In 1988, the American men’s basketball Dream Team, the sensation from Barcelona, beat Brazil 127-83. In 2024, the American men’s basketball Dream Team, the sensation from Paris, beat Brazil 122-87.
Even the score was quite similar. But this Dream Team, version 9.0 or something like that, doesn’t come close to Dream Team 1.0, in the insignificant opinion of this scribe, in a not very humble moment.
To tell the truth, until the other day I was against the use of the nickname for the 2024 team. I imagine I shared the opinion of my dear column neighbor, basketball player Juca Kfouri.
However, I thought again. Maybe I was just being a little intolerant of the new generations, or a bit cringe. I don’t know. Of course, the younger ones, with few Olympics in their memory, can call a team formed by Lebron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant the Dream Team.
Just don’t try to compare, please. Each generation can have its own dream team, and mine was much better. After all, I’m the one writing.
The original Dream Team was led by the best player on the planet at the height of his powers, Michael Jordan. His sidekicks included Magic Johnson —who had come out of early retirement just to play in the Barcelona Olympics, but was still a magician— and Larry Bird, who had lost the vigor of the 1980s but was still an infallible three-point shot from the dead zone.
James, Durant and Curry are far from the best they have ever had on a basketball court, all of them. But they have Anthony Edwards, who made fun of Durant the other day in the playoffs, and then called him an idol; Jayson Tatum, champion with the Boston Celtics, but they didn’t call up Jaylen Brown, the MVP of the finals; Anthony Davis, LeBron’s squire; Joel Embiid, the Cameroonian who rejected the French national team, among others.
Just like Jordan, Johnson and Bird had Scott Pippen, MJ’s faithful henchman at the Chicago Bulls; Karl Malone and John Stockton, the efficient duo of the Utah Jazz; David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, among others.
But there are two points that are difficult to dispute even by supporters of the 2024 team. First, as already mentioned, Jordan, the team’s natural leader, was in fact at his physical and technical peak; Lebron, despite his still-constant numbers, is not the same as he was in other Olympic cycles.
Second, the best players in the world were Americans in 1992, with a rare exception from the former Yugoslavia here, one from the former Soviet Union there, an Oscar Schmidt in Brazil.
Today, the NBA itself points to a Serbian, Nikola Jokic, from the Denver Nuggets, as the best player of the moment. And the ideal quintet of last season — also announced by the American league — had, in addition to Jokic, Luka Doncic (Slovenian), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greek), Gilgeous-Alexander (Canadian) and Tatum, from Boston, who is the only American.
Spread out, they may not have the support they need to take down the U.S. team. Canada and Greece have already fallen. Slovenia didn’t even make it. And the Americans will probably want to take advantage of MVP Jokic in the semifinal against Serbia. But I wouldn’t put it past the Europeans to step up their game. There was no way they could play against Jordan and company.
Draymond Green, a sharp-tongued triple-double, threw some spice in his face when he said this team would easily win a seven-game series against the 1992 team. I beg to differ.
In Paris, logic continues to favor the new Dream Team and the gold is close to the American team. But I don’t dream about this team, sorry, you can keep it. I prefer to dream about the original.
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