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?