Michael Cooper recently proposed an intriguing hypothetical 12-player roster that he believes could outperform the 1992 Dream Team and the current Paris squad. Some of Cooper's choices raised eyebrows, with one notable surprise being the absence of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from his team.
However, the former NBA swingman had reasons for this snub. During the " Showtime Podcast with Michael Cooper " episode, Coop stated that "Kareem doesn't go with international basketball," alluding to the fact that the 'Big Fella' never played a significant role at the international level for Team USA.
International experience was key for Coop
The players who made Cooper's hypothetical team, about whom he proclaimed, " We would scare the s*** out of people ," included Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Charles Barkley, Kobe Bryant, Jayson Tatum, Bill Russell, John Stockton, Anthony Edwards, Karl Malone, and Stephen Curry.
Naturally, Abdul-Jabbar, one of the greatest basketball players ever, could have matched these names skill-wise. However, Coop wanted to build his team logically from players who had already performed on the international stage. This wasn't the case for Kareem, who once declined an invitation to participate in the 1968 Olympics in protest . The same applied to Wilt Chamberlain, who, according to Cooper, also didn't have enough international playing time to warrant his pick.
On the other hand, the 1987 DPOY mentioned that Victor Wembanyama had already gathered enough experience at this stage. The Frenchman has represented his country in youth competitions and now leads his team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Therefore, Michael said Wemby came the closest to making his hypothetical team.
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Many legends had to be left out
Cooper's one and only NBA franchise during his career was the Los Angeles Lakers , to whom he still holds strong ties and a great fandom. Therefore, it came as a surprise that he didn't include a few more Purple and Gold legends, most notably Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Shaquille O'Neal.
Other snubs mentioned by either Coop or his co-host included John Havlicek, Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving, Joe Dumars, Scottie Pippen, and Isiah Thomas. The exclusion of 'Zeke' was discussed with a touch of irony during the episode, as the legendary point guard was also snubbed from the '92 Dream Team.
Current names that didn't make the cut and were mentioned during the segment included NBA stars like Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Devin Booker, and Jaylen Brown. However, Michael remarked that he has great respect for all those athletes and that the final selection was no easy task.
"There were a lot of people I left off that list. I had a hard time with this because I'm trying to get the best of both worlds," the five-time NBA champion concluded.
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