INTERESTING NBA HYPOTHETICAL: Who could beat the current Lakers? asks Michael Wilbon. Surprisingly, he picks the 1990 Pistons:

Of course, there's nobody since Wilt Chamberlain who could match up physically with Shaquille O'Neal. (If the conditioning-obsessed Wilt came along today, instead of being a toned and naturally muscled 275, he'd be a sculpted 315.) But the Pistons had one of the great defensive rebounders in Bill Laimbeer. James Edwards was a 7-foot shooter who could take Shaq outside; John Salley a long-armed shot-blocker; Rick Mahorn a power forward with the perfect mentality and body to bang; and Dennis Rodman, a gnat who could out-quick Shaq.

Nobody really can stay with Kobe, but if Joe Dumars was able to do a decent job on 26-year-old Michael Jordan, it stands to reason he'd do OK on Kobe. Mark Aguirre could more than hold his own with Robert Horry/Rick Fox. And oh, by the way, who on the Lakers would be assigned to guard Isiah Thomas?