1992 Dream Team Vs. My 2010 Dream Team
After reading my colleague’s “The Greatest Team Ever” post I thought to myself, “Is it really the greatest team possible?” And then I read his follow-up post “New School vs. Old School”, while Avi made a very formidable team to face off against the 1992 Dream Team I feel that a few changes to the roster could make the 2010 Dream Team the favorite in this match-up.
This post is not meant to disrespect the original 1992 Dream Team and all of their accomplishments. I am an avid follower of the NBA and I respect what the players on that team did for the NBA and how they have paved the way for the amazing players we enjoy watching today. The 1992 Dream Team was an amazing composition of great players in their prime and some NBA veterans, like Bird and Magic, who were at the end of their careers but were still star players. I have the utmost respect for the Hall of Fame Dream Team, but having said that I feel that I have composed a very strong team aimed at taking down the Hall of Fame laden Dream Team.
1992 Dream Team My 2010 Dream Team
PG- Magic Johnson- Los Angeles Lakers* PG- Chris Paul- New Orleans Hornets*
PG- John Stockton- Utah Jazz PG- Deron Williams- Utah Jazz
SG- Michael Jordan- Chicago Bulls* SG- Kobe Bryant- Los Angeles Lakers*
SG- Clyde Drexler- Portland Trail Blazers SG- Dwyane Wade- Miami Heat
SF- Chris Mullin- Golden State Warriors SG- Ray Allen- Boston Celtics
SF- Scottie Pippen- Chicago Bulls* SF- LeBron James- Miami Heat*
SF- Larry Bird- Boston Celtics SF- Ron Artest- Los Angeles Lakers
PF- Christian Laettner- Duke Blue Devils SF- Kevin Durant- Oklahoma City Thunder
PF- Karl Malone- Utah Jazz* PF- Kevin Garnett- Boston Celtics
PF- Charles Barkley- Philadelphia 76ers PF- Chris Bosh- Miami Heat
C- David Robinson- San Antonio Spurs* PF/C- Tim Duncan- San Antonio Spurs*
C- Patrick Ewing- New York Knicks C- Dwight Howard- Orlando Magic*
Coach- Chuck Daly Coach- Phil Jackson
(* denotes starter)
There is a lot of talk about how many Hall of Famers were on the 1992 Dream Team, the count is at 10, my 2010 Dream Team also has a considerable amount of soon to be Hall of Fame players. Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and coach Phil Jackson will all be inducted into the Hall of Fame someday (barring any injuries to Wade or LeBron). And armed with possibly the greatest NBA coach in history the 2010 Dream Team is sure to develop a game plan to attack the 1992 team.
The 1992 Dream Team has arguably the greatest PG in history (Magic Johnson), the greatest player ever (Michael Jordan), and one of the most physically dominating front lines ever assembled (Malone, Barkley, Ewing, and Robinson). They also have a great lock-down defender and play-maker in Scottie Pippen who was entering his prime to play alongside the great Larry Bird who was on the last leg of his career but can still be an effective player among these NBA legends. And to back up Magic Johnson, the 1992 teams has John Stockton (all time leader in assists) who was in the prime of his career and more than capable of setting up his scorers. This 1992 team has many great scorers, but what really sticks out is the amount of strong defenders on this roster. Jordan, Pippen, Stockton, Bird, Malone, Ewing, and Robinson are all perennial All-NBA Defensive Team selections.
With that said, if there was ever a team assembled to beat the 1992 Dream Team, my 2010 Dream Team is that team.
While my team has Chris Paul and Deron Williams at the point guard position and Paul is the starter, these two players would play limited minutes. I would expect Coach Jackson to run Kobe, Wade, and LeBron at the PG, SG, and SF position. All 3 players are capable of running the point position and getting the team into the offensive set. With this three headed monster playing the majority of the minutes the 2010 Dream Team looks to be in good shape. In addition to this, this team has Ray Allen, one of the purest shooters in NBA history, off the bench to help them spread the floor and catch and shoot off screens. To back-up LeBron this team has another great young shooter in Kevin Durant who can use his length and quickness on the defensive end and not to mention one of the grittiest defenders in the NBA today, Ron Artest. Then in the post, the 2010 team will have a good rotation with Duncan, Garnett, Howard, and Bosh playing together in different combinations at the PF and C position. Artest and Garnett are on this team mainly for their hustle, intensity, and scrappy play. When these two players are pumped they are extremely intimidating and are able to get under the opposition’s skin. Also, this team has a number of All NBA Defensive Team selections as well: Kobe, Wade, LeBron, Paul, Artest, Duncan, Garnett, and Howard. On top of this, Artest, Garnett, and Howard have all won the Defensive Player of the Year Award at some point in their career.
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The most intriguing match up of the series would definitely be Michael Jordan vs Kobe Bryant. Perhaps the greatest player in NBA history (Jordan obviously) faces off against arguably the best player of post-Jordan era (Kobe). Both have similar styles and analysts have notices small tendencies Kobe does to emulate Jordan. Both players have had the same coach for the majority of their careers (Phil Jackson) and both players have been lauded for their insane work ethic and killer instinct. Both have devastating fade-aways and excellent post games for a 2-guard. Both players have won multiple championships (Jordan-6, Kobe- 5) and still crave(d) more. And both can become lock-down defenders at any time and were selected to the All NBA Defensive first team multiple times. Every die-hard basketball fan hopes to see these two dynamic players in their primes. We were forced to settle for Jordan in his latter years with the Bulls and Wizards versus a young Kobe. Many people feel Kobe will one day eclipse Jordan as the all-time greatest NBA player while others remain adamant that Jordan will always hold that crown. To say the least, this series has all basketball fans salivating at what could have been.
While some of the 2010′s core is past their prime, their experience is what can put them over the top. Kobe (5 rings) and Duncan (4 rings) are proven champions with multiple rings with multiple Finals MVP awards. Wade, Garnett, Allen, and Artest have also won one title apiece and these players know how to get it done in big games. In fact, it can be argued that the 2010 Dream Team has more NBA champions on their roster than the 1992 Dream Team did at their time of creation (Drexler and Robinson won titles later in their career, the latter won it alongside Tim Duncan). This championship experience can prove to be the ultimate difference maker in this extremely close competition.
If imagining at the thought of this dream match-up isn’t enough, I actually simulated a 7 game series between these two teams at a website called whatifsports.com. At this site you are able to put together a 12 man roster from past and present players. This site goes the extra mile as it allows you to choose which season of any specific player. For example, I was able to choose Michael Jordan after his 1991-1992 NBA season instead of any other season Jordan played. I was able to select 10 players of the 1992 Dream Team after their 1991-1992 season. The other two (Magic Johnson and Christian Laettner) weren’t in the NBA following the 1991-1992 season. So I was forced to select Magic after the 1990-1991 season and Laettner after the 1992-1993 season (his rookie season). Also, I had to use the 2008-2009 season for my Dream Team since the 2009-2010 season players were not available yet. After this I set up the depth chart for each team and set the target minutes for each player. Here is the break down of minutes I set for each team.
1992 Dream Team 2010 Dream Team
PG- Johnson- 30, Stockton- 18 PG- Paul- 12, Wade- 29, Williams- 7
SG- Jordan- 34, Drexler-12, Mullin- 2 SG- Kobe- 35, Allen- 8, Wade- 5
SF- Pippen- 30, Bird- 18 SF- LeBron- 32, Artest- 11, Durant- 5
PF- Malone- 23, Barkley- 20, Laettner- 5 PF- Duncan- 15, Garnett- 15, Bosh-18
C- Robinson- 27, Ewing- 21 C- Howard- 28, Garnett- 10, Duncan- 10
I had a 7 game series set in a 2-3-2 format. The 1992 Dream Team was given home court advantage. Here are the play-by-plays and box scores for the series. Italicized team indicates Home team.
1992 Dream Team Home= United Center, 2010 Dream Team Home= Staples Center
1992 Dream Team:98
2010 Dream Team: 88
MVP: Magic Johnson
1992 Dream Team leads series 1-0
1992 Dream Team: 106
2010 Dream Team: 91
MVP: Michael Jordan
1992 Dream Team leads series 2-0
2010 Dream Team: 118
1992 Dream Team: 106
MVP: Dwyane Wade
1992 Dream Team leads series 2-1
2010 Dream Team: 118
1992 Dream Team: 101
MVP: Kobe Bryant
Series tied 2-2
2010 Dream Team: 124
1992 Dream Team: 94
MVP: Dwight Howard
2010 Dream Team leads series 3-2
2010 Dream Team: 105
1992 Dream Team: 101
MVP: LeBron James
2010 Dream wins series 4-2
So there you have it, at the end of the day my 2010 Dream Team was able to knock off the 1992 Dream Team in 6 games. I know people will question the simulation module and the minutes allotted per player of the 1992 Dream Team, but I feel I made an accurate estimation of minutes per player. Once again, this article is not meant to disrespect the 1992 Dream Team in anyway, it is simply written in hopes of building a formidable team capable of challenging and possibly beating the Hall of Fame 1992 Dream Team. Unfortunately we will never know the true results of a 7 game series between these two powerhouse teams, but it’s always fun to wonder. And please remember…
This is just an opinion…so please Pardon My Bias.
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