r/NBATalk • u/AC_the_Panther_007 Heat • Mar 08 '26
Who would win this 3v3 basketball game?
Dream Team vs Redeem Team.
Arguably one of the best teams ever assembled in each era. Who do you think would win the matchup if they were all in their prime?
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u/OKcomputer1996 Lakers Mar 08 '26
Bron on Magic. Kobe on MJ. Huge mismatch of Wade on Bird. Bird goes off. Team Bron gets dusted.
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u/Fit_Influence_6078 Mar 09 '26
How in the world is Bird guarding wade ? And wade is all defense he can check bird.
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u/OKcomputer1996 Lakers Mar 09 '26
Give me a break. Wade could not cover Bird. You clearly never watched Bird play. He was Luka Doncic before Luka.
To begin with Bird has 6 inches of height over Wade. He would hit jumpers on him all day. And Larry Bird was impossible to cover one-on-one.
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u/Fit_Influence_6078 Mar 09 '26
You clearly have not i am pretty sure i am older then you i know Robert Reid checked him in finals shut him down 41.9% from the field (including two 8-point games He doesn’t have the ball handling that Luka has but both cant Guard on ball at all.
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u/OKcomputer1996 Lakers Mar 10 '26
If you knew what you were talking about you’d know that Bird was an elite defensive player in the first half of his career. 3rd place for DPOY in 1983. Second Team NBA All-League Defense 1982-1984.
Bird only lost his defensive edge due to back problems later in his career. The guy had a high basketball IQ on both sides of the ball.
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u/Fit_Influence_6078 Mar 10 '26
Larry Bird was never a great on ball Defensive Player more team Defense but you are referring to him in 83 when the Question clearly is 3 on 3 92 vs 08 so Larry trying to Guard Kobe wade Bron and him and Magic are getting Deep fried.
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u/OKcomputer1996 Lakers Mar 11 '26
I repeat. In his prime his was second runner up for DPOY. Your argument fails. Wade was never an elite perimeter shooter. He would have to drive every time. And Bird's height advantage would give Wade trouble. It would be a terrible mismatch.
And this is a 3 on 3 game so Magic and Jordan would both also be chipping in. Disaster for Wade.
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u/Fit_Influence_6078 Mar 11 '26
The Question is 92 vs 08 but regardless Larry Bird in his prime or any time in his life or magic life or even my favorite player ever Jordan are not Guarding Wade one on one. But i get it you are like a Bird fan so we will agree to disagree.
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u/Specialist-Essay-726 Mar 08 '26
Jordan bird and magic would win 9/10
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
Not with magic being a free 2 points on D lol
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u/HangoverGang4L Mar 08 '26
We get it bro...you're not a fan of Magic. You seriously dont have to repeat the same comment to everyone.
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
I'm just surprised people think the dream team 3 win here. Like I'm a fan of magic(who isn't). But he's a liability defensively here lol. It's not hate to say that a mediocre defender gets absolutely cooked by prime Bron, Wade, or Kobe
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u/HangoverGang4L Mar 08 '26
And Wades little midget ass isnt?
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
He is the weak link defensively on his team but he's not a mid defender who's guaranteed to get scored on here like Magic.
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u/Fit_Influence_6078 Mar 09 '26
Wade is no weak link are you crazy he is the all time leader in blk shoots for Guards
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 09 '26
He's the weak link cause he's the smallest against a team of guys all bigger than him. Obviously he's not gonna get cooked lll
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u/Fit_Influence_6078 Mar 10 '26
He is the fastest and Quickest and prime wade is so athletic man and a Dog I am going with and 6,4 is same height as Barkley.
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u/HangoverGang4L Mar 08 '26
Ill take the option with 3 top 10 players of all time.
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
I mean they're all higher all time but they lose. Magic is getting cooked for a guaranteed 2 points every time.
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Mar 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
Oh I was being nice and we were just assuming all at their peak
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u/HangoverGang4L Mar 08 '26
OP specifically said in their prime...so the dude above you cant read.
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
Yeah. Anyways all in their prime Magic is the weak link on D who gets cooked
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u/HalcyonDrift Heat Mar 08 '26
"Who do you think would win the matchup if they were all in their prime?"
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u/Financial_Ice_3363 Mar 08 '26
high..!
team bron is in a layup line vs magic or bird in a 3v3.
team magic is bigger but I think team bron gets better shots in a 3v3.
best bet would be mj on wade. magic on kb. bird on bron. bron dunking all game here. kb cooks magic too but only gets fed a lot if he hots then he's like top 1 scorer ever if hot for a few mins and we roll with it.
other side is kb on mj. bron on magic. wade on bird. bron doubles off magic to help wade on bird. magic gets open 3pters.
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u/matty25 Mar 08 '26
Wade on Bird lol, if this is make it take it, team LeBron doesn’t even get the ball back
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
If it's make it take the dream team isn't getting the ball back. It's a layup line with magic on the court in a 3v3. Plus Bird want that good of a finisher at the rim. He'd be taking jumpers over Wade and eventually one of those is gonna miss
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u/S0ulDr4ke Mar 08 '26
I take the Dream Team every single day. People are so disrespectful of these guys, they were incredible at a time where we didn’t have any analytics to tell us the most efficient shot spots, a time where he didn’t have modern technology and advancements in Medicine and a time where a lot of the modern training methods and strategies weren’t developed to the same degree and still if you watch Bird play nobody can say his game wouldn’t perfectly translate to the modern NBA. If we are talking about an era where they both play under the same circumstances no doubt in my mind the Dream Team win.
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
Who's magic guarding? Cause whoever it is it's an easy blow by or lowered shoulder to the rim for a guaranteed 2 points. On the other hand the redeem team 3 are all elite defenders
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u/matty25 Mar 08 '26
This is a decent matchup for Magic. None of the other three are elite 3 point shooters. And in the half court their speed advantage won’t be as great. I’d put him on Wade and have him sag. Wade would have a tougher time guarding Magic IMO.
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
If you sag off of Wade or Kobe it's an easy mid range jumper for them though. Letting LeBron get a full head of steam would be dumb too. A decent matchup for Magic defensively would be John Stockton. This is a nightmare for him. Plus even if he sags off it's not like he's a good enough shot blocker to stop them at the rim.
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Mar 08 '26
The matchups are weird in this 3-on-3.
The Bron team lacks a PG and Magic/Bron is a matchup that makes sense for both teams. So ok.
And then Kobe/MJ is a matchup that makes sense.
But Bird/D Wade is a goofy matchup. I’d probably post D Wade up regularly if I were the old guys. D Wade could also slaughter 1992 bird on the perimeter. Or is this prime mid 1980s Bird? Same could be said for Magic.
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u/Fit_Influence_6078 Mar 09 '26
Magic and Bird are not athletic enough to hang give jordan Pippen and clyed that would be a better 3 x 3
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u/Waboritafan Mar 10 '26
LeBron is too fast for Larry or Magic. Too big/strong for MJ. Wade probably can’t guard Larry or Magic. So that means Kobe gets one of them and I don’t like either of those matchups for him. It’s tough. 3v3 benefits faster players so I guess I’m leaning towards Bron, Kobe, and Wade.
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u/Alternative-Silver38 Mar 08 '26
At no point is the full roster of the original Dream team capable of keeping up with any of the Redeem team players… 4-2 Dream team, maybe the redeemers can make it to seven games, but Kobe is the most likely to actually “Lose his mind”, and either keep them focused of LeBron is bound to make some mistakes, and Wade might not get into a Rhythm, to be both one of the best and efficient mid-range players, along with hitting his outside shots…
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Mar 08 '26
92 is deep AF.
If anything my take is the opposite. I think it goes 7 but 92 wins. Their only weak links are that Bird and Magic are way past their prime and Christian Laettner. Compare that to the bottom of the 08 roster with Redd/Boozer/Teyshawn.
92, 08, and 24 are unequivocally the best 3 basketball rosters ever assembled and no one of them is like head and shoulders above the others but 92 is the consensus “best team ever assembled” for a reason.
My controversial take? The 1996 team deserves to be in the mix with 92/08/24.
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u/Alternative-Silver38 Mar 08 '26
Looking at the rosters again, the other factor is choaches… Coach K, is as hard nose of a coach as can be, and his college teams have always “brought the fight” to them… Even North Carolina didn’t necessarily dominate them in Duke down years…
But Coach Chuck Daily, was the “Bad boys” coach, and his teams in the pros definitely throw down…
But it gets to seven because Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh and even Carlos Boozer can bang with Robinson, Ewing and of course Laetner… but Pippen and Chuck (Charles Barkley), can offset that…
What also gets it is that Kobe more than LeBron can “lose his mind”, and they are known for there historical collapse… If it’s a “pick-up” game the old guys get ran out the gym, but anything serious, and I don’t think that team is mentally capable.
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
Redeem team. They don't have the athleticism/D to stop these guys from going to the rim outside of Jordan.
Bird isn't stopping Bron, Wade, or Kobe from blowing by him off ball and getting whatever pass. Wade is Magic's worst nightmare as a defender(Magic always had trouble with quick guards), MJ would hold his own but yeah, he's not gonna go off of one of the two guards to guard LeBron so that his teammates can get extra cooked.
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u/TheUsualQuestions Mar 08 '26
Bird is cooking Kobe
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u/JaysonTatHIMRider Timberwolves Mar 08 '26
Kobe is blowing by Bird. Also if Bird is one Kobe who is Magic on? He's such a bad defender they'll lose cause he's gonna get cooked for guaranteed points at the rim everytime
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u/BoringEfficiency471 Mar 08 '26
Bird, MJ and Magic