Replace Magic Johnson in the 80's with Kobe Bryant .....

[JordansBulls]

the real question is what will Jordan's Bulls do if Kobe goes on a 6 peat with the team he has now?

He needs to worry about winning one as the man first.

[JordansBulls]

The only reason Kobe doesn't have 5 rings right now is because Shaq was fat and out of shape in two of the 5 years. He didn't work hard enough.

The only reason is because Shaq left his prime. Also I don't call 27 ppg and 11 rpg on 65% FG in the finals nothing, when your co star is getting 23 ppg on 38% FG

[Tesla]

-= original quote snipped =-



Norm Nixon was still on the Lakers, and he was an all star PG.

Yeah the first few years... which I kind of forgot/ignored because of the lineup with the OP.... he used the more "showtime" lakers - scott, worthy, etc. The older Laker teams were a bit different. Anyhow, with Kobe at point I don't see that team working nearly as well... Kobe isn't a damn point guard. With Norm Nixon at point, they would be much better. Still, I don't think they would have had nearly the impact on the NBA as the showtime lakers with Magic did. They would probably win a few championships, and make some trades to tailor their teams style a bit better.

[Sedale Threatt]

This, to me, is an essential part of the equation.

Nixon was a quality point guard who would change the entire complexion of that lineup. Without Magic to clash with in terms of personality and playing time, there would have been no need to trade him. He and Kobe in the backcourt would have been pretty salty.

Plus, there's also a good chance that you'd just bench Scott and slide Cooper into the starting lineup at the point. While that wasn't his pure position, he could definitely run the offense -- better, in my opinion, than Kobe could. Those two would also have been a pretty awesome tandem as well.

All that said, as you and others have noted, there's just no way you take such a singularly unique player out of a lineup for which he was absolutely perfect for and have the same level of success.

There is DEFINITELY no way the Lakers without Magic would have exceeded it; I have to scoff at anyone, especially a Laker fan, who thinks otherwise. The least you guys can do is know the history of your own club.

So put them in the ballpark of three titles.

[Myth_Breaker]

I might agree with assumptions about 3 titles, but with a caveat: Kareem was quite jealous about being 1st option, so I don't know how it would be with KAJ averaging his 25 points (his standard in the 80s) and letting Kobe get his 25-30 on more shot attempts. Remember Jabbar accepted passing the torch to Magic only in 1986, after bad beating from the Rockets, when was freakin' 39 years old! Though Magic as PG was obviously less trigger-happy than Bryant anyway.

While if Kobe reduced his shots to get like below 25 ppg, he wouldn't be as valuable. I know he could e.g. concentrate more on defense, but even so: a cross of Coop and Byron Scott that he'd become then isn't quite a superstar material.

[Sedale Threatt]

This is something else to consider.

As great as he was, and as dignified as he can be, I've read numerous anecdotes that make Kareem sound unbelievably petty. Instead of being happy with the championship, the 80 title was apparently tarnished in his mind because Magic won the Finals MVP award. Granted, Kareem should have won it, but you'd think after enduring all that losing in the 70s the ring would have been reward enough.

[andyhop]

What got me reading this thread and then the similar one about replacing MJ with Lebron on the Bulls was that the 2 threads each had the wrong player in them and that swapping them over made more sense.

[Warspite]

This is something else to consider.

As great as he was, and as dignified as he can be, I've read numerous anecdotes that make Kareem sound unbelievably petty. Instead of being happy with the championship, the 80 title was apparently tarnished in his mind because Magic won the Finals MVP award. Granted, Kareem should have won it, but you'd think after enduring all that losing in the 70s the ring would have been reward enough.

Just to add 2 things

1. 1980 is Kobes rookie yr in this scenario. Hes not NBA ready and would be 10th or 12th man.

2. In 1980 Magic played C and scored 44pts. You think a 18yr old Kobe could play C in the NBA Finals and score 44pts guarding DrJ??


Theres no way Kobe makes much of an impact before Nixon is gone so no I dont think the Lakers have a PG. I very well could see Worthy either not being drafted or traded for a good PG. Would the Lakers have taken Terry Cummings or traded down picked up some talent and drafted Fat Lever?