Paul Pierce and Byron Scott starred for the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, respectively, during their time in the NBA. The Celtics and the Lakers are eternal rivals, and so, Pierce and Scott came up with their all-time starting fives for their teams during the former’s appearance on Byron Scott’s Fast Break podcast.
“I’m gonna go [Rajon] Rondo at my point,” Pierce said. “I got [Larry] Bird for sure. I got [Kevin Garnett]. Let’s see, I got KG, Bird down, then I got Rondo at my point. Bill Russell, for sure. So I put Bird at the three. Russell and KG at the four five. And then at the two, I’ll put [Dennis Johnson]. DJ was nice, dawg.”
That’s an impressive collection of talent. Paul stated he would be the one coming off the bench. Scott then named his lineup, and it’s packed with icons.
“We got Magic [Johnson], Kobe [Bryant],” Scott said. “Those are the guards right there. S***, Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] at center… I’m gonna move Cap to the four and put [Wilt] Chamberlain at the five then… I’m going Elgin Baylor.”
Unlike Pierce, Scott didn’t have himself come off the bench. He went with James Worthy instead.
So, which squad is better? Well, Pierce believes this is a defensive team in the Celtics going against an offensive team in the Lakers. He seemed to admit defeat at first, but after Scott said the Lakers would win a hypothetical series in seven games, he went with the Celtics in seven.
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As good as that Celtics team is, it’s hard to go against the Lakers. Let’s look at those players Scott selected.
Magic Johnson won five titles, three Finals MVPs, three MVPs, and four assists titles. Johnson made 12 All-Star and 10 All-NBA teams. He is generally regarded as the greatest point guard of all time.
Kobe Bryant is Johnson’s backcourt partner, and he won five titles, two Finals MVPs, one MVP, and two scoring titles. Bryant made 18 All-Star, 15 All-NBA, and 12 All-Defensive teams.
Elgin Baylor got the nod at small forward, and he made 11 All-Star and 10 All-NBA teams. The only major honor that Baylor won was Rookie of the Year, but he was a phenomenal player.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has to move over to power forward here, which tells you how stacked the Lakers are at center. Abdul-Jabbar won five titles, two Finals MVPs, six MVPs, and two scoring titles. He made 19 All-Star, 15 All-NBA, and 11 All-Defensive teams.
Wilt Chamberlain slots in at center, and he won two titles, one Finals MVP, four MVPs, and seven scoring titles. Chamberlain made 13 All-Star, 10 All-NBA, and two All-Defensive teams.
To go with these, you have Worthy coming off the bench. He won three titles and one Finals MVP. Worthy also made seven All-Star and two All-NBA teams.
Good luck beating that squad. The fact that Scott can leave out the likes of Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal, and LeBron James, and still come up with that good a team, shows why Pierce looked to be waving the white flag at first.
As for the Celtics, well, there are three MVP winners on that team in Bill Russell (five), Larry Bird (three), and Kevin Garnett (one). Russell also won a record 11 NBA titles while Bird and Dennis Johnson had three each. Rajon Rondo won two (one with the Lakers), and Garnett and Pierce won one each.
Garnett has been named DPOY once as well, and Russell would have won the award on numerous occasions had it existed during his career. All these achievements would make you back the Celtics in almost every matchup except this one against the Lakers.
Despite that, the Celtics still have the most NBA titles in history with 18, compared to 17 for the Lakers. They have the bragging rights.
