I think you are, in the words of Keith Law, scouting the stat line.
The Lakers were always quite talented, obviously. I cited Bird's rookie year above---take a look at that roster and tell me how you compare it to the Bulls during Jordan's fourth year. Not just state another broad conclusion---actually look at the rosters player by player and show your work.
You didn't ask me, but that's a really interesting question. Here's the key guys on the Celtics in Bird's first season.
- Bird (23)
- Archibald (31) - hall of famer still playing at an all-star level
- Cowens (31) - hall of famer still playing very productive basketball (14.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, an all-star that year even though he was injured at the time of the ASG); would retire the next year but in 1979-80, he was still quite capable at age 31
- Maxwell (24) - emerging star, averaged 16.9 points and 8.8 rebounds (19.0 and 9.9 the previous year)
- Maravich (32) - last season but still solid contributor - was putting up 17.1 points a game for the Jazz before coming to Boston during the season (averaging 11.5 per game for Boston)
- Robey (24) - solid bench guy - 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds
- Carr (29) - another solid bench guy - 11.1 points, 4.0 rebounds
- Ford (31) - another solid bench guy - 11.2 points, 42.7% from three
- Henderson (24) - a guy who would be a starter soon, just beginning to make his way in the league
That's not at all a bad roster. Two all-stars (Tiny, Cowens) in their waning, but still effective, years, who would become hall-of-famers. One young stud emerging as a terrific NBA player (Maxwell), an aging star with a little left in the tank (Pistol), and four solid bench guys who all could contribute.
Add a superstar like Bird to that, and it's easy to see how they won 61 games that year.
Now Chicago in Jordan's fourth year (1987-88):
- Jordan
- Pippen (22) - 7.9 points a game, and we didn't know yet that he would be an all-time great player
- Grant (22) - 7.7 points a game, would emerge to be a terrific player
- Oakley (24) - really solid power forward (12.4 points, 13.0 rebounds), the enforcer, but not a great overall player
- Vincent (24) - decent player but never amounted to much
- Corzine (31) - journeyman who had a decent year (10.1, 6.6)
- Paxson (27) - good shooter (34.7% from three)
- Sellers (25) - thought he would become a really good player but it never materialized
Then you have guys like Threatt, Sparrow, 38-year-old Artis Gilmore, Granville Waiters....etc.
Long story short, I think it's clear that the Celtics' roster minus Bird was significantly better than the Bulls' roster minus Jordan.
If I were to rank the top 10 players on those teams, in order, at that time (i.e., I can't count Cowens or Pippen in their prime), here's how I'd rank them:
1. Jordan, Chi
2. Bird, Bos
3. Maxwell, Bos
4. Archibald, Bos
5. Oakley, Chi
6. Cowens, Bos
7. Pippen, Chi (might be lower than this at that point in time)
8. Robey, Bos
9. Carr, Bos
10. Maravich, Bos
I'd give 7 of the top 10 spots to guys on the Celtics. I'd give 4 of the top 6 spots to guys on the Celtics. Admittedly much (most? all?) of that is subjective. But I think it's clear that the Celtics had much more to work with minus their star (Bird) than the Bulls did minus theirs (Jordan).