The Los Angeles Lakers have had some of the greatest players of all time play for their franchise. The likes of Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have all suited up in purple and gold. More specifically, the superstars of the Lakers have all dominated the NBA and won titles as members of the Lakers. In fact, the Lakers are tied with the Boston Celtics franchise with the most NBA championships won, with 17, the most recent one coming in 2020, thanks to LeBron James.
Looking back at these five dominant names, do the Lakers have the greatest assembly of talent ever? It is evident that anyone can pick blindly when it comes to picking the all-time Lakers starting five, but on talent, skill, and resume, the lineup has to be Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal. These five players form the all-time great Lakers team that should take care of business against any lineup… unless we can form an iconic “Rest Of The NBA” superteam.
By giving the all-time Lakers competition from 5 all-time Rest Of The NBA in a 5-on-5 matchup, we might have enough to answer that question. We will collect Stephen Curry, the greatest 3-point shooter, and a 6-time NBA champion known as the GOAT in Michael Jordan. Four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant will also join these two great scorers, along with 5-time champion Tim Duncan and 2-time champion Hakeem Olajuwon.
Rosters
Los Angeles Lakers All-Time Superteam: Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal
Rest Of The NBA All-Time Superteam: Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon
In an all-time great matchup, here is how a best of 7 series goes down, and it will certainly go down to the wire.
Magic Johnson vs. Stephen Curry
Players with different skill sets, Magic and Curry, will go to battle in their own manner. Johnson brings size and playmaking, along with all-time great intangibles and floor leadership. With Magic’s size and court vision, Curry will have a tough time playing defense on the much bigger man who won 4 assist titles and stands 6’9” tall. As great as Johnson is with his playmaking, he is very capable of taking smaller players in the post to get easy buckets.
Meanwhile, Curry’s movement off the ball and deep-range shooting will put pressure on Magic throughout the series. The Golden State Warriors star will always be a threat from three when pairing up with other all-time great players, so Magic will have a handful on his hands as well. Even if both stars are different, their impacts cannot be ignored when the point guards have other elite offensive players beside them.
Kobe Bryant vs. Michael Jordan
The marquee matchup comes down to the two greatest shooting guards ever: Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Anytime the players historically faced each other, it was a never-ending reel of competition and highlights. Kobe and Jordan are essentially the same players, with similar skill sets and advantages. Bryant loves going one-on-one, and so does Jordan. Kobe will take the game to Michael as much as possible and will try his best to defend MJ and also Stephen Curry as much as possible to help out Magic.
Michael Jordan also plays terrific defense and always takes his game to another level when competing with stakes on the line. The slight difference lies in the fact that Jordan is more efficient than Kobe and will likely defer to the right play instead of playing “hero ball” which Bryant will do on occasion. At the same time, Jordan will have to make sure his teammates also get their shots because Curry, Durant, and Hakeem need their touches.
LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant
Another iconic matchup will come between rivals LeBron James and Kevin Durant. James historically had the edge over Durant in postseason showdowns, but once Durant got a superteam behind him, The King struggled to gain wins. Overall, this matchup will be extremely close in every facet since James is a much better floor general and passer and will make the right play for his superstar teammates. Meanwhile, James is also much stronger than Durant and more physical.
However, to his credit, KD will hold his own as a sharpshooter and will put a ton of pressure on the Lakers stars with spacing, especially against The King. Durant is a career 49.8% shooter from the field and 38.4% from three, so this will be a very intriguing matchup when the game slows down in one-on-one situations.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Tim Duncan
The most interesting matchup might come between Abdul-Jabbar and Duncan. Both bigs will have the offense run through them at times and will do solid jobs at playing defense and rebounding. Kareem has the most unstoppable shot ever with the skyhook, and not even the brilliance of Tim Duncan can affect that.
Meanwhile, Duncan is a force on the glass and is the ultimate team player. Even if he cannot keep up the scoring of Kareem and is slightly shorter, his passing and basketball IQ will even up any advantages that the Lakers center brings. Overall, this matchup will be pretty even over 7 games. There might be a hint that the series will go down to the 7th game.
Shaquille O’Neal vs. Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon got the better of Shaquille O’Neal in past history, but we are talking about the most dominant Lakers version of Shaq in this series. Shaq is larger than Olajuwon and more powerful, so he will be a physical force in the series. But O’Neal will also struggle with defending Hakeem’s impressive post moves.
Hakeem has the most unstoppable post-game in NBA history, other than Kareem and Kevin McHale, so he will not have issues averaging 22 PPG and 12 RPG in the series. Olajuwon will also do a great job of limiting O’Neal to averaging under 28 PPG, a great feat on its own. Overall, this matchup will be extremely close and very entertaining.
Lakers All-Time Superteam Advantages
The Lakers work well together in all areas, but their outstanding playmaking and leadership are their biggest assets. LeBron James and Magic Johnson are the two best playmakers in history because of their exceptional size and natural passing ability. The two most effective passers on the court will be Magic and James, more so than Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, or Kevin Durant.
Pairing two all-time great passers with dominant scorers in Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar means the all-time Lakers will get the perfect shot on the floor every time. Unlike the all-time Rest Of The NBA, this team can rely on two superstars to lead the offense in many ways instead of scoring and shooting.
Rest Of The NBA All-Time Superteam Advantages
The Rest Of The NBA has an advantage thanks to their historically excellent floor spacing. Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are two of the top ten shooters in NBA history, with Stephen Curry being by far the best. When paired with Chicago Bulls’ great Michael Jordan, these two accurate shooters will thrive from the outside because Jordan will draw the majority of the defense’s attention.
Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon are known for their defense and paint scoring, but their presence in the post will allow Curry and Durant to heat up from the perimeter even more. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are very capable shooters, but they cannot keep up with Curry, Durant, and Jordan on the perimeter.
Who Wins A Best-Of-7 Series?
Can the Rest Of The NBA actually defeat the all-time great Lakers? This series will go to 7 games because all 10 players on the court are some of the greatest talents to ever walk on the Earth. With not much to split them as a whole, the winning side will gain the edge in a matter of the slimmest of margins. That will show itself in the pivotal Game 7 of the series.
Game 1 of the series goes to Team Rest Of The NBA, led by a 39-point showing by Michael Jordan. MJ proves to be completely unstoppable, owning every player on the floor and ending the game with a spectacular step-back jumper over Kobe Bryant. With his unstoppable mid-range fadeaway and his explosives around the rim, Michael proves why he is the greatest player ever in the first game. With the game tied 95-95, Jordan attacks and steps back to drain a bucket at the buzzer to take Game 1.
Game 2 goes to the Lakers’ superteam. Three players manage to score over 25 points, as Magic Johnson grabs a triple-double. The superstar point guard puts up 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 16 assists to give his team an edge in every way. Kobe leads all scorers with 34 points on 25 shots, outdueling Jordan, who ends up with 30 points on 19 shots but faces consistent double teams. Durant and Curry struggle to score as they go a combined 12-30 from the field, and the bigs cancel each other out on both ends. With the Lakers trying to double Michael and push the break, Magic runs the show in Game 2.
In Game 3, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry combine for 10-22 shooting from deep, with 7 of the makes coming in the first half alone. With this type of shooting, the Rest Of The NBA superteam gets out to a convincing 67-50 lead in the half. Duncan and Hakeem take over the rest of the way, putting up a combined 42 points and 19 rebounds while limiting O’Neal to 23 points, including going 5-12 from the free-throw line. Jordan leads all scorers again, but the big men get the job done.
In Game 4, The King LeBron James responds with a big-time performance. The game heads down to the wire, thanks to multiple clutch shots on both sides in the fourth quarter. In the most hotly contested game of the series so far, the difference comes in the play of Bryant and Jordan as each player nails shots with a minute left in the game. LeBron scores a game-high 35 points and dishes out 13 assists, one of which fell to a Bryant And-1 over his idol Michael Jordan. But Steph’s miss from three with 10 seconds left allows James to grab the rebound and push the break to finish an And-1 finish to ice the game.
Game 5 goes to Shaquille O’Neal and the Lakers because the big man drops a monster 32-point, 20-rebound game with 3 blocks coming in the fourth quarter. In his first true MVP performance in the series, the Lakers simply ride on the back of their big man who takes over the game. Michael tries his best with 32 points and Steph contributes 28 of his own (7-12 from three), but their bigs have pedestrian games in comparison to Diesel. Shaq shoots 60% from the field and completely dominates the paint.
Luckily, Hakeem Olajuwon and Tim Duncan respond in Game 6. In the biggest blowout in the series, the Rest Of The NBA superteam keeps the series alive with fantastic performances across the board. Michael drops 35 points and 8 rebounds, Steph goes 6-12 from three, Durant chips in 31 points, and both bigs dominate the paint. The Lakers have no answer for the opposition, scoring 95 total points in the game. With a shocking score of 115-95, the Lakers were not ready to get the job done. Hakeem owns the game, going 15-22 from the field and getting Shaq in foul trouble throughout the game.
The stage is set for an iconic Game 7. The first half ends 60-60, as all players show up by sharing the ball and competing. The third quarter ends 90-89 thanks to a Michael Jordan fadeaway jumper at the buzzer. Heading into the 4th quarter and skipping to the 2-minute mark, the Lakers superteam holds a 5-point lead thanks to a LeBron James dunk and Magic Johnson three-pointer. After Durant scores over LeBron, Magic runs the offense and finds a running O’Neal with a massive And-1 opportunity which he ends up surprisingly making thanks to a pick-n-roll opportunity.
Michael is forced to take over, nailing a contested jumper over Kobe with 40 seconds remaining and later drawing a foul for two shots against LeBron James. The Lakers fail to respond, which means a double-team on Michael results in another KD jumper. With 12 seconds on the clock, the Lakers are down by 1 point, and the play is run for Magic Johnson. The point guard tries to find a play for his teammate as he posts Steph, but the double-team does not come, and the Lakers legend turns around and nails a hook shot with 3 seconds left.
The Rest Of The NBA must find a way to make a game-winning shot. Michael is rushed by two defenders, and the shooting guard does not get a chance to ice the game and win the game in Game 7. Steph inbounds with the hopes of getting a quick return for a fast jump shot, but LeBron cleverly reads the play as Duncan is forced to take a one-legged jumper at the buzzer, which rims out. The Lakers squeeze through thanks to a clutch basket and some high-IQ plays to end the hotly-contested game.
In the end, the IQ of Magic and LeBron was too much to handle as their raw size made life difficult for Curry and Durant. Kobe leads his team in scoring with 31 PPG, while Michael drops 34 PPG on 52% shooting for his side. The Lakers might have the greatest assembly of players ever, and this series victory could prove that with Magic Johnson winning Finals MVP honors thanks to his clutch performances.
Final Result: Lakers All-Time Superteam vs. Rest Of The NBA All-Time Superteam 4-3
Finals MVP: Magic Johnson
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