Bill Simmons: "96 Bulls are not a top-10 All-time and are worse than the '01 Lakers"

[teflon don]

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=16169

Wow. Just wow.

But seriously, is there anything more enjoyable than seeing a critically-acclaimed sports writer lose all bodily credibly in just one sentence. Wow.

Let's get this future 10-page thread started.

[LakerWarrior12]

The 2007-2008 Lakers are better than the Portland TrailBlazers and Zach Chokester.

[Make It Rain]

Wow, truly an idiot. They swept Shaq's Magic that year.

[Lebron23]

The 2007-2008 Lakers are better than the Portland TrailBlazers and Zach Chokester.

Kobe will no longer win any championship rings unless he played as a role player in some future powerhouse team in the NBA. Maybe a sidekick of OJ Mayo, Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley once the LA LAKERS became a lottery team next season.

[joe]

You guys are just so in love with MJ and his legacy that you're afraid to admit that he would ever faulter to any team. you didn't even listen to his arguments, which were basically..

The league was falling apart that year, talent wise. All the good teams were on the downside of their "prime," and MJs bulls were the best team left.

Furthermore, while you're busy defending the greatness of MJ, bill simmons even said that the 92 Bulls were a great team, just that he didn't think the 98 bulls were a top-10 team

You guys are so, so, so competely sickening with your MJ homerism. Just stop, everyone on this site. Just stop.

When someone states that they think MJ's Bulls could be beaten by a Prime-Shaq led Championship team that went 15-1 in a VERY tough western conference finals... and you are actually OFFENDED and say that that person has lost all credibility, i think you need to see a therapist. its very sad, some of the MJ love that goes on here.

[Lakerz_Forever]

^^^^^ sums up the majority's reaction.

[Lakerz_Forever]

You guys are just so in love with MJ and his legacy that you're afraid to admit that he would ever faulter to any team. you didn't even listen to his arguments, which were basically..

The league was falling apart that year, talent wise. All the good teams were on the downside of their "prime," and MJs bulls were the best team left.

Furthermore, while you're busy defending the greatness of MJ, bill simmons even said that the 92 Bulls were a great team, just that he didn't think the 98 bulls were a top-10 team

You guys are so, so, so competely sickening with your MJ homerism. Just stop, everyone on this site. Just stop.

When someone states that they think MJ's Bulls could be beaten by a Prime-Shaq led Championship team that went 15-1 in a VERY tough western conference finals... and you are actually OFFENDED and say that that person has lost all credibility, i think you need to see a therapist. its very sad, some of the MJ love that goes on here.

bullsh!t. MJ = GOAT

end of story

[wTFaMonkey]

wtf??!?!?

they are the number one team in all of history

this is john hollinger from espn.com

Hands down, the greatest team of all time. How can you choose another when these guys won 72 regular-season games and 14 of their first 15 in the postseason? The Bulls were so good they were first in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and outscored their opponents by 12.2 points per game.

With names like Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Toni Kukoc, not to mention a coach like Phil Jackson, this team was pretty much unbeatable -- in fact, seven of its playoff wins were by 17 points or more. The only nit to pick was the Bulls' consecutive losses to the Sonics in the Finals, but they were up 3-0 by then and seemingly bored with how good they were.

[DCL]

You guys are just so in love with MJ and his legacy that you're afraid to admit that he would ever faulter to any team. you didn't even listen to his arguments, which were basically..

The league was falling apart that year, talent wise. All the good teams were on the downside of their "prime," and MJs bulls were the best team left.

Furthermore, while you're busy defending the greatness of MJ, bill simmons even said that the 92 Bulls were a great team, just that he didn't think the 98 bulls were a top-10 team

You guys are so, so, so competely sickening with your MJ homerism. Just stop, everyone on this site. Just stop.

When someone states that they think MJ's Bulls could be beaten by a Prime-Shaq led Championship team that went 15-1 in a VERY tough western conference finals... and you are actually OFFENDED and say that that person has lost all credibility, i think you need to see a therapist. its very sad, some of the MJ love that goes on here.

put the crack pipe down.

[joe]

wtf??!?!?

they are the number one team in all of history

this is john hollinger from espn.com

if you actually read Bill Simmons chat, you'd see that he has issues with the forumula John Hollingre used to come to that conclusion, mainly the fact that it didnt take into account the quality of the league for the year Given Team won the championship.

his argument was that shaq-kobe lkaers from 2001 went through an extremely talented western conference, along with the sixers who had Iverson and Mutumbo during his prime.

also, he said that the league was at one of its absolute weakest eras from 96-98.

[dejordan]

in terms of overall talent that bulls team wasn't as good as a lot of teams, HOWEVER, jordan was unstoppable, everyone else fed off of him and made their shots, and they played the best defense you ever saw. so they're always in any series against any team because with mj drawing doubles or scoring at will, everyone else gets to just do what they do and then they go down the other end and defend as well as anyone can.

so if you wanna rank them player by player or in terms of potential, they aren't close to number 1. if you want to rank them on what they accomplished and how well they competed no matter the opponent, then you can rank them all the way at the top if you want.

[joe]

bullsh!t. MJ = GOAT

end of story

did i ever, at any point, in ANY post that i've EVER made on this or ANY web site, say that MJ is not the GOAT? NO.

what i said was, the fact that you guys are so threatened by the mere mention of an MJ-led team being beaten, especially by a team that was so talented (Like the 2001 Lakers), might mean that it's time you get some help for your complete homerism of MJ.

And you are a prime example of this. You probably scanned my post, seen that it was Anti-MJ, or at the very least Anti-Bulls, and immediately jumped to the Aid of your Idol, defending his status as GOAT. well guess what buddy? I never said he wasn't GOAT.

[Chrono90]

jordan was unstoppable and shaq was unstoppable, but i take the bulls over chicago because they won more regular season games

[Soundwave]

Bill Simmons: Read my article. Please read my article. I'll add more controversey.

You can argue the '96 Bulls aren't the best ever (though you'd be in the minority), but not even top 10 ... gimme a break.

The NBA was soft in 1996? The '96 Orlando Magic or the '96 Sonics would tear the 2007 NBA apart. The '96 Jazz, Rockets, Pacers, Knicks, and Suns were nothing to scoff at either ... all of those teams if put into 2007 would have a pretty strong shot at getting to the Finals. The 95-96 Miami Heat who were the 8th seed in the 1996 Eastern Conference could probably be the no.1 or no.2 seed in the 2007 NBA Eastern Conference.

Teams like the 2007 Lakers or Warriors wouldn't even make the playoffs in 1996, and half the East at least wouldn't make it.

[wTFaMonkey]

if you actually read Bill Simmons chat, you'd see that he has issues with the forumula John Hollingre used to come to that conclusion, mainly the fact that it didnt take into account the quality of the league for the year Given Team won the championship.

his argument was that shaq-kobe lkaers from 2001 went through an extremely talented western conference, along with the sixers who had Iverson and Mutumbo during his prime.

also, he said that the league was at one of its absolute weakest eras from 96-98.

weak??!? can you explain "weak"??