Vote: Would the 2012 USA Basketball Team Defeat the Dream Team?

They all represent the same country, but there’s been a few jabs exchanged by past and present Olympians this week.

Kobe Bryant said that he thinks this year’s USA basketball team could pull out a victory over the 1992 Dream Team, widely considered the greatest basketball team ever assembled. That kicked off plenty of debate, and has even drawn some responses from members of that ’92 squad.

The always outspoken Charles Barkley was the first Dream Teamer to fire back, saying that his team would come away with a double-digit victory, and that only Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant would crack the Dream Team roster.

Michael Jordan was up next, responding to Bryant while on the golf course for a celebrity tournament. He found Bryant’s confidence comical, saying that he “absolutely laughed” when he heard the comment and that there’s “no comparison” between the two teams.

Is Jordan right? Is it really amusing to think that this year’s USA team could give the ’92 Dream Team a run for its money, or could Bryant be onto something?

After all, it’s a different game, and players nowadays really might be more athletic than those who played 20 years ago. It comes down to whether that’d be enough to overcome the intangibles of that legendary group.

Here’s a look at the rosters for each team, with this year’s batch obviously subject to change.

1992 Dream Team

Charles Barkley
Larry Bird
Clyde Drexler
Patrick Ewing
Magic Johnson
Michael Jordan
Christian Laettner
Karl Malone
Chris Mullin
Scottie Pippen
David Robinson
John Stockton.

2012 USA basketball team

Carmelo Anthony
Chris Bosh
Kobe Bryant
Tyson Chandler
Anthony Davis
Kevin Durant
Rudy Gay
Eric Gordon
Blake Griffin
James Harden
Andre Iguodala
LeBron James
Kevin Love
Chris Paul
Russell Westbrook
Deron Williams

Click here to see Charles Barkley’s response to Kobe Bryant comments >>

Click here to see Michael Jordan’s response to Kobe Bryant’s comments >>

Photo via Flickr/Instant Vantage

Which team would win?