The 2023 NBA Draft is now behind us and those fortunate to be selected will be hoping to make their mark on the league in the years to come.
The top prospects will be looking to emulate their idols and some of them revealed their all-time starting lineups as well.
Let’s break down these lineups from the top prospects. To start off, any lineup with both LeBron James and Michael Jordan in it would tend to be a pretty good one, so let’s get to analyzing these starting fives.
Victor Wembynama’s All-Time Starting Lineup: Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal
That’s a pretty good starting five right there. You got LeBron and Jordan to go with the greatest power forward ever, Tim Duncan. The team is rounded off by Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal, two of the most dominant forces at their respective positions. There really isn’t any selection here that you can point to as being controversial.
Scoot Henderson’s All-Time Starting Lineup: Stephen Curry, Scoot Henderson, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal
Three of the five were the same as Wembanyama but Scoot Henderson including himself in it and not Jordan is certainly interesting. It speaks to his supreme confidence but he might come across as perhaps being a bit egotistical. The other difference was Kobe Bryant instead of Duncan and you can’t really argue with that.
Amen Thompson’s All-Time Starting Lineup: Amen Thompson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic
Amen Thompson also added himself to the team, just as Henderson, which again might be perceived as being a bit egotistical. He also went with Nikola Jokic as his big man instead of Shaq, which shows he might like the finesse of the Serb over O’Neal’s brute force.
Ausar Thompson’s All-Time Starting Lineup: Michael Jordan, Ausar Thompson, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic
His twin brother Ausar also added himself. Their teams had three players in common, with the difference being Giannis Antetokounmpo over Kobe. This certainly is a team that is leaning toward the stars in today’s game, with MJ being the only retired player.
Taylor Hendricks’ All-Time Starting Lineup: Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Taylor Hendricks, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Taylor Hendricks continued the trend of the rookies adding themselves to the team. There is some Laker flavor to this one with Hendricks being a Lakers fan, as we see Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson for the first time. While he may be biased, there can really be no arguments against those two being there.
Grady Dick’s All-Time Starting Lineup: Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Grady Dick, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal
Talking about Laker flavor, Grady Dick’s team has a whole lot of it. He is the only non-Laker here, which means he is also the second one after Henderson to not have MJ on the team.
Cam Whitmore’s All-Time Starting Lineup: Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal
Cam Whitmore was the only one other than Wembanyama to not have himself on his team. He was the only one to pick Larry Bird on there and again, no arguments against having the last man to win three MVPs in a row in that starting five.
LeBron ended up being the only one to make the team for all the rookies, which shouldn’t be too big of a surprise, as they have all grown up watching him dominate the league.
A Lot Of The Rookies Named LeBron James As The Player They Want To Dunk On
While LeBron would be pleased to see his name on every list there, he might not have been all that happy to find out he featured prominently in another category too. Rookies were asked who was the one player they wanted to dunk on and the majority, including Wembanyama, went with LeBron.
Even though he will be entering his 21st season in the NBA, dunking on James is not going to be an easy task. Not many have managed to do that over the years, but a lot of these rookies will certainly try. His teammate Anthony Davis was another name that popped up and perhaps playing for the Lakers had something to do with that.
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