Ahead of the first jump ball against Serbia for Team USA’s first group games, emotions are as high as ever! Since the Dream Team 2.0 was announced, the comparison between the original 1992 Dream Team and the present one has already started. The narrative is still there since the analysis never ends when there are Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan on one side and LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant on the other. However, the former NBA player Antonio Daniels is so done with it that he tried to end the debate recently by highlighting the dominance factor difference between the Dream Teams.

The co-host on SiriusXM NBA Radio, Antonio Daniels, shared his insight on how Dream Team 2.0 is different from the original Dream Team: he stated, “This is not 1992. This is not Dream Team, and I’m not talking about it in terms of talent. I’m talking about, in terms of opponents, this is not the team.”

As the conversation proceeded, Antonio pulled out a reference from the 2013 Sports Emmy Award nominee documentary ‘The Dream Team‘, as he added, “I watched the Dream Team documentary; me and my wife were watching it last night. Do you realize during that run with the Dream Team, you had guys on the other bench and taking pictures of the Dream Team while they were playing against them.”

According to him, there is no such impact from the Dream Team 2.0. Rather, they escaped the defeat against South Sudan by a single-point margin, which is a testimony to their vulnerability. Pointing the same thing, former NBA Champion said, “Like these dudes Canada, and Germany, and Serbia, and Sudan, they are not scared of the USA. They may love LeBron James, they may love Steph Curry. But they don’t fear LeBron James and Steph Curry…This is not 1992. So yes, I feel like every team that is stepping into the Olympics is vulnerable because all you have to do is lose one time.”

Since dominance comes with coercive play and brutal knockouts, here are LeBron James and his Dream Team 2.0’s mistakes that resulted in a lack of fear in their opponents.

Is LeBron James’ Dream Team 2.0 underestimating instead of dominating?

When LeBron James came out of the close showdown with South Sudan three-pointer havoc, the first words coming off the court from his mouth were, “I’m going to be honest: I like those better than the blowouts. At least we get tested.” Tested? Oh…they were about to make the most stunning upset in the event history, and that’s also against what was supposed to be Dream Team 2.0, which was getting compared to Michael Jordan and his 1992 Olympics team.

What LeBron missed here, coach Steve Kerr confessed later in the post-match conference when he said, “A good reminder that when we play against teams, it’s the biggest game of their lives…I did not do a great job preparing our team. We did not focus enough on what they’re capable of, and that’s on me.” Apparently, they were about to lose since they handed over “confidence” to Sudan early in the game.

And after the game, Curry was casually saying, “It’s basketball, it happens.” Are we really on the right track of mentality for the Olympics Gold run? If it had been Michael Jordan or Kobe, they might be thinking of annihilating every opponent they face on the court. Rather, this team is just letting go of such a narrow win against young nations like South Sudan. It reflects that Team USA and LeBron James need to rethink their mentality to become worthy of the Dream Team 2.0 title.

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