What was the greatest team in NBA history? It’s a debate that is endless and will probably never be answered.
One of the biggest candidates is the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s, particularly the mid-1980s era when they were at their peak and fully mature.
They featured Magic Johnson, one of the five to 10 greatest players ever, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, arguably the greatest center ever, Hall of Famer James Worthy and numerous outstanding supporting players.
Los Angeles won five world championships and reached the NBA Finals eight times during the decade. If it hadn’t been for some untimely injuries, the team might have taken home even more hardware.
While on the “Draymond Green Show,” former Laker Kyle Kuzma said those Purple and Gold squads would’ve had their way in today’s NBA.
“I believe that the Showtime Lakers, they would (expletive) dominate this era,” said Kuzma. “I was watching Magic in the 80s, just highlights like earlier in the summer. People don’t realize he was fast as (expletive). He was fast as (expletive) like he was getting the rebound, up the court and three dribbles and that’s the NBA now.”
The biggest advantage those Lakers had against anyone, other than their withering fast break, was their multiple matchup advantages.
Johnson was a 6-foot-9 point guard, Worthy was a 6-foot-9 small forward with incredible quickness and explosiveness while Abdul-Jabbar was at least 7-foot-2 and possessed the most unstoppable shot in basketball history: the skyhook.
It’s difficult to see any team in the current NBA defeating them in a best-of-seven series.
