There is something about two guys with a combined 11 NBA Championships going back on forth on which Olympic team is better that gets basketball fans going. Fans love to compare era’s even though so many variables have change (the 2012 Cleveland Browns would murder the 1972 Dolphins) so when two guys with that kind of credibility (and two massive egos) start sparring, you know its going to be good.
Kobe Bryant started the whole discussion by saying the only thing he could say when asked to compare teams, that his 2012 team could beat the 1992 Dream Team. There would be a discussion, and maybe Bryant is cocky enough to believe it. When Jordan was asked about it, not only did he laugh, he actually stated “I just laughed”. No deference, no political correctness, no humility. Just laughing.
Earlier on Twitter, I said that Kobe should come out and say that “Jordan is the greatest of all time, so he is entitled to laugh, but I know we can beat the Bobcats”. Kobe didn’t exactly say that, but his response was pretty Kobe when asked after team USA’s demolishing of the Dominican Republic.
“So what, he knows I’m a bad mother[expletive]. I’m not really tripping. The fact is, they have Ewing and Robinson and those big guys, it’s tough. If you’re asking me, ‘Can you beat them one game?’ Hell yeah, we can beat them in one game. You didn’t ask me if we could beat them in a 7-game series. In one game, we can beat them. No question about it.”
Dripping with cockiness, but logical and probably correct.
Now could the 2012 team beat the team of Monstars? That might be tougher.
[h/t Ben Golliver of @BlazersEdge ]