All-Time Detroit Pistons probably could beat any All-Time team.

[sfballa13]

Nobody is impressed that a Detroit team beat past his prime Shaq and WAY past his prime Kareem.

2004 Shaq was past his prime

Shaq put up the following numbers in the 2004 Finals:
27 pts, 11 rebounds, 63% FG

Pistons won 4-1

That's your cue to shut the farx up

[LoneyROY7]

All-time Clippers would SMASH Detroit.

[SouBeachTalents]

All-time Clippers would SMASH Detroit.

Dude, ain't nobody beating that team

[LoneyROY7]

Dude, ain't nobody beating that team

[RRR3]

Simulated 4 times on whatifsports. Lakers won every single time, never lost more than 2 games.

[ZMonkey11]

Simulated 4 times on whatifsports. Lakers won every single time, never lost more than 2 games.

Simulate the 88, 89, and 2004 Finals. Tell me the results.

Also I simulated the Pistons winning the championship in 2016 on NBA 2k15. We got LeBron!

[RRR3]

Simulate the 88, 89, and 2004 Finals. Tell me the results.

Also I simulated the Pistons winning the championship in 2016 on NBA 2k15. We got LeBron!

The Simulations don't indicate what really would happen, but I think it shows that the Lakers would be favored for sure. I don't see the Pistons stopping the Lakers, too many weapons. Lakers have arguably half of the top 10 (Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Magic, Kobe) on their team for ****s sake. Then they have three more guys who are likely top 15-30 (West, Baylor, Mikan) and the final four guys (Gasol, Goodrich, Worthy, Wilkes) are all HOFers as well.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Still one of the funniest scenes in TV history

[ZMonkey11]

The Simulations don't indicate what really would happen, but I think it shows that the Lakers would be favored for sure. I don't see the Pistons stopping the Lakers, too many weapons. Lakers have arguably half of the top 10 (Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Magic, Kobe) on their team for ****s sake. Then they have three more guys who are likely top 15-30 (West, Baylor, Mikan) and the final four guys (Gasol, Goodrich, Worthy, Wilkes) are all HOFers as well.

I'm not saying the Pistons are a better team. If we are talking star power, the Lakers and Celtics have it in spades.

But if history has taught us anything, it's that the only team that could take down all the powers that can be in the NBA universe was the Detroit Pistons.

Top 10 players the 80s Pistons took down. Magic, Kareem, Jordan, Bird.

Top 10 players the 2000 Pistons took down. Shaq, Kobe.

These same 2000 Pistons were the roadblock for LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. Remember the LBJ commercials? (Jordan didn't get through Detroit playing in the pool or something similar)

There is more than half right there for you. Taken down by your Pistons, tried and true.

So what if you put all these All-Stars together? You are forgetting you are putting two incredibly oiled defensive juggernauts together, as well. And those defensive juggernauts are no slouch on offense.

Two highly talented stretch bigs (Lakers don't have that), the most dominating small man ever to play the game, a GOAT level guard defender, a GOAT level EVERYTHING defender, and a GOAT level bigs defender.

As much as you could say the Pistons couldn't stop all these stars, what makes you think they could stop the Pistons? Because the past shows us they couldn't. To put it simply, the Pistons play better team ball and are smarter than the teams they faced. Add that to a much better defense and I'm pretty sure the Pistons would win their fair share of games against any All-Time team.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Late 80s team in today's league would be really funny to watch especially if you keep today's rules. Would be the only team in NBA history who couldn't finish the game because half the team got ejected . I remember hearing as a kid that the Knicks of the early 90s tried emulating what the Pistons did but didn't have nearly enough talent to really stop Jordan in the playoffs. Mahorn was an evil dude... some of the stories they have about him bumping people or the "tap tap" no layup rules are just absurd. I like the team mentality but at times I watch the highlights and I feel like Coach Daly is just ignoring all the crazy fouls his team is committing. Reminds me of Coach Jimmy Johnson when he was on the University of Miami staff and a good amount of his players were criminals and doing drugs.

[jayfan]

All-time Clippers would SMASH Detroit.

Ridiculous.



.

[GreggPopazit]

2004 Shaq was past his prime

Shaq put up the following numbers in the 2004 Finals:
27 pts, 11 rebounds, 63% FG

Pistons won 4-1

That's your cue to shut the farx up

Shaq was still great, but clearly on the decline.

Rounded to 0.5s:
2000 vs 2004 regular season: 8 less ppg, 2 less rpg, 1 less apg, 0.5 less bpg

2000 vs 2004 playoffs: 9 less ppg, 2 less rpg, 0.5 less apg, 0.5 more bpg

2000 vs 2004 finals: 11.5 less ppg, 6 less rpg, 0.5 less apg, 2 less bpg


Meanwhile, the part that you conveniently skipped over about Kareem was that Kareem was WAY past his prime. Heck he was 42 years old in the Finals the OP used as evidence that the Pistons can beat him, averaging more than 17ppg LESS than his peak Laker season, 12.5rpg LESS than his peak, and 3bpg LESS than his highest recorded bpg.

That's your cue to shut the farx up

[FireDavidKahn]

Using "all time team" lists is only relevant if you use the years that the player was on that team...

[GreggPopazit]

Using "all time team" lists is only relevant if you use the years that the player was on that team...

True, I spaced that with Kareem, still, early Lakers Kareem is far greater than the 42 year old who lost to Detroit.

[TheMan]

Detroit beat a past their peak Lakers and Celtics and a young Bulls team. Once the Bulls matured enough, they smoked then 4-0