Young Diesel

No sports lends itself to the “If” game more than basketball. Because so much of one man’s success depends on his teammates, because different eras are so hard to compare, and because none of us really knows as much as we think we do, basketball arguments almost always break down into a series of “If this” (If Kobe was on the Cavs…) and “If that” (If Stockton didn’t have Mailman…) and “What if?” (What if Mike hadn’t retired?)

Matching up different teams from different eras is the ultimate “If” exercise, but it’s also irresistible. As a kid I loved those NFL Films shows where they’d do stuff like pit the ’70s Steelers against the ’80s Niners, and try to make it look like a real game. What would happen if Mel Blount guarded Jerry Rice? What if Joe Montana had to face the Steel Curtain? Hypothetical arguments for days.

In that tradition, these Fantasy Finals have nothing to do with the stat-driven “fantasy basketball” played on the web. Instead, we’re taking various NBA Finals teams throughout history and pitting them against each other to see what you think would happen. (Assume both lineups are healthy, older team gets homecourt.) First up? It’s gotta be Shaq vs. Kobe…

1995 ORLANDO MAGIC (57-25)
G – Penny Hardaway (20.9 ppg, 7.2 apg)
G – Nick Anderson (15.8 ppg)
F – Dennis Scott (12.9 ppg)
F – Horace Grant (12.8 ppg, 9.7 rpg)
C – Shaquille O’Neal (29.3 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 2.4 bpg)
Bench – Brian Shaw, Jeff Turner, Donald Royal, Anthony Bowie, Tree Rollins
Coach – Brian Hill

2008 LOS ANGELES LAKERS (57-25)
G – Derek Fisher (11.7 ppg, 2.9 apg)
G – Kobe Bryant (28.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.8 apg)
F – Vladimir Radmanovic (8.4 ppg)
F – Pau Gasol (18.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg)
C – Andrew Bynum (13.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 2.1 bpg)
Bench – Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Trevor Ariza, Ronny Turiaf
Coach – Phil Jackson

Who would win a best-of-seven series?