Why am i getting the feeling that its all just become a gang up on silky thread
Lol. You come out with all these hyperbolic statements about how your guys will crush everyone, and then when people reasonably disagree, you double down. And it's ganging up? Give me a break
Sure.
Hyperbole
Sure.
I am done with it.
As soon as bird was picked it was over.
If that was the case why would Portland be receiving just as much praise as me? The team that picked the biggest thorn in Larry's side?
Your inability to take any sort of criticism, no matter how constructive, is really not helpful to the game.
Just a non-participant but I didn't have Philly or Portland as my #1.
I think Philly and Portland were the top two teams, but I think there are maybe six teams that people could reasonably argue.
What doesn't make a lot of sense is citing some anti-Kobe or pro-Bird conspiracy for why people value certain teams different ways.
They were both in my top 4. I don't see how Philly deals with Lebron. No one to defend him and I don't think Ewing would deter him much.
I think there is some anti-Kobe bias. I think he'd work well with Hakeem. Probably better than he did with Shaq.
I had Boston in my top-four as well. However, I think Portland has plenty of options to contain Lebron. They've got a starting defense with four All-Defense defenders, all of whom had good size. The fifth player in that starting lineup is Pierce, who certainly could slow him down. Then they've got Kirilenko and Lanier off the bench, two more top level defenders. They've got other smaller defenders to handle the perimeter like Moncrief and Lever.
And, that's without giving credit to the "modern adjustment" that nick has suggested, where all of the historic players are put through modern regimes related to nutrition, supplements, training, etc.
As for Kobe, I don't think it's as easy as saying "Kobe and Shaq worked, so Kobe and Hakeem would, too". Kobe and Shaq worked because they were both top-3 players in the league at the time, and they were going up against teams with inferior talent. Here, there's no talent deficit on opponent's rosters. Also, Shaq and Kobe didn't necessarily work out all that well, since they broke apart a potential dynasty due to personality conflicts.
I think it's fair to discuss Kobe's weaknesses and try to figure out how they'd present themselves in this league.