Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, Anthony Davis, and Dwight Howard are among the best players in the NBA over the last two decades. Paul is the last great pure point guard in the NBA, while Wade, Melo, and McGrady were electric scorers who won the scoring title at a point in their careers. Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard, meanwhile, are two of the premier bigs of the time who made an impact on both ends of the court.
Considering how great all of these guys were at their peak, picking a starting five from them is quite a difficult task, but that was the exact question posed by Hoop Central.
Who comes off the bench?
(via @zgvisualz1) pic.twitter.com/ljZOg4hwDH
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) August 22, 2022
NBA Twitter unsurprisingly ended up being very divided on who had to settle for a spot on the bench among them if they were all in their primes.
“Anybody saying melo needs to leave basketball alone honestly. It’s gotta be AD sadly”
“Wade you gotta take a seat my boy.”
“Melo. This isn’t that hard. Quit with the hate on Wade, he’s your only real perimeter defense on this team.”
“AD definitely getting benched and it ain’t even close ♂️”
“Unfortunately Dwight gotta sit this one out”
“CP3, Wade could play point”
“Melo, I already have tmac and I’m not giving up AD, Diwight, Wade, CP3”
“Well Tracy McGrady didnt lead his teams to a dominant playoff run so he gets dropped though its hurts me cos man a top top baller and a fave growing up”
“Melo, he is the biggest liability on defense here, along with his tunnel vision scoring ways is easily 6th man worthy. Melo averaged 4 plus assists once in his career, as far as the perimeter players here they’ve averaged 5 assists and up multiple times, also more team oriented.”
“Cp3 obviously”
“Dwight, No go-to move after how many yrs, Howard!”
“Tmac. I don’t think that should be difficult. Love the guy and you can definitely argue Melo should play the 4 so Tmac is more equipped to start but if you want the best players starting you’d bench Tmac”
“AD this isn’t a question. For those saying T Mac. Dude was a top 3 player in the league before he got injured.”
“Honestly probably melo or cp3, ppl that didn’t watch basketball before 2016 don’t know how good Dwight was, same with dwade and Tracy”
“Melo off the bench.. he’s legit the ONE that doesn’t play within the flow of the team.. the rest would work in cohesion. DH PnR/lob threat for CP.. Wade and Tmac TERROIZING with shot creation and defense, and AD would finally be a stretch 4 like he wants so bad.”
“It’s not an easy pick but if we’re just talking peak then it’s Melo. CP3/Wade/AD were at their peak elite offensive & defensive power houses (locks). Dwight at his peak was a capable scorer and DPOY. TMAC really the only other option but he was a better scorer (peak) than Melo.”
“Melo. Hate to say it but can’t put him at the 3 over TMac”
“DWade, he’s sub par at hitting 3’s and the team already has an all time facilitator in CP3”
“The choice is between melo or Dwight based on era. I think CP3 and Wade are locked in regardless of era, tmac is the most lethal score of the six, melo at his peak was just T-Mac, but in this new age, you may want him for additional shooting over Howard.”
“AD easily! Prime Dwight can cover the defense for Melo. (put Melo at the 4) We got prime Tmac and Melo for pure scoring. Dwade and Paul will be a super deadly duo offensively and defensively. And with Paul at PG will all this talent he will average like 15 assists.”
You can make an argument against all of them, really, and the wide-ranging opinions let you know it’s not as easy as some of them were trying to make it out to be. They are all sure-fire Hall of Famers, with McGrady having deservedly made it in 2020.
A lot of fans nowadays don’t seem to realize that he was truly one of the best scorers in the league in the 2000s, and Kobe Bryant once termed him the toughest player for him to guard. The two could have formed one of the best rivalries in the NBA if injuries hadn’t derailed McGrady’s career.
