OT: Pick an All-Time Starting Five (ver. 2019)

[blueadams]

This is probably my all-time favorite sports topic to talk about. And it changes every single year. The modern game evolves. New stars emerge. Former coaches and players you respect give new opinions. And for someone my age (or younger - 30), you get a chance to watch more old games. If you'd like to participate in this year's debate, I'd LOVE to hear your opinions. If it's not your cup of tea, I apologize if the post taking up space on the board bothers you.

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My team:

C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
PF: Hakeem Olajuwon

...Hakeem and LeBron are sure things for me in the front-court. Hakeem, I think, is the greatest center to ever play the game. If you disagree, please go watch the '95 NBA Finals, and then watch any Kareem, Russell, Wilt, Shaq, Moses, D-Rob, Duncan, etc. game ever played. He was the best athlete to ever play the position. He was the best defender to ever play the position. He had perfect size. Incredible strength (stronger than Shaq in the '95 Finals). And he had a COMPLETE offensive game. A deep mid-range shot. He could put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. He could pass. And he had The Most Beautiful assortment of post-moves and instincts the game has ever seen.. capable of just undressing and embarrassing any big man who ever lived. On top of all that, character, brains, toughness, competitiveness.. a true no-ego team player all the way.

...Now, the NBA has changed a great deal since the late 80's. Every single player on the floor now needs to be athletic enough to guard 3-pt shooters and perimeter players on switches; there's no doubt about that. And most teams today have a PF who can shoot 3's. But are you necessarily better with one? Even the best 3pt shooters of all-time, they still miss almost 2/3rds of the 3pt shots they take. The question for me here is.. Am I better with Hakeem-LeBron-Durant in the front court, or Kareem-Hakeem-LeBron? Perimeter defense is going to be about the same either way. Interior defense is going to be much better with Kareem. Rebounding (believe it or not, still very important in the actual course of a basketball game) is going to be much better with Kareem. And scoring-wise.. am I going to be better with Durant shooting low-percentage 3's, or with Kareem shooting high-percentage sky-hooks? "Spacing" is the real issue here. But there have been Twin-Tower teams that excelled without "spacing" at the 4 and 5 positions, most notably the San Antonio Spurs. The closest thing you can even imagine to a Kareem & Hakeem front court in today's game is two Anthony Davis's. Would that work? Higher percentage offense, better rebounding, better interior defense, equal perimeter defense. I think I'd be willing to sacrifice spacing for all those advantages. And I think it would work.

SF: L. James
SG: M. Jordan

...These two are really so obvious that they don't even need to be discussed. If you think they can't shoot 3's, leave 'em open. Jordan shot 43% from 3 in '95-96. LeBron shot 41% from 3 in '12-13.

PG: I. Thomas

...Skill-wise, I'd rather have a phenomenal outside shooter like Steph Curry, or a big defensive guard like Kobe (the 2nd best SG in the '04 Finals) out there. But the thing with Isiah is.. if you pick any 5 players, and you give Isiah the next 4 best -- and you're playing, say, 10 games -- by the 6th or 7th game, Isiah's team is gonna be better than yours; and they're gonna beat you; and there's not going to be anything you can do about it. Statistics and inches will never be able to measure everything. And everything that they can't, Isiah had. He. Beat. Everyone. In playoff series.. Kareem, Magic, Worthy and Riley's Lakers? Check. Bird, McHale, Parish and Johnson's Celtics? Check (3x). Jordan, Pippen and Jackson's Bulls? Check (3x). Moses Malone (3x), Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Dominique Wilkins (2x), Reggie Miller, Bernard King, Artis Gilmore (2x), Sidney Moncrief (2x), Maurice Cheeks. Between 1987 and 1991, in playoff series, Isiah Thomas beat all these ^ Top-100 All-Time players. Alongside Bill Russell, he was the best leader in basketball history. He was a QB, a coach on the floor, a conduit between the coach and the players. A general, a gang-leader, a captain. A mentor, a father-figure, a big brother, a teacher and a therapist to his teammates. He was the guy who charged fearlessly into the enemy's superior force (like Mel Gibson in Braveheart, lol.. but seriously). And he inspired, nay--demanded, everyone else in his gang to charge with him, with the same determination and belief.

...Zeke. If he's not on your team, he'll beat your team. That's why he's on my team.