Michael Jordan: Kobe Bryant dreaming about Olympic team's greatness
USA's Earvin "Magic" Johnson, right, and Michael Jordan shake hands near the end of their 117-85 win over Croatia in the gold medal game in men's basketball at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. (Aug. 8, 1992) Credit: AP
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael Jordan said there's no way Kobe Bryant and this year's USA Olympic basketball team could've beaten the 1992 Dream Team.
Jordan told The Associated Press Thursday that he laughed -- "I absolutely laughed" -- when he heard Bryant's comments that the squad training in Las Vegas could take Jordan and company.
Jordan said there's "no comparison" which team is better.
"For him to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done," Jordan said before playing in a celebrity golf tournament.
Jordan said the 1992 team, which included 11 future Hall of Famers and won its six Olympic games by an average of more than 43 points en route to capturing the gold medal, was a better overall team largely because of the experience it put on the floor.
"I heard Kobe say we were not athletic," said a smiling Jordan, puffing on his cigar while waiting to tee off. "But we were smart. He said we were too old, but I was 29 and in the prime of my career . . . Almost everybody was still in their twenties."
Jordan's response came after Bryant told reporters in Las Vegas that this year's team could beat the Dream Team if they faced each other in their primes. Bryant said this year's team has a bunch of racehorses, players who are incredibly athletic, while the Dream Team consisted mainly of players at the tail end of their careers.
"Most of us were in the prime of our careers, at a point where athleticism doesn't really matter," Jordan said.
" . . . For him to make that comparison, it's one of those things where it creates conversation . . . I'd like to think that we had 11 Hall of Famers on that team, and whenever they get 11 Hall of Famers, you call and ask me who had the better Dream Team. Remember now, they learned from us. We didn't learn from them."
