Who did MJ actually beat?

[Wuxia]

we are talking about Stockton/Malone, Payton/Kemp, Barkley, Drexler, Hakeem, DRob, Shaq, Ewing, and the list goes on and on.

[The Iron Fist]

Exactly, the 80s lakers played and lost to some bad teams in the playoffs.

81, they lost to the western conference champion Rockets 2-1, back when the first round consisted of a best of 3 format.

83, lost in finals, to 6ers.

84, lost in finals, to Celtics.

86, lost in wc finals, to Rockets.

89, lost in finals, to Pistons.

So, where are these bad teams they lost to?

[97 bulls]

81, they lost to the western conference champion Rockets 2-1, back when the first round consisted of a best of 3 format.

83, lost in finals, to 6ers.

84, lost in finals, to Celtics.

86, lost in wc finals, to Rockets.

89, lost in finals, to Pistons.

So, where are these bad teams they lost to?

Good point. I guess I should've said that they beat some bad teams, but lost to teams they shouldn't have lost too.

[NBASTATMAN]

Not to get off-topic, but I'd take Dirk/KG/Tim Duncan over Karl Malone.

Dirk is not in that league, his defense will never allow him to win a title.. Kg and Tim are both great players but Karl was a better scorer than both and he was quite a defender as well.. People forget that a 40 yr old Mailman shut Duncan down in 2004 while playing with the lakers.. That duo of Stockton and Malone also beat barkley, hakeem, and drexler... He also beat Payton and Kemp.. He also beat Shaq and penny...

Payton is a top 50 player if they made a new list. The others are all there..

Duncan is a great player but in terms of peak play I am not sure he is much better than say a ewing... He has been lucky enuff to play with some quality players.. Though not to the extent of his two other closest rivals..

[nycelt84]

The list is far better than any Jordan faced.I mean really 2 of the Knicks were ex CBA players

This post is stupid on so many levels. 1st not one of the 90's Knicks teams Ebt finished a season with 40 or less wins. And 2nd Patrick Ewing is a far better player than every one of the players that the Lakers faced in the West in the '87 playoffs. Nothing was exceptional about those squads and any great team would run through those teams like the Lakers did, even good teams like the '10 Magic would whip those squads.

[dallaslonghorn]

Dirk is not in that league, his defense will never allow him to win a title.. Kg and Tim are both great players but Karl was a better scorer than both and he was quite a defender as well.. People forget that a 40 yr old Mailman shut Duncan down in 2004 while playing with the lakers.. That duo of Stockton and Malone also beat barkley, hakeem, and drexler... He also beat Payton and Kemp.. He also beat Shaq and penny...

Payton is a top 50 player if they made a new list. The others are all there..

Duncan is a great player but in terms of peak play I am not sure he is much better than say a ewing... He has been lucky enuff to play with some quality players.. Though not to the extent of his two other closest rivals..

I think the main reason I would take all three players over Karl Malone is because they are all at least three inches taller than him. That is a very very big deal!

The Mailman could never be as good on defense as TD or KG -- they are taller then him!

Malone has scored a lot more points than Dirk, but I suspect a lot of that has to do with him playing in a much faster paced era than Dirk. There has to be some research about this somewhere.

[Teanett]

I think the main reason I would take all three players over Karl Malone is because they are all at least three inches taller than him. That is a very very big deal!

The Mailman could never be as good on defense as TD or KG -- they are taller then him!

Malone has scored a lot more points than Dirk, but I suspect a lot of that has to do with him playing in a much faster paced era than Dirk. There has to be some research about this somewhere.

faster pace my ass!
-he played for utah, the masters of half-court, gods of pick and roll.
-he's not some aba/showtime/fro-and-headband player,
-he won mvp in the 90's, for crying out loud. the style of those days made the nba change the rules TO GET THE SCORES UP!!!