RealGM

Long time lurker figured I'd start my 1st post with an interesting topic and live up to my username.

Which duo was more dominant? Which duo had more talent? Would you consider these 1-2 punches to be the best of all time (even though Magic-Kareem was far more than a 1-2 punch)?

Magic and Kareem won five titles together, and they just played ball and didn't do stupid crap. They were more complementary because scoring wasn't the primary thing each one brought to the table.

Shaq and Kobe three-peated but ultimately couldn't get along, resulting in their break up, leaving everyone wondering would could have happened if they could only have gotten it and kept it together. Unlike Magic and Kareem, scoring is the primary thing both players bring to the table, which meant someone had to be #2. This is a case study of what happens in real life when you put two players capable of being a #1 option together at the prime of their careers.

While Shaq and Kobe were both closer to their primes than Magic and Kareem were, the Magic and Kareem duo dominated the 80's to a greater extent simply because they were actually able to play together and stay together.

Kobe and Shaq.
No Worthy/Nixon/Cooper etc. they really didn't have the best of Green.
Kobe wasn't a MVP caliber for most of their tenure.
Showtime certainly, without a doubt, was more dominant then the 3peat but as for the two top players Kobe/Shaq are only second to Mike/Pippen and 01 might be the GOAT dynamic duo season with no Rodman or Grant caliber player that season. Or really in 02 either.

Magic and Kareem. I consider these two guys top 3 goat players. You can never go wrong with magic.

If we're going by the Kobe/Shaq and Magic/Kareem pairings that actually existed, the answer is Kobe/Shaq. I don't think the Magic/Kareem duo ever reached the level of dominance that Kobe/Shaq exhibited when they turned it on in 2001.

BUT, to be fair, Kareem was much older than Shaq and by 84 he simply was not the same consistently dominant force. He was great, but not top-10 all-time great any longer. I think it you put 70s Kareem alongside mid-80s Magic they have a really strong argument.

So of the years we saw in reality I'll take 01 or 02 Kobe/Shaq over any of the Magic/Kareem pairings. But in a pure hypothetical with only absolute prime players I'd go Magic/Kareem.

Give me Showtime.

When they actually played together, I'll take Shaq and Kobe. If prime Kareem played with Magic, I would take them.

ThaRegul8r wrote:They were more complementary because scoring wasn't the primary thing each one brought to the table.

When Kobe and Shaq were on the same page they complimented each other better than any duo ever.

I take Kobe and Shaq if there are NO Issues.

norcocredo wrote:When they actually played together, I'll take Shaq and Kobe. If prime Kareem played with Magic, I would take them.

agree with this

norcocredo wrote:When they actually played together, I'll take Shaq and Kobe. If prime Kareem played with Magic, I would take them.

I'd agree with this. The showtime Lakers were far more than Magic/Kareem - Worthy was a key difference maker in that squad especially with his finals MVP.

Kobe and Shaq played with less... subsequently achieving less. But if you look at the Lakers when Kareem finally retired, they didn't really drop off, such was the strength of their supporting cast.