CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Jordan has made himself crystal clear stating that there’s no way Kobe Bryant and the USA Olympic basketball team could’ve beaten the 1992 Dream Team.
Taking to AP Jordan said, “I absolutely laughed” — upon hearing Bryant’s comments about his squad being able to take Jordan’s 92 squad. “No comparison,” Jordan said, “for him to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done.”
|
Advertisement |
Jordan’s 1992 team included 11 future Hall of Famers and won its six Olympic games by an average of over 43 points. The effort lead Jordan and his crew to a gold medal.
“I heard Kobe say we were not athletic,” Jordan said in his signature grin, “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.”
Big mouth Bryant told reporters in Vegas that this year’s team could win against the Dream Team if they faced each other — in their primes, “bunch of racehorses, players who are incredibly athletic, while the Dream Team consisted mainly of players at the tail end of their careers,” concluded Bryant.
“Most of us were in the prime of our careers, at a point where athleticism doesn’t really matter,” said Jordan, the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. “You have to know how to play the game, I imagine he’s trying to say it to legitimize his own Dream Team,” Jordan said. “But to me it’s not even a question what team is better.”
Jordan said Bryant is certainly entitled to his opinion — even though he said it’s just plain wrong.
“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.”