Former NBA player Mario Chalmers recently took part in a rapid-fire session with SLAM, where he was asked a host of basketball-related questions. Chalmers gave his pick for best NBA and WNBA player, best basketball team, and more.
Q: “Best NBA player of all time?”
Mario Chalmers: “Michael Jordan.”
Q. “Best WNBA player of all time?”
Chalmers: “Cynthia Cooper.”
Q: “Best basketball team of all time?”
Chalmers: “It’s gotta be the Dream Team or the Redeem Team.”
Q: “Best defender of all time?”
Chalmers: “Gary Payton or Scottie Pippen.”
Q: “Best coach of all time?”
Chalmers: “Give me Bill Self.”
Q: “Best March Madness moment of all time?”
Chalmers: “Probably 2008 National Championship Game vs. Memphis.”
Chalmers won two championships playing alongside LeBron James on the Miami Heat, but it’s not a surprise that he named Michael Jordan as the best player of all time. They weren’t exactly the best of friends during those four seasons together on the Heat.
Chalmers has also explained previously why Jordan is his GOAT over James. He claimed there isn’t that fear factor when it comes to his former teammate and added that the Chicago Bulls icon is the one he’d live and die with in a big moment.
Even if we put all this to the side, Jordan has a resume good enough to be regarded as the greatest. He won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles in his career.
On to the WNBA next, and Cynthia Cooper-Dyke has a pretty strong case for that title of best player ever. Cooper-Dyke won four titles, four Finals MVPs, two MVPs, and three scoring titles. She was 34 when she came to the WNBA, which makes those accomplishments all the more remarkable.
Chalmers then had to pick the greatest team, and while many tend to pick Jordan’s Bulls or the Golden State Warriors with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, he went a level beyond them. The 1992 Dream Team and the 2008 Redeem Team both dominated the competition on their way to winning the Gold medal at the Olympics. The talent level on those teams was off the charts.
The Dream Team had the likes of Jordan, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, and David Robinson among their ranks. As for the Redeem Team, it had James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and Dwight Howard, to name a few.
A Dream Team member also got the nod for best defender from Chalmers in Pippen. He never won a DPOY, but did make 10 All-Defensive teams. Pippen is just one of five players to get to double figures in selections.
Chalmers’ other pick was Gary Payton, and he just missed out by making nine All-Defensive teams. Unlike Pippen, though, Payton managed to win DPOY in 1996.
While Chalmers couldn’t be accused of bias so far, he did go down that route by picking Bill Self for best coach. Self has been the head coach for the Kansas Jayhawks since 2003, and Chalmers played under him from 2005 to 2008. They famously won a national title together in 2008, with the guard hitting an iconic clutch shot against Memphis in the championship game. Self would later add to his tally with another title in 2022.
As for the 2026 NBA championship, Chalmers has the Oklahoma City Thunder winning it. The Thunder, who finished this season with a league-best 64-18 record, are the defending champions and are looking to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Warriors did it in 2017 and 2018. You’d give them a very good chance to repeat.
