Name: Who Ya Got: All-Time Los Angeles Lakers or All-Time Golden State Warriors?
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Who Ya Got: All-Time Los Angeles Lakers or All-Time Golden State Warriors?

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XThe state of California has been richly blessed with professional basketball talent.Just think of the all-timers who spent prime years playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State (or San Francisco) Warriors.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, , , , and Rick Barry are just a handful who come to mind. Wilt Chamberlain played for both the Warriors and Lakers. And there are arguments to make that list even longer.So, in an unprecedented era in which live sports have been almost entirely shut down, it's natural to wonder how those two California powerhouses, led by all-time-great talent, might fare against each other.On Thursday, ESPN presented the hypothetical to the masses:ESPN This would be a battle 👀Who wins a 7-game series, @Lakers or @warriors? https://t.co/Ztx3EQDBM5Shortly thereafter, "" began trending on Twitter. And that's understandable. The lineup ESPN provided for the Lakers contains five of Bleacher Report's players of all time. Kareem, Magic and Shaq come in at Nos. 3, 4 and 6, respectively, on that list.Of course, the all-time Warriors lineup is a doozy, as well. Curry and KD are top 15, but Draymond and Klay didn't make the cut. And Wilt, who could've been added to the Lakers' embarrassment of riches, makes sense on the Warriors, given the all-timers L.A. has up front. He slotted in at No. 9 on that list.Simply comparing placements in a largely subjective ranking doesn't answer this question, though. And while an old-school head-to-head-matchups analysis isn't perfect either (for example, the Warriors would likely cross-match and put Klay on Magic), it does get us closer.Let's .&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Magic vs. CurryWouldn't you know it? tackled this very comparison just under one year ago. And Curry comfortably won the blind polls conducted for that comparison.That includes peaks:Andy Bailey Player A is the last six seasons of Stephen Curry. Player B is Magic Johnson's six-year peak. https://t.co/f3CphBx76GAnd career numbers:Andy Bailey Player A is Stephen Curry's career. Player B is Magic Johnson's career. https://t.co/Yr5asGUdm0However, a deeper dive into this head-to-head reveals some fairly significant advantages for Magic.For one, he's undoubtedly the better creator for others. Curry may be a bit underrated in this regard, but Magic's assists per 75 possessions is the second-best mark in history, trailing only John Stockton's 12.6. Curry is 95th on that list.Of course, assists aren't the end-all, be-all for playmaking. Curry naturally needs to score more for his team than Magic did. But while he's dished out plenty of nasty dimes in his career, he has not consistently displayed the level of vision, timing and anticipation Magic did."Lakers 1, Warriors 0&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;West vs. KlayAndy Bailey Player A is Jerry West's five-year peak. Player B is Klay Thompson's five-year peak. https://t.co/lVICcxwDk6Lakers 2, Warriors 0&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Kobe vs. KDAndy Bailey Player A is Kevin Durant's three seasons with the Warriors. Player B is Kobe Bryant's three-season peak. https://t.co/Za7jqNFADJLakers 2, Warriors 1&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Kareem vs. DraymondAndy Bailey Player A is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's five-year peak. Player B is Draymond Green's five-year peak. https://t.co/U4Lov62hIqLakers 3, Warriors 1&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Shaq vs. WiltLeBron James is probably in this conversation as well (and Zion Williamson might be on the way), but Shaq and Wilt are arguably the NBA's two most striking examples of physical anomalies.The size and athleticism of each made them nearly impossible matchups for their contemporaries, and their numbers reflect that:Andy Bailey Player A is Wilt Chamberlain's five full seasons with the Warriors. Player B is Shaquille O'Neal's five-season peak (all with the Lakers). https://t.co/CQn3ALDiUfWhat gives Shaq a slight edge here, beyond the efficiency and slightly more robust scoring and passing rates, is the talent pool against which he played.Over the course of Chamberlain's five seasons with the Warriors, the NBA had an average of 8.6 teams per season. The league and its predecessor (the BAA) had only been around for 13 seasons prior to Wilt's debut. The game of basketball may not have been in its infancy, but it also couldn't have been past adolescence.As with most human physical pursuits, the species has improved dramatically at this game over the last 50-60 years. Wilt was way ahead of his time. On a physical level, he was rarely tested.Going from that era to Shaq is like going from eighth-grade civics to the bar exam.That isn't to say that Wilt wouldn't hang with modern NBA players. He's one of the rare examples of the game's early pioneers who'd probably be just fine now. But Shaq putting up similar pace-adjusted numbers against a significantly deeper and more diverse talent pool has to count for something.Now, you could argue that I should extend the same logic to the "West vs. Klay" section. And that's probably fair. But West dominated that era while being on a similar physical level to his contemporaries. And despite being much smaller, he was more efficient than Wilt. His skill level figures to translate a bit better.But even if we concede that matchup to the Warriors, the Lakers still come out on top in this simple position-by-position breakdown. As it stands, they dominate it.Lakers 4, Warriors 1&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The SeriesThe Warriors can put together one of the game's best all-time starting fives. And the difference in three-point shooting between these two lineups is huge. There would almost certainly be a game or two in which the three-pointer was the deciding factor.If Curry or Thompson (or both) got on one of their heaters, the Lakers' lineup probably doesn't have the firepower to keep up. And, as his trips to the Finals have taught us, Durant can take over a high-leverage game.But to put all the ingredients together for four games against that Los Angeles lineup seems borderline impossible.In these exercises on all-time starting fives, it's tough for anyone to break into the tier occupied by the Lakers and the Boston Celtics.Lakers win the series, 4-2.🚨 SPORTS NEWS ➡️ YOUR INBOXThe latest in the sports world, emailed daily.Maybe later

XThe state of California has been richly blessed with professional basketball talent.Just think of the all-timers who spent prime years playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State (or San Francisco) Warriors.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, , , , and Rick Barry are just a handful who come to mind. Wilt Chamberlain played for both the Warriors and Lakers. And there are arguments to make that list even longer.So, in an unprecedented era in which live sports have been almost entirely shut down, it's natural to wonder how those two California powerhouses, led by...

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Who Ya Got: All-Time Los Angeles Lakers or All-Time Golden State Warriors?

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