Sour Tacos

As I watched the USA Men's Basketball team "play" the Dominican Republic, my ears perked a bit when I heard Scottie Pippen's bellowing vocals enter my living room. Pippen was asked by the announcing crew how his '92 Dream Team would fare in a game against the current version representing the United States. "We would probably win by 25," Pippen suggested, citing that they would be able to work the ball inside with their superior bigs and really "get up on them defensively."

MJ laughed when he heard Kobe Bryant make the comparison between the two teams. Barkley had a similar reaction, stating that only LeBron, Durant and Kobe would even make their squad. 

Although I completely disagree with these assertions, my purpose here is not to debate that point. (But for the record, I am so convinced that the current generation of NBA superstars would demolish the group that won in Barcelona, I would bet my mortgage on it.)

I am baffled as why these former greats are so reluctant to even consider the possibility that the game has changed and that maybe the competition they were up against in the '90s is not in the same breath as the current crop professional athletes. 

Pele says similar things when it comes to Messi. 

Last I checked, Pippen was slinging chicken for Buffalo Wild Wings; MJ was knee-deep in both the underwear game and owning bad NBA teams game; and Chuck was pushing Taco Bell Five Buck Boxes and/or Weight Watchers—all worthwhile ventures.

So why taint such groundbreaking post-basketball lives by sounding bitter and unappealing, showing little interest in acknowledging that, yes, maybe there might be a group of people better than them at basketball?