"This is an entirely different competition" - Steve Kerr responds to Serbia head coach's claim that 2024 Team USA is better than Dream Team
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Steve Kerr is aware of Serbian head coach Svetislav Pesic's controversial claim that this year's Team USA roster, competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, is better than the Dream Team. However, Kerr doesn't necessarily agree or disagree with Pesic's statement because of the huge difference between the competition in the 1990s and today.
"I think from the standpoint of career achievement, this team is probably as decorated as any since the '92 Dream Team. The difference is that in 1992, the world wasn't anywhere close to how it's good now in terms of basketball popularity and globalization of the game," Kerr said in a press conference held on Thursday, June 28.
"Obviously, Serbia and Croatia had been separated at that time, but prior to that, Yugoslavia would've been the biggest challenge for the '92 team, so all those players were separated when the Soviet Union was broken apart," he added.
Comparing this year's team to the Dream Team
The 1992 squad, which featured Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, among other all-time legends, was the first USA team consisting of NBA players. Dubbed the Dream Team, they're still considered the greatest basketball group ever assembled.
In fact, Kerr said that the squad coached by Chuck Daly never once looked threatened by their competition, unlike how it has been over the last couple of years for Team USA.
That's why the current Golden State Warriors head coach believes it's hard to compare eras, as globalization has played a huge part in growing the game. Unlike in 1992, Kerr said that teams like Serbia, France, Germany, Spain, and more are now considered legitimate threats to the USA.
"There's great teams all over the place, and nothing is guaranteed this time for USA Basketball, and we know that well. I know that personally because we won the gold medal in Tokyo but lost three games along the way. Our gold medal game against France went down the wire so this is an entirely different competition compared to what it was in 1992," Steve added.
Who are the biggest threats to this USA team?
As we saw in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Germany eliminated the United States despite the latter not fielding its best players. Even if that's not going to be the case in the 2024 Paris Olympics—LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant headline the squad—Kerr still believes that Team USA will face some tough challenges.
Teams like France (they went wire to wire with Team USA in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics finals), Slovenia, Serbia, Germany, Australia, and Canada have the potential to give the Americans a run for their money.
But like the Dream Team, this year's squad remains the undisputed favorite, and they plan to enter this year's Olympics with the same mission: to prove to the world that they're still the best basketball team in the world.