The 1992 Dream Team continues to be the yardstick against which the greatness of different Team USA rosters is measured. The Kobe Bryant-led 2008 Redeem Team had also been touted as one of the best assemblies of superstars ever alongside the Dream Team. Similarly, the 2024 roster has also prompted a similar conversation. On the Point Forward pod with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, Carmelo Anthony pointed out how the 2024 “Avengers” Squad resembles the 1992 Dream Team.

Anthony believes that the fanfare around the current Olympic team is also similar to when the world rallied behind Michael Jordan and his troops in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. According to Melo, the anticipation around the 2024 Team USA is also high after their setback in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

The only difference is that the Dream Team didn’t have to face well tuned squads led by premier NBA superstars like the current USA Team will face in Paris.

Melo cited the example of Serbia to substantiate his point, which features 3x NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Atlanta Hawks’ high-scoring guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.

“Ratings wise…this [USA Team] would be like the ’92 Olympics when Jordan and ’em went to Barcelona. The hype that that had, this hype would be for this Olympics cuz…the international game has grown, international players damn near has taken the over the league.”

However, Melo then pointed out a key difference between the two rosters. International players now square off against American athletes in the NBA on a nightly basis. So these teams outside of North America are no longer dazzled by the stars on the USA team. The competition is more intense.

The 1992 Dream Team didn’t have to come across such a problem because international players were a rarity in the league back then. They were treated like heroes at the time with players of other teams looking at them in awe. But even if there’s interest and anticipation, basketball fans outside of America do not look at Team USA with the same reverence and awe.

Therefore, if USA wins the gold, it’ll be perhaps the hardest-earned in their Olympic basketball history. But would  that make the 2024 edition of Team USA the best?

Paul Pierce believes that the Avengers can beat the Dream Team

Recently, Paul Pierce made a bold claim by declaring that the 2024 Team USA would defeat the Dream Team. For the Truth, the current squad’s three-point shooting would be too much to handle for the mid-range and paint-focused Dream Team.

He then posited that the trio of Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, and Joel Embiid could handle Dream Team’s inside finishers David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Charles Barkley. On UNDISPUTED, The Truth argued,

“First of all, style of play would’ve been too much for this Dream Team. They couldn’t shoot the three and then…Who they had down low? David Robinson, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley? We can counter that with Embiid, AD and Bam. I mean, pretty formidable defensive lineup against them.”

Pierce made a compelling argument but the 1992 squad had athletes who could adjust on the fly. They weren’t elite long-range shooters, but they could make up that deficiency in other areas.

AD, Adebayo, and Embiid are terrific defenders, but the Dream Team had more than just Robinson, Ewing, and Barkley as elite finishers. At any rate, the match-up between the two is indeed a fascinating hypothetical.