No the guy was talking now..hense stating some will be retired by then. Only Boston will be in trouble then....Lakers will still be elite in 5 years. More so If Bynum lives up to expections.
One thing is for sure...Lakers will find a way to get a star to come to L.A...
Cavs (LeBron will be 29 in his prime and the GOAT)
Thunder (Durant will be 25 and should be exceptional plus they are young)
Bulls (Very young roster, and they have Rose who IMO has Wade potential)
Lakers (the NBA will make sure that they compete)
Celtics (see Lakers)
Boston wont be in any kind of trouble.........as the big 3 age and come off the books, they will be replaced. The ownership is committed to winning and Ainge is a great GM.
As for teams that will be great in 5 years......5 years down the line is hard to forecast, but Portland looks good if they keep it together.
The nets, whether they are in nj or brooklyn or possibly utah if sloan is still around millsap and dwill fully developed along with brewer and some other nice young players, ak and boozer will be out of the picture with room for some new big players to come along, along with one of the top 5 coaches of all time.
lakers have 7-8 years of being one of the best teams? with what? bynum and farmar? or the machine? lol at the lakers having a promising young future. Sure they will probably be good for 4 or so more years but 7-8? Lets wait and see until bynum compalins about his role on the team and demands a trade. lets see what LA does then. Shackled down to odoms huge deal. It's funny odom was damn near worthless previous year to this and then contract year comes up and he plays. hmm
Sorry, your research is very poor. In 5 years the Celtics stars will be retired and the Lakers Stars will be about as old as the Celtics are NOW.
Rasheed 35, Allen 34, KG 33, Pierce 32.
Compared to;
Kobe 31, Artest 30, Odom 30, Gasol 29.
Celtics have 2-3 years left in them. Lakers 7-8 years left in them......not to mention the Lakers bench is very young and could step in big time, led by Bynum who will be 22, Farmar, Sasha and Shannon Brown.
Sure, there are a few young teams that could become beasts;
Portland, OKC, Memphis......but I doubt the'll be able to keep their stars due to financial issues and lack of Media / Endorsements/ Glamour in their towns,
which is why Lebron is eyeing NY.
Cavs (LeBron will be 29 in his prime and the GOAT)
Thunder (Durant will be 25 and should be exceptional plus they are young)
Bulls (Very young roster, and they have Rose who IMO has Wade potential)
Lakers (the NBA will make sure that they compete)
Celtics (see Lakers)
Honourable mentions: Portland, Memphis, LAC
First off @ LBJ being the GOAT, Mike, Wilt, Kareem, Bird are untouchable.
Second off, I don't remember LeBron signing an extension to be with the Cavs in 5 year or even 2 years from now
He's on the short list. Yep. Not arguing that at all.
If Kobe just averages 70 games a season for the next eight seasons, then he'll be over 1500 games.
This puts him into Kareem/Robert Parish territory. The only perimeter player to play more than 1500 games was Stockton, and he came off the bench his first three seasons and averaged 31MPG for his career.
Yes Jordan was lighting it up at 40. He also entered the league 4 years older than Kobe, took two full seasons off after retiring the first time, and three more seasons off after retiring the second time. When he suited up for his first game as a Washington Wizard, he had appeared in fewer total NBA games than Kobe has now.
My point is that it's not just age or conditioning that you have to factor in, but the sheer amount of wear-and-tear that 82-game seasons and extended playoff appearances take on your body.
Yeah - even MJ broke down by the end of his last season. It happens to everyone.
If you think Kobe is going to be half the player he is now in 2016 (after 20 full seasons as an elite perimeter player), then YOU obviously don't know basketball history.
And no I'm not young. I'm four years older than Kobe. I'm ancient.
Let me clarify this for you;
To me you are just a baby in diapers and haven't seen much basketball......why? Because I actually saw Wilt Chamberlain battle Bill Russell,
I got Pat Riley's autograph when he was a Rookie player.
I have won more championships as a coach than years you have been alive.
So please don't think you're impressing me by being 34....lol.
Now "IF" you can....go back and READ my comments about Kobe as a 38 year old likely switching to SF due to decreased foot speed and athletic ability, now I never said anything about Kobe being "Elite" at that age but you are a fool to think he'd be a role player....there is not the slightest doubt that he'll be able to score 18 to 20 points per game which would put him in the top 20 - 30 players in the league using this seasons statistics.....would you call that a role player???? I'd say he'd be very valuable to any team.
Now in case you don't understand these things;
The current athletes have better trainers, doctors, have conditioning specialists. The "aahem...lol" supplements they take are far more beneficial to their bodies.....even their daily comforts are better than their older counterparts....meaning bedding, transportation etc...
I remember star athletes having knee surgery....there were no "minor" knee surgeries back then, they would slice your knee apart leaving a huge ugly scar, chances for recovery extremely poor, a surgery that today would be arthroscopic knee surgery with a quick 100% recovery and no scar.
5 years from now things will be even better hence better chance of longevity.
As I also said, Kobe has played a ton of basketball, but with his dedication to conditioning, diet, the above stated amenities of the pro player and the fact that he's not a drinker/party type tells me that he will be at least as effective at 38 as Jordan was at 40.
I could write 50 pages on this stuff, but I think any intelligent person would get the point by now.
This is a stupid speculation thread. Literally anything can happen in 5 years. Look at what happened to Boston, or Detroit in that span. For all we know we could be looking at a Clippers-Knicks finals by then. Just so stupid to argue over this as if anybody has a clue...
Re: The best teams in the league in 5 years
@ Lakers being old
