Please see below for the 1992 team vs. the 2012 “Dream Team” rosters. No stats, no editorial, no bias, no commentary.
Who has the superior team: LeBron, Durant & Kobe or Magic, Michael & Bird?
| 1992 USA Basketball Men’s National Team roster |
| Players |
Coaches |
| Pos. |
# |
Name |
Height |
Weight |
From |
| PF |
4 |
Laettner, Christian |
6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
235 lb (107 kg) |
Duke |
| C |
5 |
Robinson, David |
7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) |
235 lb (107 kg) |
San Antonio Spurs |
| C |
6 |
Ewing, Patrick |
7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
240 lb (110 kg) |
New York Knicks |
| SF |
7 |
Bird, Larry |
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
220 lb (100 kg) |
Boston Celtics |
| SF |
8 |
Pippen, Scottie |
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
210 lb (95 kg) |
Chicago Bulls |
| SG |
9 |
Jordan, Michael |
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
200 lb (91 kg) |
Chicago Bulls |
| SG |
10 |
Drexler, Clyde |
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
220 lb (100 kg) |
Portland Trail Blazers |
| PF |
11 |
Malone, Karl |
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
255 lb (116 kg) |
Utah Jazz |
| PG |
12 |
Stockton, John |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
175 lb (79 kg) |
Utah Jazz |
| SF |
13 |
Mullin, Chris |
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
215 lb (98 kg) |
Golden State Warriors |
| PF |
14 |
Barkley, Charles |
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
250 lb (110 kg) |
Phoenix Suns |
| PG |
15 |
Johnson, Magic |
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
220 lb (100 kg) |
Los Angeles Lakers |
|
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
|
| 2012 Summer Olympics Team roster |
| Players |
Coaches |
| Pos. |
# |
Name |
Age – DOB |
Ht. |
Club |
Club nat. |
| C |
4 |
Chandler, Tyson |
29 – October 2, 1982 |
7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) |
New York Knicks |
 |
| F |
5 |
Durant, Kevin |
23 – September 29, 1988 |
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
Oklahoma City Thunder |
|
| F |
6 |
James, LeBron |
27 – December 30, 1984 |
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
Miami Heat |
|
| G |
7 |
Westbrook, Russell |
23 – November 12, 1988 |
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Oklahoma City Thunder |
|
| G |
8 |
Williams, Deron |
28 – June 26, 1984 |
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Brooklyn Nets |
|
| F |
9 |
Iguodala, Andre |
28 – January 28, 1984 |
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
Philadelphia 76ers |
|
| G |
10 |
Bryant, Kobe |
33 – August 23, 1978 |
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
Los Angeles Lakers |
|
| F |
11 |
Love, Kevin |
23 – September 7, 1988 |
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
Minnesota Timberwolves |
|
| G |
12 |
Harden, James |
22 – August 26, 1989 |
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
Oklahoma City Thunder |
|
| G |
13 |
Paul, Chris |
27 – May 6, 1985 |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Los Angeles Clippers |
|
| F |
15 |
Anthony, Carmelo |
28 – May 29, 1984 |
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
New York Knicks |
|
| F |
44 |
Davis, Anthony |
19 – March 11, 1993 |
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
New Orleans Hornets |
|
|
- Head coach
- Assistant coach(es)
- Legend
- (C)
- Club denotes current pro club
|
Thank you, Wikipedia, for the copy/paste roster formatting.
YKI 
Side note….they were deciding between Shaq and Laettner, and chose the latter due to that remarkable shot. But, Shaq at the time had better stats, but I would argue Laettner was the easier, more public-oriented choice at the time. But, think if the squad had Shaq on it, it would be untouchable from a name dropping factor.
I also did the comparisons, using my subjective assessment of who I would start. In 92, Jordan was at his peak, 3-4 more championships to go
92 Starters
Robinson/Ewing
Malone
Barks
Magic
Jordan
vs
2012
Chandler
Durant
Lebron
Kobe
Paul
C – Strong edge to 92, Ewing or Robinson would dominate Chandler, with Robinson providing a solid secondary defender line
PF – Edge to 92 due to physicality. Durant can score, but couldnt guard Malone. The same is true for Malone in that he would have a hard time guarding Durant, but Malone would dominate the inside and probably collect 5+ more rebounds. Would love to see Malon/Griffin match-up with Malone showing him how a true PF plays.
SF – Edge to ’12 – Lebron would be quicker than Charles, but Charles wouldn’t let him have anything easy. Also, if Charles focused purely on Defense, he might give Lebron some trouble. You also have Pippen coming off the bench.
SG – Edge to 92. Jordan in 92 had only won his 2nd or 3rd championship….He still had 3 more to go. He was physically at a great point and had matured in his game. 29 yo Jordan vs 34 yo Kobe is a strong edge to Jordan.
PG – Wash – Hardest for me to judge. I think either player would make the other look stupid on Defense. The one thing that I think 92 has an edge on is better help defenders and taller centers to clog the lane when Paul gets past Magic. Magic will also do his flying kick move to clear Paul off and get Chandler after that. This would be an awesome match-up to see.
My thoughts.
2012 would win spots 1-4 but ’92 team would kill the center spot chris paul is too fast for magic kobe would go toe to toe with jordan charles barkley is too slow for lebron or durant and same for malone. the 2012 team would run the dream team to death if they would play each other i got the 2012 team 178-168 as the dream team runs out of gas
Ur an idiot. wow. kobe and jordan toe to toe. kobe was almost 35 in 2012. jordan was only 29 in 92. you must have never watched jordan play in 92. You need to watch the series against the pistons the year after detroit went back to back. jordan is much stronger faster and a better defender than ANYBODY inclyding kobe
ur fucking stupid
Dude you nailed it! The only spot where the 2012 team even stood a chance was at the SF position. The Dream team owned the 2, 4, 5 spot. Kobe and Harden just couldn’t handle Jordan and Drexler (2 of the top 5 best at that position against 1 of the best at that position). Entirely too much power, size, and physical toughness at the 4 and 5 spot. TOTAL DOMINATION! Magic was too big and smart to guard, and Stockton was just too smart and crafty. I think the Dream team edges out the 2012 team at the point guard spot.
you think Paul vs Magic is a wash? lol. Paul is too small. Ok so Paul gets by Magic (somehow with his reach) and runs into who: Malone or Robinson? Sorry, Paul in any vs scenario against Magic would be heavily in favor Magic Johnson.
First and foremost: Laettner had no business being on the original Dream Team. He was the token collegiate player in the transition year from collegiate players to pro players, and I want to vomit every time I see his name on the Dream Team roster. That aside, I have to say the original Dream Team would crush the current US Team.
PG – Magic / Stockton
SG – Jordan / Drexler
SF – Bird / Pippen
PF – Barkley / Malone
C – Robinson / Ewing
REE-DIC-U-LOUS.
PS – Michael Jordan is simultaneously the greatest NBA baller of all time and the biggest NBA douche bag of all time. I can’t give him praise without acknowledging his supreme level of douche-baggery. Facts are facts.
The original Dream Team would win 4-0!
That team was on a mission not only to win,
but to destroy! Jordan, Magic, Bird & others
had the mind set to do whatever it tales to
WIN! The only only one like that on the current
team is Kobe.
Shut up the nba is way more sophisticated now and the person with the better handles wins plus rule changes the time for the originals is over
Everybody shut the fuck up and Chris Mullin was the biggest pussy of all time – alright
First of all the game would be like a typical all star game I taught olauwon was on the dream 2012 team in 7 first of all the world teams were like the Washington generals on steroids in that era most of the 92 world teams were just there to get autographs so how can you judge talent a lot of the world player today have won world championship
Wow this is so stupid dont you guys understand the nba is way more sophisticated now so whoever has better handles wins plus rule changes nowadays the time for the original dream team is over get over it
I’ve been lucky enough to watch the nba grow to where it is today and if all of u opinionated people saw what I saw since 1992 until 2012 the nba players of today are in great shape and are faster BUT with the defense that was played and with those big battle tested bodies of the 92 dream team would CRUSH 2012 dream team outside of LeBron & kobe every player on the 2012 team would be crying about the hard fouls , today’s NBA players r SOFT period and please Durant is a scoring machine and he will drop 40 on Malone but Malone will drop 50 and Durant ain’t jumping in front of Malone , Robinson n Ewing would laugh , cp3 is fast and a great guard but Magic would be to much for Paul to handle and then there’s the sleepers Pippin , Drexler n Stockton & finally there is Mullin n Later they could just go back home they won’t be needed .. I didn’t mention Jordan because ya already know wat that would be like…