Curtain won't fall on Showtime

Showdown verdict: Bulls can be top NBA dynasty

Add one of the most lethal scoring forwards in playoff history. Mix in one of the coaching legends in the history of sports.

Opponents couldn't defend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's famous sky-hook.

Put them all together and you get the foundation of the greatest dynasty in NBA history.

Better known as "Showtime."

Or to use Magic Johnson's classic expression, "Winnin' time."

How's this for winnin': In a 12-season span from 1979-80 to 1990-91, the Los Angeles Lakers went to nine NBA Finals and won five championships. Along the way, they defeated some of the all-time greats, including the legendary 1986 Celtics.

When the Lakers successfully defended their title in 1988, becoming the first team to repeat since the Celtics teams of the '60s, they earned a permanent place in NBA annals.

Truth is, the Lakers would have reigned supreme over the best Celtics teams of the '60s, too. They were too big. Had too much firepower. Were too good at the defensive end in crunch time. Had too many money players. And nobody played a more beautiful style.

The Bulls of the '90s? Please.

"No way the Bulls would have beaten us," Johnson said. "You know why? They don't have anybody who would have been able to stop Kareem in the low post. That's the Bulls' greatest weakness. And that was our greatest strength. The big guy couldn't be stopped."

Amen. In his prime, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would have sky-hooked the Bulls, and even Boston's Bill Russell, to death. Abdul-Jabbar finished his Hall of Fame career with 38,387 points, the most ever.

But this wasn't a one-man team.

In Johnson, the Lakers had a point guard who revolutionized his position. At 6-foot-9, he could lead the break or initiate the offense from the low post. And never has there been such a winner.

Johnson won championships in high school and college and served notice as a rookie that he wasn't going to stop winning rings as a professional. In his very first season, he turned in one of the great performances in league annals when he won Finals MVP honors while playing center in the title-clinching game.

	ZONE POLL

Between them, Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson won 14 MVP awards for the regular-season and Finals.

In 1982 the Lakers drafted James Worthy, a scoring machine who always rose to the occasion come playoff time. No other forward, past or present, could run the wing on the break and finish as lethally.

To be an all-time great team you need an all-time great coach. Well, the Lakers had that too in Pat Riley. We didn't find out how great Riley is until he did his real genius work later with the Knicks and Miami Heat.

Can you name another coach who could get an underskilled Knicks team to an NBA Finals, or get 60 wins out of this year's Heat? Fact is, he doesn't exist.

"I had two of the greatest competitors who ever played this game," Riley said. "Earvin was the more vocal one. But don't underestimate Kareem. The big fella was the ultimate."

Which is entirely fitting. Because when it comes to stacking up the NBA's all-time dynasties, the Lakers were the ultimate, too.

Mitch Lawrence, NBA columnist for the New York Daily News, is a regular contributor to ESPNET SportsZone.