You've heard of Lakers-Celtics, but who would be the better basketball team: the Dodgers or the Red Sox?
Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night marks the first postseason game between the Red Sox and Dodgers in over 100 years. But for the cities of Boston and L.A., it's just the latest chapter in a decades-long rivalry -- a rivalry forged mainly on the basketball court, where Bird and Magic and Kareem and countless other greats helped put the NBA on the map in the 1980s.
Los Angeles is feeling it. Boston is feeling it. And so, in honor of the return of "Beat L.A.", a question popped into our heads: Who would be the better basketball team, the Dodgers or the Red Sox? Let's get to the tale of the tape:
Dodgers
Starting five:
PG: Chris Taylor
SG: Manny Machado
SF: Yasiel Puig
PF: Cody Bellinger
C: Kenley Jansen
Much like they do on the diamond, the Dodgers hang their hats on incredible depth and versatility. Sure, you can start with the fairly traditional lineup above, letting Machado and his rangy athleticism go to work as the primary scorer while Taylor does all the little things and Puig lurks as a slasher just waiting to put somebody on a poster. Imagine this guy barreling down the lane at you:
Or you can go big, sliding Bellinger from stretch four to the wing (he can man both first base and center field, after all) and letting Max Muncy and Jansen gobble up every rebound in sight. Or you can go full Warriors Death Lineup, sliding Puig to center and slotting in someone like Matt Kemp -- the same Matt Kemp who once upon a time was a high school basketball star and can totally still dunk:
Joc Pederson is baseball's J.R. Smith, ready to come off the bench and light up the scoreboard. Justin Turner would definitely come up with the best bench celebrations around. Enrique Hernandez will not stop slapping the floor on every defensive possession. Truly, there's nothing this team doesn't have.
Red Sox
Starting five:
PG: Mookie Betts
SG: Andrew Benintendi
SF: J.D. Martinez
PF: Rafael Devers
C: David Price
If you've watched the Red Sox track down a seemingly uncatchable fly ball at some point this year, you know that they might very well be the most athletic team in the league. So why not lean into it: Put Betts and Benintendi in the backcourt and let them create their own version of Seven Seconds or Less, with Price in the Amar'e Stoudemire rim-runner role. We know, Devers is only 6-foot-1, but he's also got the muscle to do stuff like this:
Jackie Bradley Jr. is available off the bench as a defensive ace -- Boston fans probably wouldn't mind the second coming of Avery Bradley. Brock Holt is the heir to the Aaron Craft memorial Love to Root for Him, Hate to Play Against Him award. And if you want to change things up from the pace-and-space game, Chris Sale and his approximately 12-foot wingspan provide some height off the bench.
We've gone through the rosters, now it's time to choose: Basketball Red Sox or Basketball Dodgers?
