Shaq 1on1 1996 Team USA Practice

[Phoenix]

With the right team, maybe.

Would be a team that liked to run.

Overall, those Shaq and Penny Orlando teams were so good, such a shame they didn't stick it out a few more years.

That would have depended on 'if' Penny stayed healthy because even 'if' Shaq stayed, without Penny's health as the 1B/2 in that situation they don't win once the Bulls run ends. But otherwise, IF that team stayed intact and healthy, the east was wide open in the late 90s to early 2000s. I'm pretty confident in saying a healthy Shaq/Penny combo with the right pieces represents the east in the years you saw the Knicks, Pacers, and Nets in the finals. It would probably come down to the Magic and Spurs a number of years, because obviously Shaq on the Magic completely changes the course for those Lakers teams

Of course, such 'ifs' mean nothing and we shouldn't discuss such things.

[90sgoat]

That would have depended on 'if' Penny stayed healthy because even 'if' Shaq stayed, without Penny's health as the 1B/2 in that situation they don't win once the Bulls run ends. But otherwise, IF that team stayed intact and healthy, the east was wide open in the late 90s to early 2000s. I'm pretty confident in saying a healthy Shaq/Penny combo with the right pieces represents the east in the years you saw the Knicks, Pacers, and Nets in the finals. It would probably come down to the Magic and Spurs a number of years, because obviously Shaq on the Magic completely changes the course for those Lakers teams

Of course, such 'ifs' mean nothing and we shouldn't discuss such things.

We can speculate, but that team was remarkably well built and with very good supporting cast. Horace Grant was still very good, Nick Anderson was athletic, good defender, could go off. Dennis Scott could hit 3s. I don't remember any bench players, so maybe that was their only thing lacking.

In terms of age, that team should have been able to have the same group until the end of the 90s, so yeah, they should have been the team of the 90s in the East.

[Phoenix]

We can speculate, but that team was remarkably well built and with very good supporting cast. Horace Grant was still very good, Nick Anderson was athletic, good defender, could go off. Dennis Scott could hit 3s. I don't remember any bench players, so maybe that was their only thing lacking.

In terms of age, that team should have been able to have the same group until the end of the 90s, so yeah, they should have been the team of the 90s in the East.

Oh they were definitely primed for success. Shaq and Penny were 21/22 when they came together. Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott were like 25/26. That core could have gone for a solid 8 years at least and cycle in roster upgrades where necessary( case in point, they got Horace at 29, so they may have needed a PF upgrade sooner than the other positions as he aged).

[Soundwave]

We can speculate, but that team was remarkably well built and with very good supporting cast. Horace Grant was still very good, Nick Anderson was athletic, good defender, could go off. Dennis Scott could hit 3s. I don't remember any bench players, so maybe that was their only thing lacking.

In terms of age, that team should have been able to have the same group until the end of the 90s, so yeah, they should have been the team of the 90s in the East.

It's funny how much a baseball strike screwed over the Orlando Magic and completely altered NBA history, lol.

If that doesn't happen, then Jordan doesn't come back, probably not that quickly anyway, which would probably lead to the Magic winning the 1996 NBA Finals against Seattle, which then probably means Shaq doesn't leave to LA, which then probably means the Lakers retain Vlade Divac and don't acquire Kobe Bryant (they only moved out Divac to make room and cap space to acquire Shaq), etc. etc. etc.

That whole thing of the baseball strike of 1995 forcing Jordan to go back to basketball set off a really funny chain reaction of events. Not so funny if you're a Magic fan I guess.

[sdot_thadon]

Yeah but Kobe stills gets drafted by LA because Wesr wanted him bad. They stay in the lottery in a tough West, The Kings hang a championship banner, vindicating Chris Webber and changing his basketball legacy, Perhaps Iverson does the same. The spurs add at least another chip to their stack. Sad side effect is Kobe doesn't instantly become the huge star he was and never gives a young Lebron James his shoes at a camp. Lebron goes on to play football instead as a receiver. Cleveland never wins a chip. Dwade retires with 1 ring, Carmelo and Wade are both 1 time mvps. Currys Warrirors have a 4peat and Steph is considered the GOAT by the young fans.

[Soundwave]

Yeah but Kobe stills gets drafted by LA because Wesr wanted him bad. They stay in the lottery in a tough West, The Kings hang a championship banner, vindicating Chris Webber and changing his basketball legacy, Perhaps Iverson does the same. The spurs add at least another chip to their stack. Sad side effect is Kobe doesn't instantly become the huge star he was and never gives a young Lebron James his shoes at a camp. Lebron goes on to play football instead as a receiver. Cleveland never wins a chip. Dwade retires with 1 ring, Carmelo and Wade are both 1 time mvps. Currys Warrirors have a 4peat and Steph is considered the GOAT by the young fans.

I don't think they could have made that deal, because this is the 90s and trading your starting center (especially in the Western Conference of those days) would be insanity.

They only traded Divac (a solid, serviceable big) because they knew they were getting Shaq.

I'm sure West would've wanted Kobe, but it would've just been one of those things that turned into "well we didn't get him I guess".