HndsmCelt
Hall of Famer
I'd disagree. While neither of them were what they had been, in both cases the discussion at the time was centered around the idea that both of them were better at the end of their career than most of the other guys in the league were at their peek. More to the point Shaq and Kobe had already won 3 titles with out them.Malone and Payton were not anywhere near the tops of their positions that season.
As to the comments that winning team chemistry is lighting in a bottle, that might be true, but LOTS of teams still over perform because of chemistry while lots of other teams under perform due to bad chemistry. Having the BEST players at each position is NOT a guarantee of wining, in fact often times is is preferable to have roll-players at some positions, and complimentary pieces at others.