LeBron, Kobe Or Durant? Best Team in The NBA If Age Determined The Teams

The NBA is filled with players somewhere in between the ages of 19 and 40. There are stars in their early-20s (think Durant and Rose), late-20s (Miami Heat), and even 30s (Kobe and Dirk).

My question is simple: if four teams were made like AAU basketball (in format, not in style of play) and so you would have 25-and-under, 30-and-under, 35-and-under and 40-and-under teams, which one would win the four-team tournament?

Here's what I found.

25-and-Under Team

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David Stern should be thrilled with the amount of young talent in the NBA right now. These are the guys that will eventually carry the weight of the NBA's marketability when the current older stars retire.

It couldn't be in better hands.

Here's my U-25 roster:

PG: Derrick Rose (22 years old)

SG: Eric Gordon (22 years old)

SF: Kevin Durant (22 years old)

PF: Blake Griffin (21 years old)

C: Dwight Howard (25 years old)

The crazy part about this starting lineup is, with the exception of Dwight Howard, all of them could still be playing college basketball. Could you imagine their dominance right now in the NCAA?

Key Reserves

Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Andrew Bynum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love.

For the 2016 Olympics, do not be surprised if this is the roster we send.

26-30 Years Old

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Players often hit their primes somewhere between the ages of 26 and 32 in the NBA. This roster definitely supports the claim:

PG: Chris Paul (26 years old)

SG: Dwyane Wade (29 years old)

SF: LeBron James (26 years old)

PF: Amare Stoudemire (28 years old)

C: Zach Randolph (29 years old)

We see what Chris Paul is doing this year surrounded by decent talent in New Orleans—imagine him surrounded with these weapons.

Key Reserves

Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, Pau Gasol and Carlos Boozer. 

31-35 Years Old

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This age range is where most of the NBA rings are located. Here's the impressive 35-and-under roster:

PG: Chauncey Billups (34 years old)

SG: Kobe Bryant (32 years old)

SF: Dirk Nowitzki (32 years old)

PF: Kevin Garnett (34 years old)

C: Tim Duncan (34 years old)

With Duncan and Garnett anchoring the defense along with Kobe and Dirk scoring with Billups running the point, this team would be very competitive. Their bench is not bad either.

Their starting five also combines for 11 NBA rings.

Key Reserves

Andre Miller, Manu Ginobli, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Lamar Odom.

The Old Guys

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Experience over youth? Maybe in a half-court game.

PG: Steve Nash (a surprising 37 years old)

SG: Grant Hill (38 years old)

SF: Juwan Howard (38 years old)

PF: Marcus Camby (36 years old)

C: Shaquille O'Neal (38 years old)

If this was an outdoor, Gus Macker type of half-court five-on-five tournament, this team of veterans might surprisingly win it all. However, in a full-court, 48-minute game, things could get really ugly really fast.

Key Reserves

Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby, Antonio McDyess and Derek Fisher.

It's pretty amazing to see Jason Kidd and Steve Nash play as well as they still do while being so close to 40 years of age.

How the Tournament Would Work

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There would be no 82-game season before it.

The teams would all come in fresh, healthy and ready to play.

The format would be best-of-seven.

Seeding

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The tournament will format itself to put LeBron James and Kobe Bryant on a championship collision course a la the Nike puppet ads.

No. 1 seed: 26-30-year-olds vs. No. 4 seed: old guys

No. 2 seed: 31-35-year-olds vs. No. 3 seed: 25-and-under

The games will all be played in the neutral site of Maui, Hawaii

LeBron's Guys vs. Old Guys

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I don't see how this could be anything other than a sweep.

The old guys might have one game where they pound the ball into Shaq and Grant Hill hits from outside, all while Steve Nash orchestrates the offense. But, even in their best possible game, I think the combination of LeBron, Wade, Paul and Amare would be far too much.

LeBron's guys sweep the old-timers, 4-0.

Kobe's Guys vs. Young Guys

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This would be a classic series to watch. Guaranteed to go six games, it most likely would go seven.

Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook would absolutely destroy Kobe's point guards. The speed would be far too much.

Kobe and Dirk is a better one-two punch than Gordon and Durant.

Down low, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard and Aldridge off the bench would be an owner's dream, but Garnett and Duncan's defense would be able to at least slow them down.

Talent wise, I think top to bottom the young guys may have this one. However, Kobe's team could finish games with four NBA Finals MVPs on the floor.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen coming off the bench gives them two legitimate starters to call on when Kobe or Dirk need a breather.

Because of the experience and proven winning ability, I'll take Kobe's guys over the young guys in a hard-fought, must-see-TV seven-game series.

Kobe's Guys vs. LeBron's Guys

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I've wrestled with who would win this game since the moment I knew they would collide in the finals. If this was a best-of-three, five, seven or 1,000,001, these two teams would push to that final game.

After much thought and changing my mind over and over again, I have finally reached my decision.

The winner of this fantasy tournament would be Kobe's team.

Let me remind you—there is a comment box, so feel free to call this crazy, write why I'm wrong or even why the young guys or maybe even the old guys (although I'm not sure how that argument would look) would have won this tournament.

But first, hear me out.

Chris Paul and Deron Williams would have the edge over Billups and Miller. The difference is, Williams and Paul would not be as damaging to Billups and Miller as the Rose-Rondo-Westbrook monster.

Billups and Miller would handle Deron Williams well because Williams is less quick and more physical. Chris Paul would hurt Kobe's team.

At shooting guard, Kobe Bryant still has the edge over Dwyane Wade. Ray Allen coming off the bench has the edge over backup Joe Johnson.

Nobody can match LeBron James, but making James guard both Dirk and his backup, Paul Pierce, would take its toll.

Down low, these teams are fairly even. I like the defense of Kobe's guys better.

In a Game 7 with ten seconds left on the clock, I want to have Kobe Bryant with the ball. Imagine drawing an out-of-bounds play for the game-winning shot, having your first option be Kobe, second be a Ray Allen coming-off-the-screen three, third be Paul Pierce driving to the rim, fourth be Tim Duncan in the post or final option be Mr. Big Shot Billups at the top of the key.

Kobe's Guys win, 4-3.