Kobe Bryant Dream Team Statement Receives Responses From MIchael Jordan And Charles Barkley
Representing the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant encompasses everything one looks for in a franchise player: leadership and ability. While confidence indeed plays an important role in the name of winning, cockiness will not. Recently, Bryant has drawn the attention for a statement he made to Fox media regarding the outcome of a fantasy match between the current team USA and the gold medal winning Dream Team of "92."
When asked about his take on the results of the fantasy matchup Kobe had this to say to reporters:
"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, 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.
"It would be tough but I think we'd pull it out," said Bryant to the media.
The words of confidence from the Laker captain enacted responses from two former Dream Team members: Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan and the usually outspoken Charles Barkley.
According to the Associated Press, Jordan said "I absolutely laughed" when he first heard about Kobe's assumption. Jordan went on to state that there's "no comparison" to which squad is better.
"For him to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done," Jordan said before teeing off at a celebrity golf tournament.
According to ESPN, former trash talker Barkley gave his feedback in a somewhat similar fashion.
"Oh yeah, that's no disrespect," Barkley said. "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."
"I just started laughing," Barkley said. "How old is Kobe Bryant? He's 34? And he's calling us old? At the time, we were only like 28, 29. Michael Jordan and me were the same age. We were both 29. Other than Kobe, LeBron (James) and Kevin Durant, I don't think anybody else on that team makes our team."
Unfortunately for the avid basketball fan this is a matchup we will never get to witness. In terms of skill and depth, I'm sure many would agree that the Dream Team clearly would have the advantage on the court.
Anyway, back to reality.
Here's an idea Kobe: how about you focus on the task at hand; which is pulling out a victory at this year's London Games.
