From Jay Mariotti, Chicago-Sun Times:

Briefly, I weighed the possibility, recognizing that the current team is loaded 1 thru 12 with gifted stars in their prime, right down to final pieces Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd. The Dream Team, remember, had a retired Magic Johnson and an old Larry Bird and had the feel of a traveling museum -- or, in Charles Barkley's case, a nightly party in Las Ramblas. Also, the Redeem Team is playing markedly better compe tition in a world that improved enough to catch up to the Americans, then beat them down.

But, please. In the Jordan vs. Kobe matchup, take MJ's scoring, defense and clinically insane competitiveness every time. And if James looks like the Incredible Hulk and plays like a Hummer rambling at 100 mph, I'd like to see him deal with Scottie Pippen's Doberman act. Karl Malone would create a mismatch at power forward. Wade is a force off the bench, but so was Clyde Drexler. Inside, I like the fury of Patrick Ewing and finesse of David Robinson over Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh. We never saw the best of the Dream Team because the mode was cruise control. We've seen the best of the Redeem Team. And so far, it's damned good. "For 40 minutes, it's nonstop movement and chaos,"Chris Paul said. "That’s what we try to do. We wreak havoc."

In the end, Jordan would hang 16 in the fourth quarter and the Dreamers would win by eight points.

NBA, Olympics dream team, redeem team, tayshaun prince, michael redd, magic johnson, larry bird, michael jordan, kobe byrant, karl malone, chris paul, david robinson, dwight howard, chris bosh