Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing was part of that iconic 1992 Dream Team, arguably the greatest team of all time. They crushed the competition in historic fashion on their way to winning the gold at the 1992 Olympics, but some believe the 2008 Redeem Team was actually better.
So, when Ewing appeared on The Pivot Podcast, he was asked who would win a seven-game series between the teams, and he was hilariously offended by the question.
“I ain’t even going to answer that question,” Ewing said. “S***, Dream Team I.”
Co-host Fred Taylor asked Ewing if the Redeem Team would even win a game, and he thinks they might.
“They might win one,” Ewing said. “Like they’re talented. They were a great team. Listen, we were the best team ever… They don’t want to admit that. Even those guys don’t want to admit that. But we were the best team ever.”
Now, you could well believe that the Dream Team was the best-ever, but it is a bit disrespectful to suggest they would wipe the floor with the Redeem Team. As Ewing himself acknowledged, they were a great team.
Of the 12 players who were on the Redeem Team, six are in the Hall of Fame today. Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, and Jason Kidd have all made it in. LeBron James and Chris Paul will be in the Hall someday, too, so that’s eight in total. With the exception of Kidd, all those players were either at or entering their peaks.
The Redeem Team was utterly dominant at the 2008 Olympics as well, as they won gold. Their average margin of victory was 27.9 points. There isn’t a team you can put together that’s going to crush this one.
The Dream Team could beat it, of course. There were 11 Hall of Famers on that squad: Ewing, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, and John Stockton. Bird was well past his prime, and Johnson hadn’t played in a year, but the rest were pretty much at their best.
With all that talent on the roster, the Dream Team won games by an average margin of 43.8 points, and head coach Chuck Daly didn’t even have to call a timeout. Now, some might rank them over the Redeem Team purely based on the margin of victory, but you need to consider the competition as well. The rest of the world was far better at the game in 2008 compared to 1992, so this isn’t straightforward.
We have actually done a full comparison of the Dream Team and the Redeem Team, and it is the 1992 edition that comes out on top.
