NBA’s Ultimate Question: Who’s Better, 2010 Lakers or 1996 Bulls?

A question commonly discussed on this site is "Who's better: Kobe or MJ?"

Oftentimes, Lakers and old school Bulls fans battle it out on the website over who's better individually. But here is a better question: which team is better, Michael Jordan's Bulls or Kobe Bryant's Lakers? 

Obviously, both teams have Phil Jackson as coach, so coaching is even.

Furthermore, if you look at the roster, the Bulls and Lakers are eerily similar. I mean, just think about the personnel. 

I will examine each starter and the sixth man for each team statistically. Without further ado, here's an unbiased comparison. I will make a conclusion at the end, but so can you in the comments section. 

Record

1995-96 Chicago Bulls: 72-10 in the regular season. 15-3 in the playoffs. Won NBA Finals against Seattle Supersonics 4-2. 

2009-10 Lakers: 57-25 in the regular season. 16-7 in the playoffs. Won NBA Finals against Boston Celtics 4-3. 

Team Statistics

1995-96 Bulls: Offense ranked No. 1 out of 29 teams at 105.2 points per game. Defense ranked No. 3 out of 29 teams at 92.9 points per game allowed. 

2009-10 Lakers: Offense ranked No. 11 out of 30 teams at 101.7 points per game. Defense ranked No. 9 at 97.0 points per game allowed. 

Roster

This will be a much tougher comparison. On each roster, I will compare every starter and sixth man and show their stats at the end of the comparison. 

Bulls starting five: Ron Harper, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Luc Longley. 

Lakers starting five: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Point Guard: Derek Fisher vs. Ron Harper

Fisher is the consummate Phil Jackson-style point guard. He runs the triangle, gets out of Kobe's way and hits huge shots if needed. Technically, R...

About the Author