re: A current all-NBA team would wreck the dream team

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It's not really that important in basketball.

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youre telling me strength, nutrition, and conditioning have nothing to do with being an elite basketball player?

were you in the HS band or something?

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He also averages 8 APG. KD has missed about half the year in case you were wondering. Should the Thunder have Dion Waiters as their primary scorer?

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he is scoring 27 puts a game at .437% shooting.

Thats 87th in the league

He takes more shots than anyone else in the top 40 scorers.

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But teams in the 90s were far more prone to cheating, and dirty play.

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the 90's was clean compared to the 70's. in the 70's the NBA was close to becoming like the NHL. And i do agree with you that getting rid of goons is a good thing, but watching a guy like Harden drive the lane, he would have had his head taken off .

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Vladan Alanovic 6-3 179
Franjo Arapovic 6-11 265
Danko Cvjeticanin 6-6 198
Alan Gregov 6-3 192
Arijan Komazec 6-7 216
Toni Kukoc 6-9 192
Aramis Naglic 6-8 234
Velimir Perasovic 6-5 181
Drazen Petrovic 6-6 196
Dino Radja 6-11 231
Zan Tabak 7-0 258
Stojko Vrankovic 7-1 254

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This is the Croatian roster that lost to the Dream Team by 33 and then 32 in the Finals. They once led 25-23 in the 1st half of the Finals.

If that team can stay within 33, then I like my chances with the 2015 squad.

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but yes of course if everyone grew up in the same socialization bubble, theyd be comparable to one another..

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you are one of the exceptions to actually admit this

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unfortunately for the 80s and 90s ballers, strength and conditioning was just in its infancy stages.

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the biggest benefit to this is i think careers will last longer and that now you have more really good players and hence an overall better league, but the top guys its more or less a wash. LeBron is an all timer but a guy like Westbrook is great, but I'd still take Magic or even Isiah at their peaks over him at his.

to tie back to the OP, with the 92 team, you did have key guys, like Bird and Magic that were past their primes, but had to be included because it was the first time using pros. Laetner was just an add to the crowd that thought the world would end if we used NBA players. Today is deeper so a team of all stars to today, all in their prime probably does beat the 92 teams of guys, some of which were past their primes.

Yeah, the 70s were outright war. Guys would be fighting all the damn time. That would never ever happen these days, in any sport. And let's be honest, that is largely a positive development.

I don't like the argument that the Past is always Better, nor do I like the Present is Always Improving. Both are false paradigms. I do think athletics largely improved as it got more codified and professional, until about the 1980s (baseball excepted) when the quality of play/athlete has largely plateaued.

Eras now aren't better or worse, they are different. We've moved more and more in each of team sports to allow talented playmakers create. I think this is largely a positive development, but it also means that if we transported a 2014 athlete back to 1990, they'd be shocked at how little space they would have and how many downright illegal tactics would be not only allowed, but were regular occurances. Also, truly talented athletes would adjust their game for the era. Jordan and Magic bulked up considerably because that was the game. Jordan didn't really work on a jump shot until late in his career, when A) his body started to fail but B) the style of play made that feasible.

If LeBron played in 1992, he'd still be great, but he'd be a different player. He'd adjust his game for the era. If Jordan played now, same thing. And some players were great simply because of their era. Bill Laimbeer could not play in the NBA today. I'm not sure Kyle Korver could back in 1992. But a guy like Billy Owens is probably cursing his bad timing.

Which player on the dream team were weak skeletons?

I'm not denying the advances in information.

But great basketball players are born(athletically) and skilled(via practice), not built in a weight room.

shite a guy like Kobe spans both eras. He's always been a great player

I think It would be close, but only because of 2 players on the current team: Lebron and durant.

Otherwise top to bottom Dream Team trumps

Yea I mean that stuff is important. But players are built in the gym; the basketball gym

First off, they lost by 33. So, it's not like the Dream Team barely eked out a win. But there is a tendency to underrate international teams from that era. Those guys had no real avenue to make it to the NBA.

Petrovic didn't start in the NBA until he was 27. He average over 20 PPG, when finally given a shot. Kukoc went 15.5/5.5 in his first full season in Chicago. Dino Rada went 15.1 PPG and 7.2 RPG in his one full post-Olympics season in the NBA. These guys were good enough to play in the NBA, they just weren't able to until late in their careers. They weren't an All-Star team by any means, but the best players on the Croatian team was good enough to play in the NBA, when given a shot.