Why did the West have all the great big men in the 2000's?

[Upgrayedd]

I forgot how many of the great big men from the 2000's played in the West. I was reading a magazine and they had a flashback photo of the 2004 All-Star game. Tim Duncan, Yao Ming and Kevin Garnett were the starters on the West that year. Shaq and Brad Miller came off the bench. I don't know if Nowitzki played or not but he was in the Western Conference back then too. So was Chris Webber but he was out most of that season.

But that's just crazy. The West had:

Tim Duncan
Shaq
Kevin Garnett
Dirk Nowitzki
Chris Webber
Yao Ming

The East back then had Jermaine O'Neal and Ben Wallace.

Edit:

Even right now the West is still pretty stacked when it comes to good big men:

Dwight Howard
Tim Duncan
Dirk Nowitzki
Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan
LaMarcus Aldridge
Zach Randolph
Pau Gasol
Marc Gasol

Who does the East really have besides Noah and Hibbert?

[Crown&Coke]

Sheed is left off.

That dude was owning folks, this was pre-3 pointer Sheed. Eating people alive on that block.

[VIP2000]

Guess who outscored them all (except Shaq) during that All-Star game?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z7UcR4DR_uI/SLqwSodFtRI/AAAAAAAABLs/dyl3EmK6AVg/s400/Jamaal+Magloire.jpg

[Lebron23]

I forgot how many of the great big men from the 2000's played in the West. I was reading a magazine and they had a flashback photo of the 2004 All-Star game. Tim Duncan, Yao Ming and Kevin Garnett were the starters on the West that year. Shaq and Brad Miller came off the bench. I don't know if Nowitzki played or not but he was in the Western Conference back then too. So was Chris Webber but he was out most of that season.

But that's just crazy. The West had:

Tim Duncan
Shaq
Kevin Garnett
Dirk Nowitzki
Chris Webber
Yao Ming

The East back then had Jermaine O'Neal and Ben Wallace.

Edit:

Even right now the West is still pretty stacked when it comes to good big men:

Dwight Howard
Tim Duncan
Dirk Nowitzki
Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan
LaMarcus Aldridge
Zach Randolph
Pau Gasol
Marc Gasol

Who does the East really have besides Noah and Hibbert?

Where's Al Jefferson? He's the best big man in the east. and Michael Jordan's greatest acquisition.

[Fire Colangelo]

Going a little later than the 2000s, the west also had Amare, Gasol, David Wesr and Boozer.

[andremiller07]

Even right now the West is still pretty stacked when it comes to good big men:

Dwight Howard
Tim Duncan
Dirk Nowitzki
Blake Griffin
DeAndre Jordan
LaMarcus Aldridge
Zach Randolph
Pau Gasol
Marc Gasol

Who does the East really have besides Noah and Hibbert?
Love, Ibaka, Pekovic, Cousins, Lee and probably more I can't think of

East
Lopez/Horford (when healthy), Milsap

[Ronaldinho]

Amare, Zach Randolph, Gasol, Elton Brand, Sheed all deserves a mention too. :cheers:

West was loaded as ****

http://images.art.com/images/products/large/10085000/10085286.jpg

[KrizMiz]

everyone was afraid of ben and JO back in that days

[TheMarkMadsen]

early 2000 west = GOAT competition

[Upgrayedd]

early 2000 west = GOAT competition

And the West is still dominating for the most part. All the teams in the playoffs out West will finish above .500, some teams above .500 won't even make the playoffs this season.

Only two teams out East (Pacers and Heat) are legit threats. While any team from the West could go to the finals this season.

[Upgrayedd]

What do you think was better, early 2000's West or current West?

I mean early 2000's Lakers and Kings were great. They would dominate right now. The 2000's Suns would dominate right now too with Nash, Amare and Marion. And so would that 2003/2004 Timberwolves. But current Clippers, current Spurs, Thunder, Rockets, Grizzlies, Warriors and Blazers are really good too.

The only thing the championship Spurs teams had back then that's better than right now are prime Duncan and prime Ginobili. I'd take current Parker and the rest of the Spurs current roster over those championship teams.

Like I said before, imagine prime Duncan and Ginobili and current Tony Parker on this Spurs team? They would probably 3 peat.

[sammichoffate]

What do you think was better, early 2000's West or current West?

I mean early 2000's Lakers and Kings were great. They would dominate right now. The 2000's Suns would dominate right now too with Nash, Amare and Marion. And so would that 2003/2004 Timberwolves. But current Clippers, current Spurs, Thunder, Rockets, Grizzlies, Warriors and Blazers are really good too.

The only thing the championship Spurs teams had back then that's better than right now are prime Duncan and prime Ginobili. I'd take current Parker and the rest of the Spurs current roster over those championship teams.

Like I said before, imagine prime Duncan and Ginobili and current Tony Parker on this Spurs team? They would probably 3 peat.Early 2000's, easily. The amount of talent in the league at the time was absolutely incredible. Every position was stacked in some way, it was probably one of the most competitive eras ever even though the Lakers and Spurs were winning the majority of the chips.

[mr.big35]

the east was stacked with guards.

[TheMarkMadsen]

What do you think was better, early 2000's West or current West?

I mean early 2000's Lakers and Kings were great. They would dominate right now. The 2000's Suns would dominate right now too with Nash, Amare and Marion. And so would that 2003/2004 Timberwolves. But current Clippers, current Spurs, Thunder, Rockets, Grizzlies, Warriors and Blazers are really good too.

The only thing the championship Spurs teams had back then that's better than right now are prime Duncan and prime Ginobili. I'd take current Parker and the rest of the Spurs current roster over those championship teams.

Like I said before, imagine prime Duncan and Ginobili and current Tony Parker on this Spurs team? They would probably 3 peat.

I'd say early 2000's, if not just for the fact that you had 3 top 10 GOATS in their primes playing on teams that were good enough to win championships.. then add in guys who will end up somewhere in the top 20-30 range like KG, Dirk, Iverson..

Shaq & Kobe on the same team :eek:

just incredible competition.