NBA / Jun 3, 2010 / 9:00 am

The All-Time Squads: Celtics vs. Lakers

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With the Celtics and Lakers facing each other for the 12th time in NBA Finals history, it is time to look back on the best players in each franchise’s history. We compiled the best team ever from each franchise, and pit them against each other in a mock NBA Finals.

CELTICS

PG – Bob Cousy
SG – John Havlicek
SF – Larry Bird
PF – Kevin McHale
C – Bill Russell

BENCH

Robert Parish
Paul Pierce
Sam Jones
Tom Heinsohn
Dennis Johnson
JoJo White
Dave Cowens

LAKERS

PG – Magic Johnson
SG – Kobe Bryant
SF – Jerry West
PF – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
C – Wilt Chamberlain

BENCH

Shaquille O’Neal
Elgin Baylor
James Worthy
George Mikan
Gail Goodrich
Jamaal Wilkes
Byron Scott

What do you think? Who wins?

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  • realist

    wow. kareem and wilt at the 4 and 5? shaq as their backup? the celtics don’t stand a chance.

  • realist

    also, take a look at the starting 5 for the mock celtics and mock lakers. one of those dudes is actually going to be on the court today. my money is on the team with THAT man on their side

    but if it’s a contest for best actress i’ll take pierce

  • http://wwww.kikaayacollegeschool.net smity far away

    at first glance it looks one-sided (particularly the big man match-ups) but when i think about it it stilll seems one-sided.

  • Brown

    No love for KG?

    Is this even a contest? Lakers win in a walk. Magic is the MVP.

  • SK

    West is NOT a small forward. Switch him and Kobe and it would work.

  • billy

    no way John Havlicek could keep kobe from scoring !!!

  • Robmo35

    Did any of you guys ever actually see Kareem play. There is no way in hell he could play the 4. As for Chamberlain, his best days were well before he suited up for LA. Why don’t you put Karl Malone on the roster while you’re at it? He was good once. Seriously though AC Green would be a better choice.

  • http://uoregon.edu sans

    leaving KG off for Tommy HEinshohm is ridiculous…but I compiled these teams in 2k, and the Lakers cruise with ease.

  • SJ

    Lakers sweep due to Magic’s four triple-doubles.

    I forgot the Mailman ended his career in LA… should he be on this list? Maybe it’d be best to limit it to those who spent more than half their career on the respective team.

  • sh!tfaced

    Wow. Lakers are damn BIG. It definitely is one-sided, no matter how you look at it.

    So how come the Celtics lead the all-time finals series 9-2? LOL

  • RC

    If Dino Radja is included in the lineup, it’s Celtics for sure! hahaha

  • http://www,beersbasketball.com Plow

    I’d have Ray Allen on the Celts. And would have something closer to this for the Lakers.

    1 Magic
    2 Kobe
    3 Worthy
    4 Gasol
    5 Shaq

    Goodrich
    West
    Baylor
    Horry
    Kareem

    Cooper
    Rambis

    That would be closer to my team. It has it all.

  • JAY

    I agree with robmo(#7).
    No way in hell Kareem can play the 4 and Wilt was in his twilight years as a Laker. The All-time Lakers would win the series but i don’t think it would be as easy as everyone thinks. Lakers hve the better players but the Celts have the better TEAM. They would have better spacing with the players listed.

    BTW, the Lakers have an advantage in the frontcourt but Russell, McHale, and the Chief weren’t exactly garbage.

    @realist #2
    You’re right, Kobe is starting for that team… but who else would start for them? I’m just realizing with all the great players to wear a Laker jersey, they haven’t had any superstar 2-guards. Look who is starting ahead of Pierce.

  • karizmatic

    How in the hell is Jerry West 6’2 going to play small forward?!

    I’m a Laker fan so I’m biased, but I’ll take the Lakers squad, too much size with Kareem, Shaq, and Magic and too much skill with Baylor, Kobe, and West. Lakers in 6.

  • Shakers

    If these teams could really play against each other, DJ would definitely come in to guard Magic and there’s no way the Lakers could play West at the 3. Bird has 5 inches on him and would destroy that matchup. The Kareem/Wilt/Shaq trio of centers is ridiculous, but could any of the 3 really play together at the same time? It would be a really great series to watch.

  • Bardo

    When you consider that Wilt played five years for LA then its okay to put him on the team. He was league MVP the year before he was traded so that comment about his best days being behind him is unfounded. I suppose that you came to that because he didn’t score as much. The problem with that line of thought is that you are not considering that LA had Jerry West and Elgin Baylor so he didn’t need to score. They needed him to play defense and rebound (He averaged 19 rebounds a game. Perhaps it would be better to move Wilt to the PF slot but leaving him off would be a ignorant.

    KG has only been with the Celtics for three years. Should he really be considered as great a Celt as Heinson?

    The reason the Celtics lead the all time series is because in the time when they won the vast majority of those match-ups they had Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Bill Sharman, K. C Jones, Frank Ramsay, Sam Jones, Bailey Howell and Tommy Heinson. In case you can’t count that is NINE Hall of Fame players during the period that they won the vast majority of those series versus the Lakers, and the vast majority of their titles.

  • DEVINstation

    Wow. A team that has a front line combo of Kareem, Wilt, Shaq and Mikan. Wow. I don’t know if the Celtics would be able to guard them in the half court. The swingmen and PG positions are interesting. I would live to see a game with all of these players in their primes. Magic against Cousy. Kobe against Havilchek. West against Bird. Very interesting.

  • Bardo

    Wilt was primarily a rebounder and defender when he was with the Lakers so he could play the 4.

    Twilight of his career? He averaged 19 rebounds a game over the five years he was with LA. If that’s the twilight of one’s career then I’m sure that many players today would love to have that twilight. Compare that average to the best year of both Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman, two of the better modern rebounders, and tell me what you think. Also keep in mind that Kareem had a season for LA where he averaged over 16 rebounds a game and it looks like the Lakers might clean the glass.

  • Daniel Marks

    I think Lakers would dominate down low. Wilt was included because even if it wasn’t his career years he was still great in a Laker uniform. Also Garnett was left off because people associate him with the T’Wolves. He’s only played 3 years in Boston and has been injured alot. As a Celtic he doesn’t have the career with the team that the others do

  • Sporty-j

    Lakers would definitely crush the celtics looking at the match-ups on paper. Dont care how long KG has been with the celtics. Hes 1 of the all-time greats already because he has helped make them relavent again which they were not since there glory days and he has 1 them 1 championship already and might be 2. How is he not an all-time great already in all that he has done for that franchise and city already…

  • Taj

    Lakers bigs dominate, while Kobe and Magic run the backcourt!

    Lakers all day!

  • QQ is an idiot

    haha. i would love to see KG go up against Kareem or Wilt. He would get eaten alive.

  • JAY

    You cannot put KG on the Celts. Putting him on this team is like putting MJ on an All-time Wizards team.

  • JAY

    …or Drexler on an All-Time Rockets team.

  • JAY

    @Bardo…
    You can’t argue the Wilts twilight years were with the Lakers. His numbers dropped significantly. #19 says he was still great and I agree with that statement, but his game was on the decline.

    “Compare that average to the best year of both Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman”
    IMO you can’t fairly compare Wilt to Rodman. 2 Different eras. Wilt played in an era where most centers were under 6’10″ (some even 6’6″). Rodman played in the era dominated by centers. You can’t compare the numbers alone. Rodman’s career rebounding average is dwarfed by Wilt’s numbers but he’s considered by many as the best rebounder ever to play the game.

  • DaGood

    Leaving KG off the team is an outrage.

    You telling me he doesn’t even make the bench?!

  • H-man

    Shaq coming off the bench? Scary. Lakers dominate.

  • rickybuckets

    shaq as 6th man. nuff said.

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