Golden great, not greatest
CLEVELAND — It is the stuff of debate where, in New York, it generally ends up with one orator assessing his opponent’s hypothesis and proclaiming, “Yeah, well [bleep] you.” And in this i nstance, identifying the greatest NBA team of all time, there never can be a definite answer. But in just one opinion, it is not these Warriors. We’ll start by agreeing with Magic Johnson that the “Showtime” Lakers for starters were better. Not necessarily sweep better, but better. Please, before you start questioning my ancestry and whether I am descended from a female canine, allow me to put one name into evidence: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “He had without a doubt the singular greatest weapon ever devised in the history of the game in the sky hook,” Pat Riley told me two years ago — and I’m going out on a limb here saying Riley has not since changed his mind. “He is probably the truest example of the old cliché: ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’ Don’t wake them up. Just let him be good tonight and get 27. Don’t make him go for 50. … He was the MVP of the Finals when he was 38 years old in 1985. Just incredible. So I do toast him as the greatest player ever.” his 1986 average. Bird took 194 on the year, or what Stephen Curry takes in an average first half.
And we’ll take one of Clyde Frazier’s great gripes: handchecking. How good would the 1970 Knicks be now if he were allowed to cross half-court unimpeded? We can never know. These Warriors clearly are the Yes, the Warriors are modern class of the NBA now, will be next monsters with four All-Stars, four year and the year after that and Olympic-quality players in Curry, the year after that and … Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson
The game is simply not the and Draymond Green. same. Would Babe Ruth hit ClayThe 1960-61 Celtics had seven ton Kershaw? If he didn’t, would Hall of Famers. we say Ruth stinks? A few days So how would the Warriors ago, after Magic’s proclamation, attack Abdul-Jabbar or even Shathe Warriors’ Klay Thompson quille O’Neal of the Shaq-Kobe noted the argument is fun but Bryant Lakers? Got a feeling Zaza unless you had a time machine, Pachulia might end up looking there is no way to find an answer. like Joey Zasa in “The Godfather And if H.G. Wells came through III.” and provided such a device, Oh, and there were these teams would these Warriors have to in Chicago with Michael Jordan, play in the ’80s or would those great defense, Michael Jordan, Lakers have to play now? These Scottie Pippen and Michael JorWarriors, clearly faster anddan.more athletic, would destroy the LakWe’re just throwing these ers simply from an athletic point teams out there, allowing them of view. The 3-point shot has to enter the debate. From a team changed everything. And that’s standpoint, take the Warriors, just the Lakers, a team that with perhaps the greatest passing team Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnsince the Ice Age, over the Bulls. son made James Worthy a third You can’t be wrong. Or right. offensive option, we’re talking Green said it, too, recently. It about. is impossible to try to compare
Don’t forget the 1985-86 Celtteams from different eras. You ics, who had four guys 6-foot-10 simply can’t. But it makes for or better. And if Larry Bird played decent debate in bars. So give me now, chances are better than a cold one. average he would take more than And the Showtime Lakers to 2.4 3-pointers a game, which was start.