What’s even more ridiculous than debating the hairstyle of our newest teenage sensation Gabby Douglas? Honestly, the fact that pointless debates as such are constantly at the epicenter of our daily discussions. By now, nearly every basketball fan has been asked the summer’s hottest question: One game who you got, Dream Team or 2012 team? I think the more accurate argument would be to compare both teams with all players at full strength.

Stats taken from 1991-92 NBA season with exception of Magic Johnson whose last full season was 1990-91 (Courtesy of nba.com)

Comparing sports teams that span generations can be initially tricky. When discussing any great teams you always want to look for statistics that are transferable through the test of time i.e. scoring and rebounding. The game of basketball has grown tremendously since that summer in Barcelona, not to mention that over twenty percent of professional basketball players are now of foreign descent.  With that being said it is suffice to argue that winning the Olympic tournament is a much tougher task than let’s say ten years ago. In terms of comparing this year’s team to the aforementioned Dream Team it essentially comes down to one simple element: size versus speed.

With the exception of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird who were at the ends of their remarkable careers, every member of the Dream Team was in the primes of their career. Sorry Kobe, that throws out your argument about the 92’ team being aged.  In a one game situation I would have to think the competitiveness of Michael Jordan and the inside prowess of David Robinson and Charles Barkley who was in fact the leading scorer of that 1992 team would be too much for this year’s team, even with the additions of a Dwight Howard or Dwayne Wade.  However, in the famous words of Herman Edwards “that’s why we play the game!”

Article by: Jamaar Hawkins