20 Years Later, 1992 Dream Team Still Gold Standard

CLEVELAND - During the past several months, much has been made about the 1992 U.S. Olympic Men's basketball team and the historic confluence of talent which it was comprised of. Since today marks the 20th anniversary of their gold medal victory over Croatia, I will simply add to the discussion.

That group remains the greatest team ever assembled.

When I make that statement, I am not necessarily suggesting that the iconic team could "mop the floor" with any hypothetical opponent it could face. However, I'm not exactly saying they couldn't, either. Since this year's Olympic Men's basketball team is populated by the likes of such present day megastars as Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, the current debate has centered heavily on whether or not the '92 team could maintain its legendary reputation against the new guys, or if the '12 team could outdo them.

The opinions are divided, predictably, along generational lines. Bryant, the new millennium's version of Michael Jordan in both competitiveness and hoops skill, stirred the pot a few weeks ago when he opined that he and his mates could "beat [the Dream Team] one time." Newly crowned NBA champion James echoed those sentiments days later. Naturally, Jordan scoffed at the very concept of such a thing when he was asked his opinion. Fellow Dream Teamers Charles Barkley and Earvin "Magic" Johnson also articulated their support for their 1992 selves in a fictional match-up with this year's squad.

Far as I'm concerned, the 1992 team was one of absolute royalty; it doesn't matter that both Johnson and Bird were beyond their prime. What matters is that Jordan was 29 and clearly the most dominant and devastating player on the planet. Pippen was 25 and was at his best as an all-around defensive stopper/versatile athlete and triple-double threat. Barkley was 29 and in full "beast mode" in the low-post. Clyde Drexler was coming off the best season of his career and was a 30-year old "poor man's version" of MJ. David Robinson was a 25-year old, 7'1 center who was quick, athletic and highly skilled on both offense and defense. Patrick Ewing was still in the midst of his best NBA years as was the incomparable scoring/rebounding/passing/defending duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone. Chris Mullin was about as good as it gets as a sharpshooter and the team's curious choice, Christian Laettner, had just come off one of the most celebrated college careers in recent memory.

I bring all that up to extol the awesomeness of those players and their then-current resumes. A collection of stars as accomplished and highly skilled as those men hasn't been seen since, not even with this current team. Bryant, as outstanding as his 16 years and counting NBA career has been, still isn't as historically significant as Jordan was in half as long (MJ had just completed his 8th NBA season prior to the '92 Olympics), nor has his game ever been as dynamic and brazen. Johnson and Bird, though past their prime still possessed an aura and reputation that trumps anything any other later team possessed. In other words, it was about more than just great skill and talent on that '92 team. It was also about the privilege of watching these indelible, mythical hardwood heroes join forces and witness their transcendence and artistry take over.

I know I sound a little too magnanimous in my praise of those guys, but they left an impression on me, one of reality and fantasy, that I won't soon forget.

And they remain the "gold standard" in the history of team basketball.

20 Years Ago Today: Jordan Clears 'Final' Challenge

CLEVELAND - Funny to see LeBron James in a position to win the first ever NBA title of his career, provided his Miami Heat win the final two games over the Dallas Mavericks (they better not). It's funny because the greatest basketball player in history won his very first championship 20 years ago today.

The one and only Michael Jordan.

Hard to believe but the young Chicago Bulls put the heavily experienced L.A. Lakers to rest on the Lakers' home court with a stirring 108-101 victory in Game 5 of the 1991 NBA Finals. Jordan, just 28 years of age at the time dominated the series in the most amazing of ways. He averaged his usual unstoppable high number of points; 31.2 ppg in the series, but his astounding 11.4 assists per game was unreal. For good measure, he also chipped in huge with 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals and shot a searing 55% from the floor.

Easy choice for his first ever Finals MVP award.

The game will forever be remembered for sharpshooting role player John Paxson's dead-eye shooting in the closing minutes of the game. But what I delightfully remember is how Jordan, the ultimate crunch time player and finisher continually drove into the lane, drew heavy defensive attention and kicked the ball out to Paxson for those huge 4th quarter baskets. MJ finished with 30 points, 10 assists and 5 steals.

Equally memorable was Jordan's post-game showing in the locker room. Flanked by his father and wife, the iconic hoopster was overcome with the emotion of his greatest professional moment. Through persistent tears, he remarked that it had been a "seven year struggle" and was very happy to be over the "stigma of not winning a title." What many forget now is that Michael had been a stupefyingly brilliant basketball maestro his entire career to that point. Illustrious accomplishments abounded, but he could never manage to lead his Bulls to a league title. He seemed destined to end his career someday with gigantic stats and breathtaking highlights, but no titles.

That never happened.

Instead, Jordan's immense mastery of the '91 NBA Finals became a springboard for a total of six NBA titles he would lead Chicago to by the summer of 1998. Though Earvin "Magic" Johnson submitted an awesome series performance (16 points, 20 assists in the final loss), Jordan proved that he was not only heads and shoulders above the rest of the game's stars, but he was also a winner.

20 years later, LeBron has yet to prove that.

Debating Kobe Bryant's Legacy

CLEVELAND - I am a Kobe Bryant fan. He is a truly amazing basketball player with an unbelievable will to succeed and his enormous cache of skills make him nearly impossible to defend on the court. Where he started at the beginning of his career and where he is now is one of the biggest phenomenons in sports history.

But his place in NBA history remains complicated.

Yes, even after Bryant led his L.A. Lakers to their second straight (16th overall) NBA championship Thursday night, discussing his legacy is far from simple. In fact, it's nearly impossible. The 14-year superstar is now a member of five NBA title teams of the past 11 seasons and his Lakers seem poised to challenge for more during the next year or two.

But, let's not get too far ahead.

Comparisons in sports are inevitable. The most difficult ones to make are the ones that compare players across different eras and with different circumstances. For years, Bryant has been compared very favorably to the great Michael Jordan (my all-time hoops hero). And now that Bryant is just one championship behind MJ, the comparisons are as heated as ever. Many have even placed Kobe above Earvin "Magic" Johnson as the greatest Laker in history. It's entirely possible that Bryant is Johnson's superior, but he is still miles behind Jordan.

Here's why:

To be fair to both men, I'm only going to consider Bryant's last 11 seasons, since his first three were spent learning the NBA after jumping straight from high school. His productivity was far below what it came to be. For Jordan, I won't consider his two year stint with Washington, when he was a very advanced-in-age 39 and 40 and it's also pointless to consider his 18-game second season and his 17-game comeback season in 1995. In other words, I'm comparing Kobe's best 11 years with Michael's best 11 years.

In Kobe's 11 seasons, the Lakers have won the title 5 times. In each of those seasons, he not only didn't win a league MVP award, but the consensus opinion was that he was no higher than the second best player in the NBA. Not the best. His role on the Lakers' 2000-02 title teams was as the killer wing player. Shaquille O'Neal was the best, most dominant player on the floor and the league and his ability to virtually guarantee a Lakers basket every time down the court was their strongest asset. He was more physically imposing than anyone and had a litany of post skills that made him the focal point of opposing defenses. Bryant, with his myriad skills was the beneficiary of Shaq's paint presence. Though Kobe seemed to resent having to share the ball with O'Neal at the time, he still prospered from being the best one-on-one player in the game who was hardly ever required to go one-on-one.

So even though Kobe played a very pivotal role in those first three titles, he played with a very unfair advantage. Let's also not forget about the rest of the talent that L.A. had during those years. When Kobe became the team's leading scorer for the first time in his career during the 2002-03 season (30.0 ppg), the Lakers lost in Round 2 of the playoffs. It was the first time Bryant's thirst for glory impeded the team's goal; he had a 13 game stretch at midseason where he averaged more than 42 points per game. That type of monopoly on the ball is inexcusable when a guy like O'Neal (just 31 at the time) is around.

In the 2004 season, the Lakers lost again, this time in the NBA Finals to upstart Detroit. By then, O'Neal and Bryant's rift was at an all-time high in the animosity category. It was the last time they played together as O'Neal wound up in Miami the following season. With Bryant as the team's Number 1 star for the 2004-05 season, the Lakers were a mess and stunningly missed the playoffs. In '06, Bryant unleashed the full capacity of his brilliant offense and averaged a career high 35.4 ppg. He even dropped 81 points in a game v.s. Toronto, but come playoff time, his Lakers got bounced by Phoenix, an occurrence that repeated itself in 2007. It was during that off-season that Kobe fumed in the media and disparaged his teammates while mentioning that he wanted a trade. Of course, the ensuing 2007-08 season saw the shocking trade (steal) for all-star Pau Gasol. This move, along with the great improvement of the Lakers' Andrew Bynum put L.A. in the NBA Finals for the first time in four seasons.

Even though Bryant won the 2008 MVP, his Lakers lost the title to Boston. The following season, L.A. steamrolled Orlando en route to capturing the 2009 NBA title, Bryant's 4th overall, but first as the team's best player. They repeated the feat two days ago when they won in a delayed rematch with the Celtics. Bryant won Finals MVP for the 2nd straight season, but he never had a standout game.

For Michael Jordan, his path was very different. After six seasons of awesome accolades, breathtaking highlights and endless praise, his Chicago Bulls still possessed no championships. When they finally broke through in 1991, Jordan loomed very large. He averaged 31.2 ppg, 11.4 apg and 6.6 rpg! He dominated in the '92 Finals as well as he outshone his supposed equal Clyde Drexler with a 35.8 scoring average. For the Finals in 1993, he set a record with a 41 ppg series average against Phoenix. He stunningly retired nearly four months later, then returned two years after that. He led Chicago to another trilogy of championships in 1996, '97 and '98 before riding off into the sunset. The major difference between Jordan's showings in the championship series v.s. Bryant's is simple. Jordan had games so great that they remain some of the most transcendent moments in league history.

Bryant, in seven different Finals, never had a masterpiece game like that.

In the regular season, MJ won 10 NBA scoring titles, 9 NBA 1st team all-defense, 6 Finals MVP's, 6 NBA titles, 5 league MVP's and a Defensive Player of the Year award. He was always the best player on his team and though he had an awesome sidekick in Scottie Pippen, he always played with one-dimensional role players and had lousy centers and point guards on his team. His regular season resume is filled with 60, 50 and 40 point games but his playoff resume is filled with series winning performances that impact basketball history greatly. In his final two Finals series alone, MJ authored two of the greatest single game performances the championship series has ever seen. He was always the focal point of his team's offense as well as the other team's defense.

Kobe meanwhile, has had awesome regular season games but almost no playoff games that jump out at you. Even when he went on a one-quarter scoring explosion in Game 4 of this year's Finals, the Celtics still won. He has one MVP, which he earned during the same season his team lost in the Finals. Jordan won 4 of his 5 in seasons that ended in championships.

I agree that Kobe has skills that are virtually equal to Michael's which is amazing in and of itself. But this nonsense about Bryant being a better shooter than MJ is ridiculous. Yes, Bryant became a good shooter earlier than Jordan did, but once Michael perfected his mid-range jumper, he was automatic. MJ, even by Phil Jackson's admission was a better finisher at the rim than Kobe (since Jackson coached both men, I give added weight to his evaluations of them) Michael was also a superior post-up player even though Kobe is excellent in that category. Kobe has been an outstanding defender, Jordan was better. On the ball, he was more ferocious. Off the ball, he played the passing lanes with better anticipation. Both players have shown reluctance to pass the ball, but they are very effective when they do. Michael saw the floor better mostly because he was trained in college by Dean Smith to play as a team before playing as the hero. Even though Jordan was known as a ball hog, he still displayed that fundamental skill to look for the open man.

Bryant shoots the 3-pointer better than MJ, but takes far too many shots from that distance. Jordan was an inconsistent 3-point shooter, but he was a very good "situational" 3-point shooter. He also had the sense and discipline to take higher percentage shots instead of "the home run ball" which has a tendency to take a team out of their game. Both men were brilliant in crunch time, Jordan made a habit out of drilling last second shots and breaking the hearts of many teams. Bryant nailed several game winners this season alone.

All in all, Kobe Bryant is awesome. Granted, I can't be as big a fan of his as I'd like to be because my allegiance to Jordan won't allow it. With that being said, I make these arguments in MJ's favor with complete objectivity. I presented facts and opinions based on facts and I gave each man the benefit of the doubt. Kobe is not as great as Michael, and that is just fine.

He's a legend already. That ain't too shabby.

25 Years Ago Today: All-Star Vets Put Rookie Jordan On Ice

CLEVELAND - It seems unbelievable now, but in his first ever NBA All-Star game, Michael Jordan was nervous, unable to get into a rhythm offensively and finished with just 7 points.

Ah, once upon a time.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of what has become popularly known as "the freeze-out game" in NBA lore. It was the 35th annual mid-season classic that also happened to serve as Jordan's inaugural NBA All-Star game and took place at the venerable Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, IN. The West squad defeated the East, 140-129 but in spite of the presence of such future legends as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the true story of the afternoon was the soon to be 22-year old Michael Jordan.

Many veteran stars were angry about the unrivaled popularity and press that the newcomer was receiving. His flashy, high-flying style was tailor made for engendering jealousy as was his dominant offensive abilities. Compounding matters was the fact that, during the Slam Dunk contest the previous day, Jordan eschewed his Bulls practice gear in favor of a Nike warm-up suit and wore gold chains in addition to the controversial, inaugural edition of his Air Jordan sneakers.

At the time, the first year Chicago Bulls megastar was giddy just being there and was very gracious in evaluating the experience. It wasn't until after the fact that whispers of an agenda against him by his fellow stars surfaced. Legend has it that Jordan's East teammate Isiah Thomas orchestrated a freeze-out of Jordan by instructing the other players to avoid giving him the ball. He also told West stars Earvin "Magic" Johnson and George Gervin to play much tougher defense against Michael than a usual exhibition game like this would require.

As it were, Jordan played the fewest minutes of any starter and shot only nine times. In the quarter century since then, the allegations of a freeze out have taken on an enormous mythology. Last summer, during his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Jordan kindly sneered at the notion and participants of the freeze out and essentially declared that in spite of it, he became a cultural icon en route to winning everything anyway.

At the end of the day, I'm glad that Michael Jordan was treated that way as a rookie. It not only made him better and stronger, but it gave him even more incentive to inflict his will on the entire game of basketball for the next decade and a half.

Boy, was that awesome to watch.

HIV Was Blessing In Disguise For Magic Johnson

CLEVELAND - Earvin Johnson was the quintessential basketball player; dedicated, hard-working and mindlessly gifted. To his fans, he seemed to do everything right. But after a dozen incandescent seasons in the NBA, the legendary point guard was forced to retire with a deadly disease.

It may have saved his life.

Today marks the 18th anniversary of Johnson's stunning, sports world shattering announcement that he'd contracted HIV, the virus that causes the deadly AIDS disease. Because of this fact, he declared that he was retiring immediately from the Los Angeles Lakers, the team he piloted to five NBA championships during the 1980's. For the man long nicknamed "Magic," this was a disappearing act that no one was prepared for, nor wanted to see.

Standing at a podium at the famous Great Western Forum, a very somber Johnson broke the unbelievable news that was apparently born out of his careless promiscuity. The 1991-92 NBA season was barely a week old, and the Lakers were set to defend their Western conference title. They were defeated just five months earlier in the NBA Finals by the Chicago Bulls and were clearly one of the favorites to advance to the '92 Finals.

Until Johnson's announcement.

In the immediate aftermath of Magic's disclosure, the media frenzy reached a fever pitch. Discussions of the AIDS virus pervaded television and print media for weeks thereafter and Johnson was castigated for his brazen and irresponsible sex life. Still, others were sympathetic to the basketball hero's plight and the virtual certainty that he'd be dead within five years.

He stayed very much alive.

A special exception was made for Johnson's retired status and how it related to the 1992 NBA all-star game in Orlando. NBA commissioner David Stern allowed Magic's name to be on the ballot in fan voting for the "mid-season classic." In spite of a few protests of Johnson's participation, he not only played in the game, but dominated and authored several highlight plays. In the closing moments, he defended his buddy Isiah Thomas and supernova Michael Jordan one-on-one and "forced" them both to miss jumpers. Then, the iconic point guard drilled his third and final 3-pointer on the other end to punctuate a surprisingly sharp performance. He wound up with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists and of course, the game's MVP award as his West squad spanked the East, 153-113.

That summer, Johnson traveled with the U.S. men's basketball team to Barcelona, Spain to help them compete for an Olympic gold medal. That squad, famously dubbed "The Dream Team" had been selected in 1991, prior to his knowledge of his virus. Of course, the Dream Team dominated en route to the gold medal and Johnson began to turn his focus on more pressing matters than basketball.

He became a very visible and famous spokesman for AIDS awareness and founded the Magic Johnson Foundation, which mainly helps combat HIV. He has been the keynote speaker at countless conferences about the disease all over the world and helped influence legislation on seeking a cure.

Johnson briefly dabbled in pro basketball again in the mid-1990's. After aborting a comeback in the fall of 1992, he actually served as head coach of the Lakers for 16 games in the 1993-94 season which ended in a putrid, 5 wins, 11 losses. In January 1996, he returned to the court as a much heavier, slower 36-year old power forward for the final 32 games of the season. After L.A. got bounced easily from the '96 NBA playoffs, he re-retired for good.

During the past dozen years, Magic has become a shrewd and versatile business magnate. His endeavors have elevated his net worth into the hundreds of millions and, with included help from his gig as NBA analyst, maintained his contemporary visibility and relevance.

In the end, that very dark day in Los Angeles two decades ago ended up being the spark that fueled not only a mega empire, but also national education and government cooperation for this horrible disease called AIDS. Kudos to Johnson for turning a huge negative into an even more gigantic positive.

He remains a champion.

Magic's Johnson Became Infected 17 Years Ago Today

CLEVELAND - The greatest point guard in basketball history was shut down on this date, 17 years ago.

Earvin Johnson, known forever as simply "Magic," held a shocking and emotional news conference in Los Angeles announcing that he was retiring from the pros "because of this HIV virus that [he] attained."

Needless to say, it took the sports and entertainment world by storm.

Johnson, just 32 years of age at the time had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS after a routine physical to start the 1991-92 NBA season, which would have been his 13th as a pro. This stunning development convinced him to retire and devote his life to AIDS prevention and awareness.

The multi-talented point guard had built a legendary career on the hardwood. Five NBA championships and 3 MVP awards highlighted his accomplishments as well as a much publicized rivalry with fellow star Larry Bird.

Johnson ended the previous season just five months prior to this announcement, losing to the great Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls in the 1991 NBA Finals. Magic was still placed on the All-Star ballot for the '92 game (in spite of being retired) and managed to deliver a virtuoso performance which earned him game MVP honors. A brief comeback materialized in January 1996, but Johnson wasn't even close to the same player he'd been in his glory days and he retired for the final time after the Lakers' playoff run ended.

When Johnson made that horrific announcement all those years ago, nearly everyone felt that his HIV-positive status was essentially a death sentence. Most folks didn't live very long after contracting the disease, but because Magic is still alive nearly two decades after the fact, many have accused him of never actually having the disease.

Understandable.

In any event, I am happy that Mr. Johnson has become a successful entrepreneur and continued to live well and and stay healthy. In just nine months, he'll be 50.

Now that's real magic.