In 99-00 Harper was 5 years older than Kobe was in the Finals last year, had played just as many seasons, and simply wasn't as good of a defender as Kobe is when he decides to make that aspect of his game a focus. Harper was a good, smart defender at the end of his career, but there is no way he's keeping arguably the most quickest PG currently in the NBA out of the paint. None. And while Rondo wasn't the same player he is today, his dribble penetration has always caused problems for defenses, even if he isn't scoring or racking up 10+ assists. In the 2008 post-season he had some flashes of brilliance, including some great games against Cleveland, Detroit, and his 16 assists in Game 2 against the Lakers was the difference in that game (and maybe series). Harper wasn't making the kind of impact in the Lakers 1st championship as Rondo was in Boston's. He probably could have kept up with Ray, but Rice and Green aren't keeping up with Pierce and Garnett, and I trust Ray/Posey/T. Allen's defense on a young Kobe considering they did a stellar job on him in that 2008 series. And even if Garnett spends less time focusing on keeping Kobe out of the paint, Kobe did not have the same outside game in 99-00 as the one he eventually developed, and in no circumstance would Kobe be having a feast in the paint against the Celtics. They had too many good individual and help defenders to have that happen. And besides, what I think is a factor is that Kobe was not yet used to being a guy to score in huge volume, which would be necessary against the Celtics. I just don't think young Kobe would be having much success against the Celtics, even if the Celtics throw some doubles at Shaq. It isn't about stopping Shaq...that just ain't happening. However, Perkins is a huge body and very good post defender, so I think he could do a similar job as Big Ben did on Shaq in 2004, when Shaq averaged about 29/14 on over 60% shooting for the series and the Lakers still lost in 5. I just think that even if Shaq went for his 30/15, and Kobe managed to go for 25/5 on 45% shooting ( better numbers than his regular and post-season averages that year, which wouldn't happen against the Celtics), the Celtics would still have matched up too well to have been beaten in a 7-game series. Personally, I think the Celtics' big 3 would have out-performed the Lakers' big 2 because of matchups, and I think the Celtics' defense would have shutdown the Lakers' 3pt shooters, which was their only weapon aside from Shaq/Kobe.