Ya'll musta forgot

Tonight on TNT, The Chuckster stated that he believes that this current Lakers team is the best Kobe has played on. Kenny and especially Chris Webber went absolutely nuts. So then Barkley said "potentially." Finally Charles stated that he simply thought that this Lakers team had more overall talent. Webb conceded that, yes, this team does have more talent from top to bottom, and that, yes, they have the potential to win several championships in the coming years. But that didn't change the dominant, exasperated argument from Kenny and Chris: in a word, Shaq. Webb said five Gasols couldn't mess with Shaq. Kenny said that Shaq supercedes the superior talent of this Lakers team. They're all right: this Lakers team has more talent, but Shaq in his prime is more valuable than any of it. There's no way this Lakers team would beat that Lakers team in a seven-game series. Gasol would've been a complete non-factor. Shaq would've swallowed him whole. He would've fouled out in every game. Gasol's obviously no Mutombo defensively, and he lacks the caginess of a Sabonis or a Vlade, so ... Then they would have brought in Turiaf. He would've fouled out in 6 minutes. I'd give Mihm three minutes. Defensively Shaq was the kind of presence Gasol could only dream to be. The Deeziest would've been the difference all by himself.

And hey...Rick Fox, Bob Horry, Derek Fisher, Brian Shaw, Ron Harper, Glen Rice, Lindsey Hunter, Horace Grant, even Devean George and Ty Lue...I mean, these aren't nobodies. Not by a long stretch. We're talking about people that knew how to win basketball games in May and June.

I guess to mention Kobe is pretty much besides the point, but I'd just like to point out that while the Kobe of today is playing basketball as well as it's ever been played, even back then, when he was barely old enough to drink, he was still the best all-around player alive.

Anyways, don't ever forget how unstoppable Shaq was in his prime. Did you see Webber's reaction? That says it all. We watched it on TV and from the stands, but it takes someone who actually experienced it up close and personal to fully grasp what it was like.