Magic Johnson sparks a debate; Says Dream Team better than Redeem Team – NBA Report
Magic Johnson, one of the most gifted point guards ever to grace the NBA, has sparked a controversy by drawing a comparison between his Olympics gold medal winning team of 1992 and the Redeem Team that took the court and did the
same in 2008.
The Los Angeles Lakers legend declared that if the two gigantic teams ever took on each other, the outcome of a matchup simple - his team would reign supreme.
“When you think about the Olympics and the Dream Team, I have to throw it to you. Kobe [Bryant] and them won by 22 points. Ehh, 22 points? We won by an average of 44 points. So when they want to step up to that, you tell them we’ll
be waiting on them.” Magic said.
It is a pretty impressive argument, although there are many fans of the current era superstars who would want to believe otherwise.
It is true that the international exposure of basketball, something credited to the Dream Team, has resulted in the game reaching a much higher level everywhere else in the world as compared to that in the past.
Player’s like Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol, who are super stars in the NBA at present, have emerged and have made their national teams all the more tougher. It could thus be argued that the points boast of Magic Johnson does not
hold water as the level of opponents is much higher today in the Olympics, than it was back when Magic donned the famous Lakers jersey.
However, a player by player comparison of the two teams would still leave a neutral, heavily inkling towards the older version. That team had Larry Bird, the legendary Boston Celtics power forward who redefined the role and brought
new life to the Boston franchise. It had Magic Johnson, who won an NBA World Championship as a rookie. It had Sir Charles Barkley who, at 6-foot-6 and a power forward, is still the biggest logic defying anomaly in NBA history.
That team also had a certain fellow named Michael Jordan. He achieved a few things in his day as well.
As much as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are dominant in this era, and as great players as they are, the 2008 team still doesn’t come out on top against Magic & Co. That team had players who have changed the sport of basketball
forever and achieved so much on the way that it could be argued that they would rank higher than the best of any era.
Bird, Johnson and MJ alone had 14 NBA World Championships between them. When you look at the legendary players they were surrounded by in Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin, it just becomes plain to see that they really would best
the Redeem Team if the two could ever matchup.
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