Given it is the home of the NBA, the USA have long boasted one of the greatest international teams in basketball, dominating tournaments like the Olympics in supreme fashion. From the era of the 1980s and 1990s that saw some of the greatest players of all-time suit up, to more modern iterations involving the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, the US Olympic team have been at the pinnacle for a long time.
The 2008 side - known as the 'Redeem Team' - took their place in the basketball Hall of Fame on September 2005, marking their place in history as one of the great Olympic teams in US basketball.
But as is always the case, there remains an element of debate about who can go down as the no.1 side the US have ever put out at the Olympics. Of course, most people look towards the 1992 side that had the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley among others, and earned themselves the nickname of the 'Dream Team'.
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Given the number of Hall of Famers on board, it's difficult to look past that 1992 roster and say with real conviction that there has been - or was - a team better than them. But given the success the 2008 side had, and the quality of players they had themselves, a battle between them and the 1992 team would be fascinating.
And it's a hypothetical match-up that had James pondering as to who would come out on top. Check out what he said below.
LeBron James Explained Who'd Win Match-Up Between 1992 and 2008 US Olympic Teams
LeBron James in action for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics
The 1992 Dream Team pummelled their way to Olympic gold, beating teams on average by 44 points per game, as the likes of Jordan and Barkley in particular relished the prospect of teaming up with one another rather than having to do battle themselves. Meanwhile, the 2008 team contained some of the game's modern greats, and was a precursor for LeBron joining forces with Dwyane Wade later on with the Miami Heat.
Having only come up with a disappointing bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics, the onus and the pressure was on the 2008 team to 'redeem' themselves - and they did so in fine fashion. Defeating their opponents on average by almost 28 points, the US beat Spain in the final 118-107, with Wade leading the way for scoring across the competition, averaging 16 points per game.
When asked about who might come out on top in a dream potential match-up, James had this to say.
I don't know who would've won. I'm going to pick us, obviously, because I'm on that team. But when you got so many good players, man, you never know. Whoever got the ball last could win the game.
One thing about the '92 team, they had a lot of strong men. Like, those guys be lifting cars. You ever see the Strongest Man Competition on ESPN? Charles, Malone, Ewing, you know, those guys, David Robinson, those guys are like brute strong. We might get killed on the glass. But I feel like there ain't gonna be a lot of shots missed anyways because of these two teams.
James paid a special compliment to the late, great Kobe Bryant, insisting that the former Los Angeles Lakers star - one of the greatest in franchise history - was the key to instilling some discipline and hard work to the team and leading by example at the tournament. Bryant was named team captain and was in charge of marshalling a group of talented, young players into living up to the hype and expectation of having to compete for Olympic gold.
Think he was just the missing link that we needed in order to regain the dominance with Team USA. He brought a sense of seriousness to the team. He made us lock in.
I was 23 years old. Being out on the floor with him, he had already won championships before and things of that nature. So, it was levels that I was trying to get to. D-Wade had already won one. So, we just wanted to get to his level and make him proud.
LeBron James vs Michael Jordan Would Be an Incredible Contest
Team USA Michael Jordan and LeBron James
Team USA Michael Jordan and LeBron James
When you think of the starting fives for both teams, it's easy to see why such a match-up would be considered one of the all-time great contests. For the 1992 US Olympic team, it would consist of Magic Johnson at the point, Michael Jordan at the two, Scottie Pippen at small forward, Charles Barkley at the four and Patrick Ewing/David Robinson manning the middle.
In terms of the 2008 team, either Jason Kidd or Chris Paul would take on play-making duties, Kobe Bryant would be at shooting guard, Carmelo Anthony at the three, LeBron James at power forward and Dwight Howard at center.
The better strength in depth in terms of the two rosters arguably goes towards the 1992 team, but when you look at pure talent, it's certainly a much closer match-up than people might think. Nevertheless, it's difficult to count against the likes of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan as a double act, and while LeBron and Kobe might put up a great fight, the edge may well just go towards the Dream Team in a hypothetical match-up.