Dream Team member nixes Draymond Green preferring 2024 Team USA over '92 Michael Jordan's squad
Draymond Green tossed in his thoughts about the comparisons between the 2024 Team USA competing in Paris and the legendary 1992 “Dream Team.” The Golden State Warriors star said in his podcast that the current version would beat the icons in five out of seven games. Green added that it “wouldn’t be close” as LeBron James and Co. would win by “double digits.”
Like the first group composed of NBA players who saw action in Barcelona more than two decades ago, this year’s Olympic team is stacked. Besides James, the roster includes Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis and others. In a hypothetical matchup between the old and new, Green has no doubt who would win.
P.J. Carlesimo, a member of Chuck Daly’s "Dream Team" coaching staff, had this to say about Draymond Green’s comments (via SiriusXM NBA):
“I wouldn’t compare them. The thing that makes it most difficult to compare [was] it was such a different time in terms of the opposition. The opposition today is so much better. There was a “fear factor,” if you will [when facing Team USA in 1992]. … It was the first time the NBA players played coming off a loss in ‘88 in Seoul.
In 1992, 12 non-American players had stints in the NBA. This year, a staggering 69 players from the opposition have played or used to play in the said league. Canada alone has 10 players who have played against the best of the Americans. Australia has eight such members while Serbia and France have five each.
Comparing two teams from different eras is always a tall task. Draymond Green favored this year’s version because of that team’s “versatility,” which he thought was a problem the “Dream Team” couldn’t solve.
Draymond Green and Serbia coach Svetislav Pesic shared the same opinion about the 2024 Team USA
Draymond Green isn’t the only basketball figure who thinks the 2024 Team USA is better than the one that competed in 1992. Serbia coach Svetislav Pesic praised the team they are facing in Paris with perhaps the ultimate compliment.
Before the Serbs’ training camp, he talked to reporters and had this to say about the LeBron James-led team:
"This American team is stronger than the Dream Team from 1992. I was there with Germany, and I remember that no one could believe such players exist … but it was 1992, now it’s 2024, and this team is better.
Pesic, an assistant in Germany’s 1992 Olympic basketball team, saw the Americans toy with the Germans before cruising to a 111-68 victory. As impressive as the “Dream Team” was, he shares the same opinion as Draymond Green about the 2024 version.