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What player matchups would you pay to see from amongst the all time players? Create your own classic Bird vs Nique epic matchup.

- Assume all team rosters and coaches remain as they are
- Players should be guarding each other

How do you think each star would fare in the 1:1 matchup within the series? Choose whatever era you wish.

Here are a few, what other matchups you got?

Bill Russell/ 1964 Celtics vs 2023 Jokic/Nuggets - Matchup of ridiculous IQ

Gary Payton/ 1996 Sonics vs Curry/2015 Warriors - Curry getting trash talked all game would sure be interesting. Curry is not so great at post defense and would struggle with Payton's strength. Payton never faced anyone like Curry though.

Dennis Rodman/ 1990 Pistons vs Draymond Green/2022 Warriors - I think young Rodman would get the best of Draymond who is the easier of the 2 to provoke. Add in Laimbeer, Isiah, and Mahorn and you have the makings of the most heated matchup ever.

Reggie Miller/1998 Pacers vs Wade/2012 Heat - Wade running around screens all day would tire him, but he would give it to Reggie on the other end.

Larry Bird/1986 Celtics vs LeBron/2013 Heat - Tough to say what would happen, but this may be the most entertaining

Mikan/Minneapolis Lakers v. Jokic/Denver Nuggets (1940s rules). Two truly great unathletic white guys to see if Mikan really has skills.

Iverson/2001 Sixers v. Westbrook/2017 Thunder. One man wrecking crew head to head.

1972 Lakers vs 2001 Lakers. Wilt vs Shaq Daddy, West vs Kobe...

I think McMillan or Goodrich would be on Kobe to free West to gamble and disrupt more. Rather see Shaq v. an earlier, high scoring version of Wilt.

A 2020 Toronto-Lakers matchup would have been interesting

I'll assume current era rules for the most part but bring back hand checking and be a little more lax on giving out technicals.

1995-96 Supersonics vs 2013-14 Clippers. Shawn Kemp vs Blake Griffin? What a show. Gary Payton vs Chris Paul? The competitive energy and talking in this would be insane.

1995-96 Bulls vs 2016-17 Warriors. Settle the GOAT team debate. Pretty straight forward. Rodman vs Green is fun, but I really want to see KD vs Pippen. The backcourt matchups would be a good watch too with Harper/MJ vs Curry/Klay.

Showtime Lakers vs 2022-23 Nuggets. Playoff Jamal Murray vs Magic and Jokic vs Kareem (and on a team level, Magic vs Jokic passing) would be entertaining in so many ways, though I don't think Murray and Magic would guard each other. Younger Kareem may be better for the Jokic matchup but I want a team with Worthy in it for Worthy vs AG flying around too. I'm not too fussed about the year as long as I get a good version of all 3 of those Lakers.

Any of these current pg's against Payton would be very interesting to watch. Payton was as tough as they come.

Young Kareem vs Jokic would be a sight to see. I feel like Kareem would get surprised by Jokic's skill level given how unassuming he is. On the other hand, Jokic would have no answer for Kareem's sky hook.

I like penbeasts's Iverson v Westbrook matchup. MVP vs MVP with similar styles. If it's played in 2001, I think Iverson wins that matchup.

I mean I'd like to see Lebron/Mike just so the stans can pipe down a minute

1962 vs 1986 Celtics

2017 Warriors vs 1996 Chicago Bulls

2017 GSW vs 1996 Bulls
2004 Pistons vs 1990 Pistons
1995 Hou vs 2023 Den

Jokic vs O’Neal
Giannis vs Garnett
Lebron vs Bird
Curry vs West
Oscar vs Westbrook
Rodman vs Green
Miller vs Klay
Magic vs Doncic

penbeast0 wrote:Mikan/Minneapolis Lakers v. Jokic/Denver Nuggets (1940s rules). Two truly great unathletic white guys to see if Mikan really has skills.

Iverson/2001 Sixers v. Westbrook/2017 Thunder. One man wrecking crew head to head.

Mikan was far more athletic and mobile than Jokic. I think length would be on his side as well. Jokic' advantages would be skill and strength.

Jack Dempsey wrote:

penbeast0 wrote:Mikan/Minneapolis Lakers v. Jokic/Denver Nuggets (1940s rules). Two truly great unathletic white guys to see if Mikan really has skills.

Iverson/2001 Sixers v. Westbrook/2017 Thunder. One man wrecking crew head to head.

Mikan was far more athletic and mobile than Jokic. I think length would be on his side as well. Jokic' advantages would be skill and strength.

Relative to his day, I agree with you. Jokic has had the advantage of modern trainers, weight work, and PEDs of various sorts which make all today's players more physically developed than they would have been in earlier eras.

rk2023 wrote:1962 vs 1986 Celtics

1986 Celtics vs. 2016 Warriors (with the old foul and defensive rules).

H2H matchups:

1992-93 Olajuwon vs 2002-03 Duncan

Teams:

1985-86: Houston Rockets vs 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs

1991-92 Chicago Bulls vs 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers

1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks vs 2022-23 Denver Nuggets

2012 Bobcats (Gerald Henderson) v. 93 Mavs (Derek Harper) v. 75 Squires (Ticky Burden) v. 73 Sixers (Fred Carter)

In season tournament. Someone has to win.

1988 Sixers vs 2020 Warriors - Draymond says he's better than Chuck all-time. Now it's time to prove it with both of them on bad teams.

1996 Sonics vs 2015 Warriors - I'd still like to see GP vs Curry in both rule sets (hand-checking era and current) without the help of KD.

1994 Rockets vs 2023 Nuggets - Hakeem vs Jokic.

1987 Bulls vs 2009 Cavs - MJ vs Lebron as 1-man shows.

1983 Sixers vs. 1964 Celtics. The greatest C matchup we'll have to use our imagination for - Bill Russell vs. Moses Malone.

Can "Fo, Fi, FO" take down the GOAT North American professional team sports dynasty? Hondo and Jones vs. Erving and Toney are cool matchups as well.

penbeast0 wrote:Mikan/Minneapolis Lakers v. Jokic/Denver Nuggets (1940s rules). Two truly great unathletic white guys to see if Mikan really has skills.

Iverson/2001 Sixers v. Westbrook/2017 Thunder. One man wrecking crew head to head.

Mikan to Jokic is like Carl Lewis to Usain Bolt, don't think 1940 rules make any difference

Unless you think there has been some evolutionary growth in the human race rather than advantages in training, technique, and equipment, I wouldn't be surprised if Carl Lewis could beat Bolt if they came up at the same time. Which one stood out from his era the most?

Note that this isn't a claim that Mikan would be able to match Jokic as Jokic is the best of a much much bigger pond where the pool that Mikan's NBA drew from was quite small comparatively. I don't think that's true of Lewis and Bolt though.