Kobe Bryant believed his Lakers three-peat team would beat Stephen Curry-Kevin Durant Warriors: 'I like our chances'

Whether it is picking between two players or two teams from different generations, any answer will have some bias attached. Nevertheless, the thrill of comparing different decades of NBA basketball is something that’ll stick with fans until the end of time.

A popular discussion among fans over the years is debating the best teams, like Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s Los Angeles Lakers, and Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors.

For Kobe, debating between any of these teams requires a tactical approach.

Picking between two of the best

The Shaq-Kobe Lakers of the early 2000s stand among the greatest NBA teams of all time. Especially considering that L.A. was the last team to pull off a coveted three-peat, fans will continue holding it to the gold standard.

But then there are teams like the Warriors of Curry and Durant, two players who helped lead the most devastating perimeter-oriented team in league history. Golden State may not have 3-peated, although you can argue that an injury to KD and sharpshooting guard Klay Thompson was the only reason that prevented it.

The Lakers ruled the early 2000s. The Warriors ruled the mid-to-late 2010s. In a matchup, which team would come out on top?

“We would win—that’s what I would say,” said Bryant of a hypothetical Lakers-Warriors clash.

In his mind, Bean considered himself the greatest to ever play. Then you throw in the fact he had O’Neal as his teammate, who the legendary Lakers guard once said could have been the greatest player in NBA history if his work ethic was as strong as his dunks in the paint.

“If I give you a tactical answer about it, it’s really just a matter of who can impose whose will,” said the late NBA star. “Do we do a good job moving the ball, getting in the open areas, and slowing the game down? Or will Golden State control the tempo and the pace with their shooting and ball movement? To be completely honest, it’s hard to tell who would win; I like our chances. Shaq is a handful, man. And you can’t forget that he could run the floor like a guard. He moved like a guard, which is pretty scary.”

How the game has changed

One of the many reasons why picking eras is a nearly incompatible debate is the many nuances. The transition from an interior-oriented game to a perimeter one, rule changes, physicality, and offensive and defensive schemes, just to name a few.

Bryant and O’Neal were overpowering defenses with an invincible two-man game in the paint. Curry and Durant swallowed opponents with outside shooting that was inconceivable 15 or 20 years earlier.

“The game really is about momentum and who can control momentum more so than numbers,” Kobe said. “There’s the emotion of the game of who can dictate tempo and pace. Those things are the most important because they win games. Numbers look good because they can kind of tell you a story. The true story lies in the tempo and the pacing of the game.”

Whether someone argues, “Who is going to stop Shaq?” Or, “Who on the Lakers could help keep up with the 3-point shooting of the Warriors?” All of it is plain barbershop talk. But knowing No. 24, he was always confident that whatever team he was on would win.