Since we are talking about talented, didn't the Lakers have Kobe, Shaq, Karl Malone, Gary Payton, funny, you could also add Nash, Kobe, Dwight, Pau, MWP to that list.
Only read through the first thread, but has anyone mentioned the '04-'05 Lakers? Detroit won that year, but Lakers' big 4 of Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton was really talented.
Yep the '04 Lakers instantly come to mind. Stacked with talent but I believe Shaq and Kobe were feuding then, like not even talking to each other, and the pistons, though causing a major upset 4-1 i think it was, showed its about the team not the individual.
Blazers team that choked in game 7 of the WCF vs Lakers. Kings team that got robbed in 02. Suns team with Stat,Nash,Matrix,Q-Rich,J.J Even that #1 Seed Mavs team that lost to Warriors in first round.
2012 OKC Thunder with 3 superstars 2011 Heat with 3 superstars 2010 Celtics with 4 Hall of Famers 2009 Cavaliers (Look at competition they went up against in East...ORL had no All star Jameer Nelson + BOS had no KG)
If you say so, These other teams have at least 2 - 3 Hall of Famers or perennial all-stars. I know it pains you right now to see LeBron thriving, but let's get real none of those Cleveland teams would not have been any better than 3rd seed in the West or in the Eastern Conference during the 90s.
1986 LA Lakers 1988 Dallas Mavericks 1992 Portland Trail Blazers and 1993 Phoenix Suns - I thought both these teams were deeper than Chicago. 1998 Utah Jazz - This game could have turned out differently if not for the Bulls being awarded a three and Utah not being awarded one. 1998 Indiana Pacers and 1999 Indiana Pacers 2000 Portland Trail Blazers 2002 Sacramento Kings 2003 Dallas Mavericks - They had Dirk, Nash, Finley, NVE, and some decent role players. They were a great offensive team, good at three pointers and free throws. 2004 LA Lakers - Payton and Malone were no longer at their best, they were still good. Payton came off of an all star season. Malone remained in great shape, and came off of a season with numbers that weren't far off from his last all star appearance. It's been hard for many players to stand out in the Western Conference over the past decade or so. 2006 Phoenix Suns and 2007 Phoenix Suns - This is why I think Mike D'Antoni gets too much heat for his past playoff failures, though he should have been more dedicated towards developing a bench and resting his players. Injuries hurt Phoenix in 2006. The officiating and Amare being suspended hurt them in 2007, San Antonio got away with stuff throughout that entire series. 2006 Dallas Mavericks - Jerry Stackhouse didn't deserve to be suspended, and the officiating favored of Miami. This upset me because of how Dirk could be regarded had he won 2 titles without another star in their prime. 2008 Utah Jazz - 12 bad calls in the 4th quarter cost Utah in game 5, at least 5 bad 4th quarter calls cost them in game 6. Not to mention how lopsided the free throws were despite LA being more physical throughout the series. It's unlikely they would have beaten Boston had they made it past San Antonio. Jerry Sloan was often underrated at overachieving. 2009 Houston Rockets - Aside from the trio of Yao, McGrady and Artest, I think Rick Adelman was the biggest reason this team had a chance to contend. Many people didn't think they'd get past Portland. Rick had a lot of bad luck during his stints in Sacramento and Houston (losing players, officiating). 2010 San Antonio Spurs - I thought this was one of the deeper Spurs teams in years. 2010 Boston Celtics - There were at least 11 lopsided calls in the 4th quarter favoring the Lakers, resulting in 21 free throws. The Lakers still barely won that game despite Kendrick Perkins being out. 2011 Miami Heat - I always thought Miami had better role players than given credit for. Caron Butler was still out. Aside from Lebron being too passive and Dirk, Rick Carlisle made a big difference in this series. 2013 LA Lakers - Too many injuries.
I'm sorry Milwaukee fans, but you guys have had several teams that were title worthy, but didn't quite make it. 1971-72 Milwaukee Bucks (defending champions and won 63 games). 1980-85 Milwaukee Bucks (feature Moncrief, Johnson, Lanier, Bridgeman, and later Lister, Pressley, and Cummings).
I don't think alot of people here really remember, but the 2003 Dallas Mavericks were the first "super team" of this era we're going through now, there was one offseason where they got antoine walker and Antawn Jamison who were both at the time 20 ppg scorers and added that to Steve Nash Dirk Nowitzki Michael Finley Josh Howard(young but just coming off ACC player of the year) Antoine Walker Antawn Jamison That is a tremendous top 6 when you consider the rockets top 6 was Yao Ming Steve Francis Cuttino Mobley Jim Jackson Mo Taylor Kelvin Cato
Probably all of Rick Adelman's teams except for the Warriors so the early 90s Blazers, early 00s Kings and 08-09 Rockets.
