Four Cities. Two Teams. One Game.

Over the extensive history of the NBA, teams have set out to represent the city they are based in. Each franchise intends to weave itself into the fabric of that metropolitan area through winning and community involvement. However, there have been isolated incidents where a team has gone regional out of desire for a wider reach or out of necessity. Today, we spotlight two of these teams: the Kansas City-Omaha Kings and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. These are the two teams that took a regional approach to franchising for two separate reasons.

In 1972, the Cincinnati Royals shipped off for America's Heartland after declining performance on the court and in the stands. Instead of going with one city, the newly-christened Kings (since there was already a 3 year-old Royals baseball team in KC) split their home games between 7,500-seat Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City and 9,300-seat Civic Auditorium in Omaha. The Kings moved into Kemper Arena in 1974 and dropped the "Omaha" from their name the following season. They stopped playing games in Omaha after the 1977-78 season, and moved from Kansas City to Sacramento in 1985.

The New Orleans Hornets had arrived from Charlotte in 2002 after owner George Shinn could not get a new taxpayer-funded arena there. In the summer of 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and flooded much of New Orleans, temporarily displacing the city's sports teams. The Saints played games in Baton Rouge and San Antonio, while the Hornets elected to play most of its games in Oklahoma City. The Hornets would eventually return to New Orleans full-time for the 2007-2008 season.

I decided to run a simulation between the best editions of these two franchises: the 1975 Kings (44-38) that made the playoffs in their final year as Kansas City-Omaha, and the 2007 Hornets (39-43) who missed the playoffs as they were slowly making their way back to New Orleans full time. The Kings were designated the home team by virtue of having the better record. Here're the results:

This game was a close one down to the final minutes. Devin Brown hit a contested jumper to make it 94-93 with 2:13 left in the 4th. From there the Hornets held off the Kings at the free throw line.

Chris Paul had a monster game, logging a double-double in points and assists as well as 5 steals. Not to be outdone, Nate "Tiny" Archibald had a double-double of his own, but was done it by his 7 turnovers on the night. NOK overcame their deficiencies from three-point range by getting to the line for 33 free throw attempts and forcing 19 turnovers.

What do you think of the results? If you have anything to say about a young Chris Paul, the greatness of Tiny Archibald's career, the presence of future head coach Mike D'Antoni, or anything else, be sure to let me know in the comments below!

Kobe Bryant: A Uniform Success

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Lakers posted an interactive visual that shows every jersey that Kobe Bryant has worn over his illustrious 20-year professional, international, and all-star basketball career.

It goes without saying that the whole thing is frickin' awesome! It's cool to go through and be reminded not only of great moments in Kobe's career, but of evolution of uniforms over the past two decades. You may notice that Kobe's Lakers uniform doesn't change until his fourth season, and he doesn't wear anything outside of the purple and gold until the tail end of his sixth season. The floodgates open from there, from numerous Lakers throwbacks and alternates to the progressively more lavish All-Star uniforms. The interactive page says a lot about both NBA fashion in the new millenium and the longevity of an All-Star's - and future Hall-of-Famer's - career. Be sure to click-through and give the page a look. Which jersey of Kobe's is your favorite? Tell me in the comments below!

Which NCAA Schools Play Scenarioball?

Xavier and Georgetown faced off on Saturday in a key Big East matchup. I will soon find out if either team plays Scenarioball. Photo courtesy Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports

Hello, all! I hope you had a great weekend. Time to check in on the best interactive basketball game this side of NBA 2K: Scenarioball! Today's post puts us back on campus.

Not long ago I compared NBA teams against my Scenarioball stats - that is, statistical categories that I value when I watch a game such as dunks and made three-pointers. I alluded to the fact I wanted to do the same for the NCAA, but with 351 schools, I knew that would be a challenge.

I contemplated how to deal with the sheer number of schools in Division I and resolved that while each school is unique, I don't truly care about all of them. I decided to narrow down the number of schools with some arena standards in the vain of Euroleague and UEFA. I prefer schools that play in pro-style arenas with mostly chairback seats on three or four sides of the court, with premium seating as an added bonus. I assume my love of pro basketball influences that.

Here are the arena standards I came up with:

• Must be the team's main venue, i.e. play about 3/4 of their home games there
• At least 5,000 seats
• Must have multiple premium seating options
• Must be located in a metro area of 100,000 or more

I figured I would have more demands in my standards, but they came out pretty simple. I ended up with 70 schools from across the DI basketball landscape:

Arkansas Razorbacks

Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans

Belmont Bruins

Binghamton Bearcats

Cincinnati Bearcats

Creighton Bluejays

Dayton Flyers

DePaul Blue Demons

Eastern Michigan Eagles

Evansville Aces

Florida State Seminoles

Fresno State Bulldogs

Georgetown Hoyas

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Green Bay Pheonix

Hofstra Pride

Houston Cougars

Illinois Fighting Illini

Lipscomb Bisons

Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns

Louisville Cardinals

Marquette Golden Eagles

Maryland Terrapins

Memphis Tigers

Miami Hurricanes

Michigan State Spartans

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Missouri Tigers

Missouri State Bears

NC State Wolfpack

Nebraska Cornhuskers

New Mexico Lobos

Northern Illinois Huskies

Northern Iowa Panthers

Northern Kentucky Norse

Ohio State Buckeyes

Old Dominion Monarchs

Omaha Mavericks

Penn State Nittany Lions

Pittsburgh Panthers

Providence Friars

Rhode Island Rams

Richmond Spiders

Saint Louis Billikens

Seattle Redhawks

Seton Hall Pirates

Siena Saints

SMU Mustangs

South Alabama Jaguars

South Carolina Gamecocks

South Florida Bulls

Syracuse Orange

Temple Owls

Tennessee Volunteers

Texas Longhorns

Texas-Arlington Mavericks

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Toledo Rockets

Towson Tigers

UCF Knights

UNLV Runnin' Rebels

USC Trojans

Utah Valley Wolverines

Vanderbilt Commodores

Virginia Cavaliers

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Wisconsin Badgers

Wright State Raiders

Xavier Musketeers

Phew! Did you get all of those? I'm going to run my numbers on these schools for this season and put them into a readable chart. I'm thinking of putting the top teams into a March Madness-style tournament, but I'll work that out later. At some point I'll also go back to past seasons to see which teams have consistently played the way I enjoy. I intend to put those teams into a 8- to 12-team conference that I'll cover beat-reporter style next season. As with any time I run numbers, I'm excited to see how things shake out.

Remembering Cobo Arena (w/ Videos)

Photo courtesy stadiumpostcards.com

I visited Cobo Arena when the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education came to Detroit in 2003. The convention took up much of Cobo Hall, with the big speaking engagements and services taking place in the Arena.

Upon stepping in the arena, I was enamored. It was different than any venue I had been in up to that point. It looked like a major arena with its two decks, but there were only seats on three sides. On the fourth side was a big, intriguingly designed wall. This place was so cool to me, unlike any place I had ever seen. So it's particularly interesting that while many notable concerts and speakers have come through the arena Cobo is an arena that the basketball world forgot.

It hosted the Pistons from 1961 to 1978, the University of Detroit Mercy Titans from 1988 to 1993, and ABA2000's Detroit Dogs for their 2000-2001 season. I also remember it being a destination on the AND 1 Mixtape Tour when they had their own show on ESPN. But good luck finding any videos from any of these eras.

Dave Bing played 9 seasons for the Detroit Pistons, all of which were during the team's tenancy in Cobo Arena

However, I recently came across one. The video - a Bucks/Pistons game from the 1969-70 season - was posted over a year ago by Hal15Greer and is the first extensive video I've seen from inside the arena. The only other time I've seen Cobo on YouTube in game form was for a few seconds in this DePaul Blue Demons video yearbook from 1992.

As I said above, the basketball world seemed to just forget about Cobo Arena. The Pistons bolted for Pontiac in 1978 then moved to Auburn Hills in 1988. When they needed an alternate venue in the city, they used the bigger Joe Louis Arena next door. The Shock would use either Joe Louis Arena or Eastern Michigan's Conovocation Center. Cobo Arena was torn down in 2009 and renovated into a grand ballroom with a view overlooking the Detroit River. While Cobo the sporting venue no longer stands, it will always leave an impression on me.

All-Star Thoughts: That Was Awesomtacular!!

I hope you enjoyed All-Star Weekend as much as I did. After that three-day experience, my mind is swimming with thoughts about various moments from all of the events that took place in The Six. Here they are in as organized a fashion as I can put them:

NBA ALL-STAR CELEBRITY GAME

The game was harmless fun, as it should be. My girlfriend called Kevin Hart's return to the court a mile away. Thankfully he was awful enough that he didn't even sniff a chance at the MVP. Kevin getting the MVP award again would have been the only thing that made me hate this game. I still like Kevin Hart and enjoyed him all weekend, but that would have been a bit much. I'm happy for the actual MVP, Arcade Fire's Win Butler. It sucks that people seemed to not know who he was even though this was his second celebrity game and his band is a Grammy-winning outfit that has been around for 15 years.

I also feel bad for Win that his acceptance speech got cut short there at the end by Sage. However, I do think Sage - and by extension the producers that were most likely in her ear- were in the right for what they did, despite doing it awkwardly. Considering how Win started off, I'm sure I would have agreed with the statement he was trying to make. But there's no denying that politics in general is a divisive topic, no matter what you're discussing. Nobody's trying to hear that stuff at the end of a goofy celebrity basketball game that is already bleeding 14 minutes into the next live event. I'm sure Win will, if he hasn't already, find better avenues to stress the point he wanted to make before being cut short, but that specific moment just wasn't the right time. But that's in the past, congrats to Win on your MVP!

I missed the Rising Stars Challenge, but I saw it was a high-scoring game that saw Zach Lavine take home the MVP. Who knew those two things would serve as harbingers for the coming days.

D-LEAGUE DUNK CONTEST

I tuned in with the intention of watching the D-League All-Star Game. I happened to come in at halftime, just as they were about to start the dunk contest.

Out of the six participants, I remembered four of them from their college days: Lemon, Sykes, Threatt, and Tokoto. I wasn't surprised Tokoto and Sykes were there. I was surprised to see Walt Lemon in the mix, but was glad he was there.

My two favorite dunks came from the guys I didn't know: DJ Stephens and John Jordan. Stephens in particular did a dunk where he slowly walked under the basket and exploded up for a behind-the-legs jam. I liked because he walked so casually towards the bucket, as if there was a chance he was going to survey the hoop and decide to forfeit: "Nah, no thanks, I can't reach up there. I'm out". Oh, but he could. John Jordan was overall amazing. He's my height, but has trampoline hops. He had an amazing display of athleticism and absolutely deserved the title.

SKILLS CHALLENGE

I figured the Skills Challenge was going to be fun for the comedic value of the bigs struggling with the obstacle course. The challenge turned out to be truly entertaining, all the way down to Karl-Anthony Towns's challenge-clinching three. I saw how the architect(s) envisioned their course to be run the way Towns and Isaiah Thomas weaved and finessed their way through. They nailed the format this year. Hopefully they keep it this way in the coming years.

THREE-POINT SHOOTOUT

The skit between Draymond Green and Kevin Hart was a fun thing. I like the fact that despite the tie, Draymond got a big ol' trophy while Kevin got a ribbon. While that result would have played out regardless, I do think it was funnier that they didn't for the tie, and it would have been morbidly hilarious if they still gave Draymond the trophy after the loss.

For the actual contest itself, the drama was intense throughout. I loved how it came down to the final rack to determine the winner of the contest. The way the Shootout is set up, it always has that inherent tension. This was another year that didn't disappoint.

SLAM DUNK CONTEST

Aaron Gordon got hosed. I really think the dunk contest judges should be players that have been in the dunk contest couple with the fan vote they did in the late early part of this decade. This batch of judges were annoying to say the least

At least Gordon's dunks will be immortalized, as opposed to the focus on who won. Everyone loved the sitting dunk, but my favorite was the Lazy Susan dunk. When Stuff came out on the hoverboard I rolled my eyes. Once Stuff started rotating, that's when my eyes widened. It's like being bemused with an average-looking obstacle course, and then having your jaw drop when someone flips a switch and there are flames around everything: degree of difficulty raised.

Even though I thought Gordon should have won, Lavine was amazing in his own right. And I really like the tribute he gave to the late Flip Saunders on Instagram after the win. If Gordon wasn't going to win, at least it went to a dunker and person as great as Zach Lavine. I hope they both come back next year.

ALL-STAR GAME

Sting put on a good performance, but considering how the NBA just seems to be more of a rap-and-pop league, it was a bit out of place. Walk the Moon, whom I enjoy very much, seemed a bit out of place too, but only because their performance seemed a bit subdued. But I didn't mind, and I'm open to whoever else they bring out in future years. The intro performance by Cirque du Soleil was epic, and Ne-Yo and Nelly did good with their respective country's anthems. The acts were good, and seemed to play more of the background to the festivities of the weekend.

I enjoyed the hell out of this game. I wanted the West to get to 200 points, but they sadly ran out of time. As you seen from my Scenarioball game, I love alley-oops and threes, and I got those in spades. They're like home runs, and not a lot of people get tired of home runs. The only complaints about the lack of defense I've seen from my corner of the world are from three ESPN personalities: Chris Broussard, Max Bretos, and Jonathan Coachman. Bah humbug to them! This game was fun! I'll admit I was surprised that the defense didn't ramp up in the 4th, but once the points and highlights kept piling up, that concern went away. This is an exhibition game! This is The World's Greatest Pickup Game! Why would you want to see defense?

Now it's Monday - and a Happy President's Day to you! I leave the weekend smiling at the memories of the last few days. I'm sure I'm going to remember a lot of those great moments for the rest of my life. But now it's time to look towards the fun that is yet to be had: the trade deadline, the end of the season, and of course the playoffs. Will anyone be traded by Thursday? Will the Warriors break the record? So many questions left to answer in this 2015-16 campaign.

But we'll always have Toronto.

UNLV Game From '87 Confirms My Beliefs of Vegas in the 80's

Ed. Note: If the embedded video above doesn't show up for you, here's the link.

Much of this Wednesday was spent video-browsing. I knew I wanted to bring you a full basketball game from YouTube, but I wasn't sure what kind. I thought about a throwback Raptors game with All-Star Weekend coming up. I thought about a full game with an announcer I liked such as Ian Eagle or Kevin Calabro. I thought about something with a lot of flash, like a game with a lot of dunks. Then I stumbled across a video and thought "Yes. This is The One".

I take you to January 3, 1987 for a tilt between the 11-0 UNLV Runnin' Rebels and the 5-4 UC Irvine Anteaters from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association opener for both teams, and the 114-72 victory for Nevada-Las Vegas was the first win en route to an 18-0 conference record. The Rebels would make it all the way to the Final Four before falling to Bobby Knight's Indiana squad 97-93 at the Superdome.

This video grabbed me for a couple of reasons. For one, legendary Lakers announcer Chick Hearn is on the call, bringing you fast-paced play-by-play and analysis solo with the same intensity he had for those Showtime teams of the 80's. The other reason are the commercials. They are exactly the way I would imagine Vegas commercials in the 80's. Advertisements for sports books, vault companies, and jewelers featuring graphics that looked "high-tech" then but are cheesy by today's standards. They're a cross between small-market cheese (The beginning of Vegas's population explosion was just a year away), Vegas glitz, and 80's zeitgeist. Let me know which ad was your favorite in the comments below. One interesting note is that Royal West Airlines, one of this broadcast's sponsors, would cease operations the month after this game aired after only being in operation since the previous June.

The future NBAers in this game include UNLV's Armon (later "Armen") Gilliam, Gerald Paddio, and Mark Wade, and UC Irvine's Scott Brooks and Wayne Englestad.

I couldn't find a box score for this game. Instead, here's a game recap from the day after by the Las Vegas Review-Journal's John Rohde.

NBA 2015-16 All-Axed-Coaches Team

Derek Fisher was fired by the New York Knicks on Monday, making him the fifth head coach to be fired during the 2015-16 season. Photo Courtesy AP Photo/Lynne Sladky.

In-season coaching firings are nothing new in the NBA. Since 1980-81, there has always been at least one coach to get the axe over the course of the season. 9 coaches were dropped during the 2004-05 season and 8 were fired during the 2008-09 campaign. This season, 5 head coaches were let go with a sixth coach holding on to his job for now. There's a few teams that may make changes at some point, but things look quiet on the coach-slashing front for now.

So with the dust having settled, let's take a look at the best players to play during these released coaches' tenures. There are going to be some substantial names on this list, which may be a testament to these coaches' inability to cultivate the talent they had in these go-arounds. Some of these guys may get chances somewhere else, but for now we bid them farewell and nothing but the best.

COACHING TENURES COVERED

Kevin McHale: Houston 2011-2015

Jeff Hornacek: Phoenix 2013-2016

Lionel Hollins: Brooklyn 2014-2016

David Blatt: Cleveland 2014-2016

Derek Fisher: New York 2014-2016

POINT GUARDS

Kyrie Irving (Cleveland, 2014-2016)

100 games, 20.9 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.9 APG

Eric Bledsoe (Phoenix, 2013-2016)

124 games, 17.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 5.9 APG

Goran Dragic (Houston, 2011-12; Phoenix 2013-2015)

194 games, 16.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 5.2 APG

Kyle Lowry (Houston, 2011-12)

47 games, 14.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 6.6 APG

SHOOTING GUARDS

James Harden (Houston, 2011-2015)

285 games, 26.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 6.4 APG

Brandon Knight (Phoenix, 2015-2016)

53 games, 18.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 4.9 APG

SMALL FORWARDS

LeBron James (Cleveland, 2014-2016)

119 games, 25.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 7.0 APG

Carmelo Anthony (New York, 2014-2016)

87 games, 22.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 3.7 APG

Chandler Parsons (Houston, 2011-2015)

213 games, 14.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.3 APG

POWER FORWARDS

Kevin Love (Cleveland, 2014-2016)

125 games, 16.2 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 2.3 APG

Thaddeus Young (Brooklyn, 2014-2016)

81 games, 14.7 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.6 APG

CENTERS

Dwight Howard (Houston, 2013-2015)

154 games, 16.5 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 1.6 APG

Brook Lopez (Brooklyn 2014-2016)

125 games, 18.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.1 APG

Big Game Predictor: Panthers (Hornets) vs. Broncos (Nuggets)

You can check out the video AT THIS LINK.

With the Super Bowl 50 fast approaching, I decided to make my prediction of who is going to win the game the best way I can: by pitting each city's basketball team against each other on a video game and recording the results. I present to you the Big Game Predictor.

With the Panthers and Broncos facing off in Santa Clara on Sunday, I used the Hornets and Nuggets to represent each contingent. On NBA 2K16, you can only play in a team's home arena, so no Oracle Arena for me. Instead, since the Broncos are the designated home team, the simulation takes place in Denver. The Broncos decided they will where white uniforms, so I let the Nuggets where their white sleeved alternate uniforms. By extension, the Panthers are going to wear their black home uniforms, so the Hornets wore their black sleeved alternate uniforms. From there it was time to kick things off.

The victor of this simulation is the team I was already expecting to win the Super Bowl anyway. The margin of victory surprised me considering how the flow of the game was going. Now, if the Super Bowl follows the same script in terms of momentum, I would be pleasantly shocked and mildly afraid of my predictive powers.

Also, this is my first video where I'm doing my own commentary. It was a blast to do and I hope you enjoy the game as well.

Scenarioball: Back on Campus

I hinted in my last Scenarioball post that I was going to try to tackle the college ranks at some point. While I don't foresee that post being done within the immediate future, I figured it would be cool to give the game a whirl on random games from the season to date.

The first game I thought to do was Illinois's triple overtime win over Rutgers. I happened to catch the beginning of the game, but changed the channel at halftime so I could watch Warriors/Wizards. These two teams have injury-marred rosters and came in with only one conference win between them. My numbers showed that the matchup would not have been all that thrilling despite the length and competitiveness of the game.

Seeing that a triple overtime game didn't fare that well with my numbers jarred me a bit. So I decided to go back into the recent archives to figure out if my eyes deceived me when I watched games I was invested in. I first went to my second favorite game of the season: the 4OT battle between Arizona and USC. I wanted USC to win, they outlasted the Wildcats, and they were fun to watch in the process.

Okay cool. That game was as awesome as I thought it was. So I decided to up the ante and try Scenarioball on my favorite game of the season: my alma mater's upset win at Wisconsin on the first day of the season. While I was running around my house when the final buzzer sounded, WIU and Wisconsin ended the game above water in Scenario points. Very cool.

I then decided to give it a go on two other random games. The Seattle/Cal game is on YouTube and I've been meaning to watching it eventually. Apparently it just breaks even, so I won't be in too much of a rush to check it out. I watched the Texas/Washington game on-demand and it seems to have been way more brutal then I recall. I suppose I was lost in the ramblings of Bill Walton and that fact the game was played in China!

I definitely have the most fun applying my game to random matchups just to see how things shake out. Perhaps doing random games every now and again could help me chip away at getting that full college article done. But even with the games I've done, I'd still have a long way to go.

Looking Back at MJ's 1st NBA Game in North Carolina

Christmas Eve Eve, 1988: Michael Jordan's first NBA game in the state of North Carolina.

The Wilmington native and North Carolina Tar Heel was drafted 3rd overall in the 1984 draft. Four years into his NBA career, the two-time scoring champion and reigning steals champion was already wowing fans across the league. However, for all of the highlights and milestones, MJ had yet to return to his home state.

The arrival of the expansion Charlotte Hornets provided that opportunity in 1988. In front of a national TV audience on TBS, the new teal-pinstriped outfit was able to show off their sparkling new hive and raucous sellout crowd for all of America to see. It also gave the expansion team the chance to prove themselves against His Airness.

The game came down to the wire, with the Hornets pulling out the close victory 103-101 on a Kurt Rambis layup at the buzzer. It's funny he's the hero in this win after he blew a layup early in the game that led to a Bulls score. Kelly Tripucka led Charlotte with 30 points. The team forced 23 turnovers while only giving up 14. The Hornets bench also outscored the Bulls 38-19.

Michael Jordan was fantastic, pacing his team with 33 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 steals. However, he also had 7 turnovers in the losing effort. It was amazing to watch how acrobatic and nimble he was throughout the game. When the curtain closed on MJ's career, he had played 37 games against the Hornets. He would finish with averages of 32.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists. Jordan was so good against Charlotte, he owns the team now!

Video courtesy of UndisputedGoldLion. Footage is from WFLD 32 Chicago (I wonder how a Bulls game would look now if they still did games). The late duo of Jim Durham and Johnny "Red" Kerr are on the call. Enjoy!

Bulls vs. Lakers: Shaq Instagram Debate Settled

In July 2015, NBA legend and TNT studio analyst Shaquille O'Neal posted the above picture on his Instagram of what he felt were the all-time starting fives for the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. O'Neal, whom put his self in the Lakers five, felt his squad could beat the Bulls five "by fifty". Once the debate was sparked, several YouTube videos were posted using NBA 2K15 to figure out who would win. While they're all good videos, I felt that not having a virtual Kareem Abdul-Jabbar available - forcing gamers to create or download their own - took away from the experience a bit. With Kareem being included in NBA 2K16, I decided to give this debate another look.

Here are the video highlights, our first video on the new Scenario Mode TV YouTube channel. Analysis and setup information is provided under the video:

I played a CPU vs. CPU game between the Lakers and Bulls with 12-minute quarters. Since Shaq started this debate, the Lakers are the home team. I used the following versions of each player for the starting fives:

BULLS

PF Horace Grant ('92 Bulls, 80 overall)

PF Dennis Rodman ('96 Bulls, 85 overall)

SF Scottie Pippen ('96 Bulls, 92 overall)

SG Michael Jordan ('96 Bulls, 99 overall)

PG Derrick Rose (Current player with attributes from his 2K15 MyTeam MVP card, 94 overall)

LAKERS

C Shaquille O'Neal ('01 Lakers, 96 overall)

C Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ('87 Lakers, 94 overall)

SF Elgin Baylor ('65 Lakers, 91 overall)

SG Kobe Bryant ('01 Lakers, 95 overall)

PG Magic Johnson ('87 Lakers, 97 overall)

The game was played on Superstar difficulty with simulation sliders. I wanted to see how this starting five would shake out over a full game, so I turned off fatigue and injuries and set the rotations so each player was set to play a full 48.

When this debate first came about, I set aside my Bulls bias and conceded that the Lakers definitely had the advantage in this scenario, though the Bulls wouldn't lose by 50. A lot of people pointed out that Artis Gilmore should have been put in at center for the Bulls, and I agree. Having hall-of-fame and hall-of-fame-caliber centers in the frontcourt are to trump two all-star power forwards over a 48 minute span. But switching out an all-star forward for a hall-of-fame center could change some things. But these are the ten that Shaq set forward, so we're going to roll with it.

Here are the results. As I thought, Shaq's Lakers didn't beat the Bulls by 50. They beat them by 5, 125-120. While I made sure that each player played the full game, I forgot about disabling foul outs. So when Derrick Rose picked up his sixth with 23 seconds in the fourth quarter, I had to cut the experiment short. Below are the stats:

In the end, it was the instigator of the Instagram debate that made the difference. Despite scoring almost exclusively in the paint and struggling at the line, the Lakers were able to pull out the narrow win thanks to one Shaquille O'Neal. Horace Grant gave a valiant effort, but Shaq was just too much for him, amassing 42 points and pulling down 11 boards.

I figured the difference would come down to the frontcourt, and that was the case here. Kareem and Shaq are two centers that were major scorers in their careers and know how to get to the basket. The duo combined for 54 points. Grant and Rodman were looked at for rebounds and rim protection. They finished with a combined 19 points. In the context of this game, that meant that the Lakers had five scorers on the floor the entire game, while the Bulls had three. Jordan, Pippen, and Rose were able to get their points through much of the game. But in the later stages, the Lakers were able to focus on those three defensively while pulling off a 7-2 run of their own to put the game away.

In the end, it was a fun game. Discussions about who is better and who is best make the basketball world go 'round. It's always good to watch it actually play out instead of just talking in hypotheticals. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below. Do you think these are truly the all-time starting fives for both teams? What other NBA team starting fives do you think could stand up to the Lakers or Bulls?

The NBA According to Scenarioball

Happy Monday and Happy Black History Month! I hope you had a great weekend.

A lot of exciting stuff will be coming your way this month, including my first video for the Scenario Mode YouTube channel. I'm still working on my rhythm from recording games to editing to posting. So as of this writing, my first video isn't ready just yet. In the meantime, I decided to give you a post that puts my new game Scenarioball into perspective. While I have done some tabulations for individual games, I eventually wanted to look at my game from a more macro level. The beginning of a new month seems like a good time to reflect.

Below are NBA team Scenarioball stats through January 31st. While the game can get much more advanced by tracking things such as ugly-looking shots and missed open layups, I figured I would keep it simple and look up the tracked stats that you can find in the NBA.com stats section.

It's really cool to see it all laid out in front of me. Here are a few loose observations I extract from the numbers:

• I'm not surprised that in terms of what I enjoy the most about basketball, the Warriors bring it the most and in spades. Every Warriors game I watch has been an event for me. I have been particularly enamored with the play of Steph Curry like almost everyone else, but Golden State's entertainment value is a team effort. I'm looking forward to seeing if they can cap off a historic season, dunking and dropping treys along the way.
• Depsite their underacheiving, the Rockets seem to still be entertaining to watch. I had been avoiding Rockets games up to this point because of the organizational and defensive mess they're in, as well as their outright refusal to play the raw but talented K.J. McDaniels. In the face of these stats, maybe I'll give them a look when they come back around on the national schedule.
• When Doc Rivers replaced Vinny Del Negro as coach of the Clippers in 2013, Blake Griffin quipped that Lob City "[didn't] exist anymore". Yet there they are, leading the NBA in alley-oops, propelling themselves into 3rd place in the Scenarioball standings. A few things turn me off from the Clippers. Among them are Doc's constant whining for calls (more than what's normal for NBA players and coaches), torpedoing his roster with each transaction, and the team's below-average logos and uniforms. Biases aside, there's no doubt the Clippers are fun to watch.
• It's hilarious that the worst team in the league are a Top 10 Scenarioball team, coming in at #9. We should get them a trophy! The Bulls, my favorite team, are all the way down at #20.
• The Brooklyn Nets are at the bottom of the Scenarioball standings with only 118(!) points. They're 48 games into the season, yet are barely over 100 points. If you doubled the Nets' point total, it would still fall short of the second-to-last Hornets. After all of the fanfare of moving into a cool, new arena in the heart of Brooklyn and paying big bucks to be an immediate contender, this franchise has stagnated. The team is attempting to transition with the removal of head coach Lionel Hollins and reassignment of GM Billy King. At this point in American history, however, the future is up in the air. They will be hard to watch for the foreseeable future.

There's a look at the NBA according to basic Scenarioball. Let me know what you think in the comments. Do any of these findings surprise you? Are their teams you enjoy or dislike that are in different places in the standings? I will definitely be updating the stats and adding some advanced categories at a later date. I also want to comb through the college ranks, too, but with 351 schools, that post will take awhile.