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Before the 2012 Olympics in London, Kobe Bryant claimed that his Redeem Team would beat Michael Jordan and the Dream Team. Jordan had a good laugh when he heard about Bryant's remarks, as he reckons the 1992 Team USA was much better.
In an interview with Steve Reed of the Associated Press, Jordan responded to Bryant's comments about the Redeem Team beating the Dream Team in a hypothetical matchup. "His Airness" explained that the 1992 team was full of Hall of Famers who were in their prime at the time.
"I absolutely laughed," Jordan said. "For him to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done."
Jordan also responded to Bryant's claim that the Dream Team was not athletic:
"I heard Kobe say we were not athletic, but we were smart. He said we were too old, but I was 29 and in the prime of my career. Pip (Scottie Pippen) was 26 or 27, (Charles) Barkley was 29, Patrick (Ewing) was 29 ,and Chris Mullin was 29. Almost everybody was still in their 20s."
At the end of the day, it was a friendly banter between two friends, who were more like brothers. Jordan said that Bryant was entitled to his opinion, and fans won’t get to see the Dream Team actually go up against the Redeem Team.
"For him to make that comparison, it's one of those things where it creates conversation," Jordan said. "I guess we'll never know. I'd like to think that we had 11 Hall of Famers on that team, and whenever they get 11 Hall of Famers, you call and ask me who had the better Dream Team. Remember now, they learned from us. We didn't learn from them."
The Dream Team had 11 Hall of Famers, with Christian Laettner not making it as a player. However, the entire team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Meanwhile, the Redeem Team already had three players in the Hall of Fame — Bryant, Jason Kidd and Chris Bosh. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard are likely to be inducted after retirement.
Carlos Boozer, Michael Redd, Deron Williams and Tayshaun Prince had good careers but are unlikely to get into the Hall of Fame.
Michael Jordan and Dream Team helped made basketball a global sport
The Dream Team is often considered the greatest basketball team ever assembled, but their dominance in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was not the only thing that stood out. They inspired a lot of players around the world to pursue their dreams, while Michael Jordan’s superstardom helped make the sport global.
According to Sporting News, the NBA had 23 players from 18 countries in 1992. In the current season, there are 120 players from 40 countries. The last two MVPs are international players, Giannis Antetokounmpo from Greece and Nikola Jokic from Serbia.
The overall impact of the Dream Team on basketball was unprecedented. It's one of the reasons why they were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017.
Guess the Lakers players!
