There are two times in the modern history of basketball that Team USA has played the greatest American stars in the Olympics. The 1992 Dream Team is revered as arguably the greatest roster ever assembled, led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird.
But the Team USA rosters for the 2008 Redeem Team and then in 2012 were arguably just as stacked, with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony leading the charge. In 2012, Kevin Durant was also on the team. And Bryant liked the team so much, he claimed then that they could beat the 1992 Dream Team.
“It would be a tough one, but I think we would pull it out,” Bryant said, as was reported by ESPN at the time. “People who think we can’t beat that team for one game, they are crazy. To sit there and say we can’t, it’s ludicrous. We can beat them one time.”
There was some backlash to these comments from Kobe. Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were among those to dismiss the statement. And even Bryant softened his stance a little, although he still maintained the 2012 team could win a game.
“I didn’t say we were a better team. But if you think we can’t beat that team one time? Like I’m going to say no, that we’d never beat them. They are a better team. The question was ‘Can we beat them?’ Yes, we can. Of course, we can.”
This sentiment is not super controversial, the 2012 Team USA roster also won the gold medal at the Olympics, and they had enough talent to feel that confident. In the years since other members of that team have shared Kobe’s sentiment as well.
Kevin Durant And Andre Iguodala Have Shared Similar Thoughts About The 2012 USA Team
Any players are always going to back the team they played on over one they never did. So it’s no surprise that Andre Iguodala suggested that the 2012 team could have beaten the Dream Team as well. And he wasn’t the only one from that team feeling this way.
Kevin Durant went a step further than the others, calling the 2012 roster the ‘best team ever.’ They had a lot of Hall Of Famers, that is for sure, but it’s hard to say how they would fare against the Dream Team. In this situation, it’s best not to compare, but Kobe wasn’t wrong to say that they could have won a game against the Dream Team.
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