125 replies to this topic

[mweb08]

Would the all-time team of the rest of the NBA beat the all-time team of the Lakers & Celtics?

It gets weird with guys like Kareem and Shaq who you could place on either squad, but I'll say Shaq is on the Lakers / Celts squad and Kareem is on the other team.

Lakers/Celts squad:

Magic
Kobe
Bird
Russell
Shaq

West
Baylor
McHale
Havlicek
Worthy
Cousy
Gasol

NBA:

Curry
Jordan
James
Duncan
Kareem

Wilt
Hakeem
Oscar
Dirk
Durant
Erving
Moses

Definitely going with the latter team.

Of course you can argue who should round out both teams.

[mweb08]

Celkers:

Starters - Magic, Kobe, Bird, Kareem, Wilt

Bench - West, Cousy, Baylor, McHale, Garnett, Shaq, Russell, Parish

 

NBA:

Starters - Robertson, Jordan, LeBron, Duncan, Olajuwon

Bench - Curry, Thomas, Stockton, Dr. J, Barkley, Malone, Robinson, Ewing

 

 

Celkers get the big advantage at the 5 but NBA has an equally big advantage at the 4 I think.  Rest seems pretty even. 

 

Someone bust out an NBA Jam mod and lets find out!

 

Wilt should be on the other team IMO and you could argue Kareem either way since he was a Buck at his absolute pinnacle. 

 

So it just depends on how you look at that.

[Mackus]

I was thinking since it's such a lopsided thing that anyone who played some significant time with the Lakers or Celtics should count for their team, rather than limiting it to a certain number of years or guys you consider iconically Lakers or Celtics.  So Kareem, Wilt, Garnett.  Not guys like Payton or Malone, who just had a cup of coffee at the end of their careers.

 

Totally reasonable to think about it the way you did.  Wilt only had a handful of Lakers years at the end of his career.  Kareem and Garnett became established elsewhere.  Shaq too for that matter, though as others have said his best years were in LA.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Celkers:

Starters - Magic, Kobe, Bird, Kareem, Wilt

Bench - West, Cousy, Baylor, McHale, Garnett, Shaq, Russell, Parish

 

NBA:

Starters - Robertson, Jordan, LeBron, Duncan, Olajuwon

Bench - Curry, Thomas, Stockton, Dr. J, Barkley, Malone, Robinson, Ewing

 

 

Celkers get the big advantage at the 5 but NBA has an equally big advantage at the 4 I think.  Rest seems pretty even. 

 

Someone bust out an NBA Jam mod and lets find out!

 

Playing Kareem at the 4?  Ballsy.

[Mackus]

Playing Kareem at the 4?  Ballsy.

 

Just feel like the 5s would be so much better than the 4s on that team.  Figure out whoever could cover guys like Duncan or Malone reasonably well and then have two guys who can post up over the opposing bigs.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Wilt should be on the other team IMO and you could argue Kareem either way since he was a Buck at his absolute pinnacle. 

 

So it just depends on how you look at that.

 

How long do you have to play for a certain team to be considered for lists like this? Wilt was a Warrior longer than a Laker, though he played for them in both Philly and SF, so if you split those two apart his tenure in LA was longer....but then you probably want to factor in his Philly time with the 76ers.

[mweb08]

How long do you have to play for a certain team to be considered for lists like this? Wilt was a Warrior longer than a Laker, though he played for them in both Philly and SF, so if you split those two apart his tenure in LA was longer....but then you probably want to factor in his Philly time with the 76ers.

 

I don't think there's any hard rule here. Just was focusing on where guys spent most of their prime. 

[BSLMikeLowe]

I don't think there's any hard rule here. Just was focusing on where guys spent most of their prime. 

 

Right, but Wilt specifically is kind of a tough call.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Right, but Wilt specifically is kind of a tough call.

 

Wilt's # is retired by the Lakers.  So he's either on the Lakers/Celtics or not on any team at all.  The Lakers/Celtics should at least get the benefit of the doubt because they only have two talent pools to pull from.

[mweb08]

Right, but Wilt specifically is kind of a tough call.

 

Eh, he was past his prime. Kareem is a tougher call IMO. I would be more comfortable putting him on the team than Wilt, but again, it's not a big deal either way.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eh, he was past his prime. Kareem is a tougher call IMO. I would be more comfortable putting him on the team than Wilt, but again, it's not a big deal either way.

 

He set the record for FG% in his final year and still averaged 19 boards per game.

[Pedro Cerrano]

For the purposes of this exercise, any number that is retired by either team gets to be on that team.  Considering the NBA team gets to pick from 28 other talent pools I don't think that's too unreasonable.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Retired numbers is not always a good indicator IMO. By that measure, Wade Boggs was one of the greatest Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. And while the # isn't retired, Ernest Byner's name is in the Ravens Ring of Honor.

 

I do think Wilt is tougher just for how his career was divided between franchises/cities. I won't argue classifying him as a Laker, but it's not cut-and-dry to me either.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Retired numbers is not always a good indicator IMO. By that measure, Wade Boggs was one of the greatest Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. And while the # isn't retired, Ernest Byner's name is in the Ravens Ring of Honor.

 

I do think Wilt is tougher just for how his career was divided between franchises/cities. I won't argue classifying him as a Laker, but it's not cut-and-dry to me either.

 

I know but since this is just a silly exercise that's probably the easiest barometer.

 

Unless you want Milwaukee Kareem playing against LA Kareem, and if they touch each other it opens up a vortex and sucks in the whole universe.

Do you want that?

[Mackus]

I know but since this is just a silly exercise that's probably the easiest barometer

 

Hey fuck you, pal, this is serious business!

[mweb08]

He set the record for FG% in his final year and still averaged 19 boards per game.

 

And he was still past his prime. But I'll play by your rules.

[DuffMan]

Someone bust out an NBA Jam mod and lets find out!

[BSLMikeLowe]

I know but since this is just a silly exercise that's probably the easiest barometer.

 

Unless you want Milwaukee Kareem playing against LA Kareem, and if they touch each other it opens up a vortex and sucks in the whole universe.

Do you want that?

 

I spilled my coffee earlier this morning, so yeah, Kareem on the Bucks and Lakers. Fuck the universe.

[mweb08]

New Celts/Lakers team:

 

Magic
Kobe
Bird
Russell
Kareem

Shaq

Wilt

McHale

Garnett

 

West
Havlicek
Cousy
 

That's a big team.

[mweb08]

What I would do for the rest of the NBA:

 

Curry

MJ

LeBron

Dirk

Walton

 

Duncan

Oscar

Durant

Hakeem

Moses

Pippen

Nash