Aint a whole lot of the guys playing today that are more athletic than the ballers of the mid 80's to early 90's, FOH. The rest of this shit is pure nonsense.
3 peat championship years, playoffs only
Shaq 29.9ppg, 55.2%fg, 14.5reb, 3.0ast, 2.4blk, 12.2 win shares, 3.7 defensive win shares, 8.5 offensive win shares, and only 553 missed shots....
Kobe Bryant 25.3ppg, 44.7%fg, 5.7reb, 4.9ast, 1.1blk, 8.5 win shares, 2.5 defensive win shares, 5.8 offensive win shares, and a whopping 654 missed shots.
Kobe missed 101 more shots than Shaq during the 3 peat championship years
In 99-2000, Kobe missed 16 games, the Lakers went 12-4 without him.
In 2000-2001 Kobe missed 14 games, the Lakers went 11-3 without him.
In 2001-2002 Kobe missed 2 games, the Lakers went 2-0 without him.
The championship Lakers teams seemed barely affected by the absence of Kobe.
People often like to bring up the 55 win season the Bulls had while Jordan retired the first time. What people never talk about is the fact that Pippen, Grant, Armstrong, and Kukoc all scored in double figures that season. They also fail to mention the following:
Team record in games missed
Michael Jordan: 19-49 (.279)
86: 18-43
89: 0-1
92: 0-2
93: 1-3
Even the world champion Bulls suffered 1-5 without their undisputed leader.
In the previous 35 games before Michael Jordan's return the Bulls were 18-17 with Scottie Pippen leading the team, after Jordan's return the Bulls went 13-4 and 72-10 the following season. Jordan was the most crucial player in NBA history to his team's championship success along with players like Shaq being close behind. Michael Jordan was the only All-Star on the Chicago Bulls in 1991 and 1998.