|
|
|
 |
1985-86 Boston Celtics (4) vs. 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers (7) |
 |
|
 | |||
| |||
Hall of Fame center explains why his 1986-87 Lakers are the best ever
Q&A With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
 The NBA's scoring leader with 38,387 points, Abdul-Jabbar entered the Hall of Fame in 1995.
Andrew D. Bernstein NBAE/Getty Images |
Robert Parish on the 1985-86 Celtics Vote for the All-Time Finals Challenge champion
What made that '87 team so special?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: I think the '87 Lakers team had everything going for it -- balance and depth -- and some great players who were at the top of their game.
Why made that championship special? What did you take from those battles?
Abdul-Jabbar: Gee, the playoffs that year really were easy for us. We only lost three games for those playoffs, so that's a pretty dominant performance.
Were you surprised by that or did that team have a sense of inevitability about it?
Abdul-Jabbar: You go into the playoffs not knowing what was going to happen. I had no idea we would be able to get through that cleanly. It was a relief. For me it was kind of special. I turned 40 that year and I had one of my best years ever in professional basketball.
Did it feel like you could beat the defending champion Celtics?
Abdul-Jabbar: We thought we could win. We thought were the better team. But being the better team and proving you're the better team are two different things. You gotta go out there and prove it on the court and the fact that we were a veteran team that had the desire was something that was really in our favor. I think that the depth that we had on the bench allowed us to dominate.
You played for a 66-16 Bucks team that won the '71 championship, so you've been on a lot of great teams. Was that '87 Lakers team the best team you've ever played on?
Abdul-Jabbar: (Smiling) I thought the best team I played on was the 1985 Lakers team [Abdul-Jabbar won NBA Finals MVP in '85]. It's hard to compare from one year to the other.
The team we had in Milwaukee was a very good team, had very good depth and had great role players, guys who could come off the bench, knew what they had to do and did it consistently. We had a pretty easy time. We swept in the Finals [Baltimore Bullets]. It's hard to compare -- it was so long ago, people don't remember.
|
