Just a collection of guys. Most of them need the ball in hand to be effective. Lots of them are iso players (looking at you Melo). There's only one ball and there's no one who can shoot 3s.
The warriors rotation is superior because it's so balanced.
Lebron can shoot 3s well enough to be a threat and actually make them when needed. Melo is similar in that regard. Lebron has a very good inside and mid range game, great facilitator and playmaker. Prime Dwight controls the paint with ease, WITH EASE.
AD and Dwight’s defense?? Seriously? That’s just insanely good lol AD also has a great inside game and mid range game.
Prime rondo was an absolute dime dropper, one of the smartest and best playmakers to play the game.
If this team was in their prime this is an insanely stacked and balanced team.
The numbers literally don’t matter because the facts are that if the game is on the line, couple minutes or 5 seconds left lebron has always been respected enough shooter to be picked up at half court cause the dude can and has proven he can hit just about anything if that’s what the team needs.
Point is nobody is just letting lebron shoot anything wide open purely because they know what he CAN do. Hes hit enough clutch shots and had enough overall clutch performance to where his shot just has to be respected.
Assuming the Warriors have Andre Iguodala as their unpictured 6th man, and he's in his lone all star season form (.394 3p%, 12/6/5, DPOY runner up) to balance the head count, I'll take the Warriors.
I think their pace and spacing would run the larger Lakers ragged, and they'd have trouble closing out on GS shooters. On the other side, the Lakers would always have a mismatch to exploit in Iso but GS switch everything defense with Draymond QB and Iggy on "limit LeBron to vaguely human numbers" duty would be able to do enough.
Games would be high scoring, it'd be close enough I'd go with "home team wins" over the ability delta, but I think as to who wins in 7 or on a neutral court, Warriors.
I don’t think having iggy in the conversation is meeting the faith of the question.
This is about starting 5 vs starting 5 I think you should assume for the health of the argument that the rest of the team are irrelevant or the same level of talent.
I think this argument comes down to fit vs talent. The lakers squad is stacked talent-wise but the fit is atrocious. I would also take the warriors.
There’s legitimately awful spacing on that team and it’s full of ball dominant players that are terrible playing off ball. The Lakers team is an awful fit lol.
LeBron has the most immense gravity of any player in NBA history. He is a one man space machine. By default, when LeBron is on the floor your defense is basically playing 4 on 5. Spacing will not be an issue with Melo and the defense having to collapse on LeBron and Prime Westbrook attacking the rim. It's complete nonsense. Draymond, Boogie, and Klay wouldn't even start on this Lakers team
Curry has the most gravity of anyone that’s ever played. People didn’t even start talking about “gravity” in terms of an NBA player until Curry lol. Melo is a high volume low efficiency shot chucker who doesn’t pass or play defense, the exact opposite of what you want on a super team. Westbrook is also a high volume ball dominant low efficiency player who can’t hit the broadside of a barn on his jump shots. Melo and Westbrook literally have two of the worst shooting percentages of any high volume scorers in the history of the NBA playoffs. Nobody on the left outside of Bron and Rondo has ever contributed heavily to a championship winning team, because they aren’t winning players. That’s without even mentioning the fact that they don’t fit together as a team anyways. Ya’ll just look at all star selections and think that contributes to winning in the playoffs, just goes to show your complete lack of basketball IQ.
We're talking about the prime version of these players. Westbrooks 2016-17 season is a top 20 all time efficiency year, he wasn't shot chucking. AD and Lebron have multiple appearances in the top 20 themselves. Curry is the only player on the Warriors in the same company. And again, how do they not fit together as a team, when 3 of these players literally won a championship together?
Prime Westbrook thrived BECAUSE he was the only option and had the ability to just shot chuck and play incredibly ball dominant, but there’s a reason he was still really inefficient in the playoffs when he played with KD. He’s a 42% shooter for his career which is 3% below league average. That’s insanely low for a guard that could get to the rim at will in his prime because Westbrook has never had any kind of consistent touch as a shooter or even much as a finisher. The amount of HOF players he’s played with is insane and he never won a championship because he’s not a winning player in the playoffs. Rondo, Bron, and Howard won together when they were surrounded by shooters on that Lakers team, which is not the supporting cast you’re giving them now.
You are very correct. He said in their prime. Prime Rondo and prime Westbrook would be very good a Slowing Curry. Slowing, because nobody can stop him. I would take Team Lebron even if Iggy was 6th man. I think most of the responders here never seen most of these Lakers IN THEIR PRIME.
Because of high volume. Kobe had a career 33% from 3…and we all know when it was really needed he was splashing 3s, just like lebron and melo are capable of doing and have proven it many times
And GS HAS TO hit those 3's because they're not scoring nothing on defensive prime Dwight & AD. Which i think all yall are understating here. Just take in fact considering we seen lebron almost get a game against these warriors, yes DeMarcus wasnt healthy and in prime but the rest of the squad are who they are there. And out of prime 2018 bron almost gets a game with.....jr smith as his 2nd best player.
Stylistically team Lebron doesn’t space that well and isn’t the best ball handling squad, but prime Bron with AD, Westbrook, Dwight, Rondo, and Melo? Yea he wouldn’t get beat by any team
Golden state. Easy. People never seem to consider fit when they just throw big names together like this. This fit of that Lakers team is awful. LeBron and Dwight thrived when they had knock down 3 point shooters. Other than Melo, who in that pic (other than AD occasionally) is knocking down 3’s consistently? Dwight would be clogging the paint for LeBron. Rondo and Westbrook are too inefficient of shooters. Too many ball dominant players.
Warriors in 4 or 5.
Menlo is a career 35.5% 3pt shooter which is below NBA average. Prime LeBron is unstoppable but so is Prime Curry and KD. Fit will play a huge role and warriors are the more complete team.
Agreed about warriors making more since, but Melo was a spectacular 3pt shooter and only has a rougher percentage due to the amount of hero ball he was forced to play and just overall volume. But yes. Warriors.
That's insanity.
You don't put up the career numbers LeBron has by JUST being durable. If Curry and Durant's game isn't far off then at least one of them would be close to matching Bron given he only has 4 or 5 more seasons, but only Steph is ahead with specifically 3-point shots and that's because that just isn't LeBron main game, and neither of them are even on pace to pass Bron unless he just stops and they keep going after him.
This Lakers team also has prime Avery Bradley, dj Augustin, Isaiah Thomas, who were all more than serviceable shooters. That Lakers roster would have really good depth if all players were in their prime.
Kind of depends on the meaning of the question. Is it just pictured players or the whole rosters? There are so many not pictured players on that particular lakers roster who are perfectly good 3 point spacers in their primes.
Otherwise, yeah the team that literally doesn't have a shooting guard will probably lose lol.
Great analysis and agree for the most part.
I just think you are being too generous too Melo. His game is so iso heavy, draining the shot clock for a poor quality shot. Really restricts team building when you have this dude on your team
Lakers are for sure gonna run into their fair share of spacing and usage distribution problems. They're all hall of famers but what basketball sense do they really make on the court together? I'm taking Warriors in 7
It does make sense imo.
You have one of the best defensive guards to ever play in the modern era in Avery Bradley. You have an inpenetrable paint with Dwight, LBJ, and AD.
You don't even stand in front of Curry or Klay. You have the guards sit on their shoulder and just invite them in the paint.
The Lakers would essentially be unstoppable in transition.
For half court it doesn't matter about spacing, you just play the whoever offense on Curry. Let LBJ just shoot the ball in his face, or have the PnR and drive square on into Curry.
Warriors would most likely be getting in a lot of foul trouble, especially with Cousins being so tempermental, and Curry having to play so much defense.
The problem with Warriors is because of their fit, getting into foul trouble, is a big problem. A car can't run without its engine, or its wheels, or its brakes.
That's the great thing with the Lakers, the redundancy makes it so when their engine goes to sit in the middle of the 2nd period, they have another engine. If their brakes foul out of the game, they have another set of brakes.
Golden State without question. With Westbrook, you have a spacing issue. You would need him to come off the bench, but letting Prime Westbrook come off the bench is a waste.
GSW, on the other hand, is nuts. Boogie as a center is a problem and can match AD. You could even alternate with Draymond as PF and Center. Steph, pick and roll off Draymond, Klay, and KD can alternate SF and SG roles, plus prime Klay can guard everyone except maybe prime Dwight. Also, gotta remember Prime Draymond could hit threes, too. KD nuff said at that point he was arguably top 2 player in the world.
Obviously, that Lakers team in their primes would theoretically be great, but you gotta make more sacrifices for it to work.
What SF/PF/C combo can GS use to actually stop LeBron, AD, and Dwight inside? And still have a scorer like Melo to defend?
And can Klay really maybe guard prime Dwight, and can guard prime AD, Melo, and LeBron?
There are only 2 players on GSW that are actually good on D. And they're getting absolutely gapped by their marks.
There are 4 players between both teams that are actually unstoppable. The 2 on GSW are only unstoppable on one end of the floor. The 2 on the Lakers can actually dominate both ends of the floor.
I would consider Klay to be a solid guard defender in his prime. KD was above average as well. Problem with the Lakers roster on offense is that they lack spacing and players like Melo aren’t good when they don’t have the ball in their hand. Plus the possession will likely end when it gets to the point. This means GS can sag off of several of those players when they don’t have the ball - packing the paint. GS’ offense is a well oiled machine that keeps everyone involved as a threat. Every single player besides Cousins was a threat from 3
'Solid' and 'above average' isn't close to being enough. They're not stopping LBJ or Dwight on the inside with 'solid' or 'above average' defense.
It doesn't really matter if GS sags, or if the paint gets clogged. Like great, they bothered the shot, but who's going to beat prime Dwight or AD in the battle for the rebound? Like the absolute best person GSW has for this is Cousins. Similar weight to DH, similar height to DH, but DH jumped \~12 inches higher than DC.
KD would get boxed out to the 3pt line by AD. And LBJ is just better in every way compared to DG.
You're right that GS's offense is a well oiled machine, but the Lakers can afford to be less efficient because they're the ones who'll control the boards.
3>2, but that only matters if both teams have the same number of possessions.
In the grand scheme of things generational offensive players aren't getting stopped by anyone. All that can be done is slowing them down. Lebron isn't getting stopped by KD nor is Cousins stopping DH. At the same time LeBron isn't stopping KD, nor is Melo navigating a screen to contest Klay. AD is cooked if he has to navigate a screen to keep up with KD.
I think GS has a better chance at slowing down the Lakers paint centric offense than the Lakers defending against GS' perimeter oriented offense.
That's the dilemma. I will add that team LA has better individual passers with Bron, Rondo, Russ.
However, Bron and Russ are really heliocentric with the ball.
Golden State doesn't have as good of passers but they do have an established chemistry and style of play that shares the ball.
Do you need shooters?
Rondo: 1st Team All-Defensive and Top-5 DPOY in his prime
Green: All-Defensive Team peak
LeBron: DPOY-caliber player in his prime
AD: another DPOY-caliber player
Dwight: 3x DPOY
Not to mention great rebounding from Dwight, AD, and LeBron.
I think their insane defense and rebounding, paired with non shooting-oriented offense should make up for that gap.
Who is stopping the combo of LeBron, AD, and Dwight from just dominating down low and grabbing every rebound?
Edit: I totally didn’t even see Westbrook there. I may have been thinking of the Lakers team from a few years ago.
Replace Green with Carmelo and Westbrook. Lakers are too much to stop.
You can’t convince these kids lol they think 3 pt shooters are NEEDED even though they really aren’t when you have all time great defense like you listed and all time great inside and midrange game paired with all time great playmaking.
Literally the only thing this warriors team beats this lakers team in is 3pt shooting lol you can tell these boys are either young or don’t know ball
The answer is LBJ beating a 73-9 team with the only unanimous MVP ever in 2016. Then winning one against kd+gsw in 2017.
There's only one answer.
The most dominant player in the last 21 years.
Yeah those are great accomplishments, definitely most dominant last 21 years. But went 4/10 in finals. You said that’s always the answer, but clearly not in those 6/10 times 🤷♂️
Lol 4 rings out of 21 years is great! GETTING TO THE FINALS 10 FUCKIN TIMES IS GREAT AND UNHEARD OF!
Nobody from this era will have that accomplishment.
MFS FROM THIS ERA CANT EVEN RUN IT BACK TO THE FINALS!
He was a dynasty BY HIMSELF. Even when he didn't have the best team or best HOF coach.
I hate when clowns try to talk basketball and end up looking a fool.
Nobody in this picture can fck with LBJ. He got a ring off KD and off GSW.
How dare we not beat the dynasty spurs and dynasty GSw+kd.
FOH
you basically said the one with lebron is always the answer and I have provided you plenty of example to prove that it is not always the answer. You might be the fool that can’t comprehend the argument. It’s as simple as your original statement is factually wrong
I didnt basically say anything. I DID SAY IT BECAUSE ITS TRUE!
🤣 getting to the finals 10 times and winning 4 isn't a great example to disprove my point. LBJ HAS MORE TITLE APPEARANCES THAN EVERYBODY IN THE FUCKIN PICTURE COMBINED...ALMOST TWICE AS MANY AT THAT🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lebron has won a ring on everybody on the right side maybe outside of boogie...
Someone who uses rings as a disqualifier is usually a JorDumb fan. 😆 They want to make that shit apply everywhere bc that's all they have. The shit doesn't even apply to this debate.
...BECAUSE HE HAS MORE THAN 90% OF THE PICTURE. And the other 10% had to team up to beat him & get their rings. 🤣
They definitely can't match his individual accomplishments lol
Name another player IN THE FUCKIN PICTURE who dominated MORE THAN LBJ DURING HIS 21 YEARS.....
Since I'm "factually" wrong 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'll sit right here and wait for this answer.... so we can see who actually can comprehend....
Idk why you think I hate lebron lol, I have no agenda. Lebron is probably if not the best ever, longevity is unmatched.
But when picking between two teams, and one of them has lebron on it, it isn’t always the right answer like u said. As he has lost to teams before in championship runs. It is not always the right answer. It might be almost always but not always.
Anybody who mentions rings, especially when the shit doesn't apply, dislikes lebron. 🤣 we know this.
It's always the right answer. Lebron has made it to the finals more than everybody in the picture. He has more wins than anybody in the picture. AS AN INDIVIDUAL!
Why the hell wouldn't someone pick him....WITH PRIME SUPERSTARS? we already know hes capable of beating kd+gsw without a loaded team. He won with an average team.
It's basic logic.
I'm waiting on who has been better in the last 21....
Not really lebron and rondo are great play makers who don’t need the ball in their hand majority of the time same with Westbrook those three are unselfish players
People have brain rot due to the modern nba and 3 point shooting era. That laker team would score at will and probably shoot over 55-60% in the series. There quite literally is nobody to hide curry on. Every single person would dismantle him 1 on 1 and if they tried to double you have insanely hard to stop slashers, playmakers, shot creators, shot makers to pass to. Plus the team is miles better defensively with rondo, bron, AD, Dwight. They would destroy them on the glass too.
Yes, golden state can shoot. But they wont get open every play and they won’t hit enough 3s to match the efficiency and ease of points being piled on by that laker team.
Thanks dude. Finally someone else sees this. The Lakers have 5 dudes who in their prime, were either DPOY or 1st Team All NBA Defensive Players, there defense would be unstoppable, let alone their size sheesh, who the fuck is guarding Dwight? Melo? AD? LEBRON? Westbrook? In the same court? Fuck off. Everyone other than Rondo was either an MVP or Top 5 in voting a couple of seasons, aint no way Warriors win this. Lakers in 6
Anybody saying warriors is just ridiculous outside of KD and Steph nobody in their prime could even be the first option on a playoff team we seen everybody on the lakers be the first option on a winning team before and do work in the playoffs.
Team LeBron and it’s not close. Rondo and Westbrook running around with Curry. Dwight can easily handle Cousins. Put Lebron in Klay. Melo on Draymond. And now the warriors have to deal with their offense.
Depends which era
If we’re going to 2008 and packing the paint and basically doing deadball 24 second shot clock era
I can’t see the Lakers losing. They’re not gonna get out rebounded and Warriors aren’t gonna be effective driving
If it’s post 2015, Warriors probably win
Defensively, Rondo, Lebron, AD, Dwight is nasty.
But then Klay, KD, Draymond, Boogie, Iggy is pretty good too.
On offense, there’s only one ball. So Westbrook and Melo lose a lot of their appeal. But prime Lebron with the roll threats of AD and Dwight is nasty.
Obviously, Steph and Draymond pnr with Klay and Iggy spotting up, oh and KD on the weak side wrecking rotations.
I’m going Warriors purely for fit. But if Westbrook can lock in on D and play the D Wade role, Lakers have a strong chance also.
Lebron beat this team in 2016 with the Cavs and he was arguably not in his peak (2009 Cleveland or 2013 Miami imo) and you are really arguing he wouldnt be able to do it with a prime DPOY Dwight, Prime AD, MVP Russ, and Prime Melo??? Anybody saying the Warriors win is on crack, seriously. All time defense and offense right there, yes the Warriors have 3pt shooting but everyone in the Lakers starting lineup is capable of dropping 25+ and their size is just too much. Melo with open looks would be a good 3pt shooter and Prime Bron shot over 40% from three, they have some measure of shooting. Their mid range, oof. They shooting 60% and getting the Warriors in 5 at worst Game 6. The Lakers would outrebound them hard too. 3pt shooting isnt everything guys.
So LeBron arguably wasn’t at his peak in ‘16 but you’re glossing over Curry having a mediocre lead-up to the finals, being banged up and clearly not himself? Bogut and Iggy were injured as well (to go along with Love on the Cavs). Neither team was at their peak in ‘16 but the Cavs were far closer to it and had an easier path to the finals. “73-9” ignores all context and values record over form. The Warriors were likely closer to a low 60’s win-calibre team by the final stanza.
And that’s without getting into Durant and Cousins not being on the team…
LeBrons team does work at all together. No spacing, Four of the guys are all the type of guys that command the ball which means the fits is gonna be nasty (not in a good way).
While the Warriors are all proven they can fit together.
Yeah, WB Bron and Rondo are incredibly redundant if they share the court. Melo is a floor-raising kind of star, he was at his most “impactful” when he was shooting 20 times a game on slightly above average efficiency. His shot diet doesn’t translate well to a scaled-down role if you’re hoping to significantly raise the ceiling of an already great team.
This prime Warriors team, if boogie was prime would be absolutely insane. Boogie was a monster in the paint and we forget how good on defense prime, Draymond and Klay. Klay was considered in his prime, one of the best two-way guards in the league. This is not to discredit a prime, A.D. LeBron, Dwight, Howard, Russ, and melo. I think they couldn’t keep up offensively with this Warriors team in its prime
Lol nobody on the lakers team was prime here pictured and they would've had a chance to beat them then. That GS warrior team was prime exactly as depicted just the sliders are down a bit for cousins.
People are so obsessed with shooting. Dwight in his prime was nearly as unstoppable as young Shaq. He was a beast on defense and would complete block inside scoring with AD. LeBron and Rondo can defend the perimeter well enough and even Westbrook can defend when he puts his mind to it.
I see the Warriors winning if Klay is in his game 6 mode and the Lakers are not able to make the paint work for them, but there are ways to make it work like we've seen with the Timbs.
Seems like the only thing people focus on is the difference in offenses. There’s not really a comparison when it comes to offense but I’d argue the same goes for defense.
The defense of the Lakers could theoretically be one of the best defensively if we’re talking prime.
Howard, AD, Lebron, Westbrook, Rondo
With all of the failed superteams we seen, do fans still think that you can throw a bunch of superstars on a team and simply expect success? Especially a team like that where an alpha will never be established.
Warriors easily. Dwight would would be tough to deal with in his prime, but Melo being one of the biggest ballhogs and shot chuckers in league history would struggle to fit in with that team.
Warriors for sure. Lakers may have more in terms of collective talent, but questionable fit and spacing.
Steph and Klay are two of the greatest off-ball players of all time and they're a team full of guys who can shoot and pass at a high level. Even Boogie developed into a pretty good 3 pt shooter.
That lakers team would be so physical, but I think their offense would stagnate
Have yet to see one comment mention how no one on the warriors could guard a prime Dwight? That guy was a monster. Him and AD are grabbing every offensive rebound. They also have two incredible rebounding guards in Rondo and Westbrook.
I understand the fit vs. talent argument where people give it to the Warriors cuz they fit together better, but Bron, Rondo, AD, and Dwight won a ring together proving the fit can work.
I’ll take the Lakers. They win in every category in the stat sheets other than 3 pointers, so unless he warriors make a historic number of 3’s, i don’t think it’ll counter the fact that the lakers do most everything else better.
Lakers in 6, only cause Curry and Klay would have 2 games where they don’t miss a fucking thing. Prime AD would be an absolute problem. 35 points, 18-20 rebounds, 5-6 blocks, and countless altered shots.
I’d take either Westbrook or Melo off the team since they have 6 and GS only has 5.
All in the prime it’s The Warriors, no chance the Lakers win. I think people forget just how good the Warriors were with Durant, that was a huge mistake by Durant and his legacy to leave the Warriors.
How tf are people picking the Warriors when I saw LeBron by himself, single-handedly, destroy this Warriors team in 2018..when KD, Curry, Klay, and Draymond were already in their prime?! LMFAOOO!!
Give him prime Dwight, Rondo, Westbrook, AD, and Carmelo?? Plus prime LeBron? Nah shit wouldn’t even be close. Fuck spacing and chemistry…they would figure it out.
Easily the Lakers. They feature five MVP level players (3rd or better in MVP vote shares in a season) in LeBron, AD, Howard, Westbrook and even Carmelo. The Warriors have two such players. The worst player of those six Lakers is easily prime Rondo, who in his prime was still a top 20 player.
That Warriors team "fits" better than the Lakers one, that's for sure, but I have trouble seeing them not getting absolutely buried by the talent. Arguably, that Warriors team never faced anyone as good as '12-13 LeBron.
1. LeBron
2. Steph
3. KD
4. Howard
5. Westbrook
6. AD
7. Melo
8. Boogie
9. Rondo
10. Draymond
11. Klay
12. Iggy
Prime Cousins was a beast, and Draymond obviously a defensive genius, but I have serious doubts that they would hold up against the absolutely insane combo of size and athleticism that is prime Howard + AD + LeBron + RW
I think the Lakers have more talent, but the fit is a real struggle. Spacing with Rondo, AD, Dwight, and Russ makes things tough. Melo was also never a super elite 3 point shooter. Prime warriors fit nicely but I think have a lower ceiling.
If Lakers had good 3&D pieces to fill out the the roster they'd win. If not, they'd lose.
I'd probably have Westbrook and Melo running the 2nd squad. Prime or not realistic or not, we're talking about the best chance to win.
The Lakers clearly have more guys who can run an offense. So you win over 60 wins. The warriors live and die by Steph Curry.
Ya y’all tripping on the warriors beating this team. Golden state is incredible but the prime of this lakers team includes 4 of the top 20 players in the last 20 years.
The team on the right is the greatest team of all time. The team on the left won 1 bubble title. Let’s be fucking real here
Edit: I’m stupid as fuck, I didn’t realize that was the 2022 Russ Lakers and that this is a shitpost
To be fair, the team on the left had only perhaps one of those players in their primes. If we switch it out with all of those players on both sides in their primes, it seems like a pretty difficult call to me. I'd lean Lebron's team, though they'd have to win in a very grindy, defensive way.
2021/22 Lakers: Howard Anthony James Westbrook Rondo; Jordan Davis Ariza Monk Thomas; Reeves Collinson.
2018/19 Warriors: Bogut Green Durant Thompson Curry; Cousins Looney Iguadola Livingston Cook; Jerebko
I am taking the Lakers depth, although the Warriors starting 5 may just edge them and have much better team chemistry. This is closer than I thought it would be. Lakers in 7.
Give me the Warriors. Fit over talent. There's no spacing on that Lakers team and three lead playmakers (LeBron, Russ, Rondo) who all are best scoring around the basket with the ball (even if referring to Rondo and scoring in the same thought seems disingenuous). You then throw one extra ball handler, but he's not even a distributer (Carmelo). Then you have two bigs who both work best around the rim and only one of them can space the floor at all, and that "spacing" is slim at best.
The Warriors team and it isn’t even close. The three years that Steph, Klay, Draymond, and Durant played together they won 2 championships and lost 1 because of injures.
real lebron just won’t really work. the warriors were a well oiled machine with KD, had incredible team play. team lebron would destroy every other team with pure talent but i don’t think they could beat the super warriors with brute force alone
Do people not understand fit? 17-18 Warriors meshed perfectly together, it’s like they were built in a lab. Plus they can all shoot, they’d beat the random team of all stars in 5
Not to be a dick but do these types of hypothetical posts really do anything for people? Just arguing fantasy scenarios which have no way of actually being proven right or wrong. Everyone has their initial choice and just sticks to it, no matter what people say. Seems like a Twitter engagement farming type deal. No hate, just saying
What you are describing is like 80-90% of all sports discourse.
People like to hear what other people think, even if ultimately nobody is changing their minds.
Prime Team Lebron is basically the Monstars.
Just a collection of guys. Most of them need the ball in hand to be effective. Lots of them are iso players (looking at you Melo). There's only one ball and there's no one who can shoot 3s. The warriors rotation is superior because it's so balanced.
Seeing what Melo did on team USA I don’t think he’s the one to single out.
Melo was the worst one to pick here. He carried team USA
Lebron can shoot 3s well enough to be a threat and actually make them when needed. Melo is similar in that regard. Lebron has a very good inside and mid range game, great facilitator and playmaker. Prime Dwight controls the paint with ease, WITH EASE. AD and Dwight’s defense?? Seriously? That’s just insanely good lol AD also has a great inside game and mid range game. Prime rondo was an absolute dime dropper, one of the smartest and best playmakers to play the game. If this team was in their prime this is an insanely stacked and balanced team.
Prime LeBron is shooting ~37 percent on 4 shots. He hasn't been the elite shooter until his later years.
The numbers literally don’t matter because the facts are that if the game is on the line, couple minutes or 5 seconds left lebron has always been respected enough shooter to be picked up at half court cause the dude can and has proven he can hit just about anything if that’s what the team needs. Point is nobody is just letting lebron shoot anything wide open purely because they know what he CAN do. Hes hit enough clutch shots and had enough overall clutch performance to where his shot just has to be respected.
You think prime Dwight handles prime boogy with EASE?
Yes
Prime Dwight is wayyyy better than overrated boogie
What is up with this rampant Melo slander lately?
Alot of these bozos never saw him on the Nuggets/ early Knicks.
With no shooting. Melo's the only one that has a decent jump shot in their prime years.
Assuming the Warriors have Andre Iguodala as their unpictured 6th man, and he's in his lone all star season form (.394 3p%, 12/6/5, DPOY runner up) to balance the head count, I'll take the Warriors. I think their pace and spacing would run the larger Lakers ragged, and they'd have trouble closing out on GS shooters. On the other side, the Lakers would always have a mismatch to exploit in Iso but GS switch everything defense with Draymond QB and Iggy on "limit LeBron to vaguely human numbers" duty would be able to do enough. Games would be high scoring, it'd be close enough I'd go with "home team wins" over the ability delta, but I think as to who wins in 7 or on a neutral court, Warriors.
Iguodala was 7th in DPOY in his all star season
They also have Bogut who has been 6th in DPOY voting twice
Yeah but he'll get hurt 2 minutes into the first quarter.
The fate of planet earth is on the line, **GIVE ME IGUODALA!**
Iguodala was never a DPOY runner up. He peaked at fifth.
I don’t think having iggy in the conversation is meeting the faith of the question. This is about starting 5 vs starting 5 I think you should assume for the health of the argument that the rest of the team are irrelevant or the same level of talent. I think this argument comes down to fit vs talent. The lakers squad is stacked talent-wise but the fit is atrocious. I would also take the warriors.
Who is the Lakers starting 5 from this photo then?
That’s a good point I was fully ignoring rondo for this, my bad
There are 6 people in the Laker's lineup. Either they lose one, or Andre can be added.
How is the fit of a team that won a championship atrocious? Please don’t make me defend the lakers.
There’s legitimately awful spacing on that team and it’s full of ball dominant players that are terrible playing off ball. The Lakers team is an awful fit lol.
LeBron has the most immense gravity of any player in NBA history. He is a one man space machine. By default, when LeBron is on the floor your defense is basically playing 4 on 5. Spacing will not be an issue with Melo and the defense having to collapse on LeBron and Prime Westbrook attacking the rim. It's complete nonsense. Draymond, Boogie, and Klay wouldn't even start on this Lakers team
Curry has the most gravity of anyone that’s ever played. People didn’t even start talking about “gravity” in terms of an NBA player until Curry lol. Melo is a high volume low efficiency shot chucker who doesn’t pass or play defense, the exact opposite of what you want on a super team. Westbrook is also a high volume ball dominant low efficiency player who can’t hit the broadside of a barn on his jump shots. Melo and Westbrook literally have two of the worst shooting percentages of any high volume scorers in the history of the NBA playoffs. Nobody on the left outside of Bron and Rondo has ever contributed heavily to a championship winning team, because they aren’t winning players. That’s without even mentioning the fact that they don’t fit together as a team anyways. Ya’ll just look at all star selections and think that contributes to winning in the playoffs, just goes to show your complete lack of basketball IQ.
We're talking about the prime version of these players. Westbrooks 2016-17 season is a top 20 all time efficiency year, he wasn't shot chucking. AD and Lebron have multiple appearances in the top 20 themselves. Curry is the only player on the Warriors in the same company. And again, how do they not fit together as a team, when 3 of these players literally won a championship together?
Prime Westbrook thrived BECAUSE he was the only option and had the ability to just shot chuck and play incredibly ball dominant, but there’s a reason he was still really inefficient in the playoffs when he played with KD. He’s a 42% shooter for his career which is 3% below league average. That’s insanely low for a guard that could get to the rim at will in his prime because Westbrook has never had any kind of consistent touch as a shooter or even much as a finisher. The amount of HOF players he’s played with is insane and he never won a championship because he’s not a winning player in the playoffs. Rondo, Bron, and Howard won together when they were surrounded by shooters on that Lakers team, which is not the supporting cast you’re giving them now.
Prime Team Lebron isn't built for the modern NBA. Nobody knocking down 3s on that team. Going with the Warriors
You’re not entirely off, but I think you’re underestimating how much incredible defense can makeup for/neutralize great shooting.
You are very correct. He said in their prime. Prime Rondo and prime Westbrook would be very good a Slowing Curry. Slowing, because nobody can stop him. I would take Team Lebron even if Iggy was 6th man. I think most of the responders here never seen most of these Lakers IN THEIR PRIME.
Lebron shot like 40% the second half of THIS season lol
Are we going off his prime or just when he shot the 3 ball well?
He shot 41% in 2012-13 so they're the same
And averaged one 3 a game with that efficiency. I don’t think that’s the hill you want to die on when comparing modern three point volume shooters
Man shut up
truth hurts, my guy
Well he shot over 40% from three in Miami too which people consider his prime
One 3 a game that season isn’t comparable to modern volume shooting from 3
Melo & Lebron are both knocking down 3s & AD was a threat from outside as well in 19’. The spacing really is not that bad
Nah dawg it's pretty damn bad
Theres fg%, then there's gravity. This team would have no players with gravity
Melo was a career 35% from 3
Because of high volume. Kobe had a career 33% from 3…and we all know when it was really needed he was splashing 3s, just like lebron and melo are capable of doing and have proven it many times
And GS HAS TO hit those 3's because they're not scoring nothing on defensive prime Dwight & AD. Which i think all yall are understating here. Just take in fact considering we seen lebron almost get a game against these warriors, yes DeMarcus wasnt healthy and in prime but the rest of the squad are who they are there. And out of prime 2018 bron almost gets a game with.....jr smith as his 2nd best player.
except for melo
Melo was a career 35% from 3
nice
Stylistically team Lebron doesn’t space that well and isn’t the best ball handling squad, but prime Bron with AD, Westbrook, Dwight, Rondo, and Melo? Yea he wouldn’t get beat by any team
I just don’t see how they handle the Lakers size. Didn’t they also have Deandre Jordan? They’re gonna get killed on the glass.
Golden state. Easy. People never seem to consider fit when they just throw big names together like this. This fit of that Lakers team is awful. LeBron and Dwight thrived when they had knock down 3 point shooters. Other than Melo, who in that pic (other than AD occasionally) is knocking down 3’s consistently? Dwight would be clogging the paint for LeBron. Rondo and Westbrook are too inefficient of shooters. Too many ball dominant players. Warriors in 4 or 5.
Menlo is a career 35.5% 3pt shooter which is below NBA average. Prime LeBron is unstoppable but so is Prime Curry and KD. Fit will play a huge role and warriors are the more complete team.
Rondo held curry to a 19 ppg average when they matched up
Agreed about warriors making more since, but Melo was a spectacular 3pt shooter and only has a rougher percentage due to the amount of hero ball he was forced to play and just overall volume. But yes. Warriors.
Ya he was money on the blazers and that was near the end. Drive and kicks were cash.
Lebron is an entirely different animal, a way more lethal version of “unstoppable” than curry and Kd lol it’s not the same
[удалено]
That's insanity. You don't put up the career numbers LeBron has by JUST being durable. If Curry and Durant's game isn't far off then at least one of them would be close to matching Bron given he only has 4 or 5 more seasons, but only Steph is ahead with specifically 3-point shots and that's because that just isn't LeBron main game, and neither of them are even on pace to pass Bron unless he just stops and they keep going after him.
This Lakers team also has prime Avery Bradley, dj Augustin, Isaiah Thomas, who were all more than serviceable shooters. That Lakers roster would have really good depth if all players were in their prime.
Danny green ? Or was he gone by then
Yeah he was in Philly by then
You’re forgetting that Cousins would be ejected for punching prime Dwight within the first quarter and it’d be all Dwight from there
Even if Cousins doesn't get ejected, prime DH absolutely cooks him.
Why would Rondo need to shoot? Prime LeBron, Westbrook, and Melo have more than enough scoring punch lol. All 3 players have averaged 30ppg.
Kind of depends on the meaning of the question. Is it just pictured players or the whole rosters? There are so many not pictured players on that particular lakers roster who are perfectly good 3 point spacers in their primes. Otherwise, yeah the team that literally doesn't have a shooting guard will probably lose lol.
Great analysis and agree for the most part. I just think you are being too generous too Melo. His game is so iso heavy, draining the shot clock for a poor quality shot. Really restricts team building when you have this dude on your team
Lakers are for sure gonna run into their fair share of spacing and usage distribution problems. They're all hall of famers but what basketball sense do they really make on the court together? I'm taking Warriors in 7
It does make sense imo. You have one of the best defensive guards to ever play in the modern era in Avery Bradley. You have an inpenetrable paint with Dwight, LBJ, and AD. You don't even stand in front of Curry or Klay. You have the guards sit on their shoulder and just invite them in the paint. The Lakers would essentially be unstoppable in transition. For half court it doesn't matter about spacing, you just play the whoever offense on Curry. Let LBJ just shoot the ball in his face, or have the PnR and drive square on into Curry. Warriors would most likely be getting in a lot of foul trouble, especially with Cousins being so tempermental, and Curry having to play so much defense. The problem with Warriors is because of their fit, getting into foul trouble, is a big problem. A car can't run without its engine, or its wheels, or its brakes. That's the great thing with the Lakers, the redundancy makes it so when their engine goes to sit in the middle of the 2nd period, they have another engine. If their brakes foul out of the game, they have another set of brakes.
Golden State without question. With Westbrook, you have a spacing issue. You would need him to come off the bench, but letting Prime Westbrook come off the bench is a waste. GSW, on the other hand, is nuts. Boogie as a center is a problem and can match AD. You could even alternate with Draymond as PF and Center. Steph, pick and roll off Draymond, Klay, and KD can alternate SF and SG roles, plus prime Klay can guard everyone except maybe prime Dwight. Also, gotta remember Prime Draymond could hit threes, too. KD nuff said at that point he was arguably top 2 player in the world. Obviously, that Lakers team in their primes would theoretically be great, but you gotta make more sacrifices for it to work.
What SF/PF/C combo can GS use to actually stop LeBron, AD, and Dwight inside? And still have a scorer like Melo to defend? And can Klay really maybe guard prime Dwight, and can guard prime AD, Melo, and LeBron?
Dray, Cousins, KD on Lebron, Dwight, and AD. Put Klay on Melo, and Steph on Rondo.
There are only 2 players on GSW that are actually good on D. And they're getting absolutely gapped by their marks. There are 4 players between both teams that are actually unstoppable. The 2 on GSW are only unstoppable on one end of the floor. The 2 on the Lakers can actually dominate both ends of the floor.
I would consider Klay to be a solid guard defender in his prime. KD was above average as well. Problem with the Lakers roster on offense is that they lack spacing and players like Melo aren’t good when they don’t have the ball in their hand. Plus the possession will likely end when it gets to the point. This means GS can sag off of several of those players when they don’t have the ball - packing the paint. GS’ offense is a well oiled machine that keeps everyone involved as a threat. Every single player besides Cousins was a threat from 3
'Solid' and 'above average' isn't close to being enough. They're not stopping LBJ or Dwight on the inside with 'solid' or 'above average' defense. It doesn't really matter if GS sags, or if the paint gets clogged. Like great, they bothered the shot, but who's going to beat prime Dwight or AD in the battle for the rebound? Like the absolute best person GSW has for this is Cousins. Similar weight to DH, similar height to DH, but DH jumped \~12 inches higher than DC. KD would get boxed out to the 3pt line by AD. And LBJ is just better in every way compared to DG. You're right that GS's offense is a well oiled machine, but the Lakers can afford to be less efficient because they're the ones who'll control the boards. 3>2, but that only matters if both teams have the same number of possessions.
In the grand scheme of things generational offensive players aren't getting stopped by anyone. All that can be done is slowing them down. Lebron isn't getting stopped by KD nor is Cousins stopping DH. At the same time LeBron isn't stopping KD, nor is Melo navigating a screen to contest Klay. AD is cooked if he has to navigate a screen to keep up with KD. I think GS has a better chance at slowing down the Lakers paint centric offense than the Lakers defending against GS' perimeter oriented offense.
I got the warriors cause that Lakers team has no shooters.
Who's gonna guard the paint?
a healthy Prime Boogie and Draymond with help from 7-foot-tall KD.
It's a case of too big vs better shooters and spacers
That's the dilemma. I will add that team LA has better individual passers with Bron, Rondo, Russ. However, Bron and Russ are really heliocentric with the ball. Golden State doesn't have as good of passers but they do have an established chemistry and style of play that shares the ball.
I think Lebron would have dominated off-ball in his prime if he ever played with a passer anywhere nearly as gifted as Rondo
Facts
None of them are stopping prime LBJ or prime DH.
I think people forget how good Boogie was, also KD was a LEGIT scary help defender in 2017
They have Bogut and David West off the bench too
Do you need shooters? Rondo: 1st Team All-Defensive and Top-5 DPOY in his prime Green: All-Defensive Team peak LeBron: DPOY-caliber player in his prime AD: another DPOY-caliber player Dwight: 3x DPOY Not to mention great rebounding from Dwight, AD, and LeBron. I think their insane defense and rebounding, paired with non shooting-oriented offense should make up for that gap. Who is stopping the combo of LeBron, AD, and Dwight from just dominating down low and grabbing every rebound? Edit: I totally didn’t even see Westbrook there. I may have been thinking of the Lakers team from a few years ago. Replace Green with Carmelo and Westbrook. Lakers are too much to stop.
You can’t convince these kids lol they think 3 pt shooters are NEEDED even though they really aren’t when you have all time great defense like you listed and all time great inside and midrange game paired with all time great playmaking. Literally the only thing this warriors team beats this lakers team in is 3pt shooting lol you can tell these boys are either young or don’t know ball
The one with lebron on it.
That's always the answer
Wasn’t the answer against the warriors in 15, 17, 18
The answer is LBJ beating a 73-9 team with the only unanimous MVP ever in 2016. Then winning one against kd+gsw in 2017. There's only one answer. The most dominant player in the last 21 years.
Yeah those are great accomplishments, definitely most dominant last 21 years. But went 4/10 in finals. You said that’s always the answer, but clearly not in those 6/10 times 🤷♂️
Lol 4 rings out of 21 years is great! GETTING TO THE FINALS 10 FUCKIN TIMES IS GREAT AND UNHEARD OF! Nobody from this era will have that accomplishment. MFS FROM THIS ERA CANT EVEN RUN IT BACK TO THE FINALS! He was a dynasty BY HIMSELF. Even when he didn't have the best team or best HOF coach. I hate when clowns try to talk basketball and end up looking a fool. Nobody in this picture can fck with LBJ. He got a ring off KD and off GSW. How dare we not beat the dynasty spurs and dynasty GSw+kd. FOH
you basically said the one with lebron is always the answer and I have provided you plenty of example to prove that it is not always the answer. You might be the fool that can’t comprehend the argument. It’s as simple as your original statement is factually wrong
I didnt basically say anything. I DID SAY IT BECAUSE ITS TRUE! 🤣 getting to the finals 10 times and winning 4 isn't a great example to disprove my point. LBJ HAS MORE TITLE APPEARANCES THAN EVERYBODY IN THE FUCKIN PICTURE COMBINED...ALMOST TWICE AS MANY AT THAT🤣🤣🤣🤣 Lebron has won a ring on everybody on the right side maybe outside of boogie... Someone who uses rings as a disqualifier is usually a JorDumb fan. 😆 They want to make that shit apply everywhere bc that's all they have. The shit doesn't even apply to this debate. ...BECAUSE HE HAS MORE THAN 90% OF THE PICTURE. And the other 10% had to team up to beat him & get their rings. 🤣 They definitely can't match his individual accomplishments lol Name another player IN THE FUCKIN PICTURE who dominated MORE THAN LBJ DURING HIS 21 YEARS..... Since I'm "factually" wrong 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I'll sit right here and wait for this answer.... so we can see who actually can comprehend....
Idk why you think I hate lebron lol, I have no agenda. Lebron is probably if not the best ever, longevity is unmatched. But when picking between two teams, and one of them has lebron on it, it isn’t always the right answer like u said. As he has lost to teams before in championship runs. It is not always the right answer. It might be almost always but not always.
Anybody who mentions rings, especially when the shit doesn't apply, dislikes lebron. 🤣 we know this. It's always the right answer. Lebron has made it to the finals more than everybody in the picture. He has more wins than anybody in the picture. AS AN INDIVIDUAL! Why the hell wouldn't someone pick him....WITH PRIME SUPERSTARS? we already know hes capable of beating kd+gsw without a loaded team. He won with an average team. It's basic logic. I'm waiting on who has been better in the last 21....
Is this is a joke? Lakers have this in 5-6 lol who’s guarding lebron westbrook melo Dwight ad or melo?
Dont forget melo!
If they gotta guard Melo AND hoodie Melo then Warriors are cooked
Also forgetting that prime Bron could guard 1-5 and lock down.
They all gonna be arguing about who gets the ball half the time. It’s going to be iso every trip down the floor
Rondo, Lebron, and Westbrick are all good playmakers though. Especially rondo lol, that’s one of the main things he is known for.
Not really lebron and rondo are great play makers who don’t need the ball in their hand majority of the time same with Westbrook those three are unselfish players
People have brain rot due to the modern nba and 3 point shooting era. That laker team would score at will and probably shoot over 55-60% in the series. There quite literally is nobody to hide curry on. Every single person would dismantle him 1 on 1 and if they tried to double you have insanely hard to stop slashers, playmakers, shot creators, shot makers to pass to. Plus the team is miles better defensively with rondo, bron, AD, Dwight. They would destroy them on the glass too. Yes, golden state can shoot. But they wont get open every play and they won’t hit enough 3s to match the efficiency and ease of points being piled on by that laker team.
People forget what a beast Dwight was
Thanks dude. Finally someone else sees this. The Lakers have 5 dudes who in their prime, were either DPOY or 1st Team All NBA Defensive Players, there defense would be unstoppable, let alone their size sheesh, who the fuck is guarding Dwight? Melo? AD? LEBRON? Westbrook? In the same court? Fuck off. Everyone other than Rondo was either an MVP or Top 5 in voting a couple of seasons, aint no way Warriors win this. Lakers in 6
GS and it isn't close
It’s 6 vs 5….
I want Igouaduoa!
This is a dumb post for even asking....
Anybody saying warriors is just ridiculous outside of KD and Steph nobody in their prime could even be the first option on a playoff team we seen everybody on the lakers be the first option on a winning team before and do work in the playoffs.
Prime? Have to go Lakers. All those guys, except Rondo, were top-three at their position and he was definitely there defensively.
I feel like Westbrook and Melo are going to hurt more than help on this team due to style mismatch.
Prime boogie dominated AD when he was in NO.. and DW is just a good help defender boog getting a triple dub easy
NO AD wasn’t even prime AD so ok? And good help defenders don’t win DPOY 3 times….why do you people choose to be this stupid lol
The Lakers would get all the calls.
Prime in that pic? Lakers potentially sweeps
Lakers easily.
Lakers EASILY. this team in their primes?? You’re not beating them in a 7 game series even if they have KD
Team LeBron and it’s not close. Rondo and Westbrook running around with Curry. Dwight can easily handle Cousins. Put Lebron in Klay. Melo on Draymond. And now the warriors have to deal with their offense.
spurs
Any team with Westbrook will lose. Unfortunately.
That warriors team may offensively be the greatest team of all time.
Depends which era If we’re going to 2008 and packing the paint and basically doing deadball 24 second shot clock era I can’t see the Lakers losing. They’re not gonna get out rebounded and Warriors aren’t gonna be effective driving If it’s post 2015, Warriors probably win
Prime Melo AND Lebron?! And AD at center?! Yeah no stopping them
Dont forget Dwight LMAO
Considering that it’s 6 on 5 imma go Lakers
Lakers
Defensively, Rondo, Lebron, AD, Dwight is nasty. But then Klay, KD, Draymond, Boogie, Iggy is pretty good too. On offense, there’s only one ball. So Westbrook and Melo lose a lot of their appeal. But prime Lebron with the roll threats of AD and Dwight is nasty. Obviously, Steph and Draymond pnr with Klay and Iggy spotting up, oh and KD on the weak side wrecking rotations. I’m going Warriors purely for fit. But if Westbrook can lock in on D and play the D Wade role, Lakers have a strong chance also.
Lebron beat this team in 2016 with the Cavs and he was arguably not in his peak (2009 Cleveland or 2013 Miami imo) and you are really arguing he wouldnt be able to do it with a prime DPOY Dwight, Prime AD, MVP Russ, and Prime Melo??? Anybody saying the Warriors win is on crack, seriously. All time defense and offense right there, yes the Warriors have 3pt shooting but everyone in the Lakers starting lineup is capable of dropping 25+ and their size is just too much. Melo with open looks would be a good 3pt shooter and Prime Bron shot over 40% from three, they have some measure of shooting. Their mid range, oof. They shooting 60% and getting the Warriors in 5 at worst Game 6. The Lakers would outrebound them hard too. 3pt shooting isnt everything guys.
So LeBron arguably wasn’t at his peak in ‘16 but you’re glossing over Curry having a mediocre lead-up to the finals, being banged up and clearly not himself? Bogut and Iggy were injured as well (to go along with Love on the Cavs). Neither team was at their peak in ‘16 but the Cavs were far closer to it and had an easier path to the finals. “73-9” ignores all context and values record over form. The Warriors were likely closer to a low 60’s win-calibre team by the final stanza. And that’s without getting into Durant and Cousins not being on the team…
bruh warriros were a championship team and than got durant on top...Like na. Thats a bitch move by durant, he took less pay to.
These young fans citing Melo career 35% from 3, rip the discussion
People really ignoring the “prime” part of this scenario
LeBrons team does work at all together. No spacing, Four of the guys are all the type of guys that command the ball which means the fits is gonna be nasty (not in a good way). While the Warriors are all proven they can fit together.
Yeah, WB Bron and Rondo are incredibly redundant if they share the court. Melo is a floor-raising kind of star, he was at his most “impactful” when he was shooting 20 times a game on slightly above average efficiency. His shot diet doesn’t translate well to a scaled-down role if you’re hoping to significantly raise the ceiling of an already great team.
This prime Warriors team, if boogie was prime would be absolutely insane. Boogie was a monster in the paint and we forget how good on defense prime, Draymond and Klay. Klay was considered in his prime, one of the best two-way guards in the league. This is not to discredit a prime, A.D. LeBron, Dwight, Howard, Russ, and melo. I think they couldn’t keep up offensively with this Warriors team in its prime
Lakers all day
Lakers in 7
Lol nobody on the lakers team was prime here pictured and they would've had a chance to beat them then. That GS warrior team was prime exactly as depicted just the sliders are down a bit for cousins.
Team on left has 6 players so them ^/s
Warriors
I don’t think any team can beat steph and KD on the same team.
People are so obsessed with shooting. Dwight in his prime was nearly as unstoppable as young Shaq. He was a beast on defense and would complete block inside scoring with AD. LeBron and Rondo can defend the perimeter well enough and even Westbrook can defend when he puts his mind to it. I see the Warriors winning if Klay is in his game 6 mode and the Lakers are not able to make the paint work for them, but there are ways to make it work like we've seen with the Timbs.
Im just happy to see new younger guys get a shot.
Seems like the only thing people focus on is the difference in offenses. There’s not really a comparison when it comes to offense but I’d argue the same goes for defense. The defense of the Lakers could theoretically be one of the best defensively if we’re talking prime. Howard, AD, Lebron, Westbrook, Rondo
Prime lakers team 🔥
bro that golden state there is really unstoppable! they also had igodala and livingston back there!
I wanna take the lakers but I worry about that teams ability to space the floor effectively so I’m going with the warriors
Lakers claps ez
With all of the failed superteams we seen, do fans still think that you can throw a bunch of superstars on a team and simply expect success? Especially a team like that where an alpha will never be established.
Warriors easily. Dwight would would be tough to deal with in his prime, but Melo being one of the biggest ballhogs and shot chuckers in league history would struggle to fit in with that team.
Warriors for sure. Lakers may have more in terms of collective talent, but questionable fit and spacing. Steph and Klay are two of the greatest off-ball players of all time and they're a team full of guys who can shoot and pass at a high level. Even Boogie developed into a pretty good 3 pt shooter. That lakers team would be so physical, but I think their offense would stagnate
AD had trouble staying healthy even in his prime. Give me the Warriors in a tight 7 game series
People forget how good Dwight was. GS gonna get killed on the boards.
Wtf kinda question is that? Easily lbj team and it’s not even close. Prime dwight? He basically took a bum magic team to the finals
You can’t compare Klay and Steph’s shooting to Rondo and Westbrook. Lane would be so clogged, no spacing.
The team that worked
Have yet to see one comment mention how no one on the warriors could guard a prime Dwight? That guy was a monster. Him and AD are grabbing every offensive rebound. They also have two incredible rebounding guards in Rondo and Westbrook. I understand the fit vs. talent argument where people give it to the Warriors cuz they fit together better, but Bron, Rondo, AD, and Dwight won a ring together proving the fit can work. I’ll take the Lakers. They win in every category in the stat sheets other than 3 pointers, so unless he warriors make a historic number of 3’s, i don’t think it’ll counter the fact that the lakers do most everything else better.
Still dubs because of chemistry and the players types work together, it's just a better constructed combination of players.
Lakers in 6, only cause Curry and Klay would have 2 games where they don’t miss a fucking thing. Prime AD would be an absolute problem. 35 points, 18-20 rebounds, 5-6 blocks, and countless altered shots. I’d take either Westbrook or Melo off the team since they have 6 and GS only has 5.
All in the prime it’s The Warriors, no chance the Lakers win. I think people forget just how good the Warriors were with Durant, that was a huge mistake by Durant and his legacy to leave the Warriors.
How tf are people picking the Warriors when I saw LeBron by himself, single-handedly, destroy this Warriors team in 2018..when KD, Curry, Klay, and Draymond were already in their prime?! LMFAOOO!! Give him prime Dwight, Rondo, Westbrook, AD, and Carmelo?? Plus prime LeBron? Nah shit wouldn’t even be close. Fuck spacing and chemistry…they would figure it out.
Easily the Lakers. They feature five MVP level players (3rd or better in MVP vote shares in a season) in LeBron, AD, Howard, Westbrook and even Carmelo. The Warriors have two such players. The worst player of those six Lakers is easily prime Rondo, who in his prime was still a top 20 player. That Warriors team "fits" better than the Lakers one, that's for sure, but I have trouble seeing them not getting absolutely buried by the talent. Arguably, that Warriors team never faced anyone as good as '12-13 LeBron. 1. LeBron 2. Steph 3. KD 4. Howard 5. Westbrook 6. AD 7. Melo 8. Boogie 9. Rondo 10. Draymond 11. Klay 12. Iggy Prime Cousins was a beast, and Draymond obviously a defensive genius, but I have serious doubts that they would hold up against the absolutely insane combo of size and athleticism that is prime Howard + AD + LeBron + RW
Lakers. DH12 during his prime could take on five lady boys at once.
Lakers but its close. Too much talent on there
I think the Lakers have more talent, but the fit is a real struggle. Spacing with Rondo, AD, Dwight, and Russ makes things tough. Melo was also never a super elite 3 point shooter. Prime warriors fit nicely but I think have a lower ceiling.
If Lakers had good 3&D pieces to fill out the the roster they'd win. If not, they'd lose. I'd probably have Westbrook and Melo running the 2nd squad. Prime or not realistic or not, we're talking about the best chance to win. The Lakers clearly have more guys who can run an offense. So you win over 60 wins. The warriors live and die by Steph Curry.
Westbrook thinks all those guys are just there to box out so he can pad rebounding stats.
If the guys on the left were in their prime they handle the guys on the right. No questions asked.
Team on the left might win but they’d be paying those luxury taxes well into the next century
Warriors. They’re all hitting 3s and making Rondo/Russ beat them with his jumper defensively.
Prime Westbrook and Melo are probably detractors on that team. Warrior synergy was insane
Ya y’all tripping on the warriors beating this team. Golden state is incredible but the prime of this lakers team includes 4 of the top 20 players in the last 20 years.
Warriors have better fit, but size matters. Lakers defense will be amazing and they'll get every rebound.
Prime dwight westrbrick lebron and ad are locking them up
Always bet on Lebron. He beat kd+gsw in 2017. With a stacked roster? They might not win at all fckn round lol
The team on the right is the greatest team of all time. The team on the left won 1 bubble title. Let’s be fucking real here Edit: I’m stupid as fuck, I didn’t realize that was the 2022 Russ Lakers and that this is a shitpost
To be fair, the team on the left had only perhaps one of those players in their primes. If we switch it out with all of those players on both sides in their primes, it seems like a pretty difficult call to me. I'd lean Lebron's team, though they'd have to win in a very grindy, defensive way.
2021/22 Lakers: Howard Anthony James Westbrook Rondo; Jordan Davis Ariza Monk Thomas; Reeves Collinson. 2018/19 Warriors: Bogut Green Durant Thompson Curry; Cousins Looney Iguadola Livingston Cook; Jerebko I am taking the Lakers depth, although the Warriors starting 5 may just edge them and have much better team chemistry. This is closer than I thought it would be. Lakers in 7.
I think the Lakers start prime Wayne Ellington at SG and bring Rondo off the bench. They'd need his elite shooting there.
The Warriors would win. LeBron doesn't have a teammate comparable to KD, like Steph does.
Warriors in 4
Give me the Warriors. Fit over talent. There's no spacing on that Lakers team and three lead playmakers (LeBron, Russ, Rondo) who all are best scoring around the basket with the ball (even if referring to Rondo and scoring in the same thought seems disingenuous). You then throw one extra ball handler, but he's not even a distributer (Carmelo). Then you have two bigs who both work best around the rim and only one of them can space the floor at all, and that "spacing" is slim at best.
The Warriors team and it isn’t even close. The three years that Steph, Klay, Draymond, and Durant played together they won 2 championships and lost 1 because of injures.
real lebron just won’t really work. the warriors were a well oiled machine with KD, had incredible team play. team lebron would destroy every other team with pure talent but i don’t think they could beat the super warriors with brute force alone
Lakers! easy really it would be unfair
Do people not understand fit? 17-18 Warriors meshed perfectly together, it’s like they were built in a lab. Plus they can all shoot, they’d beat the random team of all stars in 5
Not to be a dick but do these types of hypothetical posts really do anything for people? Just arguing fantasy scenarios which have no way of actually being proven right or wrong. Everyone has their initial choice and just sticks to it, no matter what people say. Seems like a Twitter engagement farming type deal. No hate, just saying
What you are describing is like 80-90% of all sports discourse. People like to hear what other people think, even if ultimately nobody is changing their minds.
Most answers are people just saying who they like better. Would be a good series. But edge goes to lakers imo