How do the players on the 2012 US Olympic Team match up with the 1992 Dream Team?

When I’m bored at work I often turn to ESPN polls and Sports Nation Rank Em to see how in-tuned the rest of the world is with me when it comes to sports.

It’s not the other way around. One of my favorite personal tag lines is I’m not the man, but I’m definitely one of them.

The last few weeks every media outlet and barber shop in America has debated if the 2012 Olympic Team could beat the Dream Team after Kobe Bryant’s brash statement saying his team could. I think it’s safe to say the 1992 team has won hands down. I’ve only heard one man, my brother in-law, say LeBron James and company would beat Michael Jordan and company. Honestly, I think he is crazy and his lifetime stay in Milwaukee has ruined him as a sports fan.

When I was on ESPN earlier this week, I noticed a ranking game which consisted of ranking 24 players from both this year’s Olympic team and the 1992 Dream Team. This sparked my interest and kept my attention for quite some time.

After I completed my rankings — about an hour after I started — I analyzed the averages of votes done by the rest of the country, or in this case Sports Nation. I’m not surprised to find out how crazy the basketball/sports world is.

Here are my findings:

These are the players ESPN offered to rank: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, David Robinson, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Love, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, Tyson Chandler, Andre Iguodala, James Harden and Christian Laettner.

Michael Jordan doing what he did best, attack and score.

I was not surprised Jordan was voted as the No. 1 player out of this group because he is the greatest player of all-time, hands down. I was surprised on how many first place votes he received though, 55,365. LeBron, at No. 2 on the list and in first place votes, only had 3,320. This is quite the landslide.

James will probably be the second player on this list when his career is officially over and he is in the Hall of Fame; he will be. However, I had a rough time picking him over some of the game’s best players to ever play. With this said, James didn’t make my list until the five spot.

Yes, I realize this is a Heat blog and James is the man right now. This is one of the things I tried to stay away from, the “Now” factor. A lot of times we get stuck in what is happening now or what we saw last instead of what happened 20 years ago that we’ll never see again.

Magic cracked my list at two, Kobe at three and for everyone’s surprise Barkley at four.

Barkley was a beast in his prime during the 92 Olympics as he lead the team in scoring with 18 points per game. He was a great defensive low post player and one of the greatest rebounders the league had ever seen until Dennis Rodman began to put up legendary numbers. Also, he took a Phoenix Suns team with hardly any real players — excusing Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle — to the NBA Finals.

SN followed James with Kobe, Magic and Bird to round out the top five. I had Bird at seven underneath Malone, who was a mountain of a man and the second leading scorer of all-time in the NBA.

Here is where I got confused until I remembered the “Now” factor. SN put Durant at six, which have him above Barkley, Malone, Pippen, and Stockton. Again, he could very well crack the top five when it’s all said and done. But, he is only 23-years-old and hasn’t really done anything except score a lot of points. Each one of the four guys listed above him where three to five tool players, not just scorers.

Is Kevin Durant already better than Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and John Stockton?

How do you put the man who is the all-time leader in steals and assists –Stockton — outside of the top 10. I had him at No. 9 behind Malone at six, Bird at seven and Pippen at eight.

The middle of the list is all up to the individual. I didn’t have a single player after Durant more than two spots different than the SN list. I put D-Will at 14, SN had him at 16. Any of the mid-level Olympians are interchanged.

The only issue I had at all was Melo receiving 213 first place votes. If he wasn’t a Knick, he wouldn’t have received one. Who in their right mind would take Anthony over anyone in the top 10, whether my list or the SN list.

The top 19 players of this list I mixed up from the real rankings to make you guess until you actually get that point of the post. On the other hand, I left the last five guys on the SN’s list the same. Let’s face it, Laettner will never rate above Westbrook, let alone one of his individually nominated Hall of Fame inducted Dream Team teammates.

I also had Griffin, Chandler, Iggy, Harden and Laettner in the bottom five, just not in the same order.

Andre Iguodala is a better player than Blake Griffin, but ESPN voters don't think so.

You Tube and highlight reels have confused the entire world of what makes a great basketball player. Griffin is a dunker; probably one of the best, besides Vince Carter. However, he is not a great basketball player. He does not have a jump shot, plays little defense and is not a good rebounder for his size. His pure athletic ability does have him above Laettner, Chandler and Harden but Iggy is by far a better player.

Iguodala can throw down a monster jam. He can hit a three-ball. The Philadelphia 76ers’ is an elite perimeter defender, who can take the ball coast to coast after a steal and can either create his own basket or make a pretty pass to an open shooter. Griffin can’t do all of that.

I’d take Chandler over the other four if I needed size or defense, but Laettner could score better than him, let alone the rest of this group.

Sports Nation                                                                                                     LaChance

1. Michael Jordan                                                                                        1. Jordan
2. LeBron James                                                                                          2. Magic
3. Kobe Bryant                                                                                             3. Kobe
4. Magic Johnson                                                                                        4. Barkley
5. Larry Bird                                                                                                 5. James
6. Kevin Durant                                                                                           6. Malone
7. Charles Barkley                                                                                       7. Bird
8. Karl Malone                                                                                             8. Pippen
9. Scottie Pippen                                                                                         9. Stockton
10. David Robinson                                                                                     10. Durant
11. Patrick Ewing                                                                                         11. Ewing
12. John Stockton                                                                                        12. Robinson
13. Chris Parul                                                                                              13. Paul
14. Clyde Drexler                                                                                         14. Williams
15. Carmelo Anthony                                                                                  15. Anthony
16. Deron Williams                                                                                     16. Drexler
17. Russell Westbrook                                                                                17. Westbrook
18. Chris Mullin                                                                                           18. Love
19. Kevin Love                                                                                              19. Mullin
20. Blake Griffin                                                                                           20. Iguodala
21. Tyson Chandler                                                                                     21. Griffin
22. Andre Iguodala                                                                                      22. Harden
23. James Harden                                                                                        23. Chandler
24. Christian Laettner                                                                                 24. Laettner

LeBron James continues to prove he is the best player the NBA has to offer in summer exhibition games before the 2012 Olympics in London.

After the all-too famous “Decision” where LeBron James declared he was taking his talents to South Beach, the man has been criticized in every possible fashion and has been denoted of his great game play, no matter how many fantastic performances James adds to his showcase.

The Heat won the 2012 NBA Championship on his shoulders. The star-studded 2012 USA Olympic Team is winning exhibition games against teams around the world because of James’ great defense, scoring and ability to pass the ball to the open man.

With all the evidence in front of us, can we finally say James is the best player in the game without hesitation.

My answer: yes.

During the 2011-12 NBA season, there were discussions of who was the better player James or Durant. The basketball debate went like this: Durant is one of the best scorers the league has ever seen, rebounds at a decent clip and has significantly picked up his defense from where it was when he first arrived in the league. James can change a game on either side of the ball by scoring all over the court, defending any player on an opposing team whether he is 5-foot or 7-foot, 11-inches.

Kevin Durant is a great player, but is not on the same level as LeBron James.

The negative opinions of Durant were he isn’t a vocal leader and is sometimes outplayed by his teammate, Russell Westbrook, while James doesn’t show up in the clutch and is a quarter short of being a presence for four quarters/

James heard every word and took it out on any team he played this season and is continuing his dominance in the summer.

I like Durant and think he is the second best player in the league, behind James. Let’s face it, he doesn’t have the size, the speed or the defensive know-how of James.

These facts have been incredibly noticeable during the Olympic exhibition games. The team needs James to win, while Durant is replaceable by either a better defending Andre Iguodala or an outside scorer who also has a better developed post game in Carmelo Anthony.

Who can play like James? Absolutely no one.

James isn’t only playing brilliant one-on-one defense, but he is also reading passing lanes and is coming to help almost every teammate when they lose their defensive coverage.

Offensively, he has become just as much of a distributor as Chris Paul and Deron Williams while also hitting three-point baskets and taking it to the rim at will. He hasn’t met a player representing another country who has been able to stop him a little bit, let alone shut him down. The best attempt at defending him hasn’t even been by a human, it was the rim when he missed a monster dunk attempt.

I think his dominating performances in the playoffs and in the Olympics should prove to everyone that he is who we thought he was, one of the best players to ever play the game. We shouldn’t turn this into a David vs. Goliath match and try to say other players in the league are better than him because it isn’t even close at this point.

The two best players in the NBA, LeBron James and Kevin Durant listening to some jams.

James is the best by far. Durant a distant second.