LeBron James has joined Kobe Bryant in the belief that this year's Team USA Olympic basketball team could beat the 1992 Dream Team.
Just days before Team USA takes to the court for Olympic gold, James made his boast in a recent television interview.
"As a competitor you never want to say that you will lose no matter who you are going against," James told ABC News "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden.
James later showed his respect to the '92 team, which was led by Michael Jordan and included 11 future Hall of Famers and won their six Olympic games by an average of 43 points all in route for a gold medal.
"The '92 Dream Team paved the way for all of us ... We understand what they did for our game, but we also are big-time competitors as well, so if we got the opportunity to play them in a game we feel like we would win too," James said.
James comments were reminiscent to those made by Team USA teammate Kobe Bryant, who just two weeks prior made virtually the same assertion.
"It would be a tough one but I think we would pull it out," Bryant said at a news conference. "People who think we can't beat that team for one game, they are crazy. To sit there and say we can't, it's ludicrous. We can beat them one time."
Bryant's comments received almost instant rebuttals from members of the Dream Team.
Jordan laughed at Bryant's comments and told The Associated Press: "For him to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done,"
Bryant's comments sparked so much controversy that even President Barack Obama weighed in his thoughts on the discussion.
"This is a generational thing," Obama said during a halftime interview with ESPN2 as it broadcast an exhibition game between the U.S. and Brazil earlier this month. "I was around in '92, I was a Bulls fan, so I've got to go with the original Dream Team."
