I've been watching this debate rage on all the sports shows since Kobe made the claim that the 2012 could beat the 1992 Dream Team in a basketball game.

1992 team:
Centers: Patrick Ewing (30), David Robinson (27)
Power Forwards: Karl Malone (29), Charles Barkley (29), Christian Laettner (23)
Small Forwards: Larry Bird (35), Scottie Pippen (26), Chris Mullin (29)
Shooting GuardS: Michael Jordan (29), Clyde Drexler (30)
Point Guards: Magic Johnson (32), John Stockton (30)

2012 team:
Centers: Tyson Chandler (29)
Power Fowards: Blake Griiffin (23), Kevin Love (23)
Small Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (28), Kevin Durant (23), LeBron James (27)
Shooting Guards: Kobe Bryant (33), James Harden (22), Andre Iguodala (28)
Point Guards: Chris Paul (27), Russell Westbroook (23), Deron Williams (28)

So far the biggest argument has been that the 2012 roster is full of horses. Young athletic guys who can beat you in a lot of different ways and that the Dream Team was too old. The other argument is that the game has changed from a big man's game to a smaller one.

Who would win and why?

just looking at the lineup its hard to argue that the 2012 wouldn't be better but looking closer to the matchups id say that the 92 team is better defensively and might restrict all the guys on the 2012 team that like to go to the basket.

Im just not sure that with the forwards and centers of 92 that the 2012 team could play their style of basketball as well.

Sure in one game anything can happen but I just don't see it happening the majority of the time. Maybe now with most (all?) of the Dream Team players in their 40s. But not at their prime. Once the 2012 team rolls through the Olympics with the same ease the Dream Team did maybe they can talk about being compared to them. Until then, it's just kind of laughable honestly.

the problem with the argument of them breezing through like the dream team is that we have far more international stars in basketball now than we did back then. Making the international teams far more competetive now than then. So winning the gold is probably enough to at least be compared on the same level as the dream team.

If they were to breeze through like the dream team did then Id conceed that they were indeed better than the dream team.

That amuses me to no end. No the 2012 can not handle the 1992 team. Even as a small man's game they have two of the best guards ever (Magic and Mike). Who's guarding Barkley? or Malone? Chandler can't handle Ewing or Robinson for long stretches. The 2012's sole advantage positionally speaking is the Small Forward slot.

The 1992 team can adapt to the 2012 rules much more easily than 2012 can shift to 1992's rules.

People forget how good Croatia's team actually was internationally speaking. Drazen Petrovic was a beast. Seriously, he easily could have taken Chris Mullin's spot on the 1992 team. Bird was on there more as a nod to his great career as he had broken down by the time the Dream Team was formed, otherwise I'd have said he could take Bird's spot.

The 1996 team had a much better shot at beating the 1992 team than 2012 does.

Let's break it down by position:

Centre: 1992 wins handily. Ewing or Robinson would be far superior to Chandler. Chandler is solid but he is a rebounder/blocker he doesn't have the offensive durability of either of those guys and I don't think could hold them on D either.

92 by a mile

PF: We can forget Laetner because he never saw any minutes anyway. So lets just make this a tag team match: Griffin/Love vs. Malone/Barkley. Love is the most versatile of the 4 and by far the best shooter, Griffin I would say is the least versatile but the most explosive, Malone is the most physical and that will take a toll on whoever is guarding him, Barkley is the best rebounder both offensive and defensive.

I am going to say this one is a wash.

SF: Anthony is the worst player on either team. I think having a me first guy like that on this sort of team is a detriment to the team, particularly when his skills put him near the bottom of the pile. I think James and Bird are fairly close in what they offer: great at both ends comfortable as either a passer or a main weapon, Larry has the edge on shooting, and Lebron is a bit stronger. Pippen and Mullin are both comfortable playing a supporting role which is important on a team like this, they are also great defenders and shooters. I see Durant having some trouble finding a place to fit on this team.

I give the edge to 92.

Shooting guards: Kobe and Mike are both selfish but obviously talented players who have a bit of trouble playing in games where travelling is actually called against them, I'll give Kobe the edge for being the better passer when he needs to be but Michael is still the better player. Drexler is solid player of course but I would honestly take the more versatile Iguadala over him. in the end Iguadala and Harden win it for me because of how comfortable they can both be in support roles.

this one goes to 2012.

Point Guard: Westbrook is the weak link here, you don't need a guy who can slash to the basket when you have Kobe, Lebron, Durant et al. up front, what you need is a guy that can distribute. That leaves Stockton and Magic vs Paul and Williams. Paul and Stockton are the best distributors of the bunch and I put them on fairly even ground. Stockton is maybe a bit better defensively but Paul has quicker hands, Stockton may be a slightly better shooter but Paul has better ball control, so I am just going to call them even. Man vs man comparisons fall apart when you bring in Magic, no offence to Williams but he is way out of his depth. Johnson is the best leader of any of the players on either team and that is invaluable with a team like this, and he can take on any role. If his team needs a pure distributor he can do that, if they need a a threat from the top he can do that, he can lead the team in rebounds if he needs to, he can shut down the opposing star, or he can take the team on his back and put up forty points.

the win goes to 92.

Overall I score it 3-1 with one draw in favour of 92. Though once you factor in team chemistry and drive I think 1992's lead becomes much greater.

I didn't even think about ages. In that case James beats Bird easily, but a 33 year old Kobe is no match for a 29 year old Jordan. So in the end I don't think it makes that much of a difference.

yeah the overall ages of the teams i don't think play a huge role as almost everyone but Bird on '92 was near the prime of their career too.

Yeah the only one deteriorating seriously was Larry at the time. You could make a case for Patrick if only because his knees were shot by this point, but he had learned to compensate for that already.

And I don't see any version of Kobe being a match for 1992 Jordan. He'll try, but he'll fail.

I agree. As good as Kobe has been he has never been a Jordan.
I just don't see G past or present that could hold a candle to Jordan in '92.

Sorry, Kobe, 1992 > 2012.

Which isn't to say that 2012 is bad... just that 1992 was something spectacular. And to think, when they made their epic run, Stockton wasn't even PLAYING due to injury (and Bird had the bad back).

If those two are healthy, combined with everyone else? Forget about it.

(Oh, and Drexler > Iguodala, which is something I can't believe I actually had to say.)

If I was picking for any other team I would obviously take Drexler over Iguodala in a heartbeat, but for this particular job I think Igoudala might be better suited to playing 4th or 5th fiddle than the Glide and might be just a touch better on the D side of things because even though he is a bit shorter he plays bigger. Don't get me wrong Clyde is top easily top 50 of all time while iggy would have trouble cracking the top 200, I just think you sometimes need role players like Iggy and Harden to balance out a team.