Editor’s Note: I did say I would still use this site occasionally right? 99% of my stuff will still show up over at the Wages of Wins, except under special circumstances. This is such a one. Enjoy!
We have a tendency to want to build up the present at the expense of the past.
Case in point, Kobe Bryant came out and said that the current olympic team could beat the legendary dream team.
- Yeah, these guys. I know, Kobe’s a little delusional here.
Michael Jordan laughed at him. My gut and my eyes told me to agree with his airness.
But you know at this blog we like to take it a little further. Let’s break out the numbers.
This is the numbers for all the members of the team is question with my estimates for minutes for each team. In the interest of time, I’ve allowed Blake Griffin to stay in under the assumption that Anthony Davis will produce at a similar clip. Let’s break it down by position.
Point Guard ( Magic and Stockton vs CP3, Russell and Deron)
CP3 is the only guy who can keep this competitive against Magic and Stockton. He is not enough to offset Russell being Russell by himself though. Still the verdict is:
- Win for the Dream Team
Shooting Guard ( Michael and Clyde vs Kobe,Harden and probably a little Russ and Deron)
Huge Mismatch. Michael and Glyde would crush it completely here. Michael would put the glove on the opposition and completely fluster them. Best bet for the current team is Harden but I don’t think he has the maturity to handle Michael based on what we just saw in the Finals.
- Big Win for the Dream Team
Small Forward ( Chuck, Scottie and a Legend Cameo vs The King, KD, Melo and an Iggy sighting)
Lebron is a big difference maker here. I’d play him all 40 minutes if I were coaching his team (just ask spo). Chuck and Scottie are awesome but KD and Iggy hold their own. The fly in the ointment here is Melo who should not be on the team or on the floor.
- Bloody Draw on the Melo Factor
Power Forward ( More Chuck, Mailman and Lattner vs A King/Melo/KD/Blake/Love sandwich)
Dream team relies on the Mailman and gives Chuck some more. The 2012 Olympic team scrambles for a cloning machine for Lebron. They won’t find it.
- Big Win for the Dream Team
Center ( The Admiral and Mr. Ewing vs Tyson, Kevin and probably some more Lebron)
I like Tyson Chandler, in a completely platonic way of course. He keeps this from being too horrible.
- Win for the Dream Team
So the Dream team gets 2 Big Wins, 2 wins and a draw. By the numbers they also come out as about ten points better than the current olympic team over 40 minutes. That means they would win about 80% of the games between these teams and I’d pick them to beat the 2012 Olympic team in a seven game series 4 games to 1.
However, the gold medal is won on single elimination, so in theory Kobe would have a 20% chance of being right.
- This is called winning despite yourself.
-Arturo (@arturogalletti)
Arturo's Silly Little Stats v2.0 
Myron Gaines
07/13/2012
“We have a tendency to want to build up the present at the expense of the past.”
it’s the other way around
aka “nostalgia glasses”
Arturo Galletti
07/13/2012
I’d argue it goes both ways actually. We deal in absolutes.
wiLQ
07/14/2012
Dream team had a great balance with positions while 2012 version has too many PGs and SFs and not enough bigs to defend best centers of all time… yeah, it would be a blowout, thank you Kobe for a good laugh 😉
EntityAbyss
07/14/2012
Wasn’t Jordan in his prime? I thought he was more productive during that time.
Marilee Taylor
09/03/2012
Yep. Melo should have never been on this team. /sarcasm
Melo scored over a point per minute by himself. Granted, he was hot (ie, lucky), benefiting from a short three point line. But he still had to make the shot go in the basket, regardless of how easy it seemed.
Jon
05/16/2014
So, a few years too late and all that but I really think the rules would matter a ton. The original dream team would be slaughtered based on modern rules (just not close to enough speed or 3-point shooting) but would win well more than 80% of the games based on ’92 rules. The game has changed towards more complex offenses and defenses than any of those older players had to deal with but that is due to: http://www.rawbw.com/~deano/articles/2001_rule_chg_discussion.htm. As a last note since I linked to him, Dean Oliver is awesome and “regular” NBA commentators have no idea what they are talking about (we still hear people saying the same stupid crap about getting it into the hands of your “best player” at the end of a game instead of getting it into the hands of whomever has the best shot).