NBA: Official poll: Replace Kobe with TMac, how many rings do TMac+Shaq win?

[Kool Bob Love]

You and half the ing forum are desperately trying to convey the idea that unlike Kobe, Jim did it all by himself and carried a few scrubs that were nowhere near their primes when the spurs won 4 rings and that's not true.

a 56pick and a 28pick. LMAO.

Tim Duncan made chicken salad out of chicken .

[HI-FI]

a 56pick and a 28pick. LMAO.

Tim Duncan made chicken salad out of chicken .

i've been looking for that pic of Kobe on the plane with Shaq after the FInals, looking like a bitter at Shaq's Finals MVP.

i can't imagine TMAC and Shaq hating each other to that degree. TMAC is a pretty cool guy, i could see him and Shaq coexisting for a lot longer, therefore picking up 5 rings over a much longer tenure.

[spurraider21]

You said:



Shaq played for 4 different teams after he left the Lakeshow, that's seems like a good amount of opportunities to ring chase tbh. Let's not forget the years Kobe spent playing alongside scrubs like Kwame, Smush, Walton etc.

had kobe not ran shaq out of town he wouldn't have had to deal with that. Fact is, young, pre-prime Kobe had the opportunity to coattail for 3 championships. Shaq had no such luxury. When they broke up, Shaq was coming out of his prime and Kobe was getting into his, so its only natural that Kobe would have more championship runs.

[Kool Bob Love]

i've been looking for that pic of Kobe on the plane with Shaq after the FInals, looking like a bitter at Shaq's Finals MVP.

i can't imagine TMAC and Shaq hating each other to that degree. TMAC is a pretty cool guy, i could see him and Shaq coexisting for a lot longer, therefore picking up 5 rings over a much longer tenure.

http://i.imgur.com/4Z9C9hP.jpg

^full size pic

I voted 4 because the Spurs still would have won rings during shaq-tmac run. 04 lakers would have won with T-mac.

[HI-FI]

^ det one

[irishock]

http://i.imgur.com/4Z9C9hP.jpg

^full size pic

I voted 4 because the Spurs still would have won rings during shaq-tmac run. 04 lakers would have won with T-mac.

This picture tells the story better than any article can.

[ambchang]

Let's look at this this objectively, using statistics (something Kobe fans absolutely fears) to project what could possibly have happened.

Between 99 and 05, what we all would agree was Shaq's absolute prime, Shaq went to the finals 5 times and won 4 rings, 3 with Robin and one with Flash.

During that time, let's do a comparison between these players.

99
T-Mac: 9.7ppg/5.7reb/2.3ast in the regular season, 14.9/9/3.7 per 36 minutes. ORtg of 106, DRtg of 100, ws/48 of .143. Still with Toronto, very raw.
Kobe: 19.9/5.3/3.8, 18.9/5/3.6 per 36. ORtg 106, DRtg 104, ws/48 of .130.

Conclusion, before the comparison, I actually thought that Kobe will have T-Mac beat in a mile for 99, but the numbers said otherwise. Kobe scored more, but was worse in everything else over the course of the season. Both players were playing a 2nd banana role, so the comparisons applied. That said, the Lakers were swept by the Spurs in the 2nd round that year, swapping Kobe for T-Mac will not be a significant upgrade to make the Lakers reverse the results. No ring.

00
TMac: 15.4/6.3/3.3, 17.7/7.3/3.8 per 36. 106/103/0.129.
Kobe: 22.5/6.3/4.9, 21.2/5.9/4.6 per 36. 110/98/.202

Conclusion: Kobe was just so much better this year. Both are still 2nd bananas, but Kobe really shined in 00 compared to T-Mac. If T-Mac was there, it would be enough of a downgrade to spell no rings.

01, also known as the year hand-check was gone year, look at that huge jump in BOTH player's per 36.
TMac: 26.8/7.5/4.6, 24.1/6.8/4.1. 109/101/.189
Kobe: 28.5/5.9/5, 25.1/5.2/4.1. 112/105/.196

Conclusion: That year, you can put Naruto next to Shaq and he'd win a ring, Kobe and T-Mac was pretty much a wash. Ring

02
T-Mac: 25.6/7.9/5.3, 24.1/7.4/4.9. 111/103/.189
Kobe: 25.2/5.5/5.5, 23.7/5.2/5.1. 112/103/.199

Conclusion: Again, almost mirror stats. The Lakers won with Kobe, they will win with an exact subs ute. Ring

03
TMac: 32.1(league leading) /6.5/5.5, 29.3/5.9/5, 116/104/.262(league leading)
Kobe: 30/6.9/5.9, 26/6/5.1. 111/103/.210

Conclusion: The Lakers fought the Spurs to 6 games in the 2nd round. Whoever won this series would have won the championships (no offense to Mavs and Nets). Having T-Mac in and subs ute for Kobe would be an obvious upgrade (in the tune of 0.05 ws/48 minutes, 5 more points per 100 possessions, and only giving up one more point per 100 possessions (that's 4 points better for you mathematically challenged). It's up in the air, but I would say it's very likely the Lakers would ring.

04
T-Mac: 28(league leading)/6/5.5, 25.3/5.3/5. 110/110/.151
Kobe: 24/5.5/5.1, 22.9/5.3/4.9. 112/102/.210

Conclusion: This is the year TMac certified himself as lazy on the defensive side. Subbing him for Kobe would be a downgrade for sure, they won't likely even make the finals for the chance for Kobe to showcase his legendary bricking ability with T-Mac. No ring.

05
This gets a little tricky, as Kobe ran Shaq out of town, but since we are talking about TMac with Shaq , I will compare TMac with Wade in 05/06
TMac: 25.7/6.2/5.7, 22.7/5.5/5.1. 109/101/.180
Wade: 24.1/5.2/6.8, 22.4/4.8/6.3. 109/103/.177

Conclusion: This is close, the Heat with Wade fought the Pistons to a standstill, losing in 7 games, and the Pistons lost in 7 games to the Spurs in as close a fashion as possible. If the Heat can actually beat that year's Pistons, you can argue they can beat that year's Spurs. TMac was a slight upgrade to Wade, and that just might push them over the brink. It's a maybe, but I am siding with no ring.

For the sake of it, let's put in 06 as well.
TMac: 24.4/6.5/4.8, 23.7/6.3/4.6. 102/102/.112
Wade: 27.2/5.7/6.7, 25.4/5.4/6.3. 115/105/.239

Conclusion: Let's put it this way, Wade is the only player amongst the three to have a season like this, that is, carrying a team to a championship. The numbers back it up as well. No way will TMac win a ring in 06 in place of Wade, no way.

So in conclusion, T-Mac will likely win 3 rings with Shaq as a sidekick, just like Kobe, with a very good chance of winning a 4th.