And Russia was GOOD. Also no one talks about how good the front is court is Robinson vs Bam?!?
Why would you compare Robinson to Bam? For some false narrative, that this very video is trying to dispel? AD is better than Robinson. And so should Embiid be, but he's played like trash so far for some reason.
That smug guy in a pink shirt saying with a smug face that "Jayson Tatum is better than Scottie Pippen" and "Anthony Davis is MUCH better than Patrick Ewing" is just so dumb, he does not deserve an answer. Obviously the current US team is stacked, but there is no comparing it to the 92 Dream Team. I'm French, I love basketball. This year we, but much more Canada or Germany or Serbia, have real chances to beat Team USA. South Sudan, Germany, Canada already posed big issues to this team. In 1992, nobody posed any problem to the Dream Team. Obviously, you can argue that today's other teams are way better than before 1992 (though the Soviet and Yugo teams were great), but that's because the Dream Team happened! They might have been the most transformative team in any sports!
The point is that in 1992 the olympics were not that competitive, the Dream Team was really stacked and especially in comparison with the competition. You cannot expect in these days, the domination on the international level (like winning by 30 points on average). If you don't count Joel Embiid 5 of the last 6 NBA MVPs are non-Americans. The domination on the international level in 1992 adds alot to the legacy of the Dream Team which cannot be matched ever again due to the fact the international level of play keeps increasing.
The point is that international players today look better only because the NBA is garbage. SGA would never be a starter on any of the good 80s teams. Of all the players today only Jokic, Curry, Kawhi and possibly Luka would have a chance of being stars.. The rest, including KD and LeBron are too stupid and mentally weak to adjust to the differences between today's game and the game back then.
The fact that foreign players are so dominant in the higher echelon of the NBA is partly because American players in the NBA can't keep up. Nobody today is as good as Magic or Bird, let alone Jordan.
@@tykemorris Anthony Davis is as good Magic or Bird were skill-wise. AD is probably more injury-prone than Bird. LeBron, Steph and KD are at least as good as Bird was in 1992.
@@cooljp1531 "SGA would never be a starter on any of the good 80s teams." SGA would be a top-5 player in the league in the 80's. "The rest, including KD and LeBron are too stupid and mentally weak to adjust to the differences between today's game and the game back then." KD and LeBron are among the most intelligent players. Especially LeBron would likely play better in the more physical 80's era, than he plays today. Change your nickname.
@@penkima4923 LeBron is an imbecile who should play in the special Olympics and LeBron fans know nothing about basketball. You have Luka and Jokic dominating the league and they are like Larry Bird without an arm and a leg, SGA would be one of the best in the 80s?? GTF out of here. Guy couldn't play for my high school LeBron was made to look like an idiot by Jason Terry in 2011 finals. That is your here?
Except LeBron, Steph and KD are all performing better at advanced ages than Magic and Bird. Magic wasn't even in the league in 1992 and Bird was a shell of himself due to back injuries
Yes, the idea that Bird would get burned on defense but those three aren't is just silly. None of them have the stamina or health to defend world class talent night after night, it's just an unfortunate fact of aging. Also, Anthony Davis has the body of a 40 year old.
@@BBallGOATMagic was probably the second best player in the world while retired in 92. Bird was still a damn good player. I think you are overlooking how much easier current rules and spacing make things for these aging players. LeBron can literally just chuck threes, drive down open lanes and occasionally try on defense and still put up great numbers. He would not be able to play like that in 92.
@@BBallGOATLebron, Steph, and KD also play zero defense these days. Relatively speaking. You are also not comparing "points scored" to NBA pacing. If you want to use stats without context, Luka Doncic performs better than Prime Lebron his first 6 years. And stats prove it. There is no comparison. Luka averages more points, rebounds, steals than prime Lebron. Literally. Thats what stats without context get you.
@@BBallGOATThis false narrative that Magic was a shell of his former self needs to stop. Magic finished 2nd in MVP voting in 1991 and was probably the 2nd best player in the world at that time, only behind a prime Jordan. He quit because of HIV, not because he was "washed". Stop lying!!! Even Bird dealing with a broken back still averaged 20 PPG, nearly 10 RPG, and almost 7 APG in 1991. Your comment proves you're an ignorant uneducated casual.
People talk about 1992 as if it was a century ago. Can anyone tell me how today players got more talented than guys like MJ, Magic, Barkley, Robinson, Malone, Stockton, Pippen, etc.? Has there been a gene mutation or new skills developed? In fact, all of current players lack character and mental toughness. This may have to do with growing up with social media.
Klutch sports propaganda has taken over mainstream sports media. We need to you tell us the truth Jonny. 92 team was the best, and 96 team is very close imo.
I am convinced some of these guys think Magic and Bird are the same age because they came into the league together so they just think to themselves when they see Magic's knee wraps that he was old and washed up when he was almost 3 years younger than Bird.
defense. With MJ and Magic on anyone's team, and don't forget Barkley, they would still be unstoppable. Mullin on the three. Oh my. And Malone and Stockton coming off the bench??? are you kidding me? what do you think?
It is in NBA interest to make you believe players are much better now than before in order to sell the product. The truth is the 1992 competition was much better than the media wants you to think.
@@penkima4923 exactly. Americans are more prone to it as we, Europeans, know how good our old players were and therefore we know how good the dream team had to be to beat everyone by 30+ points difference
Barkley was the best player on the dream team. Other teams feared him. Dream team bench of: Stockton Drexler Pippen Malone Robinson Would give the current USA team a run.
I love how history just glosses over david robinson like he was just some throw in player and not a complete unit who was only dwarfted by shaq. Whos guarding d.robinson? Bam? A.Davis? Nope and nope.
Him getting convincingly beat by Hakeem in 95 then getting injured and being #2 to Duncan damaged his legacy in the eyes of casuals and people who don't know much about the time he played. Phenomenal player and Giannis is basically his modern equivalent with better ball handling but not as good defense. The Admiral would absolutely dominate today's game and arguably be better with less emphasis on post play.
@@GlenDeaton Didn't say AD is better than Dwight. I said AD is better than Ewing. And there's a gap. Ewing is more of a college legend, but he wasn't good enough to be a great NBA legend.
![Gunna - HIM ALL ALONG [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w7Wf0h1Q8a4/mqdefault.jpg)
2 Questions: Is the 92 Dream Team overhyped? Will the 2024 USA team win the Gold?
Nuh uh
Who cares? They voted Bron the best player in that team. Like anyone gives a $hit about the medals.
A little overhyped and 24 team will win gold. They’re just figuring things out
It’s not that they’re over hyped it’s that the competition they faced doesn’t compare to the talent coming from other countries today.
Imo USA will win gold?, but anything can happen . Also even as a lebron fan this team is not better than the dream team
92: “I don’t know anything about Angola, but they in trouble.”
24: “I don’t know anything about South Sudan, but - holy shit we losing in the last minute!”
Exhibition vs normal game, and also competition level.
That’s not to say it’s not worth pointing out, but it’s not what you’re attempting to say
Who's the best player on angola?just a plumber?😂😂😂
5 vs 61
Nba Olympic plays that in itself ends it all
Bro South Sudan would have been the dream team of 1992 if they faced that competition too
@@patrick05Morgan facts
It doesn't matter who is "better," or who would win. The Dream Team was The Dream Team. They changed the basketball world. The fact that there are now so many international players in the NBA today can be directly traced to the superstars of that team. No one else will ever change basketball the way did because they already did it.
Nah. The fact that there are now so many international players in the NBA today can be directly traced to the *END OF THE COLD WAR* and *GLOBALIZATION TAKING OVER*
It kind of does tho when you’re comparing the two… this is basketball. Why are we trying to ignore the actual basketball being played to talk about global impact?
I agree that the dream team helped spread basketball globally, which has resulted in more resources being put towards basketball in foreign countries. However, that doesn’t make the team better at basketball at the end of the day.
@@michaelgieseler2799 To talk the actual basketball:
* Take the 2024 team to 1992, the 1992 team wins.
* Bring the 1992 team to 2024, the 2024 team wins.
And every time we mention how "washed up" Bird was because of his back, let's mention how washed up KD is because of his calf. The Supreme Team already had to send one guy home, and they got a player to take the "Christian Laettner role: happily sit on the bench". [If I'm a fan of any team, it's the Celtics, so I'm only half joking.]. And Embiid is hobbled, the Dream Team did not have a second player unable to deliver peak performance.
Only three players on the Dream Team had won the MVP as of 1992, three times each. And they were the only active players with MVPs. The Supreme Team has four MVPs, with four, two, one, and one.
Player for player, ranking the teams will come down to ear preference, not basketball ability.
@@UnconventionalReasoning KD averaged 27 ppg last year on 52-41-86 shooting splits while playing 75 of 82 games at 35. Bird averaged 20 ppg on 47-40-93 shooting splits while playing only 45 games at 35. Let’s not be dumb and act like KD is the same as bird who’s career was over at KD’s age…
Sure, Joel is hobbled, but you can’t act like everyone from 92 performed top tier. Look at MJ who averaged 15 ppg on 14 shots/game with 45-21-68 shooting splits… yeah, MJ wasn’t hobbled, but he might as well be underperforming like that lol
@@michaelgieseler2799 None of what you said matters because even though KD shoots the way he does (and he's one of my fav. players) the era that they play in makes scoring much easier.
People act like Mullin wasn't dropping 27 a game and finishing in the top 5 of MVP voting in the 93 season. That's whats trippy to me.
Most people don’t know that tbh. You gotta either be old enough to have seen him, or you gotta be a big basketball nerd to know those details. A lot of casual fans get involved in the debate, which is why stuff like that gets left out.
That's the dumbes thing about rewriting history. Chris Mullin was a franchise player for over a half a decade. Pippen was that for one season. Next year his team was sub .500. People look at history and just look at rings. Mullin was amazing in Golden State.
@@jonnyarnett I saw him play, he was an assassin from long range. Another "plumber" that J.J. Redick like to talk about when referring to the 90's
Most people don't know this because it isn't true... Mullin didn't get a single vote in the '93 season.
I mean, Chris Mullin was great. But he never dropped 27 a night or was in the top 5 in MVP voting. There’s no need to exaggerate; he was an absolute snoring machine. (Definitely more than just a shooter)
I’m not even American, but the dream team made everyone all over the world fall in love with basketball. It is the without a doubt the greatest team ever assembled in the history of sports.
I live in a country with long basketball history, we didn't care about the dream team, but I don't like how they are disrespecting European and South American basketball players from the past in order to prop up the current players. They need to say Oscar Schmidt, Dražen Petrović, Arvydas Sabonis were dog shit and by extension the players that they dominated were even bigger dog shit in order to prop up their favorite players of the present and I am not cool with that.
@@DipsAndPushups What are you babbling about?
My personal opinion, the Dream Team wanted to make a statement every game, and they did. They were the most competitive group of athletes ever assembled for a single team, and the stories of their intra squad scrimmages are legendary. The current team is very talented…
1996 2008 2024 could all beat the dream team especially if its just a one game series.
@@andrewcook1246 😂
@@andrewcook1246people totally disregard the 1996 squad it’s insane only young people
@@deandreray3500 Hakeem, Shaq and Robinson would murder the lineup of Ewing and Robinson. Plus they had Penny, Grant, Payton and half the 92 dream team.
@@Poetryinnonmotion Sorry bruv. Curry putting Johnson on skates and the guards will be raining 3's. The SF lineup of Tatum, Bron, KD wil overwhelm Pippen and older Bird. AD, Bam and Embiid can hold their own against Ewing, Barkley and Robinson.
1996 had Hakeem, Shaq plus Penny, Grant and half the original dream team and 2008 had a prime Kobe, Bron, Wade and Howard.
No one is beating the other by more than 20pts though
All they do is lie for attention. I miss the glory days of ESPN
What do you mean they've always done that
They always sucked, it was just less noticeable when there were no alternatives
The people mentioned are both fox anchors.
@@KingRivera-qg8lj It's the Skip Bayless sensationalism over reality. People tuned in to see what other crazy stuff the dude would come up with next, and to see what he had to say after things didn't pan out.
Just shows how they treat audiences including in politicsl commentaries.
Why is the stupid media still comparing the dream team with the current US team as they did in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020? lol 😂 they don’t have anything good to talk about, just wasting their energy on same cliche of comparing teams from different era sports talk.
because the current on-court product is garbage.
@@jasonpeng6767 I get that, however it’s also a lazy excuse for the media to say whatever they want just for clickbait views on opinions.
@@jasonpeng6767this
@@cadecrusader No one really wants to listen to them talk about regular stuff they want that controversial crap that will get them views. Pinning the nba fans against eachother is the best way to keep them engaged. Most people will only listen to former/current players talk about basketball, not these guys like Nick Wrong or SAS unless they're bringing up topics for click bait.
92 dream team has mj , and he’s widely considered the goat . He’s the standard . All media makes views and $$ off mj.
Cowherd and Wright doing what they do best. Teaching people today how to talk negative about past players
They are disgusting for doing that and they don't deserve to be on television for that.
That’s so on point.
Context matters to people who actually know basketball & played the sport at a high level. Context doesn’t matter for simple minded casuals whose basketball knowledge comes from nostalgia & bias.
Stick to your simple minded casual hate channels
@@fredbates4452 Damn straight.
@@LL-zm9go People who are disrespectful towards the players of the past are the simple minded casuals. Also, being a professional basketball player does not mean you have good takes about basketball. In fact, NBA players often have the worst takes.
The ones disrespecting past players are the real haters. Prime MJ would easily average over 40 today on above average league efficiency. Players that media calls bums that played against the dream team such as Oscar Schmidt, Dražen Petrović and Arvydas Sabonis would all average over 25ppg on above average efficiency in today's NBA.
Biggest what ifs in basketball
What if Magic Johnson kept his Magic Johnson in his pants?
What if Larry Bird paid someone to shovel his mom’s driveway?
He wouldn’t have been Larry Bird. It’s old school.
I don't think much would have changed. I think the Bulls and Rockets continue to win the next 7 titles. Worthy dropped down to 15 points per game after Magic retired and retired at 32. Vlade Divac was still very inconsistent and Sam Perkins went from being a very good third option to a spot up 3 point shooter coming off of the bench by the time he made it to Seattle a year and a half later. Looking at the Celtics, Reggie Lewis- their only young hope- died tragically due to his heart condition. Mchale and Parish were declining and Bird would have been declining. The Celtics and the Lakers were the favorite to win the title every year from 80 to 90. 10 years of contending is almost unheard of. Even the dominant Bullsof the 90's were not close to that. By 91 both of these teams were headed to a rebuild. All Magic and Bird sticking around for a few more years would have done is delay the inevitable for a few more years.
@@Davivd2 Maybe they get some from the Detroit.
Magic would have still been the Magic we know and love
Larry would have been himself for longer, and would probably drop a 60 that night because the guy he paid for didn’t live up to his standards
@@Davivd2 The only thing to extend the window in Magic's case would've been another star coming. Iirc Charles Barkley said in the past that him becoming a Laker almost happened and Philly pulled out at the last second. With Magic still on the roster instead of retired I imagine Jerry West would've tried harder to get it workable or perhaps even Barkley himself would've straight out demanded he get traded to LA he was a big fan of Magic, advocated for him to play in the All Star game in 92 and wore his jersey # that season to honor him after he came out he had HIV... Who knows?
At the very least a duo of Magic just at the end of his peak and Barkley at the peak of his powers is immediately a contender and the favorite to make the Finals out of the west.
Did they even mention David Robinson? I feel like that’s a major oversight as well. 😂
thanks for reminding me. omg. i forgot Malone and Stockton coming off the bench. Mind boggling. Stacked DEEP.
I got him over Ewing in this USA team in particular. Him Shaq and Hakeem was a terrifying frontcourts
@@themindgamer5084Ewing was a bit better in the Olympics. Unlike with the Knicks, with the Dream Team, Ewing could focus on defense and rebounding. On O, all the Dream Team needed from their centers were screens and spot ups, and Ewing was a bit better in those areas than the Admiral.
Robinson was DPOY and finished 3rd in MVP voting in the 91/92 season.
@@peterb4428 And Ewing outplayed him with the Dream Team. Marginally. They were role players with the Dream Team, and Ewing was a bit better in that role.
Honestly, that’s the sort of role that Ewing probably should have been playing throughout his NBA career. He was supposed to be the next Bill Russell, but for some reason, instead of putting offense-first players around him (analogues of Cousy, Heinsohn, etc.), the Knicks chose to surround Ewing with defense-first players like Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, and Doc Rivers. That forced Ewing into shouldering more of an offensive load than he probably ever should have had to, and he was never able to reach the heights he was “supposed to” as a result. Lol, the most prominent offense-first player on the Knicks during Ewing’s prime was John Starks, and SG was the one position where that was a bad idea, since the path to the Finals inevitably went through Reggie Miller and MJ every year.
The all the members of the 1992 Dream Team had a hyper-competitive edge that just isn't seen in basketball nowadays, but the true magic of that team is with so many egos involved, they actually really enjoyed playing with each other and creaming the competition. That kind of chemistry is beyond lightning in a bottle, it was a once in a lifetime phenomenon; no othe rUSA team came close to it. And people who just think it's about building an All-Star team, or argue that Isiah, Nique and Shaq should have been on that team = you've just ruined that chemistry; those 50 point wins would have been 30.
@@ergoat Preach it! You gotta let them know!
Shaq could have been on the team. And should have been over Latner if they wanted a "college kid." Throw him in for 15 minutes a game. Back when Shaq could run the floor as well as any big man alive? You think Angola was in trouble with 6'4 Barkley? Yeesh... Shaq would have went 90% from the field. Because 90% of his shots would have been dunks.
This is why I watch your videos instead of ESPN. You always give fair analysis and always explain any biased opinions you have. Best NBA channel on RUclips and it’s not close for second.
Since I'm a guy who lived through that era, I was 15 back in 1992, I can tell you for a fact, that no team has ever come so close to dominance as the Dream Team! I mean, opposing teams would take pictures before and after the games, and opposing players would approach Dream Teamers during games for autographs, jerseys, caps, and sneakers for Chrissake! I remember Arturas Carnisovas taking pictures of the Dream Team, while his Lithuanian national team was getting blown ooff the court, in an era with no internet, no social media and no smartphones! People who weren't born yet back then, or people who were too young to remember, they just missed it! What an amazing time to be growing up as a basketball fan!
fun fact: John Stockton broke a bone (or something) in his leg. and luckily it wasn’t severe enough that he’d have to be replaced. however, if he did needed to be replaced; the replacement wouldn’t have been Isiah Thomas. it would’ve been Joe Dumars.
I don't understand how the narrative of Isiah Thomas not getting selected has changed so much since 1992. Among my friends, among my Grandparents, and among talking heads at the time, it was pretty clear that Isiah Thomas wasn't selected because of his and the Detroit Pistons poor sportsmanship when walking out of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals after it was over.
If Isiah Thomas would have been selected, it would have been a HUGE controversy, since that is all the media and ANYONE who watched the NBA talked about after the 1991 NBA Finals (about two solid weeks from what I can remember at that time)! The Detroit Pistons walking out after losing the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, THAT is the reason Isiah Thomas wasn't selected, and if he had been selected I guarantee we would ALWAYS talk about him in regards to what a controversial choice of putting him on the team would have been! Sportsmanship is an important quality in an Olympian, and Isiah proved he didn't have that the year before.
@@TheXev funny how the Pistons get all the crap for the walkout when the Celtics did the same thing. funny how Isiah gets the blame for the walkout when it was Laimbeer’s idea.
i think you can read in between the lines.
@@markjackson6431 the difference is Celtics did it while playing away and escorted by the police.
Pistons did it at their home court, on their own initiative. They did not want to shake hands and left, they have no excuse.
@@bizarroeddie1 nice attempt at trying to move the goal post. so so so sad.
@@markjackson6431 i'm not trying to move anything. I'm saying it's not the same thing because it isn't.
Arguably the top 4 players in the world are on other teams (Shai, Giannis, Luka, Jokic), the Dream Team had all the best players and no one outside of the US was even close to that level in 1992. The 92 Dream Team will never be replicated because the gap between the US and the rest of the world was enormous. This current Olympic team will most likely win, but there is a 10-20% chance they can lose to Germany, Serbia, or Canada on any given day.
You make my point with your argument - this current team isn’t on the Dream Teams level
Or... Maybe this team IS better than the dream team. Maybe they're on the same level. But, we won't ever know because no one can EVER hope to reach the Dream Team's dominance because the level of competition in terms of the international players was so much less than now.
It’s on a similar level
Hakeem Olajuwon was on that level in 92, but he didn’t play against the USA.
@@OliverGuiterman and you can thank the high international competition to the 1992 Dream Team. They globalized the game in Barcelona...greats like Tony Parker, the Gasol brothers, Dirk, etc etc took interest in the game after watching.
Not gone lie, coming from a younger fan you’re so unbiased I appreciate it. I was expecting you to ride hard for the dream team and say they would win but you really just dispelled some misinformation and actually said let’s wait and see how the avengers actually do and that the convo has a lot of variables besides “this guy is old” or “competition differences”. Made me excited and hopeful for us to take gold
The truth about the 92 team... is that they had the best PG... SG... and SF to ever play the game on one team
Great video, Jonny! Like you, I am annoyed by the media's distorted arguments against the 92 Dream Team and how so many have felt like they need to tear down the 92 Dream Team (and other players from the 80s, 90s, and before) to boost the 2024 team and current NBA players. I think that the 92 or 96 Team is the greatest team ever, but I also think there is much to appreciate and like about the 2024 team (and today's NBA) without putting down past teams and players. The narrative against Magic and Larry (and omission of Charles) is especially infuriating.
Great video again. Have a great day :)
Thank you, Jonny. This video was very insightful and presented well. I especially appreciate you clearing up the notion of Magic Johnson being "washed" due to his early retirement.
A Jonny Arnett video on my birthday? What a great present!
Thank you for the Magic Johnson point. He was pushed out of the league due to the pressure and stigma of having a disease few really understood at the time not because he was old and declining. Colin ciwherd always sounds like he gets his takes off of mene sites on facebook.
Nah facts…magic was 2nd in MVP voting in 91…only player in the dream team who I would say was old and declining was bird bc of his back
The "Iron Curtain" prevented players from Eastern Europe from playing in the NBA. The satellite states of the Soviet Union started to break away in the late 80's paving the way for players in those countries to be open to playing in the NBA. Many would be drafted, but would take time for them to even make it over to the States. There were dozens of legendary players that never really got a chance to play in the NBA for this reason. Toni Kukoc for example possessed all of the talent and skill of Luka Doncic or Nikola Jokic, but was taller than Luka and more athletic than either of them, yet was a bench player for the Bulls and never made an Allstar team. His game would be tailor made for today's NBA. Drazen Petrovic would blow the minds of fans if he played today. He was a shooting extraordinaire. Reggie Miller said he had the fastest release he ever saw, faster than Curry. Don't buy the nonsense pushed by guys like Nick Wright and Colin Cowherd. Their understanding of basketball lacks historical context and is ridiculously skewed. I suspect money is a large factor in their bias.
This applied to all team sports. In football (soccer) there were no players from Eastern Europe, Africa, or Asia in England, Spain, or Italy (where the best leagues were) but now you can find dozens of them in under 20 teams of clubs in these countries. The players haven't got more talented, but the world simply got smaller.
Arvydas Sabonis is perhaps the greatest basketball player ever, but American fans don't know because they tend to only watch American basketball. They don't know the old USSR players like Sergei Belov or Vladimir Tkachenko. When Sabonis was in the NBA and overweight and held together with duct tape and toothpicks, he was still handling a healthy prime Shaq.
I think the Canadian players of the 2024 are more athletic than Steve Nash, but they aren't close to having the impact on the team that he had.
@@elonmusksellssnakeoil1744 Sabonis was definetly one of the greatest players ever, but NOT the greatest. That title belongs to Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
@@firas.alhamdani and it was a good thing that players stayed in their countries. Today we have a fcked up world where a couple of countries get all the talented players. The age limit for playing abroad that existed during the cold war was a wonderful thing and it should be implemented today, but of course there is no chance of that happening today as it goes against the interests of the mega rich. Also, one of the main reasons why there were no foreign NBA players was that NBA players weren't allowed to play for their national teams and for players from all around the world that was a big deal. Dražen Dalipagić could have been one of the first great foreign NBA players but he declined playing in the NBA because he wouldn't be allowed to play in Eurobasket, FIBA world cup and the Olympics.
This fake debate is laughable & simply created to keep current players topical for the sake of having a discussion that shouldn't exist. Farces like this were not a thing before social media. Today's media creates content like this to stroke themselves by maintaining favor for current players.
so true, as soon as Lebron retires they will find another player to add to the GOAT debate as the last thing the want is for it do about Kareem, Jordan, James etc without a current player involved
Yes because NBA is dying.
The 1992 Dream Team is used to physicality in the NBA, 2024 plays in a softer defense that's why they are having trouble adjusting to FIBA rules
1996 USA team is better than both
@@deandreray3500I need a lb. of whatever it is you’re smoking💯
@@deandreray3500 the 1992 had super prime MICHAEL JORDAN !! And Barkley, EWING, Robinson and Malone at their pick. O’neal was a beast, but he was Orlando’s Shaq. Any team with a prime Jordan, And Magic just leaving his is almost impossible to beat
Lmao I see you haven’t watched the games 🤣🤣. The USA has struggled with turnovers and 3pt shooting.
@@deandreray3500 It is difficult to compare the 1992 and 1996 teams, since five players were on both. Yes, the 1996 team had Hakeem and Shaq, the best center trio in history. But they didn't have Jordan or Magic. And as much as people want to dismiss Bird, he did play 18 mpg.
I: Jordan, Magic, Bird, Clyde, Ewing, Mullins, [Laettner]
III: Hakeem, Shaq, Grant, Penny, Reggie, Mitch, Gary
"Hi.... I spend all my time trying to convince everyone that THIS is the greatest time in history. Everything RIGHT NOW must be the best! That means I am the best too!
If I don't feel that I am a part of the greatest everything under the Sun... how will I feel special?
How will I justify my weak, boring, whiny existence?"
It really ain't that deep man 😭😭
They making news for clicks and y'all happily fall for it
😂😂😂😂👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 encore
It is not that. They are trying to sell the product by saying that the players today are the best and in doing so they disrespect players of the past
The mainstream sports media constantly disrespects the legends. Honestly, the Dream Team is not overhyped - they’re in contextualizad with great reverence. Never had the world seen a collection of Hall of Famers at that time. 2024 may ring true if this US teams wins but we can’t be disrespectful to the past to push an agenda that may fall flat on its face. We need to learn respect.
Right now there’s only 3, maybe 4 guaranteed HoFs on this roster. Dream Team had what, 11?
you had,
-the GOAT
-2 basketball eternal icon, the best player awards in both ECF and WCF being named after them
-3rd most scoring leader
-Top assist and steal leader
-6 different MVP winner,
bunch of rings and all of them included on HoF without mentioning their Dream Team inducted (yeah, Christian Laettner is in college Hall of Fame).
until all the players in currents team had finish their career and we had the clear view of it, the OG Dream Team still the greatest team ever assembled.
While this is true…none of those things were true AT that time. Credited a team with the players did AFTER the fact is some weird hindsight revisionist bullshit. This team was amazing. Probably the greatest team ever assembled. Both in hindsight, and at the time. But let’s not make it out to be even more than it was.
@@andrewarnold9751 bro missed my last senttence and going rampage
The 1992 was my favorite. No team had a chance after they started playing like a team. By far a more dominant team, way better attitude and star power. The 2024 team won't be famous a few years from now, and I don't care if they win the gold or not. The 80s and 90s were more fun to watch, and the players worked harder. Thanks for the great content.
1996 USA Team was a way better team and way more constructed...
These 92 team played effortlessly,you have everything in it,defense,3 point and midrange killers.
I think its hard to call this the greatest team ever assembled when theyre all from a league where the debated top 3 guys are foreign players. Not saying the 2024 team is or isnt the best, but its not as clear cut as people make it seem.
Here's the question that I don't see anyone asking. How is it that the sports media goes out of its way to convince everyone that the
current stars today are better than the players of the past, while _simultaneously_ trying to convince everyone that the best player among
the current stars on Team USA is a player who was drafted over 20 years ago? Make it make sense.
According to their narrative, that best player is simply so good.
Here's the thing... It undermines the argument -- for both the USA and international teams -- when you point out how much more skilled the world is, but it's 39 year old LeBron that has to bail out the USA team in an Exhibition game. If the game and the players keep getting better and better, then why is it the old guy (yeah, he's special, but he's the old guy) the one rescuing them?
Why would the stacked team even have a close game with an international team with far fewer NBA level players?
Exactly, if Lebron was the best player in the world in 2006 and basketball is so much better now than 20 years ago then why is 40 years old Lebron saving the US team?
I really appreciate you putting time and effort into research. It's just gross how the LeMedia just doesn't stop the lies, it's exhausting reading these guys lies for me, I would assume they'd get tired of spewing them at some point. Also can they make up their mind about Pippen? is he the greatest player ever that never gets any credit or a bum who ain't better than Jayson Tatum???
Pippen is what these so called 'analysts', or more like talking heads, need him to be. Pippen is great when they are talking about the 90s NBA so they can try to push down Michael Jordan. But when talking about the Dream Team they can claim he was bad.
This argument is ridiculous! In my opinion, the 1992 Dream Team is unequivocally the greatest basketball team ever assembled. The impact they had on the sport is profound and far-reaching. Not only did they dominate their competition, but they also revolutionized international basketball. Their unmatched skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship set a new standard for excellence. The impression they left on fans and players alike, and the significant changes they brought to the global perception of basketball, are undeniable.
Your videos are by far the best informative sports videos I’ve ever seen I appreciate you brother you make my days better !
As italian, I can easily state 1992 Dream Team is greatest team ever assembled in ALL SPORTS.
That was the golden age of basketball, the heroes era.
Sorry for this generation, but it is what it is.
Now players seem more technical, but it's faulse: they may have more skills, but not more technic, which is different from skills.
On the contrary, in the past there was much more attention to the fundamentals.
The record of consecutive 3s is not Curry's, but still Hodge's .... Jordan's gregarious at Bulls, that made the first 19 attempts in 1991 ASG shootout.
After these 2024 Olympics, there mustn't be duscussion anymore ..... two narrow wins in the semi and in the final .... and a -17 with Serbia.
Ridiculous.
Someone should remember that 1992 team won every game by an average gap of ...44 points!! ....and 33 points in the Final, with Croatia.
And they didn't train:
they used to play golf during the day and cards during the night.
While this 2024 team have been very concentrated and motivated
(which is good, don't misunderstand me)
And stop with the narrative that now european national teams are stronger because there are many european players in the Nba....
Yugoslavia in the late 80s-1990 would eat any other european team of the last 30 years !!
1992 Croatia team (with Petrovic, Kukoc, and Radja all in their prime, and the 2,18 m Vrankovic) would destroy this 2024 France team!
1992 Dream Team would eat alive this 2024 one!!
Magic is the 2nd best player ever, and he easily eat on Curry's head.
Pippen would lockdown Durant and Rodman would do the same with Lebron, while Jordan used to score 40-50 against Rodman's Pistons, free of hit him.
Between Larry and KD only who saw basketball only on videogames can pick up KD
Not to mention Robinson, Barkley, Drexler, Stockton, Malone, Ewing, Mullin ......
I just bately mentioned Michael for mercy.....
People don't have idea 😌
Basketball, and sports in general, is not the equation: athleticism+skills
There's something else that we've missed in the recent decades ...in all sports.
That's that "it" about Phil Jackson used to talk
Thanks Jonny for shouting out another reliable channel
People totally disrespect The 1996 USA squad with Shaq,Grant Hill,Reggie Miler,Gary Peyton,Penny Hardaway and Hakeem they had more players in their prime and a mix of others from the 92 squad!!!!
Don't forget about prime Shawn Kemp
That's the next best Team USA.
@@JimBrave-ri1oc I thought that he was
@@RafiqWashington-tx7idKemp was on the 94 Dream Team, with Shaq.
@@ktapreswreckd921v9 I just replied that I thought he was on that team. I was wrong
What makes me like your channel so much is that you does not pick one side. Sure, you glorified the 90s and 80s, but it is not like you make the current era look bad. And by glorifying, i meant giving the 80s and 90s a shout out without being over the limit. Like you said in one of your recent videos, most fans nowadays pick one side and decided to ignore the other but you sir, is different. I appreciate that ❤
We've witnessed the mainstream media diss each player of this generation.
Now they have to diss the older generation to prop up the very generation they heavily criticize.
Dope vid Johnny , Collin stay capping
The Americans had the best Team ever in the world and they dissrespect them. Crazy. For the current Team I have no words as an European. They dominate nothing. Like Noah Lyles says " the world champion of what??"
What all these “analysts” seem to ignore is that Magic could’ve easily played 5-6 more years had he not been forced to retire. Not to mention the Dream Team had so much depth they didn’t have to rely on one player to help them win and had two of the best facilitators in NBA history.
u know why players back then didnt display ball handling? they passed the ball.. ball is faster than a player..
lol exactly..i dont understand how so many people think that over dribbling and jumping higher automatically equates to being a "better basketball" player 😂. Kobe and Jordan and alot of older players never had to over dribble to get to their spots and look how they turned out.
Of course, they also weren't allowed to carry the ball and travel as much (although the superstars still got away with more).
They also simply didn’t have the ability to dribble consistently and played different defense
I tell people every Era is better in they own way. If you want to watch beautiful ball movement look up some games from the 50s. All they did was pass and cut and run around screens. It's so beautiful!!!
@@anthonyhernandez2111because a lot of the people who like the rhetoric never played the game they cant appreciate easy basketball with ball movement they rather watch someone dribble it 21 times just to jack up some dumb off balance shot
Another thing to consider is the physicality of the era of the Dream Team that lines up far better with the Olympic rules than the NBA game of today. I think it's really sad they work up these narratives to achieve views instead of simply focusing on the actual team and the challenges they are going to face in the games. Still, as much as I'd love to rag on the media for doing this, they wouldn't bother if it didn't work. In answer to the questions, I don't think the Dream Team was overhyped at that time it was the most amazing gathering of talent for the Olympics ever and they won gold. I don't think anyone could say they underachieved. When it comes to this years team, they should win but I don't consider it a given and it definitely was considered a given for the Dream Team.
The original Dream Team is NOT overrated. They’ve simply become forgotten. Guys like CC have taken that moment in history for granted and it shows. It’s painful, frankly.
They haven't become forgotten. There are sports entertainers, who are instructed to endorse LeBron over MJ, so they are forced to undermine the original Dream Team in any way they can.
No doubt about it. There is only one Dream Team. That team is the greatest team ever assembled and would beat any other team any day. That team is the American National Team for Barcelona 92. End of story.
Colin Cowdung & Nick Wrong have annoyed me since i was a little boy. Their takes make skip Bayless look like a genius.
I hear South Sudan wants a rematch. Nobody in 92 wanted the dream team to humiliate them in front of the world. Barkley ripped everybody. He wanted to send a message to Bobby Knight for not letting him on the 84 Gold team, he was #13, and cut.
One tough guy elbowed Robinson a couple times. Barkley came off the bench. And made a point to literally run him over in the lane, then taunted him. MJ loved it.
Having NBA players in your roadster doesn't mean your country has better competition when most of these players are bench or role players. This is a really dumb argument. A lot of countries had NBA talent back them too, the NBA was not looking out there to much.
You should've expanded more on having NBA players in your roadster.
Agreed 100000%, Jonny. It’s sad the amount of disrespect the 92 team gets. Nick Wrong should just never be allowed near a mic or a camera again… but then again those Klutch checks must be nice so I can’t get too worked up about his stupidity.
Great video!
The Dream Team is head and shoulders above everyone else for the simple fact that those players were all extremely well educated basketball players. Watch how they react to whatever scheme was thrown at them. They had ZERO problems adjusting.
I mean the level of competition was much much much lower, so it’s hard to make that case. They were just so good and so dominant it wouldn’t have mattered. The game is way more global now. There’s way more players outside the states. In 1992, the dream team faced 9 NBA players. That’s it.
@@andrewarnold9751 Why do y'all feel the urge to repeat some random graphics thrown around on social media? Yes there are more NBA players from other countries now, but that doesn't only mean that international bball has gotten better. It can also mean that it's "easier" (still hard as hell) to make the NBA and that the NBA overall is worse than it was. Yes, the world has caught up, no doubt about it, but teams like Croatia were great and they still got beat badly by the Dream Team.
Bonus question: how many NBA players were on the Greece roster that beat Team USA? 😉
@@airtime23you just claimed the world HAS caught up, which completely contradicts what you said in the previous sentence
Also. This isn’t a quiz, and you haven’t even asked an initial question, so there’s no irrelevant “bonus question” allowed.
Did you say Croatia was great? There three best players would all have good NBA careers, that consisted of no all stars. And that was the hardest competition, by far. That proves my point, it doesn’t go again it.
@@andrewarnold9751 So Petro and Kukoc were not great players? And why does everybody think a great team is a collection of All Stars? It's not! And again: how many NBA All Stars did Greece have? Hoe many All Stars are on the World Champs Germany? Who besidef SGA is an All Star on Canada. Ah and I forgot about South Sudan who almost beat the US...how many All Stars?
By the way I believe the original Dream Team (and also DT2 and DT3) would not have had any problems with these teams. No way they struggle like that against a team led by Wenyen Gabriel (with all due respect).
A big thing people tend to forget is that the dream team only faced like 9 NBA players on other teams, this team will face 60 something. The competition these days is sooooooo much stronger.
True, but this question is not about the competition. It is about the USA team.
true. and that 92 dream team is a huge reason why. that team globalized basketball like never before or since.
Jordan, Magic, Robinson, Pippen, and Barkley"s games would match today's players. That 5 would be a nightmare to guard.
The problem with that argument is that the reason non Americans weren't playing in the NBA has very little to do with how skilled they were. It is too late to write a lengthy comment but the core reasons are political, players weren't allowed to play abroad before they would reach certain age (this age limit varied from time to time and from country to country), NBA players weren't allowed to play in FIBA competitions which was a big deal for non American players and the salaries of NBA players weren't that much better than salaries in the rest of the world and the NBA also wasn't that eager to have foreign players, especially not from enemy countries. It was a different time, a different political era.
Good to hear this!😊
The dream team only played 9 nba players that Olympics and none of them were even in the mvp conversation. This team has fsced 61 nba players including an nba mvp, 2 nba champs,the head of the best young team in the nba (sga). And that’s not including the chance of them having to play Greece and France
4:35 this is why I tell people that don’t get carried away about Michael Jordan destroying the Lakers in the championship.
The Lakers were shorthanded, and if you give me a bet of a healthy Lakers versus that Chicago Bulls team, I would say the Lakers will beat them .
Now, Johnny has opened up another can of debate that has nothing to do with comparing 2024 to 1990s. It was comparing the team of the 80s to the dynasty of the 90s.
This is a mandate not of Colin Cowher or Nick Wright. This is coming from the EPA who needs people to actually pay attention to this. Who has the Olympics?
How can it be better than the Dream Team if the top 3 best players of the world in 2024 are not part of the team? (Jokic, Dončić and Antetokounmpo)
You Americans just have no clue how good European basketball was in the 80s and 90s. The Euroleague back than was tough. No offense but you guys have just recently discovered that basketball is played in Europe too as well as other places while we were following NBA in that time
European basketball back then was good. Real good
It's just that the Dream team was so much better
I guarantee you that if you time travel this USA 2024 team to 1990, they probably would win but not by 20, 30 or 40 points but 5 or 10 points max
I have eyes and see as well as I'm 54 years old so I have seen 80s and 90s basketball and trust me, this 2024 team is nowhere close to the 1992 team
Sorry to shatter your dreams
Exactly. The disrespect to European and South American legends is huge and it comes out of ignorance. Americans of all generations are ignorant but the old ones have at least watched the US players of the 1980s and 1990s for themselves so they can't that easily be convinced that those players were trash.
Dražen Petrović, Oscar Schmidt and Arvydas Sabonis were all better players than anyone on today's South Sudan, Australian or German team. That's the (for some Americans) harsh truth.
It's just funny hearing the LeMedia discussing South Sudan as some unknown super team. Also, let's drop the blatant Magic disrespect.
I watched every game of the 1992 Olympics live on TV. Yes, the game itself was different, but every team played the same game, so the chances were even. And the competition was top-notch. Croatia and Lithuania were great, even on an NBA level. Even Brazil, CIS, and others played well. Many games were tough and evenly matched. But Dream Team beat everyone by a 40-point margin. The current team almost lost to Germany and Sudan and played awfully. They aren't a team yet. I tought that "almost" lost to Sudan - will be similar wake up call, as lost pick up with younglings ;-) was for DT. But few days later Gerrys almost beat them up... And among this young "stars" Old Man is the best player.... No , God NO! There is no comparasion...
@@JimBrave-ri1oc Back when players took pride in representing their countries, yes, it used to be like that, players viewed FIBA world cup and the Olympics as more serious and more important than the NBA or Euroleague or whatever league they played in.
Basketball is a product, the media is the marketing, they have to tear down the past to make the product seem better.
Because the product itself can't stand on its own merit.
Jordan and Pippen locked down future teammate 23 year old Toni Kukoc like we have never seen, Kukoc was considered the best player in Europe at the time, best player outside the NBA by some.
You probably heard that in one of the movies about the dream team, Kukoč being the best player playing in Europe isn't quite true, Oscar Schmidt was better than him. If you meant Kukoč was the best European player then that's not quite true either as Arvydas Sabonis and Dražen Petrović were better than him (those two were already in the NBA by the year 1992).
In either case Kukoč was one of the best players playing in Europe in 1992 and one of the best players playing outside of the NBA and he was one of the best European players at the time. Kukoč, Petrović, Sabonis, Oscar Schmidt would have no problem playing in today's NBA, nor would Vlade Divac and Predrag Danilović have any problems playing in today's NBA but those last two are Serbians, they were under UN sanctions in 1992 so they weren't able to participate in the Olympics.
How’s that compare that the lebron and Kevin Durant
Magic > Curry , MJ > LeBron , Larry > Durant , Malone > Davis , Stockton > Booker …. What else do you need ???
ESPN has learned they dont need sports journalism to make money. They just create discourse and watch the metrics.
Sports journalism is their enemy.
We won’t know for sure how the current team stacks up until it’s over. They could turn it up and have a large margin of victory or end up losing.
I will consider the 2024 dream team if they prove a point in the olympics. Like winning every game with 20+ points above. That i will consider them 2nd best dream team and 3rd 1996. But for now the 1992 is 1st and 1996 2nd in my list.
That's actually exactly my opinion lol how old are you?
@@DipsAndPushups I'm old and almost 40. I won't give away the specifics about my age 🙂
The 92 dream will always be my GOAT dream team!
I can't believe Nick Wright is using Johnson's retirement announcement due to HIV as an argument that he wasn't that good anymore.
This guy knows no limits.
The fact alone that these guys cannot wait until the tournament is in the book says it all.
Larry Bird had a garbage broken back at age 35 and STILL played harder than any of these bums today!
With his bad back, in his final season, Larry Bird averaged more rebounds per game than LeBron ever did in a single season!
And LeBron compared to Magic is a fking JOKE. LeBron’s career assist/turnover ratio is 7.4/3.5…… that isn’t even close to Magic Johnson. What a joke.
I'm sure you're an all-world ball knower
Magic 19.5 ppg career average which isnt close to brons lol
@@iamsuperior4087 Magic was always pass-first, he actually made his teammates better.
LeBron has played 500 more games than Magic, and still is only about 800 asts ahead. Of course LeBron is also about 1500 turnovers ahead.
@@DemonKingBadgeryeah and LeBron has almost 23,000 more career points than magic. Let’s stop acting like LeBron isn’t an all time passer because of turnovers. Volume scorers get turnovers from many others situations other than passing the ball. Magic took 13 shots/game and never had to had the burden of carrying an offense with scoring and playmaking like LeBron has.
@@DemonKingBadger your lord and saviour larry bird disagrees
I'm a big fan of the current USA team, but I also thought it was ridiculous when they dismissed Magic and didn't even talk about Barkley. Why do these commentators feel like they need to lie and hide the truth?
I will take the 92 team..they’d destroy these clowns
You should have also mentioned the inside presence of Robinson and Ewing who IMO would dominate the 24 team inside they were big and athletic compared to Embid and Davis who can shoot better but are softer. I think that is the strength of the Dream team is their inside presence. You don’t need the Admiral and Ewing would need to shoot the ball just play defense and protect the rim. Get put backs and secure rebounds. The Dream Team was the most well balanced team in history with no weakness anywhere. I don’t believe that Tatum is better than Pippen BTW, and I’m not even a Pippen fan.
The Dream Team is not over hyped. The 2024 team is. The main problem with current narrative is that MJ, the GOAT, is on the Dream Team. That alone places the Dream Team FAR AHEAD of the of this current iteration of Team USA Basketball.
You mean the same MJ who cant lead his team pass first round without Pippen. "That alone " rightt
Still better than Lebron who lost 6 finals and had two 3rd place finishes with team USA after having more help than any player in the history of the nba
@@1vaultdweller0…your basketball IQ🤷🏻♂️
@@1vaultdweller Orlando Woolridge, Dave Corzine, John Paxson, Gene Banks…that’ll get ya past 60-win 1st Rd opponents in 3 straight postseasons. Bird/McHale/Parish/DJ…Moncrief/Cummings/Pressey/Pierce…all in their primes.
Yeah, that makes sense.
CHI made the playoffs MJ’s first two seasons, unlike CLE Lebron’s first 2 seasons.
MJ in his first 5 years matched up with 8 playoff teams who averaged 57 wins.
Lebron in his first 5 years matched up with 8 playoff teams who averaged 51 wins.
@@margarinetaintedgreen8140next someone could name a whole bunch of players Lebron drag to the finals. I swear you people move the goal post to fit pointless narrative. On both sides
I'm from Germany and I was 7 years old 1992, but I can still remember the Dream Team, the excitement, the whole world saw what a beautiful game basketball is. This team did much more for basketball than any other thing ever!
92 MJ is prime MJ. Lebron right now is well old. This isn't even a comparison as to what team is better. It's a joke. Disney needs to make money, they market lies to make money.
@@DipsAndPushups 2020 NBA Championship win
Dream Team was loaded with a bunch of guys who were no nonsense dogs and winners and you could see it in their mindset. This current team has number of primadonnas on it, lead by the ultimate one who takes plays off, hence the reason he at this age is not better than Magic was then. Magic was win first, the other guy in my opinion currently is media attention and media control first, winning third if at all.
People could point out his recent heroics but he does this with Lakers when we play bad teams. He shows out. Then he'll either sits against a really good team or or go out of his way to put up numbers that had no actual impact on the game. This is why he's in some games even when they've long been determined.
What does the word Some at the end of your comment mean?
@@DipsAndPushups I must've been in a rush thx, I fixed it. It was that's why he's still in some games that have long been determined.
People can say whatever they want but at the end of the day there’s this. Players with championships.
Dream Team - 23🏆 Championships
Team USA 24 - 15 🏆 Championships
Just saying 🤷♂️
.4 players on the 92 team have more championships 🏆than the 24 team COMBINED.
MJ🐐, Magic, Bird & D Robinson = 16🏆
I’ll take it a step further with MVPs:
Team USA 24 - 8 MVPs/7 FMVPs
Dream Team - 15 MVPs/11 FMVPs
Most of the recent Olympic teams have been heavy on players from deep in the playoffs and the finals because they are still conditioned. Many better players in the league are on vacation and don't want to come back and risk injury. So, naturally the recent teams would feature fewer championship holders since only one team can win in a given year.
Don’t forget Clyde the Glide Drexler, and the Admiral David Robinson.
AMEN!!! THANK YOU!! I'm sooooo tired of the comparison. What no one seems to understand is that the 92' dream team were DAWGS on defense! Absolute DAWGS!! The other thing is that the Croatian team if it had been combined with Serbia (Yugoslavia) MIGHT have hung with Dream Team. And Russia was GOOD. Also no one talks about how good the front is court is Robinson vs Bam?!?
Why would you compare Robinson to Bam? For some false narrative, that this very video is trying to dispel? AD is better than Robinson. And so should Embiid be, but he's played like trash so far for some reason.
Finally someone that gets it
Two of my fav bball channels haha
And you didn’t even mention David Robinson or Clyde drexler. Robinson was DPOY I believe & drexler was compared to Jordan…
That smug guy in a pink shirt saying with a smug face that "Jayson Tatum is better than Scottie Pippen" and "Anthony Davis is MUCH better than Patrick Ewing" is just so dumb, he does not deserve an answer.
Obviously the current US team is stacked, but there is no comparing it to the 92 Dream Team. I'm French, I love basketball. This year we, but much more Canada or Germany or Serbia, have real chances to beat Team USA. South Sudan, Germany, Canada already posed big issues to this team.
In 1992, nobody posed any problem to the Dream Team.
Obviously, you can argue that today's other teams are way better than before 1992 (though the Soviet and Yugo teams were great), but that's because the Dream Team happened! They might have been the most transformative team in any sports!
Exactly! Good luck on the Olympics from Belgrade, Serbia, former Yugoslavia!
Notice, there is an MJ bash AGENDA. Super sad 😂, bc they realize this is reality about lebron not getting another ring
When you almost loose to South Sudan, the argument is over.
The point is that in 1992 the olympics were not that competitive, the Dream Team was really stacked and especially in comparison with the competition. You cannot expect in these days, the domination on the international level (like winning by 30 points on average). If you don't count Joel Embiid 5 of the last 6 NBA MVPs are non-Americans.
The domination on the international level in 1992 adds alot to the legacy of the Dream Team which cannot be matched ever again due to the fact the international level of play keeps increasing.
The point is that international players today look better only because the NBA is garbage. SGA would never be a starter on any of the good 80s teams. Of all the players today only Jokic, Curry, Kawhi and possibly Luka would have a chance of being stars.. The rest, including KD and LeBron are too stupid and mentally weak to adjust to the differences between today's game and the game back then.
The fact that foreign players are so dominant in the higher echelon of the NBA is partly because American players in the NBA can't keep up. Nobody today is as good as Magic or Bird, let alone Jordan.
@@tykemorris Anthony Davis is as good Magic or Bird were skill-wise. AD is probably more injury-prone than Bird.
LeBron, Steph and KD are at least as good as Bird was in 1992.
@@cooljp1531 "SGA would never be a starter on any of the good 80s teams."
SGA would be a top-5 player in the league in the 80's.
"The rest, including KD and LeBron are too stupid and mentally weak to adjust to the differences between today's game and the game back then."
KD and LeBron are among the most intelligent players. Especially LeBron would likely play better in the more physical 80's era, than he plays today.
Change your nickname.
@@penkima4923 LeBron is an imbecile who should play in the special Olympics and LeBron fans know nothing about basketball. You have Luka and Jokic dominating the league and they are like Larry Bird without an arm and a leg, SGA would be one of the best in the 80s?? GTF out of here. Guy couldn't play for my high school LeBron was made to look like an idiot by Jason Terry in 2011 finals. That is your here?
Thank you so much. I am tired of narratives.
Fun Fact: 2024 Lebron, Steph and KD are all OLDER than 1992 Bird and Magic
Except LeBron, Steph and KD are all performing better at advanced ages than Magic and Bird. Magic wasn't even in the league in 1992 and Bird was a shell of himself due to back injuries
Yes, the idea that Bird would get burned on defense but those three aren't is just silly. None of them have the stamina or health to defend world class talent night after night, it's just an unfortunate fact of aging. Also, Anthony Davis has the body of a 40 year old.
@@BBallGOATMagic was probably the second best player in the world while retired in 92. Bird was still a damn good player. I think you are overlooking how much easier current rules and spacing make things for these aging players. LeBron can literally just chuck threes, drive down open lanes and occasionally try on defense and still put up great numbers. He would not be able to play like that in 92.
@@BBallGOATLebron, Steph, and KD also play zero defense these days. Relatively speaking. You are also not comparing "points scored" to NBA pacing.
If you want to use stats without context, Luka Doncic performs better than Prime Lebron his first 6 years. And stats prove it. There is no comparison. Luka averages more points, rebounds, steals than prime Lebron. Literally.
Thats what stats without context get you.
@@BBallGOATThis false narrative that Magic was a shell of his former self needs to stop. Magic finished 2nd in MVP voting in 1991 and was probably the 2nd best player in the world at that time, only behind a prime Jordan. He quit because of HIV, not because he was "washed". Stop lying!!! Even Bird dealing with a broken back still averaged 20 PPG, nearly 10 RPG, and almost 7 APG in 1991. Your comment proves you're an ignorant uneducated casual.
Thank you to set things straight…
People talk about 1992 as if it was a century ago. Can anyone tell me how today players got more talented than guys like MJ, Magic, Barkley, Robinson, Malone, Stockton, Pippen, etc.? Has there been a gene mutation or new skills developed? In fact, all of current players lack character and mental toughness. This may have to do with growing up with social media.
"Half those guys were a little past their prime"... meanwhile LeBron is almost 40-
Why even play anything from ESPN when we know they're all Klutch clients?
John Stockton was the 12th man which was the crazy part
Klutch sports propaganda has taken over mainstream sports media. We need to you tell us the truth Jonny. 92 team was the best, and 96 team is very close imo.
I am convinced some of these guys think Magic and Bird are the same age because they came into the league together so they just think to themselves when they see Magic's knee wraps that he was old and washed up when he was almost 3 years younger than Bird.
I'm just wondering how the 92 dream team would've done against Sudan.😊
+ 40 😂
The 92 dream team would win with at least 40
147-69
defense. With MJ and Magic on anyone's team, and don't forget Barkley, they would still be unstoppable. Mullin on the three. Oh my. And Malone and Stockton coming off the bench??? are you kidding me? what do you think?
"i dont anything about south sudan, but south sudan is in trouble" 92 dream team sir charles
The biggest difference is the level of the opposite team, they have massively improved their game, in 92 some team were not even pro level…
It is in NBA interest to make you believe players are much better now than before in order to sell the product. The truth is the 1992 competition was much better than the media wants you to think.
Why do nba fans always disrespect different era's. They be the only people doing this shit....
Die-hard NBA fans don't disrespect past eras. Casual fans repeat corrupt sports entertainment figures' false narratives.
@@penkima4923 exactly. Americans are more prone to it as we, Europeans, know how good our old players were and therefore we know how good the dream team had to be to beat everyone by 30+ points difference
Barkley was the best player on the dream team. Other teams feared him.
Dream team bench of:
Stockton
Drexler
Pippen
Malone
Robinson
Would give the current USA team a run.
I love how history just glosses over david robinson like he was just some throw in player and not a complete unit who was only dwarfted by shaq. Whos guarding d.robinson? Bam? A.Davis? Nope and nope.
Him getting convincingly beat by Hakeem in 95 then getting injured and being #2 to Duncan damaged his legacy in the eyes of casuals and people who don't know much about the time he played.
Phenomenal player and Giannis is basically his modern equivalent with better ball handling but not as good defense. The Admiral would absolutely dominate today's game and arguably be better with less emphasis on post play.
Anthony Davis is not better than Patrick Ewing. I don't even have AD in my top 75. Dwight Howard got snubbed from that anniversary team
@@GlenDeaton AD is far better than Ewing. Even taking injuries into the account.
@@penkima4923 AD isn't even better than Dwight Howard let alone a NBA legend like Ewing
@@GlenDeaton Didn't say AD is better than Dwight. I said AD is better than Ewing. And there's a gap. Ewing is more of a college legend, but he wasn't good enough to be a great NBA legend.