So Malone was never an MVP type? Just because the Lakers had Shaq and Kobe, does it lesson the impact of Malone? If Detroit had lost Big Ben, Billups or Prince -- they wouldn't have won -- why would you lesson the impact of Malone?
I'd say that the last team in the league that can complain about injuries is the Spurs -- not that I would expect a bandwagon fan to really comprehend that. The Spurs got TD, one of the most complete players to ever come out of college and a big man to boot, because of injuries. If you want to put asterisks on a year because of injuries, why don't you put one on every year the Spurs won a championship with TD.
Injuries are an excuse -- and a lame one. It doesn't lessen what another team did that year -- we can only guess "what if." You don't know that the Spurs would have been #1 or if they would have won -- and we ALL know your abilities as a prognosticator -- you've been saying the Spurs would every year since you jumped on their bandwagon. Hmm, jumping from Chicago's bandwagon to the Spurs was a long jump -- bet you feel that wagon getting a little shaky after the last few games, huh? Time to jump again? I bet the real Spurs fan on this board wouldn't even shed a tear!