The Best NBA Starting Five Ever
Notwithstanding the 1992 “Dream Team,” if one were choosing an all-time NBA starting five, this instead would be it.
First, the ten commandments...I mean requirements:
Such a team should be able to defend, score, and pass.
Such a team should be tireless and possess an iron will to win.
Such a team should be able to move without the basketball.
Such a team should be able to be effective inside and outside.
Such a team should be able to dribble penetrate and get out on the fast break.
Such a team should be flexible as the game dictates and have coaches on the floor.
Such a team should be able to mesh as a team.
Such a team should be able to rebound.
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9. Such a team should have players who can play multiple positions.
10. Finally, but not least, such a team should relish pressure and be at its best in executing under such pressure.
(This last criterion eliminates most of today's unproven NBA players.)
So, given these necessary characteristics, here is the ultimate team.
Power Forward: Bob Petit. He is statistically the best at his position ever. He led the St. Louis Hawks to a championship. He could rebound with anyone. And no one could ever make him back down.
In addition, he looked good doing everything—he was so smooth. He was the first player ever to hit 20,000 points—in only eleven years. And check this out: he averaged 16.2 rebounds for his career,third all-time. An NBA MVP, and a 10-time first-team all-NBA player.
Petit gives the all-time team everything it needs in a power forward. Watch the highlights: He could float a jump shot over Wilt Chamberlain. He had a hook shot in the lane. He possessed the picture perfect jump shot from everywhere. He drove to the basket fearlessly.
And his confidence never waned.
(2nd Choice: Tim Duncan.)
Small Forward: John Havlicek. Who ever moved better on a basketball court? No one. Thus moving, he scored over 26,000 points, 12th all-time. Played 46,471 total minutes, good for eighth, all time.
In a January 19, 2011 article published in the Ohio State University newspaper, The Lantern, former Celtics teammate Tom Heinsohn says of Havlicek: "[Havlicek] was a tremendous leader and a go-to guy at the end of ball games.”
Said Bob Ryan, Boston Globe reporter and co-author of Hondo: Celtic Man in Motion: "When John Havlicek retired [in 1978], I thought he was the greatest all-around player I had ever seen. There's nobody today, no style that reminds me of John Havlicek.
John Havlicek gives the all-time team the speed, determination, will, and motion it needs.
(2nd Choice: Rick Barry)
Center: Bill Russell. All is known, pretty much. Especially the eleven championships in thirteen years. Best defensive player ever. Made shot-blocking an art (a lost art nowadays) in that he would nearly always ignite the fast break with his shot block. Had one game of 51 rebounds, and two others of 49 rebounds. It's between him and Michael Jordan for the greatest player ever. Perhaps basketball's best “clutch” player of all time.
In a November 30, 2000 article in Esquire magazine, Red Auerbach maintained: “There's no player today who compares to Bill Russell. As great as Shaq is, it would have been interesting to have Chamberlain knock bodies with him or Russell blocking all his shots.”
Bill Russell gives the all-time team the inspiring presence, ultimate defense, and on-the-floor coaching it needs.
(2nd Choice: Kareem Abdul Jabbar)
Point Guard: Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Watching him, one felt like Johnson could do anything he wanted anytime he wanted. That he could get to any spot on the court at will. When Larry Bird once told the Chicago Sun-Times: “I've never seen anybody as good as him [Earvin Johnson],” he was probably right, and his observation could still be considered true today.
What player could ever do so much with a basketball? To that point, no one ever ran a fast break better. With Bob Cousy and Pete Maravitch, he was probably one of the three or four best ballhandlers ever. Magic averaged 19.5 ppg: He could have averaged at least 25.0 if he desired.
To wit, who could forget the 30-point and 40-point games he had in the playoffs when Kareem Abdul Jabbar could not play or was sub par? Instead of a point guard, one might say he was a “Greek god with a basketball.”
He holds almost every playoff assist record, including that for highest average in a series, 17.0 assists per game in 1985. His career 138 triple doubles are second to Oscar Robertson.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson gives the all-time team the passing, leadership, ability to make others better, and all-around versatility it needs.
(2nd Choice: Bob Cousy)
Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan. Of course. The greatest player of all-time. Also its most charismatic figure, ever. His iron will to win championships is only equaled by Bill Russell.The finest two-way player of all-time. His statistics are known. Especially his all-time high 30.1 career scoring average. His six finals MVPs are a record. He is the NBA All-Star game's leading all-time scorer. His ten scoring titles are an NBA record. And so on.
According to the well-publicized ESPN poll of a few years ago, Jordan was the greatest athlete of the 20th Century. (According to the Associated Press he was second to Babe Ruth.) What separates Jordan from everyone else in NBA history is that there was no weakness in his game: He could “handle”; he could go inside and outside; he could rebound and pass; he could defend; he could play virtually any position; and he mold any basketball situation to his advantage.
His basketball IQ and work ethic supersedes all others in NBA history as well, which is why he was the greatest. Jordan had the greatest passion to make himself the greatest ever.
Michael Jordan gives the all-time team its ability to take on any challenge, rebound from any defeat, score on any occasion, intimidation, and steely defense from a variety of positions.
(2nd Choice: Jerry West)
THE END.
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