Olympic basketball: 2012 Team USA vs. 1992 'Dream Team,' how they stack up

Kobe Bryant's comment, ‘I think we’d pull it out’ stirs the web when asked what if Team USA 2012 played the Dream Team. Kobe Bryant the future Hall of Famer further said in a video interview, "Well, just from a basketball standpoint, they obviously have a lot more size than we do — you know, with [David] Robinson and [Patrick] Ewing and [Karl] Malone and those guys," Bryant said. "But they were also — some of those wing players — were also a lot older, at kind of the end of their careers. We have just a bunch of young racehorses, guys that are eager to compete. So I don't know," Bryant continued, "It'd be a tough one, but I think we'd pull it out."

Former Dream Team member Charles Barkley is quick to react on Bryant's banter on ESPN interview, "Oh yeah, that's no disrespect. I ain't got to badmouth them. But like I said, their point guards weren't going to beat us. That's a no-brainer." Barkley also yanked at the 2012 USA team saying, "Other than Kobe, LeBron and Kevin Durant, I don't think anybody else on that team makes our team."

Basketball fans duke it out on social media forums debating on which team wins between 1992 Dream Team vs 2012 USA Olympic squad head-to-head matchup.

This week Team USA officials released the 2012 U.S. Olympic Final Team roster: Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Andre Iguodala, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and Deron Williams.

The famous 1992 Dream Team roster who's now all Hall of Famers were composed of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Scottie Pippin, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, and Clyde Drexler all played in Barcelona that year.

Comparing player stats between eras can be a tricky endeavor as Guardian UK did it, nevertheless, in player by player stats, how does the 2012 team compare to the original Dream Team? Here's a look at how the 2012 team stack up against the 1992 team, using career per game stats (Points, Assists, Total Rebounds, Steals)

Point Guard: Chris Paul vs. Magic Johnson

The Stats: Paul – 19.8 PTS, 9.1 AST, 3.5 TRB, 2.4 STL - Johnson – 19.5 PTS, 11.2 AST, 7.2 TRB, 1.9 STL

The Conclusion: Like Johnson, Paul is an great scorer point guard, but Johnson's size allowed him to rebound with some of the best big men in the league, making him one of the most versatile players in history. Paul is only 26 years old, while Johnson was 32 in 1992.

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant vs. Michael Jordan

The Stats: Bryant – 27.9 PTS, 4.7 AST, 5.4 Reb, 1.5 STL, 4.6 Ast -- Jordan – 30.1 PTS, 5.3 AST, 6.2 TRB, 2.3 STL

The Conclusion: Jordan still has the advantage. Jordan recently ackowledge Kobe as the only player currently in the league to warrant comparisons to His Airness but Kobe style has Jordansque written all over it. Kobe Bryant stats was actually close as is compaired to his Jordan. On Kobe's comment, Jordan said according to USA Today, that there's "no comparison" which team is better. "I imagine he's trying to say it to legitimize his own Dream Team, but to me it's not even a question what team is better."

Small Forward: LeBron James vs. Scottie Pippen

The Stats: James – 27.1 PTS, 7.9 AST, 7.1 TRB, 1.7 STL, 6.2 Ast Pippen – 16.1 PTS, 5.2 AST, 6.4 TRB, 2.0 STL

The Conclusion: James showed composure through out the playoff which resulted winning his first NBA ring. His the only player in NBA history to average over 26 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds for his career. James is 27 while Pippen was 26 in 1992.)

Power Forward: Kevin Durant vs. Charles Barkley

The Stats: Durant – 28.0 PTS, 8.0 Reb, .9 BLK, 1.2 STL, 3.5 Ast Barkley – 22.1 PTS, 11.7 TRB, .8 BLK, 1.5 STL The conclusion: Their different playing styles make it hard to compare but Durant is essentially has advantage as the best oversized shooting guard while Barkley played like an undersized center.

Center: Tyson Chandler vs. Patrick Ewing The Stats: Chandler – 11.3 Pts, 9.9 Reb, 0.9 Ast, 1.4 Blk Ewing – 21.0 PTS, 9.8 TRB, 2.4 BLK,

The conclusion: Ewing was averaging over 23 points per game in 1992, where Chandler falls short of Ewing as a scorer, he makes up ground as a rebounder.

On the Bench: 2012 Dream Team – Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Andre Iguodala

1992 Dream Team – John Stockton, Clyde Drexler, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, David Robinson, and Christian Laettner The conclusion: This is quite close. If we break it down into guards and forwards, then Williams and Westbrook get the edge over Stockton and Drexler and Bird and Malone beat out Anthony and Love. Bird averaged 20.2 PTS, 9.6 TRB, and 6.8 AST for the Celtics in 1992.

The question of who would win a matchup of the 1992 Dream Team vs 2012 USA basketball, is not fair unless the current team must get the gold first at London Olympics. The real comparison when both players retire .

Jordan close the interview saying Bryant is certainly entitled to his opinion out of creating conversation — even though he said it's just plain wrong to compare both. The time hasn't come yet to compare the two great teams, Jordan said points out, "I guess we'll never know. I'd like to think that we had 11 Hall of Famers on that team and whenever they get 11 Hall of Famers you call and ask me who had the better Dream Team. Remember now, they learned from us. We didn't learn from them."