Sasha Vujacic's three pointer at the end of the game...

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Hootie

Of course...but why are you comparing Pippen to Gasol...Pippen compares to Odom in the triangle...Odom to Pippen is like Kobe to MJ...Odom is Pippen lite...hate to overuse that line but it's true. Odom is a multi-tool player just like Pippen minus the great defense.

But the Bulls never had a Gasol...and they never had a Bynum, either.

I'm not a Lakers fan...but I'm in awe of the team they have built...it's truly spectacular. They can dominate for years to come.

The Lakers don't run the tri like the Bulls did, so it's not entirely fair to say that Odom is like Pippin.

If you look at how each player is used, Kobe = MJ, Pau = Pippin, Odom = Kukoc. They have different skills (for instance, Kukoc was a far better shooter, Odom a better rebounder) but as an aggregate, they filled roughly the same roles.

It's something of a shell game when you try to compare guys like that. Just remember, Chicago probably should've made the Eastern Conference finals without MJ (got screwed on a fantom block against Pippin), the Lakers without Kobe are probably a fringe playoff team at best.

People are very quick to underestimate how good MJ's surrounding cast was, in large part because I think they feel like they're disparaging MJ somehow. Jordan had fantastic support during every season he won a title.

I'm simply unwilling to listen to people who refuse to compare Kobe and Jordan anymore. Kobe's competitive fire and clutch nature absolutely rival Jordan's. His raw skills do as well. The kid is as close to Jordan as we'll see for decades. If he ages as well as Jordan did over the next 5 seasons, I could see an argument that he will end up being at least Jordan's equal.

Appreciate what you're watching fellas, they're not as far apart as you think.