Validating Kobe...sort of

I wanted to write this post in August, when it was topical, but things got a bit busy then.  The female readers will again be disappointed with a sports post, but this is the last one in a while-I promise.

My favorite team in all of sports to follow is BYU football.  Then it's BYU basketball.  Next is not the Cardinals, or the Colts, or the Jazz, but the US Men's Basketball team.  Ever since the Dream Team, I've loved how much we'd just clobber the other teams, unapologetically.  It's nice to cheer for a team full of outrageous athletes that you know is going to win 99% of the time, especially when your other teams are filled with slow white guys who consistently choke in big games.

In '92, I followed the Dream Team like everyone else, but didn't see many of the games.  I do remember how awesome Sir Charles was, and how Jordan didn't seem to do that much.  It was great to see all the awesome players on the court at once, but the thrill disappeared for the '96 games.  That team was also pretty amazing, but it was getting tedious to us, so we didn't really care, and the elite players didn't, either.  In '00 we barely won, and the team wasn't much fun to watch.  At the World Champ-ships in '02, we finally lost.  It was embarrassing.  We were trotting out terrible players like Baron Davis et al, and the games were just brutal to watch.  We tried to fix it by the Olympics in '04, but that team played the same way: A bunch of slashers who couldn't shoot.  The world had caught up to us, playing tough, team defense, and schooled us when we tried to use our raw athleticism on the defensive end.

In 2006, we resolved to change that.  In the forefront was my archenemy, Kobe Bryant.  He pledged to play for the team, and that made being on the team "cool" again.  Lots of young stars like Chris Paul, Lebron James, and others wanted in because of that.  So they played in the World Champ-ships, but lost to Greece in the finals, which required them to play in the Americas tournament against some real crap opponents in 2007.  I loved watching all of those games, as I never get tired of a blowout.  I also found myself loving Kobe and D-Wade, even though during the NBA season I can't stand them.  It's a complicated relationship.

In 2008, they won the gold medal, and in 2010 the World Champ-ship with an entirely different team.  They combined those 2 teams for 2012, and of course, won the gold medal again.  During this process, Kobe declared that this team was better than the original Dream Team in '92.  During a slow news time, this became a huge story.  His Airness, Mr. Jordan, mocked his statement, and others did, too.  Scottie Pippen came on air during an exhibition game and said the original Dream Team would beat this team by at least 25 points.  His Highness, Mr. Obama, said "it wouldn't be close".  Future opponent and silver medalist Marc Gasol said they would beat this team by 15 points, even on an off-night.

Lebron came to Kobe’s defense and backed it up, with less of an outcry.  I’m not sure why.  But it seemed to me that it was the age-old argument of old-school versus new-school.  The older generation starts reminiscing about “the good old days” when houses were built sturdier, athletes weren’t money-hungry jerks, and society wasn’t nearly as bad as it is today.  But I feel that most of us tend to romanticize our past, myself included, and focus on only good things.  Certainly, the present has its problems, but so did the past.  I personally believe that most things are improving in the arena of sports, the economy, and technology.  Other areas like politics, society’s morals, and raising kids is something that I’m not going to touch.  Technology is obvious-no reason for a debate there.  Business is better in general, prices are relatively lower, things are more affordable, even including this recession.  Sports is harder to tell, as the athletes as a collective improve in each era.  If you put Albert Pujols, with all his modern day training, in the MLB during Babe Ruth’s era, would he be better than The Babe?  The only thing that’s obvious is that the times are getting faster in Olympic events.

Once someone retires from a sport, his game immediate improves.  With each year that passes, he gets better.  How many Bill Russell anecdotes have I heard where every one of his blocks were kept in bounds?  Really?  Every one of his blocks?  How come not one shot-blocker is able to do that today?  There is basically zero televised evidence of this, so it goes unchecked.  Also, how terrible were the players back then that blocking their shots was so easy that the shot blocker could direct the path of their block?

I watched a BYU game on BYUTV once from 1979.  I’m not sure why they were showing it, and I can’t remember who they were playing.  But Jay Monsen and his immortal monotone were announcing the game.  Danny Ainge was on the team, and there was no 3-point line.  Pretty much nobody guarded anyone from outside of 12 feet.  And the shooting was terrible, including Danny.  Maybe it was just that game, but it was painful to watch.  At one point, someone shot from about where the current college 3-point line was, and Jay said “From 25 feet out!”  Obviously, there was no sense of distance once you got past the free throw line.

So I’m of the opinion that today’s athletes are, collectively, better than yesterday’s.  However, the Dream Team is a small sample of the very best of the NBA of that time.  When you look at the names on the roster, it’s a staggering collection of immortals.  Bird, Magic, MJ, Sir Charles, The Mailman, etc.  One thing that’s rarely mentioned is that Bird could barely move in 1992, and Magic had been out the whole season.  MJ was indeed at the top of his game, and so was Sir Charles.

Once Kobe made his statement, I had to defend it.  Why?  Not because I somehow liked Kobe, but because I hate Jordan.  I've always hated Jordan, watching him dismantle all the teams, and because all the front-runner trendy kids from Jr High liked him.  When he retired the first time, I was super glad and didn't feel at all that I missed him.  When he came back and destroyed my Jazz in '97 and '98, I was devastated.  Then he retired again, but then came back in 2001.  That was awesome, to watch this old dude do pretty much nothing all season, with terrible stats.  The highlight was when he missed a wide-open dunk in the All-Star game.  The arrogance of Jordan, to think that after 3 years of sitting around, he could just come back and be any good!  His defining moment of who Jordan is as a person was his Hall of Fame speech.  It was 10 minutes of awkward come-uppance.  We, as a society, worshipped him for 2 decades and he still had to point out all the people that maybe said something once that could be construed as negative or constructive criticism.  I loved it.  Jordan's failures at Charlotte while Bird was successful at Indiana was icing on the cake.  Watching an arrogant prick fail isn't something I should enjoy, but I can't help it.

At the height of his arrogance, Jordan claims that he was the best, and nobody will ever be better, and he also said that about the Dream Team.  Now I am certainly the first to admit that the Dream Team was awesome, but I just can't bring myself to say that nobody will ever be better.  It's just like the old-timers who hold on to Bill Russell or Wilt or whatever.  Sure, they were good, and maybe us youngsters can't appreciate it, but you have to allow for new players to possibly be better.  Jordan's prime was in the 90's, and I did quite a lot of basketball-watching then, so I feel qualified to compare him against today's stars.

However, I tried to be as objective as possible while watching this year's team.  Would they actually beat the Dream Team?  Anecdotally, the Dream Team was sculpted by the hand of Zeus from the peaks of Mount Olympus.  But were they really that good?  Statistically, the 2012 team was a better shooting team.  A few computer-generated analyses pitted the two teams against each other, with the 1992 team coming out on top in each instance, albeit by a very close margin.

So I decided to compare the teams against each other, matching the players and seeing how they compare.  The numbers to the right represent the advantage of the 2012 team against the Dream Team:

Laettner, Christian	Anthony Davis	1
Robinson, David	Tyson Chandler	-3
Ewing, Patrick	Kevin Durant	4
Bird, Larry	James Harden	2
Pippen, Scottie	Carmelo Anthony	-3
Jordan, Michael	LeBron James	-1
Drexler, Clyde	Russell Westbrook	-2
Malone, Karl	Andre Iguodala	-3
Stockton, John	Chris Paul	2
Mullin, Chris	Deron Williams	2
Barkley, Charles	Kevin Love	-2
Johnson, Magic	Kobe Bryant	2

Keep in mind that this is the team as it was during their respective Olympics - not during their primes.
Laettner vs Davis - Laettner, as we all know, was worthless as an NBA player, while Davis hasn't even had a chance.  Davis, in my opinion, will become one of the greatest players of his generation, but of course, we don't know that yet.  However, Laettner was so terrible that I have to give Davis a 1 point edge.  The likelihood of Davis having a career as bad as Laettner is very low.

Robinson vs Chandler - I'm not the hugest Chandler fan, but he is a good defender.  Robinson had both the defensive and offensive abilities, which is why I've given him a 3 point advantage over Chandler.  I actually was never really that impressed with Robinson, and thought that Duncan was a far superior player, but I will concede that he is a much better option than Chandler.

Ewing vs Durant - Ewing, to me, was one of the most overrated players of the 90's.  I watched my Pacers play series after series against the Knicks, and I was more scared of John Starks than Ewing.  Sure, his stats looked good, but he was easily countered by the Davis boys, Antonio and Dale, and even Rik Smits.  Comparing him against Durant is a little unfair, because Durant is an amazing scorer, and is the 2nd best player today.  By the time he's done, he will be in the conversation with Jordan and Lebron as the best player ever.  I'm not sure we're appreciating Durant as much as we should be right now.

Bird vs Harden - Larry Bird was pretty much useless with his back injuries, which is why I've given James Harden, who is probably the worst player on the 2012 team, the advantage.  Larry Legend is certainly one of the all-time greats and also a great guy, but by all accounts he couldn't do much for the Dream Team.

Pippen vs Melo - Melo certainly has his moments, specifically against Nigeria with his amazingly hot hand, but for against top-notch competition he has a tendency to keep shooting when he's off.  However, when he wants to, his defense and rebounding are pretty good.  Pippen, to me, is one of the more underrated players of the 90's, as he proved how good he was when Jordan left.  A 3 point advantage for Pippen against Melo is pretty generous, but I think he deserves it.

Jordan vs Lebron - This argument will gain more and more traction as Lebron piles up more titles.  In the afterglow of Jordan's dominating career, we started remembering him more as a basketball God than someone who was simply an electric player.  Jordan was great, and I agree he's the best player ever, but he somehow is remembered to be better as each year goes by.  Lebron is currently playing, and was picked apart during every offseason until this year, because he finally won a title.  Lebron's ceiling, in my opinion, is higher than what Jordan ever achieved, but it will still be a while until he reaches it, if he does at all.  Maybe he's too nice a guy.  All I know is that Lebron is a much better person that MJ, and I was super glad that he changed his number from 23 to 6.  I still give MJ the edge because Lebron isn't there yet, but it's only by 1 point.

Drexler vs Westbrook - I remember Drexler being pretty awesome, so I'm a big fan.  I'm also not a huge fan of Westbrook, because he is so turnover prone and doesn't know how to pass.  There is nothing more frustrating than rooting for a team with Westbrook on it.  On one possession, he steals the ball from the opponent's best player and does an amazing dunk on the other end.  On the next possession, he dribbles uncontrollably down the court, passes up a wide open Durant for 3, and throws up some terrible shot.  I only gave Drexler a 2 point advantage because Westbrook's defense is so great.

Malone vs Iguodala – I never cared for Iguodala until the 2010 World Championships.  It was then that he played like the Ultimate Team Player.  Insanely tough on D, knew his role, didn’t take bad shots, he was, in my opinion, the 2nd most important player on that team, 2nd to Durant.  So it hurts me to give him a 3 point disadvantage to Malone.  I love the Jazz, but I’m still bitter at Malone – not for playing for the Lakers in his last season, but for choking so epically against the Bulls in the ’97 and ’98 Finals.  In ’97, I can forgive-it was his first Finals and he was just happy to be there.  In ’98, however, the Jazz had the best team in the NBA and deserved to dethrone the Bulls.  But, regardless, Malone was a great rebounder, passer, defender, and a decent shooter.

Stockton vs Paul – Stockton has a special place in my heart for NOT choking in the playoffs, or the Finals.  He was the MVP of the Jazz both those years, in the playoffs.  A great passer, knew when to start calling his own number.  But, frankly, Chris Paul, when healthy, and he was healthy during these Olympics, is just one of the awesomest point guards ever.  He’s a great shooter, defender, passer, everything.  I have to give New School 2 points here.

Mullin vs Williams – When Deron was on the Jazz, I thought he was better than CP3.  But now I have to give a lot of that credit to Sloan’s system, which could also be said for John Stockton.  What if Chris Paul played for Sloan?  Could he have been simply amazing in that system?  Anyway, I still love Deron, and he’s a great point guard.  Mullin is one of the overrated players of that generation, along with Ewing.  I don’t care what his stats looked like, I was never impressed by him.  Maybe it was his haircut.  It’s worth noting that Mullin is now one of my favorite announcers in basketball.  I’d take him over Van Gundy even.  But maybe not Stan Van Gundy.  I have a feeling Stan is going to be much better than Jeff at complaining about the refs.

Barkley vs Love – I love Love and I love Barkley.  Love didn’t play too well at times during the Olympics, whereas Barkley was the best (and most entertaining) player on the Dream Team.  I only give Barkley 2 points because I think Love is really that good.  There’s a lot of room to argue this.

Magic vs Kobe – In the battle of Laker greats, I have to give Kobe the edge here.  Mostly because Magic didn’t even play that season, and was invited back on the team after the whole HIV scare died down.  Kobe certainly showed some signs of aging in these Olympics, so I’d give Aging Kobe a 2 point edge over Rusty Magic.  This truly pains me, since Kobe’s pettiness only rivals Jordan’s.

When you add up the totals, you get a 3 point edge for the Dream Team.  So do I think the Dream Team would beat the ’12 team by 3 points every single game?  Of course not, sit down!  Basketball is such an interesting game because it is prone to upset.  That’s why we see upsets most every March.  One team matches up well with another, gets hot, and upsets a much better team.  So I think the Dream Team would be a 3 point favorite.

But the more interesting question is, who would win in a 7 game series?  I say the Dream Team in 6.  The 2012 team’s ferocious perimeter defense would give them a victory, and then the hot shooting of Melo and Durant would give them another game.  Kobe’s selfishness would cost them a game, and 2 games would be won by the Dream Team because of the dominating size of the “bigs”. Game 6 would come down to a showdown between Lebron and Jordan, but Jordan’s competitive edge would get the best of Lebron.  All the games would be within 10 points, and competitive from start to finish.  So, old-timers, are you happy?  The old school beat the new school!

Now that that’s clear, we can move onto the real question:  Who would win in a fist-fight between George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld?