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LeBron James: Dream Team vs. Redeem Team Would've Been 'Hell of a Game'
May 19, 2020
It's not just NBA fans who dream of inter-generational battles between the greatest players in history.
Even LeBron James does it.
James appeared on UNINTERRUPTED with Paul Rivera and Maverick Carter on Monday and discussed a hypothetical showdown between his 2008 Olympic team—named the Redeem Team because it won the gold medal after the 2004 team won bronze—and the 1992 Dream Team that is widely considered the greatest group of basketball players ever assembled (around the 32-minute mark).
"It definitely would have been a hell of a game," James said while revealing he would pick his own side but acknowledging "whoever got the ball last could win the game."
LeBron joked about how Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant would have their own game within the game, broke down how the 2008 team could pull Charles Barkley from the paint but would have to help Carmelo Anthony on the other side and highlighted the size the 1992 team had at its disposal.
"One thing about the '92 team, they had a lot of grown-ass strong men," he said. "Those guys be lifting cars. You ever see the Strongest Man Competition on ESPN? Charles, Malone, Ewing ... Robinson, those guys are like brute strong."
While matchups between Jordan and Bryant or Dwyane Wade, James and Scottie Pippen, Anthony and Barkley, Dwight Howard and David Robinson, and Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd or Chris Paul would have been thrilling, 2008 may have run into trouble when the benches came into the game.
After all, 11 of the 12 players on the 1992 Dream Team went to the Hall of Fame, and it could have thrown together a secondary unit with John Stockton, Clyde Drexler, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone, among others.
Players such as Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd and Deron Williams were talented, but dealing with that group may have been an issue.
Still, fans can only dream of the matchups the starting lineups would have created in such a legendary showdown.