The "Fab 5" of the 2000s: NBA All-Decade Team

You always hear the arguments and discussions over who has been the best player over the past couple of seasons.

Sometimes you hear crazy and crude remarks, and you also get the very educated, explanatory decisions.

With my NBA All-Decade team, I hope to give you some good reasons why the players deserve to be where they are.

I have to say, this is one of the more difficult things that I've decided to write about, but who can't take a challenge?

I won't be surprised if there are people out there that side with another player at a certain position, but that will happen. It's all in the taste.

Some people choose to have a bench or a second anf third team, but I have narrowed mine down to one team, which will be my All-Decade Team for the NBA. I will also give honorable mention to other players at the end.

Get ready as we dive back into the early 2000s, as well as just a couple of weeks ago with players. Who made the cut for me this decade? Find out right here!

PG: Steve Nash

The point guard position probably would be the most difficult place for me to choose. There are numerous guys out there that could make a case, but I have to give it to the dime-dropping Steve Nash.

I have to choose Nash due to his team play. He has won seemingly everywhere he has been, whether it was
Dallas or Phoenix. He's learned to play with some of the game's best: Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire and Shaq lead a very notable list.

Not only has he become an exciting player over the past decade, he has also made an offense well-known around the NBA. Nash leads the Suns' offense that Mike D'Antoni established early in his coaching career, and who better than Nash to lead a very potenent, high-octane offense?

He's second to Jason Kidd among active players in assists and ninth all-time, plus he's fifth all-time in career 3-point percentage. With those stats and some scoring, Nash won two league MVP awards, and was mentioned for many more.

Nash has put himself up there with some of the best passers ever to play the game: Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Pete Maravich and John Stockton should all be proud of Nash's exceptional play at the point guard position.

SG: Kobe Bryant

Many things can define Kobe Bryant's career this decade. You have the four rings, league and NBA Finals MVPs, two scoring titles and occasional run-ins with the law.

And then there's the people that despise him. Like him or not, everyone has to admit he is probably the best player we've seen this decade. As his career progresses, he will try to solidify himself as one of the best to ever play the game.

Kobe helped the Lakers to win three consecutive NBA Championships from 2000-2002 to begin this decade. The middle of the decade had its ups and downs, but he has turned it on once again to end the decade. Bryant, now
with a whole new cast of Lakers, took home the 2009 NBA Championship, and this season, they are in contention
once again.

It's easy to say that Bryant's game has hardly ever been bad, even if his team wasn't the best. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. He even put up a 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors in '06, which ranks second to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game on the NBA all-time list.

Kobe may not be everyone's favorite, but you have to respect the guy's game. He could easily become one of the Top-5 best of all-time. He's that good. No doubt.

SF: LeBron James

Possibly the most-hyped NBA player ever, Lebron James entered the league (and eventual stardom) in 2003. By 2006, "King" James was on top of the league, exceeding all the high expectations that the fans and experts had tagged to him. As he has progressed from year-to-year(and even-to-game), James has dominated his position more and more.

By the age of 22, the boy that was playing among men was leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the playoffs, By his fourth year in the league, he was leading his team to the NBA Finals. And of course, last year was the MVP season. He may be a young guy compared to others that had a chance for this position, but there is none more deserving than James.

Despite all these eye-popping seasons and stats, I believe LeBron will eventually be able to call these years his "down years", if there is such for the King.

He has a future that could bring more MVPs and something even more important to him: NBA championship rings.

He has been mentioned with household names such as Jordan, Worthy, Robertson, and Johnson, all of whom will one day welcome LeBron James into the Hall of Fame.

James has a chance to become the best player to ever touch a basketball. By 2020, there may be no argument about who the true best NBA player is; and that could simply be King James.

PF: Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan has been the main piece of what is now a San Antonio Spurs dynasty. The 2000s have brought Duncan a good bit of hardware, ranging from Defensive Player of the Year, to three NBA championships.

The decade couldn't have started any better for Duncan with his first championship and NBA Finals MVP in 1999. By 2002, he captured his first league MVP award, followed by another championship in '03. The Spurs were becoming one of the best teams in the NBA, and eventually being known as a dynasty.

Duncan has played his share of the center position, but in my eyes he is a true power forward, the best ever in fact. He has made a living using the glass on his mid-range jumper, as well as utilizing his prolific passing skills from the post.

All of this, along with more and more outstanding highlights, will be shown when he eventually arrives
in Springfield as one of the best of his time.

C: Shaquille O'Neal

Greatness seems to follow Shaquille O'Neal no matter where he goes. He's played with some of the best: Kobe, Dwayne Wade, Steve Nash and now LeBron.

He has spent four years of the decade on championship teams:three in the Los Angeles sun, and one on the beaches of Miami.

The new millenium began with an MVP season for Shaq, and three consecutive NBA Championships with the Lakers. Unfortunately, all things didn't turn out as expected. If not for the lack of cooperation, the Lakers may have won more championships, possibly a sweep of the decade. It would have been possible.

Shaq met greatness once again when he was shipped to Miami in '04. Along with the young phenomenon, Wade, Shaq grabbed another ring to add to his abundant collection, and the Heat's first ever championship.

Phoenix didn't bring the best for O'Neal. The offense attempted to revolve around him, and the team wasn't made for that. Now, he's looking once again for a ring in Cleveland.

O'Neal was the definition of the double-double in his prime, easily getting 20 points and 10 rebounds each night out.

Shaq has made all the highlight films for the decade, and don't be surprised when you see him as one of the best of all-time.

Honorable Mentions

Here are all the guys that I had in the running for my starting five, in no particular order.

Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Dwayne Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony, and Yao Ming.