The 1992 United States Olympic Team is generally regarded as the greatest unit of all time. They were dubbed the ' Dream Team ' for a reason– no other group in sports history has yielded that immense level of talent, fame, and legacy.
However, Serbian National Team head coach Svetislav Pesic believes this year's U.S. Olympic squad is much more formidable than what Barcelona and the entire world witnessed 32 years ago.
"This American team is better than the original Dream Team from 1992," Pesic said . "Although we don't deal with them, and I won't talk to my players about them."
Weighing the '92 and '24 U.S. Olympic Teams
This year's America's Olympic squad will present a promisingly strong group, headlined by the legendary trio of LeBron James , Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. Behind them are Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Jayson Tatum, and Anthony Davis, making them the clear-cut favorites to win the gold medal in Paris.
However, the Dream Team is undoubtedly in another dimension, considering how stacked they are from top to bottom. Bannered by Michael Jordan , Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, they boasted 11 eventual Hall of Famers, with the majority at their peak. The 1992 squad defined perfection and made everyone believe they were the best assembled.
Behind Pesic's wild claim is his referencing of what he truly saw in 1992. Interestingly, he and his German national team were pulverized by MJ and his Dream Team squad in the Summer Games.
"I was there with the German team, and then we thought there were no better players than these," Svetislav said . "This team that will appear in Paris will be stronger than the Dream Team, with the fact that not everyone will prepare just for them like not everyone was prepared just for the Dream Team in 1992. Although everyone wanted to take a picture with them. We don't want that now."
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Can the '24 squad surpass the standard set by the Dream Team?
Comparisons are inevitable, and Gilbert Arenas even once claimed that the 1996 U.S. squad was the best . However, in the end, we still have to wait to see how this year's Team USA will fare in their competition before we can settle the debate around them and the Dream Team.
Although they generally faced weak opponents in Barcelona, the Dream Team completely wrecked the tournament. They won eight games at the 1992 Summer Olympics by an average of 43.8 points per contest and only seized their smallest margin of victory in the gold medal game against Croatia, 117-85. They didn't even call a single timeout in the tournament, as other nations could only be mesmerized by their greatness.
Can this year's Olympic team at least replicate these or surpass what the Dream Team has accomplished? Time will tell what will unfold this July.
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