Celtics legend Paul Pierce is a big believer in the modern-day Team USA squad. During a recent episode of ‘Undisputed,’ he even argued that this year’s Olympic team could easily handle the 1992 Dream Team.
“Larry Bird couldn’t play no more. He was done. Magic was done. So who is their best player? This team this year would donate that team. Who’s gonna guard LeBron? Style of play would have been too much for this Dream Team. They couldn’t shoot the three! And who they have down low? They had David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Charles Barkley and we could counter that with Embiid, Antony Davis, and Bam. Who’s gonna guard Steph Curry? John Stockton?”
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1818311128520241610
The 1992 Team USA squad is often considered the greatest basketball team in NBA history. Besides a younger Michael Jordan on the cusp of his prime, they had Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, and Clyde Drexler.
Unsurprisingly, Team USA went undefeated in the Olympics that year, going 8-0 through the tournament and blowing every team out by double digits. Still, there were some cracks on the roster.
For one, both Bird and Magic were near the end of their careers and neither were at their peak when they joined Team USA. Michael Jordan was a 2x champion but not quite the player he’d become later during his second three-peat with the Bulls.
Perhaps the most glaring flaw of all for Team USA is their lack of depth on the perimeter. Besides an aging Bird and Michael Jordan, Team USA didn’t have many shooters back then who could keep up in a modern-day format.
Compared to the 2024 squad, the Dream Team only beat 9 NBA players in the tournament while the USA this year will face 61 spread out over multiple countries including 2x MVP Nikola Jokic.
Between Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, and Jrue Holiday, Team USA arguably has the better roster with an abundance of shooting. At the very least, their floor spacing is undoubtedly the best in the tournament and would pose a major challenge for the 1992 backcourt.
Modern Team USA also includes LeBron James, who has become a leader for them both on the court and in the locker room, The 4x NBA champion (39) has been the MVP of the basketball Olympics this year with 21 points and 9 assists in the win over Serbia.
With a mix of talents and playstyles, Team USA has no flaws this year and they’ve spared no expense to bring together the absolute best players in the game.
Against the Dream Team, it would be a close call and a hard-fought battle because the original squad would not go down so easily and Charles Barkley is still confident they would win. But Pierce may be on to something when he says that this 2024 squad may just be better because the league overall has gotten better from top to bottom.
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