Maybe they got better "star power", but we got a better team.
Imagine a 7 game series: (player must be at least 3 years on roster)
LAKERS:
Starting five: Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, James Worthy, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Bench: Norm Nixon, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Michael Cooper, Jamaal Wilkes, Elgin Baylor, Paul Gasol, Bob McAdoo, George Mikan, Shaquille O'Neal
CELTICS:
Starting five: Nate Archibald, Ray Allen, Larry Bird, Kevin Garnett, Bill Russell
Bench: Bob Cousy, Jo-Jo White, Dennis Johnson, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Paul Pierce, Kevin McHale, Dave Cowens, Bill Walton, Robert Parish
LA LakersI think the Lakers go with
PG: Magic Johnson (defending SF)
SG: Jerry West (defending PG)
SF: Kobe Bryant (defending SG)
PF: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
C: Wilt Chamberlain
Leaving Shaq off the team is a tough call. I gave Wilt the nod over Shaq because this team is loaded with scorers already so I thought Wilt's value as a lower usage facilitator (defense, rebounding, passing, team offense) trumped Shaq's overwhelming physicality and individual scoring prowess. That Wilt would enable his teammates better than Shaq would which Wilt was excellent at in the final years of his career playing with the Lakers. If this team wasn't so loaded in scoring, I think Shaq has a good case to be picked over Wilt.
Boston Celtics PG: Bob Cousy (defending PG normally, in this case defending Jerry West)
SG: Paul Pierce (defending SG)
SF: Larry Bird (defending SF normally, in this case Magic)
PF: Kevin Garnett
C: Bill Russell
I wouldn't put Nate Archibald or Ray Allen in the team. They had their best years elsewhere. Not in Boston. Neither player came close to reaching the heights that Cousy, Pierce or Havlicek did as Celtics.