Which team do you think would win in a series? Shaq and Kobe Lakers or Durant and Steph Warriors?

[IAMZOOTED2]

Gimmie Shaq n Kobe. Stef n nem would score in bunches, but no one on GS could stop the Big Aristotle

[Doug_12]

Warriors easily... That Warriors team was the best team assembled in the modern era. They managed to get 73 wins and then switched Harrison Barnes to an MVP in his prime.

Impactwise Shaq has an edge over Durant but so does prime Curry over young Kobe. And then the difference between the supporting casts are immense. The Warriors have 2 more All-Stars (Klay & Green) in their prime and an aging but still very useful former All-Star (Iguodala). The Lakers had no role player near the level of Iguodala not to talk about the other two...

[Warriorfan]

Old Rodman could handle young Shaq. So did prime Ben Wallace. Running Shaq and hacking would be the strategy of 3 for 1

Young Kobe would be an easier match up for Iguadalla than Lebron

How well would prime Green do 6 minutes a game.

Young Kobe cant guard KD hardest matchup, Thompson and Curry at same time.

[Nazrmohamed]

The Lakers had talent but I think the Warriors would mature them look like a 2 man show vs the deep talent. It just cave at teams too fast. Of course Shaq and Kobe would do thier worst but in the end not enough and too iso focused.

[Drou]

This is why i love this Forum. You guys understand basketball. Warriors it is indeed (as much as it pains me to admit it cause i'm a huge Shaq fan -- player version only)

[druggas]

3 > 2

Shaq > 3

[Dino353]

Warriors in 6. Kobe will be able to hold Steph or Klay to at least 2 bad shooting nights through a 7 game series but the Lakers do not have that third option to win the series.

Chris Paul had them on the brink of elimination but that was more a matter of Chris's iq picking the Warriors apart on pick and rolls. I don't think Kobe would be efficient against those Warriors, he would have to average at least 30 every game for the Lakers to have a chance.

[OdomFan]

Maybe the 2000 Lakers can get it done with their size. skill and veteran leadership in Ron Harper, AC Green, John Salley, Brian Shaw and Glen Rice doing their parts alongside Shaq and Kobe. I could see that squad taking the Warriors in 6 or 7 games. 5 if Shaq absolutely goes off on them.

However it be even better for them if they had held on to Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones and Eldan Campbell. Another fun idea for such a matchup would be having Dennis Rodman there to guard Draymond Green. Sadly his time with the Lakers ended before Phil Jackson got there. That would have made a huge difference in this match up here as well as for the Lakers back then.

[dacrusha]

warriors would be raining 3s all day long... and Lakers would be trading it with dunks and Kobe’s contested 18-foot jumpers.

[Rodwilliams]

No team can beat the Steph KD warriors. Not even sure the Jordan Bulls could beat them. They were cruising in the playoffs and if they felt like it they could have blown their opponents away. With three possible 40 percent three point shooters and a hack a Shaq, the math would really go wrong for the Lakers very quickly.

In 2001 the Lakers “cruised” through the playoffs sweeping and destroying the entire league. For some reason no one is acknowledging this. Also, who on the Warriors can guard Shaq? He’s a guaranteed bucket every time he gets the ball. Do they double and triple him which leaves other people open??

[bwgood77]

Warriors easily. Lakers barely beat Portland in 2000 and barely beat SAC in 2002.

Warriors just crushed people. The Lakers in 2001 were rolling over people but the Warriors would have just killed them on efficiency and Shaq would have been somewhat useless on defense, especially against the death type lineup.

[winston2chainz]

Youtube what Shaq did to Chris Dudley. That's basically what he would do to the entire league today.

Watch the 76ers - Celtics series where Embiid was exploited in the PNR over and over again. Embiid is considered an elite defensive centre and is a lot more mobile than Lakers Shaq.

Shaq would get absolutely comprehensively roasted on defense by the Warriors. He'd be played off the floor. There's no universe a 350lb Shaq is keeping up with Steph, KD and Klay dropping 3 bombs from all over the court while relentlessly exploiting him on the perimeter or in PNR coverages.

Shaq is a beast but he's working for those two points posting up and banging down low with Zaza/ David West/ Javale McGee every possession meanwhile Steph and KD are turning him into BBQ chicken on the other end of the floor.

[SpreeChokeJob]

No team can beat the Steph KD warriors. Not even sure the Jordan Bulls could beat them. They were cruising in the playoffs and if they felt like it they could have blown their opponents away. With three possible 40 percent three point shooters and a hack a Shaq, the math would really go wrong for the Lakers very quickly.

In 2001 the Lakers “cruised” through the playoffs sweeping and destroying the entire league. For some reason no one is acknowledging this. Also, who on the Warriors can guard Shaq? He’s a guaranteed bucket every time he gets the ball. Do they double and triple him which leaves other people open??

Shaq TS% is around Curry’s not including KD’s. Kobe is more inefficient. The match would be close, but during crunch time they would use hack a Shaq. They would trade 3 points vs 1 point and pull away.

It’s hard to compete with the Warriors because if they pull away by 10 they can get to a 20 point lead in a hurry and there is no way to catch up with their firepower.

[SpreeChokeJob]

Youtube what Shaq did to Chris Dudley. That's basically what he would do to the entire league today.

Watch the 76ers - Celtics series where Embiid was exploited in the PNR over and over again. Embiid is considered an elite defensive centre and is a lot more mobile than Lakers Shaq.

Shaq would get absolutely comprehensively roasted on defense by the Warriors. He'd be played off the floor. There's no universe a 350lb Shaq is keeping up with Steph, KD and Klay dropping 3 bombs from all over the court while relentlessly exploiting him on the perimeter or in PNR coverages.

Shaq is a beast but he's working for those two points posting up and banging down low with Zaza/ David West/ Javale McGee every possession meanwhile Steph and KD are turning him into BBQ chicken on the other end of the floor.

Steph and KD pick and roll was unguardable. They could have ran that play all night long if they wanted. But I think Kerr had other reasons not to.

[HiRez]

Shaq was an incredible player, but he'd be completely neutralized by GS. He'd get some points but a bunch of half-court possessions ending in 1-2 points in the paint won't work against that GS team and Shaq would be easily exploited on the defensive end. Yeah, he'd protect the rim, but that Warriors team didn't need to come near the rim to bury you quickly.

[Pablo Escobar]

Youtube what Shaq did to Chris Dudley. That's basically what he would do to the entire league today.

Watch the 76ers - Celtics series where Embiid was exploited in the PNR over and over again. Embiid is considered an elite defensive centre and is a lot more mobile than Lakers Shaq.

Shaq would get absolutely comprehensively roasted on defense by the Warriors. He'd be played off the floor. There's no universe a 350lb Shaq is keeping up with Steph, KD and Klay dropping 3 bombs from all over the court while relentlessly exploiting him on the perimeter or in PNR coverages.

Shaq is a beast but he's working for those two points posting up and banging down low with Zaza/ David West/ Javale McGee every possession meanwhile Steph and KD are turning him into BBQ chicken on the other end of the floor.

Shaq is putting up 40 and 15 though quite easily. I agree that he would have defensive issues in the pick and roll but the dubs would also be in a lot of foul trouble and would cause the pace to slow down.

[bmurph128]

The Warriors because while the Lakers may arguably have the best player (Shaq), the Warriors have the 5 of the next 6 best players. Curry and KD are arguably as good or better than Shaq and young Kobe, and Klay, Green, and Iggy are better than anyone else on the Lakers.

That Shaq is the best player in this hypothetical is arguable?

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[BigDocta898]

Playing under today's rules, Kobe would be used as a high usage pseudo PG running pick and rolls with Shaq and the Warriors would have no answer.

Shaq as a roll man? Something he’s never asked to do and that’s what you deploy vs Golden State?

Lakers would have to chop the game up to make it a low possession game to have a chance. Else theyd get run out of the gym.

Ya you have to get Kobe to slow the game down and just feed shaq all night and Lakers will win warriors would have no answer would be in foul trouble all night, however if Kobe tried to play hero ball like he did vs the pistons they would get destroyed

[red96]

lakers , shaq was unguardable when it was he and kobe firing on all cylinders
all u could do was hack a shaq and that didnt work in route to a 3peat

Hmmmm, well I remember that if a lucky reflection didnt go directly to Horry, Lakers lose to Kings. So....

Not taking anything from them but they werent necessarily "unguardable".

[reflex35]

I think Lakers were much tougher team and would impose their will on Warriors.
Even role-players they had were dogs and they would make Steph's, KD's and Klay's life miserable.

Add young, athletic and "defending" Kobe and Prime Monster Shaq to that and it's over. Will not say it would be a quick series, but LA closes this series in 6 or 7.