So let's swap out Baylor for Worthy and win by 3. Baylor can come off the bench...along with the Logo, Wilt and Pau. Our depth is where it gets crazy. Our backup center is Wilt Chamberlain. Their backup is Noah. Our backup pg is Jerry freaking West. Their backup point guard is...is...Kirk Hinrich? BJ Armstrong? Norm Van Lier? Elgin Baylor is our backup sf. We could roll out a second squad that might very well beat the Bulls first team. c - Wilt pf - Pau sf - Baylor sg - Cooper pg - West Heck, the better play might be to play West at sg and roll out Norm Nixon at pg. These teams don't even include Eddie Jones, Nick the Quick, Bob McAdoo...B. Scott even. Vlade was a fantastic center for us in between Kareem and Shaq. It's a complete embarrassment of riches.
He was on my list initially, but then I remenbered that Pistol Pete played for the Jazz as well and at the same position. No way in hell am I going to put Hornacek in front of Pistol Pete.
Not mentioned... Jamaal Wilkes, Connie Hawkins, Happy Hairston, Lucius Allen, Adrian Dantley, Doug Christie, Rick Fox, Orlando Woolridge, Glen Rice, Andrew Bynum... Our probable third or even fourth stringers are better than their second string.
It is a no brainer that the Lakers All Time greats would destroy Chicago's all time greats. I actually wonder what a team of C Bags greats would match up with the LA Greats. OK, back to Scottie and Shaq. I have always said Scottie was extremely underrated when it came to the memory of MJ. I have also said Shaq has been slightly overrated when it came to his tenure with Kobe. If Shaq was 1A then Kobe was 1B and not a sidekick. The same can be said for Pippin when it comes to the MJ led bulls 1A and 1B. In the end, an on topic, Scottie was a fool for trying to get into this debate because the names in the rafters in LA are All Time greats not just guys who had pretty good careers. Scottie should go sit down now.
Shaq has only been overrated with Kobe by the media and Kobe haters. Doing a quick search to see if Kobe was 21 or 22 when he won his first title, and guarded Pippen at times and gave him fits on the defensive, led immediately to an article as to why in 2013 LeBron was already better than Kobe and Jordan. It called Kobe a second fiddle to Shaq, so yeah, clearly hating. Anyway, on topic, Shaq in 2000 was nothing I'd ever seen from a center and haven't since, he can't be overrated that season. After that, he and Kobe were absolutely 1a and 1b though. As for all time Boston vs all time Lakers, Lakers still win. Most of their domination was in a league of like 8 teams, and they had most of the good players. I don't want to discredit a lot of their players from the 60's, but having seen how they dribbled the ball around, having to actually look down at it a lot, 80's and 2000's Lakers guards would have embarrassed them, made them look silly, and beat them down. Nothing against Bob Cousy, because guys like him were revolutionary in their day, and they paved the way for future generations, but come on. Some of these ridiculously athletic guys playing hounding defense in the summer league I believe would give players like him fits today. Is he gonna stop Jordan Clarkson, is he gonna get by that guard on Dallas whose name I forget who was giving Clarkson fits while trying to bring the ball upcourt? I don't see it.
^That is why I said shaq was "slightly" overrated when it came to Kobe. Shaq was dominant no doubt but Kobe was also dominant too. They were the best 1/2 punch I have seen and that was my point people diminished what Kobe did for those teams.
Oh absolutely. What Kobe did on defense, guarding so many of the other teams best players, while still putting up crazy stat lines in 2001 and 2002, amazing. Scoring, assisting, rebounding, defending, running/controlling the offense, having the offense run through him at the end of games and clutch moments, Kobe did it all. Edit: I should add that 2000 was Kobe's coming out party, when he arrived, no matter how many (or the haters would say few) points he averaged in the Finals. He injured his ankle and played anyway, he guarded Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose, he saved and won a game in the Finals on the road when Shaq fouled out. Before that he guarded some of the Queens best players, he hit a game winner vs the Suns, and he guarded like 6 different players on the Blazers from Stoudamire to Pippen to Smith.
Much like 24 when he sat in with Barkley and the TNT crew during the 2007 playoffs after the latter blasted him for that infamous second half "disappearance" against Phoenix.
The second unit would beat them as easy as the first unit. Other than MJ even the second unit is better at every position. Wilt, Baylor or West could just as easy be on the first unit. Chicago would not be competitive at all. They have no answer at center against the best collection of centers of all time.
I have buddies who try and tell me the bulls would win....My response is who the heck is gonna stop shaq and kareem???
That's my question too. In no way do I think Rose is better than Magic (in fact, I think it's a HUGE advantage for the Lakers), but I'll concede Jordan and Kobe. Baylor > Pippen, but ehhh.... who cares. The mismatch is what you said. The Bulls would get absolutely destroyed by Shaq and Kareem, and I think Rodman and Grant are amazing defenders, but no, no, no, no way do they stand a chance, especially in a 7 game series.
On record yeah, but I believe the 2002 Lakers were better. Because Kobe is one year older. But it's exponential to the rise in the Kobe-Shaq hate. I also think they would beat the 95 Bulls. Shaq would wipe out Longley. And I have a feeling Horry could handle Rodman.
As much as I love this Lakers squad, including Horry, Rodman would wipe the floor with him. I still remember what he did to Malone in the finals, Horry would stand literally no Chance and Rodman would probably still dominate on the glass, even against Shaq. IMHO, that's clearly the biggest mismatch of the series in favor of the Bulls. The Lakers would still win though.
Yeah, but Horry could shoot the 3 and take Rodman from the basket (though I would guess Rodman guards Shaq in that matchup) and had good abilities to fight with strong PF. He did a solid job against Rasheed Wallace and Webber. The Bulls offence would be all on Jordan and Pippen, which Kobe and Fox could handle. I actually think Ron Harper is the X factor.
While the Lakers would win a game or a series, I don't think it'd be by 50 as Shaq suggests. As Wilbon said yesterday, you're not beating MJ by 50, he's just not going to let it happen. He and Pip are two of the best competitors this game has seen. While they'd lose, they're not getting embarrassed. And I think Rodman is being severely underrated. He's the best rebounder ever and would be the best defensive player on either roster. He's not going to stop the Diesel, but people are forgetting a prime Rodman can and has guarded every position on the court with great success. He's versatile and played the best mind games I've seen from any nba'er. He can get in your head, f*** with your psyche, and take you off your game.
agreed..i had a couple of buddies as well that 'tried' to tell me the Bulls might take it...i basically said 'if you dont know what a PRIME Kareem looked like, then we cant have this conversation'
