The All-NBA Soccer Team (Part 1)

With the World Cup coming up soon, and having had finished Bill Simmons' "Book of Basketball," I decided to borrow/steal one of his ideas, namely constructing an American soccer dream team out of current NBA players. 

Note: For this team, only current, American-born players were considered.

Goalie: LeBron James

To start the team, who better than the best and most athletic player currently in the NBA?

Some might think that the position of goalie is a waste of the ability of such a gifted athlete, but I disagree completely. With his speed, he'd be able to patrol the entire box and strike fear into anyone stupid enough to go up for a header against him.

Also, with his wingspan and leaping ability he'd be next to impossible to chip and he also has the added bonus of being a threat on offensive set pieces during desperation situations.

Left Back: Shane Battier

For the left back position, we need someone who can defend runs from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Dani Alves. The perfect man for such a task also happens to be arguably the best on-ball defender in the NBA right now.

Battier has the speed to hang with the aforementioned wingers and the size and strength to step back into the box and assist against some of the more dangerous strikers America will face. And, as an added bonus, Battier's mustache would serve the same purpose as Spain's Carles Puyol's hair in adding some much-needed style to our defense.

Left Center Back: Tim Duncan

Our first veteran addition also represents the first player not in his athletic prime.However, Duncan has managed to remain a valuable player despite his declining athleticism through experience, instincts, and fundamentals.

Logically, the same would hold true for the most instinctive position in soccer. Duncan also brings intimidating size that would continue to dissuade teams from sending balls into the box. Finally Duncan brings some much-needed veteran leadership on a relatively young team.

Right Center Back: Kevin Garnett

On here for many of the same reasons as Duncan: size, experience, and leadership. However, what separates Garnett from Duncan is that Garnett has a lot more speed and athleticism left in his legs if healthy (a big if, but work with me here).

It's this increased range that pushes Garnett to the right side, as he'll occasionally have to cover for our right back when he goes on a run  .

Right Back: Derrick Rose

The final addition to our back line gives us an attacking right back in the mold of Brazil's Maicon. Rose has the scoring and distributing ability to significantly contribute to the attack, and the speed and size to keep up with any runs that might come down his side.

However, Rose's spot here may be temporary, as John Wall has shown the ability to perhaps usurp this position in a couple of years.

Stay tuned for the forthcoming part two, in which the midfielders and the forwards for the revamped Team USA are revealed.