All-time Greatest Lakers vs Greatest Bulls Players: And the Winner is?

Elgin Baylor vs. Scottie Pippen

(NBA.com)

Ben Buchanan: Baylor over Scottie
Elgin Baylor was a player of rare status. He was a unstoppable force offensively (infact, one year he averaged 33 FGA), but at a career 27.4 PPG, he is a dynamic scorer. Scottie will always be remembered as a great sidekick, but Baylor has another gear that Scottie is missing.

Keith Rivas: Scottie Pippen

My thing about the Scottie Pippen vs. Elgin Baylor is that this face-off practically decides who the best right hand man is.

Baylor lead the way for the Lakers during his time way back in the day, whereas Pippen was the perfect fit complimenting a Jordan-led Chicago squad.

Down low, I feel that Pippen’s unique aggressiveness would give him an edge. Even though Baylor may score more than Pippen if there were to be a game, I think looking at the overall performance there’s no question who the better guy is.

I’m in Pippen’s corner on this one.

Jr. Williams: Scottie Pippen

Elgin Baylor was an elusive and superior offensive player but I think Pippen wins the match-up based off of his pure defensive prowness. Pippen was the ultimate compliment to Michael Jordan, and I believe he would have the slight edge in locking down Baylor from a defensive standpoint. Remember, there’s only one ball, and with all the legends included in Shaq’s all-time Laker squad, someone would have to play second and third fiddle.

 Loading ...

Shaquille O’Neal vs. Dennis Rodman

(Pinterest)

Ben Buchanan: Shaq over Rodman
Shaquille O’Neal is one most dominant big men the game has ever seen. Shaq brought in a “mean” mentality and destroyed his opposition. Although Dennis Rodman was a tremendous player in his prime, he was somewhat of a one trick pony, he was an insane rebounder but it came at the price of limited offensive game.

Keith Rivas: Dennis Rodman

Wow, that’s the first thing that came to mind when I first heard that Shaq and Dennis Rodman were in the same sentence acting like high school kids feuding over Twitter.

In this particular instance, Shaq played the guy that had money for lunch but took the smaller kid’s lunch money anyway.

A little rough, Shaq, c’mon now.

What irks me most about this pairing is that I feel Shaq is really good at over-hyping things and making mountains out of a mole hill.

With a lot of talk, we should expect nothing more than the perfect walk.

And I’m sorry, but I don’t see Shaq living up to his big mouth in this kind of moment.

Edge? Rodman.

Jr. Williams: Dennis Rodman 

Rodman has already one the battle. As a member of the Bulls Rodman gave Shaq the business while he was a member of the Orlando Magic, and even won a title when Shaq spent his early years with the Lakers. I would guess in the time-span, Rodman won three titles when O’Neal was in the league for at least four years, and won his third title when O’Neal was in his seventh year in the league. Rodman wins by a landslide, in my opinion.

 Loading ...

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Horace Grant

Ben Buchanan: KAB over Grant
Kareem is another one of those players who helped innovate the game of professional basketball. He brought in a number of his own moves and played to his strengths. He was a tremendous player, arguably top-5 of all time.

Keith Rivas: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Horace Grant wouldn’t stand a chance against Abdul-Jabbar.

If you want to talk about straight raw talent combined with the ability to morph his way into the right mode every night on and off the floor then we’re only talking about Kareem.

No offense to Grant, it’s definitely not personal, but there’s no way you’re going to be able to keep up with Abdul-Jabbar and still have breath in your lungs when the clock hits triple zeros.

Good will hunting, Chicago.

Jr. Williams: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Jabbar wins this match-up without a doubt. His hook-shot was basically unblockable, and he would simply destroy Horace Grant in the low-post. Grant may be considered one of the greatest Bulls ever, but Kareem is considered one of the greatest centers of all-time. This match-up is laughable. Horace Grant, sir you have no chance at stopping Kareem–he’s the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

 Loading ...

Which all-time greatest team would win in an NBA Finals series?

Ben Buchanan: Finals Series- Lakers
Although the Bulls would have the best player, the Lakers would have too many high quality players. An offensive attack with Kareem and Shaq on the post, Kobe and Elgin Baylor on the wings and Magic running the show would be too hard to stop. Shaq would certainly help stop Dennis Rodman from destroying them on the boards, Kareem would score on Grant easily, Elgin and Scottie would be a close match-up though. Overall the Lakers are too good to loose against the Jordan lead Bulls.

Keith Rivas: LAL in 6

This group of Los Angeles Lakers would win a head on collision with the top five Chicago Bulls in a six game dagger contest.

In my estimation, we’d probably see four, maybe even five, games end with some ridiculous buzzer-beater. With talent on the floor like it would be, there’s no question we’d see more of the unusual.

When it comes down it though, I think the second best question is which team would have home court in the best-of-seven and how do you determine that. My guess is it would be the Lakers with home court, so that also factored into my decision.

Although Shaq seems to think this Lakers squad could pounce the Bulls by 50, I see every game coming down to the wire. And that’s fine by me.

Jr. Williams: As a Chicago native who experienced the first-hand excitement of the Bulls three-peat, it pains me to say that I think the Lakers would have the slight edge over a Bulls line-up with only three hall of famers. Still, this is a tough series to pick, because we would have to see the full roster on both teams, however, if we’re talking 5-on-5, its hard not to vote against such a legendary Lakers team. Even though Michael Jordan has never lost in an NBA Finals series, he might take an L in this one. Lakers win the series in 7 games.

 Loading ...