The folks at 2K Sports set the Twitters ablaze this morning with the news that NBA 2K13 will give gamers the chance to once again play as the 1992 U.S. Olympics Men’s Basketball Team, or the Dream Team. I don’t even play video games and I’m tempted to buy it just so I can keep assigning players to guard Magic Johnson and see if they run away. Gotta make it realistic, 2K Sports.
One interesting note about the game, though, is that the Dream Team won’t include Scottie Pippen, because the guy who has had incredible money problems wouldn’t agree to 2K Sports’ terms. But at least we’ve finally stopped that whole silly debate about whether or not the Dream Team could defeat the 2012 U.S. gold medal team. Just kidding, Michael Jordan hasn’t yet begun to fight.
In response to Kobe’s claims that the Dream Team was older, Jordan (semi-wrongly) pointed out that Johnson and Larry Bird were the only players older than 30, but as SI.com’s Sam Amick clarifies, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, and Clyde Drexler were also 30 before or during the 1992 Summer Olympics. Since age ain’t nothing but a number, Jordan’s point is that the Dream Team had size and speed, and they would have killed inside and out.
“I just felt like we had enough size that we could contend with the 2012 team,” he said of the team that was without elite shot blocker Dwight Howard and relied heavily on the Knicks’ Tyson Chandler at center. “I think one of the things the 2012 team lacked was size, you know? We probably would have attacked them from inside and outside, and I think that would have been pretty much solidified [for the ’92 team’s defense] with shot-blockers as well as perimeter defensive players.
“In [terms] of how the game is played from an offensive standpoint and a defense standpoint — from a team standpoint — I feel like we were much more solid defensively. We could definitely guard the perimeter and force them to penetrate to shot-blockers, which I felt like would’ve made a big difference with this team in 2012. They only had one shot-blocker. Granted, I know LeBron [James] and some of those guys can still block shots. It’s not the same defense and it’s not the same intensity.”
And he rambles on. He also talked about whether or not the Dream Team could beat today’s European teams by 43 points per game like they did to the 1992 European teams, so I’m glad that we’ve opened that additional can of worms now. How long do we have until LeBron James stars in Space Jam 2? Because that’s obviously the next step in this ridiculous debate – could James defeat the Monstars? And if this movie happens – God knows it probably will – WE KEEP THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK.
