Scott, it is all subjective. Like me, I feel sorry for those Celtics teams of the 80's. The East was stacked. The Lakers really didn't have any competition but they screwed up a few times. The Bulls had no competition in the East save the Pacers. The West was a shoot out.
Less competitive perhaps........but MJ did have players around him that don't get credit for what they brought to the table. Role players that did their job.
That may be, but unlike the "Craptors" the Sonics made it to the finals. That Seattle team was pretty darn good and actually gave the Bulls match-up issues.