Considering the sheer number of truly great players that have played in the NBA, it is not an easy task to pick an all-time starting lineup. You’re inevitably going to leave out a lot of the greats of the game, and it’s impossible to name a starting five that everyone would be satisfied by.
We recently had some NBA rookies try their hand at it, and now, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley has revealed his own all-time starting five.
“Michael (Jordan), Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), and Wilt (Chamberlain),” Barkley said.
We know how much Barkley likes the big man in basketball, but having three centers in his all-time starting five sure is interesting. The players he chose though are all some of the greatest we have ever seen.
Michael Jordan, of course, is widely regarded as the greatest ever, and he won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles.
Oscar Robertson was the first player to ever average a triple-double in a season and won an MVP to go with a title.
Bill Russell, meanwhile, won an NBA record 11 championships in his 13 seasons in the league and was a five-time MVP as well.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six titles, two Finals MVPs, six MVPs, and was the all-time leading scorer for nearly 40 years.
Lastly, Wilt Chamberlain is arguably the most dominant player the NBA has ever seen. He won two titles, a Finals MVP, four MVPs, and seven scoring titles in his storied career.
The Most Glaring Omission From Charles Barkley’s Starting Five
While all five men are undoubtedly great, there is one glaring omission in Barkley’s starting five, and that would be LeBron James. Is it really a surprise though that Barkley omitted LeBron? Not really.
He revealed earlier this year that he only considers LeBron to be the seventh greatest player in NBA history and this was after he broke Kareem’s all-time scoring record. His reasoning was that LeBron is a nice guy and doesn’t have the killer mentality of someone like Jordan. Barkley also ranked Jimmy Butler higher than LeBron on his all-time Miami Heat list during these past playoffs.
He is entitled to his opinion, of course, but not having LeBron in an all-time starting five and ranking him below Butler for the Heat, sure is a bit questionable.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
