1. The better team always wins 7 game series (unless the NBA intervenes, like in 2002), so the 91 Bulls were a better team than the 91 Lakers. More firepower doe not mean your TEAM is better.
2.Glad we agree Cooper would not be able to handle MJ.
3. Portland's better '91 regular season record doesn't mean they'll win in the playoffs. Just ask the 2007 Mavs. I watched every game of that LA v. Portland series and knew from the start the Lakers would win that series. Magic saved the day with his heads up move to throw the ball in the air to avoid the foul at the end of the game. And for Magic being past his prime, you're reaching there. A guy who makes 1st Team ALL NBA is not past his prime. And the Pistons beating MJ proves my point that the East was a tougher road to the Finals in the 90s than what the 80s Lakers had to face.
4. You talked about Worthy's knees, Magic playing so many playoff games taking it's toll. Sounds like injury excuses to me... As for your hypothetical Spurs stuff, you obviously didn't read my posts before you started insulting me. Kinda makes you look like an ass when you accuse people of things they didn't do and then ridicule them for those same things.
EX: I never said that because the Bulls beat the 91 Lakers that means they could beat the 80's Lakers. The 91 Lakers-Bulls Finals was used as an example for lakaluva to prove that Jordan COULD hang with Magic, since he wiped the floor with him. Magic and MJ were both 1st Team All NBA and Worthy was only 29, still in his prime, proof that Jordan was better. That's why I even showed both benches to prove that Jordan won that series DESPITE having a weaker team than the Lakers that year. But yeah, those weren't the showtime Lakers, since Kareem and Cooper were gone. How could anyone prove that a team from one decade could beat one from another decade? Not happening without a time machine...
5. The teams you mentioned won the Finals. The 5 les Magic won were well deserved. They beat the best from both conferences. The other 4 Finals losses mean nothing when they didn't have to go through tough teams that beat you up on the way to the Finals, like the Bulls did with Detroit and their Jordan Rules, the Knicks with Starks, and the Celtics early in Jordan's career. The Lakers beat some one-trick ponies and swept alot of their 1st and 2nd round foes in those other years, then lost in the Finals when they finally played a real team. Yes, even my beloved Spurs with Gervin were a one trick pony in the 80's that would have been destroyed by the Celtics, Sixers, etc, since 3 of the 4 years they played the Lakers, they got SWEPT.
Examples:
-In 89 the Lakers didn't lose a game in the playoffs until they reached the Finals, then they got swept!!!
-In '84, they only lost 3 games in 3 rounds before reaching the Finals. Same thing in 83 except the Sixers swept them.
6. Again, in a game of horse the 80's win. Nut put a man in their face and those open jumpshots become contested shots and watch their % fall.
7. Obviously, you prefer style over substance. Some will never appreciate basketball the way it is supposed to be played. I am a bball purist. I could care less how many dunks and behind the back passes my team makes, as long as they win the game. It's okay if you have a short attention span, most of the country does, which is why the media promotes teams that are all about style and hoeps the teams that are all about substance will just crawl away and die, because our "low TV ratings" our ruining the game.
8. Expansion did water down the NBA to some degree, but it also helped the have nots, catch up to the haves. In the 80's you had 3 or 4 teams with all the best players and everyone else just hoping to make some money off s few playoff games. In the 90's the compe ion was more widespread, which makes for better basketball. I'd rather see a game go down to the wire than watch the 80s Lakers beat up on some poor team and win by 30.
By the way, a lot of the teams you metnioned were in their prime in the 90s. Portland was in the 90 and 91 Finals. The Jazz were a MUCH better team in the 90s and so was Godlen State with Run TMC.
You'd rather look good and lose, I'd rather win UGLY. So be it...