James Worthy Believes His 1987 Lakers Could Beat Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s 2001 Team

One of the age-old debates in the NBA consists of comparing iconic teams of different eras to each other. The Lakers are among the most renowned sports franchises in the world and have had a lot of great teams in their history. Hall-of-Famer James Worthy spent his entire 12-year career with the Lakers and contributed to some great teams. None greater than the 1986-87 Lakers squad. Worthy believes that team was so good they would defeat the 2000-01 Lakers team.

Worthy made a guest appearance on former teammate Byron Scott’s ‘Fast Break Podcast’. The two reminisced on moments from their past journey together on the Lakers. They won three championships together in Los Angeles, but 1987 stands out from the rest. Worthy expressed hesitancy before answering the question until claiming the 1987 Lakers team would win in a hypothetical matchup against the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant-led Lakers group. He said,

“Unless I’ve been on the court with you, how are we going to gauge that? Do I think I could bust some ass? Yeah, I know what our team was about.”

It didn’t take much time before Worthy’s confidence exuded in his response. The 2000-01 Lakers are revered as one of—if not the most—dominant team in NBA history. They went 16-1 in the entire postseason, losing their only game to the Sixers behind a 50-point performance from Allen Iverson.

On the other hand, the 1986-87 Lakers plowed through the rest of the NBA. They finished the season with a 65-17 record and went 15-3 in the postseason. They didn’t lose a single playoff game at home behind the outstanding play of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Whenever the 2001 Lakers are brought up in a discussion revolving around a hypothetical matchup against another team, the issue of Shaquille O’Neal needs to be addressed. There was no way to stop Shaq due to his strength and physical gifts. However, Worthy contends that O’Neal wouldn’t be able to slack on the other end, as he would have to defend Kareem’s sky hook.

In addition, Worthy is a firm believer that the 1987 team has an underrated slew of shooters at their disposal. He professes that due to the style of play, players such as Scott (43.6% from three-point range) and Michael Cooper (38.5% from three-point range) would have been hard to guard for the 2000-01 team.

Although Worthy remained reserved in his assessment of the matchup, Scott took it a step further.

Byron Scott calls the 1987 Lakers’ greatest-ever

Worthy was praising the 86-87 side, but Scott believes the roster from the following season isn’t just the greatest Lakers team, but the greatest NBA team of all time.

Earlier in the year, Scott joined the ‘All Facts No Brakes’ podcast with Keyshawn Jackson. He was asked if he thinks the 1987-88 Lakers team is the best ever, to which Scott didn’t hesitate in his response.

“I think so. You look at the team that we had… these guys were all drafted. We had one trade, really, and that trade was for Kareem getting to the Lakers,” Scott said. He pointed to the organic construction of the team as a deciding factor compared to the Warriors with Kevin Durant and the Heat with LeBron James.

There will never be a definitive answer as the game continuously changes, as does the era. Scott’s confidence is commendable. Moreover, his take is a testament to the amount of great Lakers teams in the franchise’s history.