Comparing Team USA 2012 to the 1992 Dream Team

The 1992 United States Olympic men's basketball team is considered to be among the best teams ever to compete in any sport, at anytime. 

The 1992 team featured 11 future Hall of Famers, and included the greatest player of all time in Michael Jordan, who was in the middle of his prime. That is why they are called the "Dream Team"; labels like that don't get tossed around without good reason and just cause. 

At this point, the 2012 team appears to have five players that have the makings of a Hall of Famer, in LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul. 

Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis all have a lot of work to do before they can be considered on the same level as those listed above them. James Harden, Tyson Chandler and Andre Iguodala don't appear to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory at this point in their careers. 

While this year's USA roster is by far the most talented in the world, it doesn't hold a candle to the greatness of the '92 team. 

The Dream Team won its six games in the '92 Games by an average of 51.5 points. Dominance like that just isn't possible anymore. Basketball has become an international game, thus the talent pools across the world are far deeper. 

If the '92 Dream Team could face off against this year's Olympic team, it would result in a game of epic proportions. But with their size inside, the Dream Team would beat this year's team by double-digits. 

Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley would have been too much for this year's team to contend with inside the paint. 

Could Durant or Davis slow down Barkley or Malone? 

I doubt it, as Durant has never been known as a good interior defender, and Davis, who has yet to make his NBA debut, would be facing off against all-time greats. 

At the center position, Chandler is an excellent post defender, but would he be able to shut down the refined post games of Ewing and Robinson? 

It would certainly be a tough task for last season's Defensive Player of the Year. Not to mention, who would guard Ewing or Robinson when Chandler was on the bench?

Anyway you draw it up, the Dream Team holds a huge advantage inside. 

If this year's team had both Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum, then it would be at least a respectable battle inside the paint. 

A 34-year-old Kobe Bryant would have a hard time defending a 29-year-old Jordan, while Scottie Pippen would make life hard on LeBron at the defensive end of the floor.

For the 2012 team to overcome the Dream Team, they would need to be on fire from the floor and take advantage of the shorter three-point line. Durant has proved throughout his career that he is even more lethal on the global stage because his long two-pointers in the NBA are three-pointers in the international game. 

The 2012's team only advantage would come at the point-guard position, where point guards Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook would have the quickness edge over the Dream Team's Magic Johnson and John Stockton.

Johnson had already retired from the NBA and wasn't in peak physical condition when the Olympic Games rolled around. Stockton is among the greatest facilitators in the history of the league, but he would have a hard time keeping any of this year's point guards in front of him. 

If this year's trio of point guards could consistently get into the paint, then that would create open looks for their teammates from behind the arc. Even if the 2012 team were able to exploit this advantage to perfection, they would still be the underdogs. 

Could this year's team beat the Dream Team in one game?

Sure, anything could happen in just one game. If the 1980 U.S. hockey team's effort to overcome the highly favored Soviet Union taught us anything, it was that anything is possible over the course of just one game. 

Anyone that would count out competitors like LeBron, Kobe and Durant before the game was played is foolish. They would be big underdogs, but in sports, anything is possible. 

There is no reason that the 2012 U.S. Olympic team should be compared to the '92 Dream Team because there will never again be a team worthy of that comparison.