All-time NBA Team

[sikax]

I tried to come up with my all-time five-man roster. It's difficult. Well, 2/5 of it is, anyway. I found the one, two, and four positions easily filled by Stockton, Jordan and Duncan (though if I wasn't going with a pure power forward like Duncan, I'd put a center in the four slot). I'm stuck between Pippen and Bird in the three slot. I could take either one and be happy. The five is where it gets toughest. How do you choose between Kareem, Dikembe, Hakeem, Robinson, Parish, Russell, Chamberlain, Ewing and Shaq? That is impossible. My gut says to go with Kareem for his scoring prowess, but passing up the defense of Mutombo and Olajuwon hurts. If I could put a center in the four slot, I would take one of those two (or Russell) over Duncan. Damn. Can I just make a team of five centers? Fuck it. My team:

1 - John Stockton
2 - Michael Jordan
3 - Hakeem Olajuwon
4 - Dikembe Mutombo
5 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar





No one will ever score a single point against us.

[CashRules]

1. Magic
2. Jordan
3. Bird (Having to choose between Bird and Pippen is like choosing between a Rolex and a Timex)
4. Duncan
5. Kareem

6th man: Stockton
7th man: Worthy

[sikax]

3. Bird (Having to choose between Bird and Pippen is like choosing between a Rolex and a Timex)

[Cassius Clay]

I always find it difficult to make all-time lists like this because the eras are so different. It's like comparing apples to oranges for me. I mean, how do you compare Chamberlain and Shaq?

I'd take Hakeem over David Robinson easily though.

And Dikembe is great, but has no offensive ability.

[BruceSmith78]

Yup, The Dream over The Admiral and Dikembe, and I think I'd take Hakeem over Shaq too.

I agree with Bird over Pippen, but also don't like making all-time teams because there were so many players before the 80's for which all I have to judge are numbers and highlight reels.

[sikax]

there were so many players before the 80's for which all I have to judge are numbers and highlight reels.

True. Players in the 90s stand out to me because that's who I learned how to play from. Jordan and Hakeem are my definition of basketball, ya know, but I'm sure people who grew up watching Wilt's era or Bird's era etc see that style as the definitive style.

[sikax]

1. Magic
2. Jordan
3. Bird
4. Duncan
5. Kareem

6th man: Stockton
7th man: Worthy

The only thing we differ on is Magic vs. Stockton. Magic is wonderful, but Stockton is the best passer ever. And Magic isn't nearly as good defensively. What is it about Magic that you start him over Stockton?

[CashRules]

Magic is the best overall player in history. No other player could play all 5 positions and do a credible job at it. He won his first title playing center in the final game. He often played a hybrid point forward/small forward role when both Scott and Cooper were in the lineup. Stockton is the best pure point guard in history, but point guard is the only position he could play. Jordan could play three positions at most (and would not have been more than an average point guard) and few other players could play more than two. For that kind of versatility only Bird and Irving come close to Magic. Magic also did for basketball what Manning did for football, he made journeyman role players (Kurt Rambis, Mychal Thompson, Vlade Divac...) look like all-stars. The only bad thing about Magic's career is not enough people realize how great James Worthy was because he spent most of his career (and all of his prime) playing second fiddle to Magic. Byron Scott played through a similar fate (and had to play the role of third best to Magic and Worthy) although playing shooting guard in the era of Michael Jordan also didn't help.

[sikax]

I agree with all that, but I chose Stockton because he's a pure point guard and nothing else. In building a team, especially one made up of the all-time greats, I don't necessarily want someone who can play all five positions; they're covered. I can appreciate that talent for filling in the gaps when there are gaps, but there are no gaps to be filled when we have Michael, Bird, Duncan and Kareem on the floor. Stockton is simply a better passer.

[Cassius Clay]

1) Bob Cousy
2) Jerry West
3) Bill Bradley
4) Tom Chambers
5) Bill Laimbeer

[CashRules]

1) Bob Cousy
2) Jerry West
3) Bill Bradley
4) Tom Chambers
5) Bill Laimbeer

You just picked one formidable lineup of melanin-deficient players, except Walton should be taken over Laimbeer.

[sikax]

Bill Walton is the greatest basketball player in the HISTORY of Western civilization!

He had a basketball camp here in Sacramento that I attended as a youngster. My father helped run it. We had dinner with Bill and Luke Walton a couple times. Bill Walton is the funniest fucking person ever. Every single thing out of his mouth is sparkling comedy gold. Oh my God.

[Cassius Clay]

I was going to go with Walton at first, but Laimbeer is funnier.

[CashRules]

1) Jeff Hornacek
2) Steve Nash
3) John Havlicek
4) Kurt Rambis
5) George Mikan


Just going with the theme.

[Cassius Clay]

1) Jason Williams(White Chocolate)
2) Pete Maravich
3) Chris Mullin
4) Toni Kukoc
5) Shawn Bradley

[CashRules]

1) John Paxson
2) Danny Ainge
3) Dave Cowens
4) Kevin McHale
5) Dirk Nowitzki

I think that's all of them.

[Cassius Clay]

Oh there's more..

1) Mark Price
2) Steve Kerr
3) Peja Stojakovic
4) Vlade Divac
5) umm...Kevin Sorbo