Just about every summer, when the draft's done, free agency's all but over and Summer League's wrapped up, basketball folks seem to try to kill some time by engaging in theoretical debates about whether Team Or Player A could beat Team Or Player B. The chats never really go anywhere, but they can be great fun — I'm reminded of the relentless back-and-forth over who would win in a game between the 1992 Dream Team and the 2012 version of Team USA, and the annual kerfuffle surrounding the prospects of one-on-one games between and among Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant — and they help while away the hours until balls start bouncing again. Our latest installment in just such an empty-calories exercise comes courtesy of one current Hall of Famer and one future enshrinee, beginning Monday when Shaquille O'Neal decided to put some bees in folks' bonnets by claiming that a team made up of all-time Los Angeles Lakers greats (himself, Kobe, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor and Magic Johnson) would beat a team of all-time Chicago Bulls greats (Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Derrick Rose, Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman) "by fifty." - See more at: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...n-engage-in-instagram-zingfest-171044417.html
Yeah, this is a pass-the-time thing for sure, but what the hell. First off, I concede that the Lakers all-time team beats the Bulls all-time team...but not by anywhere near 50. I also disagree with Shaq's starting 5s with my first disagreement being that, great as he was, Shaq doesn't make the Lakers all-time starting 5. The all-time Lakers only need one center and Kareem gets the nod over Wilt Chamberlain, not Shaq. Also, while Shaq gave the Lakers two 7-foot+ centers, he gave the Bulls no player over 6-10...how convenient. I'll put 7-2 Artis Gilmore in to match up against Kareem and take Horace over Rodman for no reason other than I liked Horace more.
