Will the 2024 U.S. Basketball Olympic Team beat the 1992 “Dream Team”?

Kawhi Leonard has reportedly earned the final spot on this summer's U.S. Basketball Olympic team, making its 12 members the first team since the NBA finally allowed players to participate in the iconic 1992 Since setting up the tournament, it looks like it will be one of the most stacked members in the history of the event. ”Dream Team. “

The legendary lineup set to head to Paris this summer includes both familiar veteran superstars and exciting up-and-comers. A quartet of NBA champions and future Hall of Famers head the list – LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Leonard. There are also first-team All-NBA players who will be asked to contribute in key ways, including Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker and Anthony Davis. Jrue Holiday and Bam Adebayo provide a solid presence on defense, while young players like Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton bring needed energy.

It's a team with probably no weaknesses and looks like one of the best collections of basketball talent ever assembled. But will it be enough to defeat the famous 1992 team led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird? of Best ever? Colin Cowherd doesn't think so.

“When you take out LeBron and Steph, they've been to the Finals 11 times in 13 years, and they're obviously older guards,” Cowherd said Tuesday on The Herd, adding that the aging of the team's headliners criticized the “They have supported this league.”

Cowherd deemed the 2024 group to be lacking in the identity department.

“Separating the old from the new, this is kind of a bit of an indictment on our AAU…Team USA has a lot of players that I don't know if they're in their prime. Jayson Tatum, you take on the big guys. Booker scored, but he was terrible in Phoenix before. [Durant] And Chris Paul. I think the Dream Team will accommodate them. ”

“First Things First” host Nick Wright had a different idea.

“Wait a minute,” Light scolded. “You can't say, 'Hey, take out LeBron and Steph.' That's not the case. You can't say, 'Hey, take out the two best players,' and let's not do this revisionist basketball history thing. [In] 1992 Larry Bird was cooked and he was done.it wasn't [his] Prime, not even close. His back was exhausted. Magic Johnson had already announced his second retirement. Christian Laettner wasn't in the NBA yet. Chris Mullin was fine. In other words, these are the four people who can be fired from the beginning. [Charles] Berkeley [Karl] malone, [Patrick] Ewing, David Robinson, John Stockton — in 1992, none of them had ever played in the NBA Finals. No player actually got close to the NBA Finals in 1992.

Wright said Cowherd misses the original “Dream Team” too much and doesn't need to poke holes in the 2024 team to give the 1992 team the value it deserves.

“If you say everyone is traveling back in time to their peak heyday, LeBron was 10 years ago, Steph was three years ago, all of that is a different story. [Magic and Bird on] the best team. But I don't want to suddenly become romantic. The 1992 Dream Team received plenty of real-time recognition. I don't think it's necessary to suddenly dismantle it now in order to build a dream team for 2024. ”

Who will win the game, the 1992 Dream Team or the 2024 team?

From a strictly nominal standpoint, you'd be hard-pressed to find a roster as decorated as these two. Each represents the best of several eras, with numerous names appearing in the top 75 of all time.

Hoops fans could only dream of watching this matchup unfold. Obviously, such a fight would be confined to the realm of video games and basketball-themed “Game of Thrones” parodies.

But Mr. Cowherd had no intention of conceding to Mr. Wright on Tuesday.

“You can get Bam Adebayo, but I'm going to get David Robinson,” he told Wright.

The light didn't move either.

“That's fine. Christian Laettner would be fine, but I'll take Devin Booker,” he laughed.

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