LeBron/Kobe or Magic/Dr.J?

[Baller 24]

Sorry Baller 24, i meant to say the Lakers of this past season WITH Lebron.

Well considering that the Lakers team would have 2 VERY good big men compared to what the 1991 Lakers had, which is Perkins and Divac. I think Odom and Gasol are both better. But I don't know its tough I'm just saying that the reason Magic and Dr. J would win more as a duo is because well of Magic. You can pair Magic up with anyone basically and say the same. Magic and Lebron > Kobe and Dr. J or Magic and Kobe > LBJ and Dr. J. I'm just saying in this whole argument that Magic is the main piece, and just having Magic itself is just such a big advantage. Having a good PG in general is a big advantage, but having a PG that is in the race of GOAT is an even bigger advantage.

Especially when looking at his stats, LBJ and Kobe play similar roles, but I just don't think both of them together can beat a team with Dr J and Magic. I think the OP should create a team with the center, power forward and point guard with LBJ and Kobe, while using the same center, power forward and a shooting guard for Magic/Dr.J, I think that'd make things more interesting.

[The Main Event]

Sorry Baller 24, i meant to say the Lakers of this past season WITH Lebron.

Well considering that the Lakers team would have 2 VERY good big men compared to what the 1991 Lakers had, which is Perkins and Divac. I think Odom and Gasol are both better. But I don't know its tough I'm just saying that the reason Magic and Dr. J would win more as a duo is because well of Magic. You can pair Magic up with anyone basically and say the same. Magic and Lebron > Kobe and Dr. J or Magic and Kobe > LBJ and Dr. J. I'm just saying in this whole argument that Magic is the main piece, and just having Magic itself is just such a big advantage. Having a good PG in general is a big advantage, but having a PG that is in the race of GOAT is an even bigger advantage.

Especially when looking at his stats, LBJ and Kobe play similar roles, but I just don't think both of them together can beat a team with Dr J and Magic. I think the OP should create a team with the center, power forward and point guard with LBJ and Kobe, while using the same center, power forward and a shooting guard for Magic/Dr.J, I think that'd make things more interesting.

I completely agree with you that Magic is the key piece to any duo. That's also why this comparison threw me off a bit. At first i thought, how are we comparing 2 sg/sf's to a pg/sf when in reality Magic was so versatile that it's tough to put him at one position. Magic is obviously most effective at the PG position but is not confined to it, which is why i find it tough to compare him to other players.

[tracey_nice]

PG Lebron
SG Kobe
SF X
Pf Y
C Z

Vs

PG Magic
SG Erving
SF X
PF Y
C Z

Have Lebron play PG, which we all know he can...see high school; with Kobe at the 2
vs. Magic at PG, with Erving at the 2, and have every other position on both teams controlled; have the forwards and centers identical to for both teams.

Who would win in a 7 games series?

[tsherkin]

Lebron actually hasn't played PG all that effectively in the NBA (see his rookie and 2nd seasons); there's a reason he moved to the 2 and then the 3. HS and the NBA are very different.

[NO-KG-AI]

When I'm down to choosing between a pair, I want the team with the best player, especially when his compliment stacks up well to the other two, so I'm taking Magic and Erving.

[TMACFORMVP]

I don't really understand why you guys don't seem to understand that players change their games depending on who they play with. Both Kobe and LeBron were great off the ball when they were playing in the worlds. What makes anyone think that they couldn't play off the ball more if they didn't have to carry the load with their respective teams.

It's not that Kobe and LeBron wouldn't co-exist, it's just that they'd have adjust their games moreso than Magic and the Doctor would which would probably lead them to slightly less results. I mean if two hall of famers don't have to change their game to an extent where it impacts what they do on the floor, to another duo where both players would have to change their game to a much higher extent, the choice seems obvious to me.

[The Main Event]

I don't really understand why you guys don't seem to understand that players change their games depending on who they play with. Both Kobe and LeBron were great off the ball when they were playing in the worlds. What makes anyone think that they couldn't play off the ball more if they didn't have to carry the load with their respective teams.

It's not that Kobe and LeBron wouldn't co-exist, it's just that they'd have adjust their games moreso than Magic and the Doctor would which would probably lead them to slightly less results. I mean if two hall of famers don't have to change their game to an extent where it impacts what they do on the floor, to another duo where both players would have to change their game to a much higher extent, the choice seems obvious to me.

That's exactly why this comparison is somewhat flawed. We are comparing a tandem of a PG & SG to an SG and SG. Sure they are all versatile players and can play other positions but if you put them in their natural slots that's how they would match up. Obviously Kobe and Lebron would struggle to co-exist moreso than Magic and Dr. J because there is a conflict of roles.
Having said that, i still believe that Kobe and Lebron would come out on top, simply because they are individually better volume scorers and are on par if not slightly better at D than Magic and the Doc.

[Baller 24]

I don't really understand why you guys don't seem to understand that players change their games depending on who they play with. Both Kobe and LeBron were great off the ball when they were playing in the worlds. What makes anyone think that they couldn't play off the ball more if they didn't have to carry the load with their respective teams.

It's not that Kobe and LeBron wouldn't co-exist, it's just that they'd have adjust their games moreso than Magic and the Doctor would which would probably lead them to slightly less results. I mean if two hall of famers don't have to change their game to an extent where it impacts what they do on the floor, to another duo where both players would have to change their game to a much higher extent, the choice seems obvious to me.

That's exactly why this comparison is somewhat flawed. We are comparing a tandem of a PG & SG to an SG and SG. Sure they are all versatile players and can play other positions but if you put them in their natural slots that's how they would match up. Obviously Kobe and Lebron would struggle to co-exist moreso than Magic and Dr. J because there is a conflict of roles.
Having said that, i still believe that Kobe and Lebron would come out on top, simply because they are individually better volume scorers and are on par if not slightly better at D than Magic and the Doc.

They are better volume scorers then Magic, but I not Dr. J, he just much more of an efficient scorer. In the end this is just a lopsided comparison. But the reason I think Magic and Doc would come out on top is simply based on efficiency. You'd have Kobe and LBJ attempted a ton of shots for them both to score, but then you'd have Dr. J set up by Magic who on the offensive end is the best post player on the court. But it doesn't matter someone should do another comparison but use LBJ and a really good PG vs Doc/Magic. And with such an efficient scorer like Dr. J on the court Magic would average about 16-20 assist a game (no joke) with Dr. J scoring a ton of points.

I mean Magic is a player that is ALWAYS in discussion for GOAT, and there has never been anyone in the league to match his type of play ever, and out of those group of players he is the best player on the court, and there is nobody that can match him not LBJ, not Dr. J, and not Kobe.

[Malinhion]

Plus, sharing the scoring load would take some of the pressure off of Kobe (much like last season) and LeBron, allowing them to focus even more on defense, and further increasing the difference.