The USA Basketball Team is being represented by some of the greatest players of all time for the 2024 Paris Olympics. With the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, among other future Hall-of-Famers, all on one roster, it isn’t surprising that this squad is receiving comparisons to the 1992 Dream Team. Lil Wayne was the latest to give his take on the new 1992 Team v. 2024 Team and snubbed Michael Jordan and co.
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During his appearance on Fox Sports’ UNDISPUTED, Lil Wayne was convinced that the current team could defeat Michael Jordan’s 1992 Dream Team in a hypothetical battle. Surprisingly, the rapper didn’t even believe that this contest would be a close duel, backing his pick to win by more than 10 points.
“I gotta say, I would go with the new squad…. By 10 points, I can see that.”
Paul Pierce, who also had Steve Kerr’s boys winning this imaginary battle, seemed to be proud of the 41-year-old celebrity. Pierce spoke for both, explaining why they thought so.
According to him, the 1992 Dream Team had only MJ as the one player who could be regarded as “unguardable”. Additionally, he considered Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to be extremely old. In contrast, the 2008 champ does not even consider Charles Barkley and Karl Malone to be the best ever in their position.
On the other hand, Pierce believed that LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant were three of the greatest in their roles.
“On the 92 team, they only got Jordan that no one man can guard. Like, no one man can guard LeBron. No one man can guard Embiid, KD, Steph.. You got the greatest scorer, the greatest shooter, and the best all-around player ever on one team. Think about that… Okay, let’s go to USA. You got the best player all time. Okay, after that, that’s that. You got Barkley, Malone. Neither one of them is considered the best power forward.”
.@LilTunechi says he would take 2024 Team USA over the 1992 Dream Team:
“I’ve gotta say, I’d go with the new squad.” pic.twitter.com/ysvKroW2eY
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) August 2, 2024
Both teams have the same amount of firepower. The only difference between them – the 1992 Dream Team had a much more dominant run to the gold medal win. However, the fact that they had to go up against 26 fewer international NBA players than LeBron James and co. explains why the former might have the largest points difference between the two.
There is no right or wrong answer when picking your favorite among the two squads. However, the hip-hop artist was spot-on with his prediction about the USA-Serbia opening match, he will believe that his new take is also accurate.
Lil Wayne backed LeBron James and co. to blow Serbia out by 20 points
Entering the 2024 Olympic Games, there was chatter about other nations potentially giving the USA a run for their money. Among others, Serbia was one squad that was touted to potentially defeat the American superteam.
A lot of analysts displayed their faith in the dynamic duo of Nikola Jokić and Bogdan Bogdanovic to orchestrate an upset. However, Lil Wayne predicted that the Americans would not just win their tournament-opener, but would also blow the Balkan country out by 20+ points.
“USA, plain and simple. I hear all the talk about the competition is getting better and what have we got? We got worse? The older you get, the better you get over time… They look very old… And still didn’t make it to the NBA… I don’t think they have enough for USA. Not Serbia,” Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. said.
.@LilTunechi has Team USA beating Serbia by 20
“USA, plain and simple. Serbia doesn’t have enough.” pic.twitter.com/4XQrimqjcZ
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 26, 2024
Led by KD and Bron’s combined 44-point contribution, the USA clinched a huge 110-84 victory. Their performance eliminated any concerns that fans had after a mere 1-point win against South Sudan during the exhibition games in mid-July. With both their games won till now, they are still the hot favorites to end up winning the gold medal.
