Sky

kingfish - In the west the no D Mavs? The no brains Nuggets? San Antonio when DRob had a back is the only one. As for finals teams. Boston with the big three was solid, and LA lost. Now take who both beat and compare. Kobe IND Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose, Dale Davis, Rik Smits PHI Eric Snow, Allen Iverson, Aaron McKie, Tyronne Hill, Dikembe Mutombo NJ Jason Kidd, Kerry Kittles, Richard Jefferson, Kenyon Martin, Jason Collins ORL Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard Total number of Hall of Famers: 5 IF Mutombo makes it and he was well past prime in Philly. Best by position: Kidd, Iverson, Turkoglu, Lewis, Howard with Reggie, Jefferson, Deke and KMart off the bench. Magic PHI 80 Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones, Julius Erving, Daryl Dawkins, Caldwell Jones PHI 82 Andrew Toney instead of Jones BOS Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish DET Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Adrian Dantley, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer Total number of Hall of Famers: 8, off three teams. 9 if DJ gets in and he deserves to as a finals MVP and all-D player. Best by position: Isiah, Dumars, Bird, McHale, Parish with Dr. J, Dennis Johnson, AD and Rodman off the bench. You honestly going to claim Kobe's competition was remotely comparable?? You can't. Different eras.

kingfish - Not really because the competition is watered down also. Look at the teams Magic and Showtime had to beat. Stacked. Bird, McHale, Parish and DJ. The Dr. J Sixers with Toney and Cheeks. Isiah, Dumars and the Pistons. Who did Shaq and Kobe beat? Indiana with Reggie and Jalen Rose, Philly with Iverson and role players, New Jersey with Kidd. In the 80s with fewer teams and no cap teams were loaded, made it tougher to get through the conference and when you got to the Finals you played a complete team. Cuts both ways. And again, Kobe played on a team with three other first ballot hall of famers and lost. Magic made the finals nine times in 12 years in an era when the competition was much tougher. Shaq was a hall of fame teammate. Last year Kobe is the only hall of famer, but the competition was lighter than what Magic faced. Different eras.

Magic played in nine NBA finals. They weren't all with Kareem and Worthy at his side. Kobe played with Shaq, Payton and Malone - and lost. I don't see a need to denigrate either one, or overload a question or a point to take the other down. Kobe is more skilled and more balanced overall, Magic is the better leader and game manager. I prefer the latter but I certainly appreciate both and am very grateful they're Lakers for life.

Machine has the hoop iq of a drunk hamster. May Machine rust on bench like Tin Man. Reflexive swipe at the ball reach fouls 30 feet from the hoop. Wide open teammates ahead of him in transition ignored cause it's Machine's turn to score. Clogged lane, time for yet another bounce pass. Oops stolen or deflected, who'd have expected that? His shooting will likely improve but it's his idiotic judgment that needs a major overhaul. One of my favorite Jackson quotes from a game a few years ago. "If there were 12 guns on the bench there would have been 12 holes in Sasha."

The question is specifically designed to force Kobe as an answer. Bryant is the more skilled player overall, particularly given Magic's defense. However, Magic is the clearly superior leader and game manager. I'd take Magic over Kobe every time without hesitation.

I think it's necessary to split up ownership and GM. Memphis and Milwaukee have the worst ownership, which has a heavy influence on the GM. Heisley was trying to sell the Grizzlies (Gasol trade) and sell tickets (Iverson signing), Wallace had little to do with either move. Milwaukee is all about Sen. Kohl and his family, again not the GM's fault. No GM with resources would just let Sessions walk. Golden State is a good choce for idiocy, problem there is no hierarchy due to Cohan's lack of leadership. The team president (Rowell) forces Mullin out in a power play and to assert his authority gives Steven Jackson a foolish extension. Then Nelson wants Monta out and ownership wanted to look like they spent money so they give an insane contract to Maggette where they are bidding against themselves. At one point last year there were three mutually incompatible agendas on personnel going on at the same time (Mullin, Nelson and Rowell). To me that puts them first in the parade of fools.

Each summer on various hoop boards for the past few years I've run an All-Time League. Draft a team, add free agents, make trades and then coach your teams in the playoffs head-to-head with game plans. NBA players from 1970 forward are eligible, you pick the season that forms the player's stats for the game. Playoff stats are also factored in, but more in game plans and making the case that a player is clutch or steps it up[ in the post-season. Players with under 70 games in a season are subject to an injury risk tied to games played. Judges review the teams to seed for the playoffs and then pick a winner based on rosters and game plans. Higher seed picks the game rules, old school - hand check and no zone, or new school - zones with no handchecks. Need GM/coaches and judges. Players that are eliminated can then be added as judges. Single elimination playoff tournament. Depth of the game plans is set by the coaches, you guys vote on how in-depth you want to go with it. Past ATL's have had play diagrams and videos, others have had strict limits on the depth and media of the write up so that the time investment is more reasonable. You guys make the call on where to draw that line. Players are assigned salaries based on impact and their all-time rank at a position (obviously the latter is subjective but you have to start somewhere). Top salary set at 30. Stat ceilings are set for MLE players. GMs can build a team for bang for the buck and depth, high impact, or to create cap room to go shopping. Since you pick single seasons, a flash in the pan that had one great year can be tremendously valuable, so doing your research can really pay off. In the past when we've had knowledgeable active GMs and reliable fair judging it's been a great success and a lot of fun. I'd serve as commissioner and lead judge (my vote would break ties). My background is an NBA fan since 1971-72, used to cover the league as a radio reporter in the 80s. Doing this in the past has helped to work out some of the kinks in the game, but ultimately you get out what you put in. If you are interested please sign up below. If we have enough interest I'll go forward with it. Hopefully Real can promote it on the board and we can get enough GMs to play. Thanks.