Which team would be the GOAT if everyone on the team at the time were in their primes

[sejoon101]

2004 Lakers?
Prime malone kobe shaq payton phil jackson

2013 spurs? (yes 2014 is better but we talking primes, basically same roster with prime tmac)
prime duncan t mac manu parker popovich

teams like 2009 suns are fun too, pretty strong
prime grant hill shaq nash dragic amare

[RightTwoCensor]

Dwyane Wade
Ray Allen
Lebron James
Shane Battier
Rashard Lewis
Chris Bosh

[SugarHill]

2011 Celtics

[RightTwoCensor]

Steve Nash
Kobe Bryant
Ron Artest
Antawn Jamison
Pau Gasol
Dwight Howard

[sejoon101]

Dwyane Wade
Ray Allen
Lebron James
Shane Battier
Rashard Lewis
Chris Bosh

eww


2011 Celtics

Allen
Garnett
Shaq
Pierce
Rondo :bowdown:


Steve Nash
Kobe Bryant
Ron Artest
Antawn Jamison
Pau Gasol
Dwight Howard

nasty ass squad too. offensive firepower with kobe antawn gasol as third option with strong defensive presence

[Marchesk]

1971/72 Lakers

Wilt was 35, West 33, Baylor only played 37 games and they won 33 in a row, beating Kareem's Bucks in route to a title.

[LAZERUSS]

1971/72 Lakers

Wilt was 35, West 33, Baylor only played 37 games and they won 33 in a row, beating Kareem's Bucks in route to a title.

Add in Goodrich...and this would EASILY be the GOAT team. Only Magic's Lakers (say '87) with a peak Kareem would have been close. And possibly the '83 Sixers.

[sundizz]

Payton - Top 10 pg
Kobe - Top 2 sg
Malone - Top 3 pf
Shaq - Top 2 c

[Marchesk]

Shaq - Top 4 c

FTFY

[ImKobe]

80s Laker/Celtics teams should be at the top honestly

but 04 Lakers and 06 Heat need to be in the convo, maybe even 2012 OKC and 2014 Spurs.

[LAZERUSS]

Payton - Top 10 pg
Kobe - Top 2 sg
Malone - Top 3 pf
Shaq - Top 2 c

Forgot about that one. BTW, A peak Shaq would be #3 behind a peak Wilt and a peak Kareem...both of whom would have destroyed the likes of a defenseless Smits in his last season, a 35 year old fading Mutombo, and a complete clown like McCullough...had they had the opportunity to face them in the Finals, and at their peak.

[Champ]

If we're talking about a starting five, the answer is the 79-80 Boston Celtics.

C - Cowens
PF - Bird
SF - Maxwell
SG - Pistol
PG - Tiny

Imagine a prime Pistol/Tiny backcourt.

[IncarceratedBob]

It might not be the most popular opinion but what about this years Lakers?

Peak Kobe almost made a championship run with Odom as his 2nd best player.

Add Russell, Randle, Clarkson, Upshaw in their PRIME? Wow...

This is what their primes are gonna look like:

Russell 24/9/5
Randle 18/11/4
Clarkson 27/5/5
Upshaw 9/12/2/6

[Droid101]

2011 Celtics
2004 Lakers vs 2011 Celts basically.

[Akrazotile]

Timothy Movzog
Christian Thompson
Lebron James
Iman Shumpert
Mathew Delavadova


:ohwell:

[Wade's Rings]

2004 Lakers?
Prime malone kobe shaq payton phil jackson

2013 spurs? (yes 2014 is better but we talking primes, basically same roster with prime tmac)
prime duncan t mac manu parker popovich

teams like 2009 suns are fun too, pretty strong
prime grant hill shaq nash dragic amare

2004 Lakers, 2011 Celtics, 2013 Heat, 2013 Lakers would be among the GOAT not sure which one would be GOAT though.

The 2006 Heat would be really Great too. Prime Payton, Wade, Prime Shaq, and Prime Zo off the Bench.

[HurricaneKid]

It might not be the most popular opinion but what about this years Lakers?

Peak Kobe almost made a championship run with Odom as his 2nd best player.

Add Russell, Randle, Clarkson, Upshaw in their PRIME? Wow...

This is what their primes are gonna look like:

Russell 24/9/5
Randle 18/11/4
Clarkson 27/5/5
Upshaw 9/12/2/6

This dude just said Russell/Randle/Clarkson were going to have better careers than Shaq, Mailman and Payton.

So easy to find stupid around here.

[WillC]

Great thread idea, OP.

Some fun teams that I don't think have been mentioned yet...

2007-08 Miami Heat
C - Shaquille O'Neal
PF - Alonzo Mourning
SF - Shawn Marion
SG - Dwyane Wade
PG - Penny Hardaway
Bench: Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem, Ricky Davis

1984-85 Philadelphia 76ers:
C - Moses Malone
PF - Charles Barkley
SF - Julius Erving
SG - Andrew Toney
PG - Maurice Cheeks
6th Man - Bobby Jones

2002-03 San Antonio Spurs
C - David Robinson
PF - Tim Duncan
SF - Steve Smith
SG - Manu Ginobili
PG - Tony Parker
Bench: Bruce Bowen, Kevin Willis, Stephen Jackson, Steve Kerr

Now for a couple of stacked frontcourts...

1994-95 San Antonio Spurs
C - David Robinson / Moses Malone
PF - Dennis Rodman / Terry Cummings
SF - Sean Elliott
SG - Who cares?
PG - Who cares?

1998-99 Houston Rockets:
C - Hakeem Olajuwon
PF - Charles Barkley
SF - Scottie Pippen
SG - Who cares?
PG - Who cares?

[KNOW1EDGE]

04 Lakers would be unstoppable.

[Wade's Rings]

Great thread idea, OP.

Some fun teams that I don't think have been mentioned yet...

2007-08 Miami Heat
C - Shaquille O'Neal
PF - Alonzo Mourning
SF - Shawn Marion
SG - Dwyane Wade
PG - Penny Hardaway
Bench: Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem, Ricky Davis

1984-85 Philadelphia 76ers:
C - Moses Malone
PF - Charles Barkley
SF - Julius Erving
SG - Andrew Toney
PG - Maurice Cheeks
6th Man - Bobby Jones

2002-03 San Antonio Spurs
C - David Robinson
PF - Tim Duncan
SF - Steve Smith
SG - Manu Ginobili
PG - Tony Parker
Bench: Bruce Bowen, Kevin Willis, Stephen Jackson, Steve Kerr

Now for a couple of stacked frontcourts...

1994-95 San Antonio Spurs
C - David Robinson / Moses Malone
PF - Dennis Rodman / Terry Cummings
SF - Sean Elliott
SG - Who cares?
PG - Who cares?

1998-99 Houston Rockets:
C - Hakeem Olajuwon
PF - Charles Barkley
SF - Scottie Pippen
SG - Who cares?
PG - Who cares?

The Heat got Shawn Marion in 2008 after they traded Shaq.

The 1997 Rockets had Barkley, Hakeem, and Drexler forgot about them.

[WillC]

The Heat got Shawn Marion in 2008 after they traded Shaq.

The 1997 Rockets had Barkley, Hakeem, and Drexler forgot about them.

Good point about Marion.

I prefer an in-their-prime Pippen-Barkley-Olajuwon instead of Drexler.

[kshutts1]

Another fun one that has not been mentioned is 2009/10 Cavs.

Shaq/Ilgauskas
Jamison/Varejao/Hickson
Lebron/Jamison
Danny Green/Anthony Parker/Delonte West
Mo Williams/Delonte West/Gibson

Shaq and Lebron creating mismatches, doubles/triples, then kicking out to knock-down shooters in Jamison, Green, Mo.

Everyone except Jamison, Hickson and Williams are known as good to great/elite defenders, too.

I think this is one of the best roster fits mentioned.

But I think the winner would be Spurs with prime TMac.

[SHAQisGOAT]

Yup, 2004 LA is probably the most obvious one here...

Anyone brought up the 1998 or the 1999 Rockets?

How about the 1984 Lakers? With Kareem, Magic, McAdoo, Worthy, Wilkes, Cooper, Scott and Rambis :bowdown:



2011 Celtics

:applause:

Shaq
KG
Pierce
Ray
Rondo

:eek:

On paper at least, that's unreal. Very good bench too.



Great thread idea, OP.

Some fun teams that I don't think have been mentioned yet...

2007-08 Miami Heat
C - Shaquille O'Neal
PF - Alonzo Mourning
SF - Shawn Marion
SG - Dwyane Wade
PG - Penny Hardaway
Bench: Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem, Ricky Davis

1984-85 Philadelphia 76ers:
C - Moses Malone
PF - Charles Barkley
SF - Julius Erving
SG - Andrew Toney
PG - Maurice Cheeks
6th Man - Bobby Jones

2002-03 San Antonio Spurs
C - David Robinson
PF - Tim Duncan
SF - Steve Smith
SG - Manu Ginobili
PG - Tony Parker
Bench: Bruce Bowen, Kevin Willis, Stephen Jackson, Steve Kerr


Those are scary af, especially the '85 76ers.



If we're talking about a starting five, the answer is the 79-80 Boston Celtics.

C - Cowens
PF - Bird
SF - Maxwell
SG - Pistol
PG - Tiny

Imagine a prime Pistol/Tiny backcourt.

Tbh, can't see it working that well, prime Pistol/Tiny would stagnate the team's upmost ball movement and even take away from those frontcourt players...
Would've been extremely exciting to watch though no doubt, but the 1986 Celtics with prime Bird/Walton/McHale/DJ/Parish/Wedman/Ainge/Sichting would've definitely beaten them, for example.

^Speaking of which, '86 Boston is already considered the GOAT team by many... Now imagine them also with a peak Walton, peak Dennis, peak Wedman... Crazy to think of.

[MellowYellow]

99-00 Raptors

Muggsy/Alvin Williams
Vinsanity/Dell Curry
T-Mac/Doug Christie
Charles Oakley
Kevin Willis/Antonio Davis

Not the biggest names ever, but that team just fits.

[MellowYellow]

2012-13 Knicks

Kidd/Felton/Prigioni( amazing in acb as a youngin)
Quentin Richardson/Jr smith/Shumpert
Melo
Amare/ Rasheed Wallace/Kenyon Martin
Marcus Camby/Tyson Chandler/Kurt Thomas

[SHAQisGOAT]

How about the 1991 Hawks...

Moses
Kevin Willis
Nique
Moncrief
Rivers/Webb

That's a very good squad.

[SHAQisGOAT]

2012-13 Knicks

Kidd/Felton/Prigioni( amazing in acb as a youngin)
Quentin Richardson/Jr smith/Shumpert
Melo
Amare/ Rasheed Wallace/Kenyon Martin
Marcus Camby/Tyson Chandler/Kurt Thomas

1987 Knicks...

Ewing / Cartwright
Pat Cummings / Kenny Walker
King
G Wilkins / Trent Tucker
Sparrow / Gerald Henderson

Very legit...

[kennethgriffin]

1999-2000 Portland Trailblazers

Prime Arvydas Sabonis
Prime Rasheed Wallace
Prime Scottie Pippen
Prime Steve Smith
Prime Damon Stoudemire
Prime Detlef Shrempf
Prime Brian Grant
Prime Jermaine O'neal
Prime Stacey Augman
Prime Bonzi Wells






2010-11 Boston Celtics

Prime Shaquille O'neal
Prime Kevin Garnett
Prime Paul Pierce
Prime Ray Allen
Prime Rajon Rondo
Prime Kendrick Perkins
Prime Jeff Green
Prime Jermaine O'neal
Prime Nate Robinson
Prime Delonte West
Prime Carlos Arroyo
Prime Troy Murphy
Prime Marquis Daniels
Prime Nenad Krstic

[kshutts1]

The early 2000's Blazers are good.

2000
Sabonis/O'neal/Grant
O'neal/Sheed/Schrempf
Schrempf/Augmon/Pippen
Steve Smith/Wells
Pippen/Stoudamire/Greg Anthony

2001
Sabonis/Dale Davis
Sheed/Kemp
Schrempf/Augmon/Pippen
Smith/Strickland/Wells
Pippen/Strickland/Stoudamire

2002
Sheed/Davis
Kemp/Randolph
Pippen/Patterson
Wells/Derek Anderson
Stoudamire/Kerr

2003
Sabonis/Davis
Sheed/Randolph
Pippen/Patterson
Wells/Anderson
Stoudamire/Antonio Daniels/Jeff McInnis