Detroit's Richard Hamilton will be hard-pressed to keep his scoring touch polished against the physical Lakers. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

If the Detroit Pistons are able to get past the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals that begin on Sunday -- and I'll give my opinion later on whether or not that could happen -- they would be the most unique champion in the last 25 years.

Why?

Because NBA championships in this era -- most eras, really -- have been won by teams that had at least one Hall of Fame (or Hall of Fame-bound) player. This is not a criticism of Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace or Rasheed Wallace. They are fine players, and Hamilton may evolve into a perennial all-star. But the magnitude of the stars in the Pistons galaxy does not match the typical NBA champion.

Take a look over the past 25 years. With eight total championships, the Lakers lead the era, and, not coincidentally, have been led by Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in their current incarnation, and the Magic Johnson-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-James Worthy trio in their earlier one. The Chicago Bulls won six titles with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. The Boston Celtics won three championships with the likes of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The Bad Boy Pistons of the late '80s (with two titles) had Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. The Houston Rockets (also with a pair of rings) had Hakeem Olajuwon for both and Clyde Drexler for one. Their Texas neighbors, the San Antonio Spurs, (two) had Tim Duncan and David Robinson for their two championships. And the Philadelphia 76ers took home the trophy in 1983 on the backs of Julius Erving and Moses Malone.

Even the last superstar-less team to win -- the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979 -- had Dennis Johnson, later a Celtic and, according to some, a potential Hall of Famer. Yes, even their talent was certainly superior to Detroit's. Although the Sonics won in a more offensive-oriented era, the Sonics had seven players -- seven! -- who finished the season scoring in double figures: Gus Williams, Johnson, Jack Sikma, "Downtown" Freddie Brown, Lonnie Shelton, John Johnson and Tom LaGarde.

Does this mean the Pistons can't beat the Lakers?

The populist answer would be no. But after watching Detroit's prehistoric Game 6 slogfest win over Indiana on Tuesday night, I think it's possible. It will be a competitive series, and one that has the potential to be at least as good as the Lakers-Pacers six-gamer in 2000, mainly because the Pistons never back down. If Detroit was a boxer, it'd be Chuck Wepner, The Bayonne Bleeder. Ultimately, though, the Pistons do not have enough scoring power to beat L.A.

True, conventional wisdom would say that a low-scoring, defensive-oriented team has a better chance against a marquee team with marquee stars, which surely defines the Lakers. But that isn't the case here. L.A. is much more formidable when it plays in the halfcourt, and that even goes Kobe Bryant, who really isn't a transition player.

The Pistons could use someone like Gus Williams, who led the SuperSonics in scoring with 19.2 points per game in Seattle's 1978-79 title season. NBA Photos/Getty Images

We're going to get some inferior (i.e. ugly) games in this series for a couple of reasons. Both teams can play hands-on, muscular defense -- did you catch Karl Malone "guarding" Kevin Garnett in the Western finals? -- and neither team has much of a bench. Tired starters are going to be playing major minutes. While that discounts the superlative play of the Lakers' Kareem Rush, who made five of six three-pointers in Monday night's clincher over the T'wolves? I can't see the young Rush suddenly turning into the second coming of Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson, the off-the-bench offensive machine who fueled the Pistons in both the '89 and '90 championships.

History doesn't always repeat itself

Considering Larry Brown's peripatetic nature, it might be forgotten that Brown's last  and only previous  trip to the Finals was as the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers team that lost to Phil Jackson's Lakers in five games in 2001. As Brown is a veritable human computer as far as basketball is concerned (San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich, who was once Brown's assistant, swears that Brown can bring a practice scrimmage to a stop and be able to reconstruct exactly where all 10 players were when he blew the whistle.), it is logical to assume that he will remember whatever lessons he learned in that series.

But old films, even those running through Brown's agile mind, are only going to take him so far, because these Lakers are quite different than the '01 club. Not better, but different. They run their triangle offense much less than they did three seasons ago; in its place are classic pick-and-rolls and isolations, which are hard to defense when run correctly or when a great offensive player like Bryant is involved. And three Finals' ago, Brown didn't have to deal with those two aging, but still formidable superstars, Malone and Gary Payton.

The constant, of course, is Bryant, who disheartens defenses because he makes so many shots under duress. "Kobe is the best tough-shot-maker in the game," says Minnesota coach Flip Saunders. "It is very discouraging for a defense to have done something perfectly, then have him come along and make the shot anyway."

All in all, these Lakers are not as good as the deeper team that beat the 76ers when Shaq was in his prime. Now he's on the way down, and they're not as dominant. But Brown doesn't have a prolific scorer like he did with the 76ers' Allen Iverson in '01. The Pistons will go down fighting, but they will go down, in six or seven.

Lighten up, KG

A word about the Timberwolves, a team I thoroughly enjoyed covering this season. They have a chance to become one of the league's elite because they have all the necessary ingredients: a superstar (Garnett); a scorer with guts and energy (Latrell Sprewell); an automatic shooter (Sam Cassell); an enthusiastic bench that doesn't clamor to start (well, outside of Wally Szczerbiak, that is); an outstanding coach (Saunders); and a general manager unafraid to make bold moves (McHale). And don't forget that the probable return of Troy Hudson from ankle surgery increases their firepower.

But as the T'wolves finish packing for their summer vacation, I feel compelled to offer one parting thought: I wish Garnett would enjoy the ride more. He's talented, he's charismatic, he's smart and he's battle-hardened. But, man, he is one dead-serious dude. Kevin, it's a game. You don't have to turn into Charles Barkley all of a sudden, but you'll be doing the game -- and yourself -- a favor if you show the world your other side.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum covers the NBA for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.