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85-86 Celtics against the 95-96 Bulls? THAT would have been a good series. Parish, McHale, Bird, Ainge & D.J. plus Walton and Sichting (sp?) coming off the bench.

I pick the Celtics in 7 – 2 O.T.s.

FYI – I am a Celtics fan. And I remember Dean Smith’s having said that Len Bias was a better athlete than Jordan.

first of all – the championship teams of the 80′s (Celts, Lakers, Sixers, Pistons) would have wiped the floor with Jordan’s Bulls of the 90′s – then Michael would have had a big 0 in the rings category – so he had no business trying to fuck with Parish.

second – that Detroit team that Jordan struggled against so mightily and was physically intimidated by in the late 80′s were the Celtics bitches until they got too old and beat up to keep winning – didn’t help much when Boston’s own version of Jordan (Lenny Bias) killed himself after draft day in ’86. i can’t recall that ever happened to the other contenders during that period.

third – one member of that Detroit team who knocked Jordan on his ass countless times was the same guy that Parish knocked out with one punch in game 5 of the ’87 ECF. another member of the Detroit Bad Boys who i watched Parish back up in the ’87 playoffs was one Rick Mahorn. i kinda doubt Jordan would have been much of a concern to Robert Parish.

fourth – i suppose if Jordan had actually tried to take Parish on that day in practice, we would have heard about it a long time ago. so apparently, he did not. it’s funny how we’ve never heard a word out of Jordan about this incident, which tells me it went down just like Parish tells it.

finally – in case you are wondering, i live in tennessee and am a Hawks fan – so i have no dog in this fight – but i have to tell the truth when i see it.

And for those who said Parrish would kick my butt? Yeah, I doubt that. I have seen Game of Death. I know how to defend a seven footer who knows karate. I can thank Bruce Lee for that. haha

The 85 – 86 Celtics team with a starting 5 of McHale, Bird, Parish, Johnson and Ainge. This team went 40 – 1 at home. Plus they had Bill Walton as a six man. Definitely had size, solid point play and of course Larry Bird

The 86 – 87 Lakers started Jabbar, AC Green, Worthy, Byron Scott, and Magic. There bench was downright awesome. Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, and Mychal Thompson. This team won 65 games. They had speed, size, shooters, defensive stoppers like Cooper and Rambis. The complete package.

The 95-96 Bulls won 72 games. Had a starting lineup of Ron Harper, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Longley. Had a nice bench with instant offense in Kukoc and Steve Kerr.

Personally the 86-87 Lakers would be a great match up for the 95-96 Bulls. Obviously Jordan is Jordan and there is no one on the court who is going to check him, but Cooper, Worthy, and Scott would all give it a try. Assuming that out of the starters Worthy would get the call to check Jordan because of his size, you would play Green on Rodman, which is an awesome match up because they both do exactly the same thing. Magic would probably get Pippen and vice versa. Scott would get Harper and Jabbar would get Longely. The X factor is the Lakers bench. The ability to bring Cooper in to cover Jordan is a huge advantage. Cooper was a great defender. 5 time first team nba all defensive team and defensive player of the year in 87. Plus the big bodies of Rambis and Mychal Thompson would put a lot of pressure on the Bulls to help in the middle. I think the 86-87 Lakers team has a slight edge.

For you young bucks out there before there was Jordan there was the Celtics v. Lakers rivalry. The Chief’s match ups with Jabbar was one piece of that rivalry. When you are 8th all time in career rebounds, 11th all time in career blocks, 26th in points scored, have 3 rings before this alleged confrontation, and smoke enough weed to kill a small Jamican village you have the right to tell Hare Jordan whatever the “F” you want!

All Hail the Chief!

MJ challenged everyone, which is why the Bulls had many rings.