The Premature NBA All-Decade Team

The decade that was supposed to end as soon as it started is ending.

The world has seen extreme change, and so has the NBA. It has changed from the all around team style of play, to the star-player-with-decent-supporting-cast style of play. The teams that excelled, of course, are the ones that had more than one star player. See 00-02 Lakers; '03, '05, and '07 Spurs; '04 Pistons; '06 Heat; and '08 Celtics.

With the establishment and foundation of the teams in the decade, there must be establishment of the best players in the decade, and that is what we are here to determine.

Note: Team was first determined by taking top 5 players at each position, and cutting down to two or three.

First, the starters: PG Allen Iverson; SG Kobe Bryant; SF LeBron James; PF Tim Duncan; C Shaquille O'Neal

Second, the reserves (by position): PGs Jason Kidd and Steve Nash; SG Dwayne Wade; SF Paul Pierce; PFs Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki; C Yao Ming

Head Coach: Phil Jackson

Honorable Mentions:

Chris Paul, Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen, Michael Redd, Chris Webber, Dwight Howard, Elton Brand.

Now comes the hard part, the reasoning:

PGs: First off, you may ask, why Iverson at the PG? Well, first I looked at longevity. Iverson's consistency with every team he went to made him the clear-cut winner, even though he wasn't a true point. Plus, while Nash did win two MVPs, he had a better cast with him, while Iverson was left with a measly Eric Snow. Kidd becomes the next backup after Nash in this spot because of his great playoff success ( a triple-double avg). For the most part of the 00s, he has been the best PG in the East. Chris Paul misses out by a little because of the shortness of his career.

SGs: Well, this one is clear and no arguments allowed. Bryant is without a doubt one of the best of all time, and clearly the best in the decade. After Bryant, is Dwayne Wade. Wade's success in the first three years of his career is unmatched. His rookie season was one of the best in history. While Allen is more of a shooter, Wade is a better all around player, and the best of his career most likely has still yet to come, shown by his performance this year. Redd just doesn't have the stats to compare.

SFs: This one also is easy: LeBron is LeBron. Whether he is the "next Jordan" or the "new LeBron." his career, when it is said and done, will make him one of the best ever. After James comes a tricky one. The Pierce/McGrady battle is most likely endless. Stats comparison, blah blah, the guys are extremely alike. Though, this one is easy. Pierce: 1 championship; McGrady: 0. Pierce: Playoff success in early 00s without cast; McGrady: No success with cast.

PFs: The west owns this position. Two of the best power forwards in history make up the two best in the decade. Duncan led his team to two championships in the decade and though he has always had help, he has been the leader of the team. Garnett is virtually the same and his '08 season with the Celtics only solidifies that position. Next comes Nowitzki. The question was not if he deserves it more than Brand and Webber (who was more 90s), but does he deserve it more than McGrady. When looking at the team, the fact that Nowitzki could add shooting like McGrady and his presence in the post gives him the advantage.

Cs: Once again, starter is a sure fire answer. O'Neal is the best C of the decade, top five all time. Ming gets the spot over Howard because of longevity, once again.

This roster was carefully decided, with lots of common sense. The factors that went in (not in any order): Statistics, Popularity, Success, Playoff success, Longevity, Awards, Cast.

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