The All-Time NBA Team: Bench and Alternates

Whenever you ask someone who the best players of all-time are in any sport you are bound to get a variety of answers, as many older fans tend to favor the players from their era, while younger fans favor today’s stars.

So I decided to challenge that thinking by creating an all-NBA roster using players from every decade.  Here are the rules for my roster:

• Fill out a roster with two players from every decade, starting with the 1950s.
  
• Make sure all the starters have someone to back them up.
• No two players from the same decade are allowed in the starting line-up.
• Arrange the bench in the order they would come off the court.
  
• List two alternates who should be the best in the game from 2010-2019.
• Each should be adequate replacements on the roster. 

Here is the bench for my all-time roster. You can find the starters here.

6. Oscar Robertson (1960-1969)

Robertson could legitimately call himself the best player ever. Averaging a triple-double is no easy task, and he had the versatility that nobody else in that era ever had.

If you think LeBron James at 6'8" and 250 pounds can play any position, consider what Robertson could do at 6'5" and 220. In many aspects, he was the first combo guard in NBA history. He could probably play small forward in the 1960s as well.

The fact that Robertson was in his prime playing for the Cincinnati Royals is a major reason why he doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves. The only teams that really had that many televised games back then were the Lakers, Knicks, and 76ers.

Another thing many people don’t realize is that Robertson shot a better field-goal percentage than Jerry West, who many would consider one of the best shooters in the game. Robertson had a 49-percent field-goal percentage, as opposed to West, who shot 47 percent.

7. Kobe Bryant (2000-2009)

He’s hands down the best player in this era, and could be in the argument for top five players of all time. Bryant is nearly impossible to guard and has lately learned how to use his teammates.

The 81-point effort from Bryant shows that he can record 40 and 50-point games if he wants to on a regular basis. He now trusts the rest of the team—especially with Pau Gasol, the newest Laker, making it unnecessary to for Bryanttake over games like he used to. Now he needs to win a championship without O’Neal to put him into the highest echelon of NBA players.

Bryant has been largely overshadowed by Duncan, who has four NBA Championships and two MVPs. It’s a little early to establish what his legacy is, but he has two or three more years to go before he’ll be considered over the hill.

In these next few years, Bryant will have to take advantage of being the best player on a competitive team. Now that Duncan is past his prime, Bryant should win another MVP with the Lakers, and become more of a defensive stopper in the NBA with his Olympic experience.

8. Magic Johnson (1980-1989)

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