cmon, there were conference semifinal teams in the 80s with the horses to contend in the early 00s. where were shaq's celtics, pistons or even rockets and trail blazers? the east was atrocious and the west had like one team a year that presented any sort of real challenge.

you put shaq in kareem's place, you probably see the same result, same with kareem in shaq's place though IMO.

that doesn't have a lot of bearing on the argument to me, personally.