Jim Alexander: Not sure how many folks were watching the USA-Serbia basketball exhibition game on Wednesday morning, but it certainly appears as though the U.S. is ready to do a massive flex, even without Kawhi Leonard on the roster. Anthony Davis had six blocked shots – prompting the expected cries from Laker fans of, “Why doesn’t he do that more often for us?”
Even with three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on the floor, Serbia turned out to be little more than a speed bump in a 105-79 Team USA triumph in Abu Dhabi. I was writing while watching, and it seemed like it was a tight game briefly, and the next time I looked up it was a blowout. This might be the deepest roster the U.S. has had, talent-wise, and head coach Steve Kerr has given every indication that he’ll spread out the playing time. It shouldn’t matter.
So, in the true spirit of overreaction, let’s ponder this: The 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona, the first after professionals were allowed to compete in the Olympics, will carry its own legend forever. Magic, Bird, Jordan, Pippen, Ewing, Barkley, Stockton, Malone, Drexler, Mullin … this is its own wing of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. (All were inducted as individuals, and the Dream Team as a group was inducted in 2010).
Are these guys potentially better than those guys were? I don’t know how such a matchup would work – after all, the Dream Teamers are in their 60s now, although LeBron James isn’t that far behind them if you think about it – but is this bunch potentially on a par with the legends?
Mirjam Swanson: No.
Heck no.
No offense, though. But no.
I’ve seen people suggesting that because Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were in their 30s and past their primes, the ’92 Dream Team wouldn’t have been able to keep up.
Uh, hello? LeBron – as you’ve noted – is as deep into his 30s as he’s gonna get. Steph Curry is in his 30s. Kevin Durant is in his 30s – and dealing with a calf strain. The biggest names on this squad aren’t in their primes, either.
As for the younger guys? Last I checked, Anthony Edwards was “Baby Jordan” – great, but an ode to the real thing.
Never mind that they play such different styles: The physicality faced by the former vs. the freedom of movement generation of today. I really don’t think the older guys – if we could rewind time – would do worse with less physicality. The other way around, though, might be a different story.
Do you think this current crew really gives the ’92 squad a run for its money?
Jim: Honestly, probably not. But you’ve got to admit that this question is a good one for the, um, “engagement farming” industry – I’ve grown to really like that term – and I’m guessing it’ll show up on one or more of the ESPN or FS1 sports argument shows shortly, if it hasn’t already. (As I’ve said, I don’t watch them.)
Then again, I think we tend to look at what’s right in front of us more critically and the past with the haze of nostalgia. Remember, Larry Bird was limited in those Olympics (18 minutes, and 8.4 points per game) because of his back. Magic was fighting the concept of retirement. But Jordan and Pippen and the rest were in their competitive primes. (And the Chicago Bulls stars were particularly fired up against Croatia, if you’ll recall, because GM Jerry Krause had signed Toni Kukoc and the two established stars wanted to put the rookie in his place way before training camp.)
There’s also this: The rest of the world was still several steps behind then. The game worldwide has developed exponentially in the three decades since, and it’s largely because of those guys who draped themselves in the Stars and Stripes on the gold medal podium after basically routing everyone in their path. (Remember the controversy about certain players – lookin’ at you, MJ – who used flags to cover the manufacturer’s emblem on their warmups because of conflicting shoe contracts? Good times.)
There were no three-time NBA MVPs playing against them in Barcelona. The world might not have completely caught up yet but it’s a lot closer, as the top of last month’s NBA draft attests, and as you point out they’re all playing a different game than we saw in the early ’90s. (If we had a soundtrack for The Audible, I’d suggest dropping in a little “Roundball Rock” right here.)
You think the home team isn’t lying in wait for the Americans? Victor Wembanyama is capable of being a force already, and just imagine what a USA-France battle would be like once he has a few more seasons under his belt. (We might get that chance in four years in L.A.)
So, setting aside fantasy matchups that will never happen without aid of a time machine, is it safe to assume that gold is in this team’s future?
Mirjam: Never assume anything!
I got to cover the Athens Olympics where Team USA (with LeBron!) took bronze, so … and there was no Jokic or Wembenyama lining up against them then.
The Americans should win. They’re favored to win. We still have the best collection of talent, we’re sending an All-Star team to go face a bunch of good NBA teams.
Canada features Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray, Lu Dort and Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk and Trey Lyles – good players! And Lakers fans know what Murray can do in big playoff-type moments.
Serbia has Jokic. France has Wemby and Rudy Gobert – and Nicolas Batum, who received the rank of knight in France’s National Order of Merit for his play in a silver medal run last Olympics. Germany beat the U.S. understudies on its way to the 2023 FIBA World Cup …
I’ll tell you what, if Team USA doesn’t win, it will settle that Dream Team vs. 2024 Team debate real quick, won’t it?
Jim: We’ll be looking for scapegoats instead.
On another Olympic note, I guess it’s a positive that NBC’s coverage will no longer take a “plausibly live” approach, trying to pretend that events that took place hours earlier were actually occurring in real time.
For corporate purposes, of course, this makes it clear that if you want live event coverage, you go to the network’s Peacock streaming service. (And few could have dreamed at the time that when NBC came up with the “Olympic Triplecast” in 1992 to show live events – then available at a modest extra cost from your cable provider – it would be the forerunner to today’s streaming platforms competing seriously for live sports.)
Considering, however, that the 2028 Olympics will be in our very own time zone, and also that the West Coast historically has been fed Olympic coverage on three hours delay, what happens then? Will starting times be tweaked for the benefit of prime time in the East? I seem to remember that’s what happened in ’84, when ABC televised the Games … and I also remember that Channel 7 showed everything live here, without tape delay. I don’t recall if the rest of the Pacific time zone was that lucky.
I was trying to figure out what the biggest storyline of these games would be. The first one that comes to mind is swimmer Katie Ledecky’s pursuit of more gold. She already has seven gold medals, six individual and one relay, from three previous Games. (I suspect Michael Phelps’ record of 23 golds, over four Olympics from 2004-2016, is safe.) She and gymnast Simone Biles are the most recognizable figures on this Olympic team, not counting NBA players of course.
Who might be the biggest name coming out of the track and field competition, I wonder?
Mirjam: Well, I’m stoked to see Sha’Carri Richardson – the defending world 100-meter champ – finally get to run in the Olympics after her positive marijuana test kept her from competing in Tokyo. And we have her counterpart on the men’s side in Noah Lyles, the American sprinter who won the most recent world titles in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay.
But honestly, the thing about the Olympics will always be the stories – those of the favorites like those we’ve mentioned and anyone there competing, honestly. It just takes so much to get to an Olympics – it’s everything I love about sports. It’s why I’ll still tune in for NBC’s primetime coverage.
Like, I’ve spent the past week learning about Claremont’s Brittany Brown, a surprise second-place finisher/qualifier in the women’s 200. Talking to her and her people and thinking about her life to this point … and hers is a story of such remarkable resilience. It’s refreshing. It’s cool. It’s fun to root for. It’s why I wanted to be a sportswriter, honestly.
Jim: It’s the best part of the Olympics, not just the athletic feats but the stories behind them, especially those of athletes and sports we seldom hear of. We like to make fun of the “up close and personal” style that Roone Arledge introduced as part of ABC’s Olympic coverage decades ago, but in fact that’s the very aspect that draws us in and keeps us hooked for two weeks.
That, and for many of us in this diverse country, multiple rooting interests. We follow the U.S., but we also keep an eye on those who represent our ancestors. I know you’ll be following the Dutch, and I’ll be trying to keep track of the 122 athletes who represent Ireland. The Irish won two gold and two bronze medals three years ago in Tokyo, in rowing and boxing. And while they’re probably going to be pretty far down in the medals standings, when they win one – as they like to say in the SEC – it just means more.
