Former NBA player Lou Williams was recently tasked with creating his dream starting five with $15 on FanDuel TV. Williams had a fair few all-time greats to choose from and managed to come up with a strong lineup.
“LeBron [James] at the one,” Williams said. [Michael Jordan] at the two… I got $5 left… Give me Scottie [Pippen] at the three. I got $3 left? … Give me [Anthony Davis] at the four and Wilt [Chamberlain] at the five.”
Williams actually had $1 left in the bank there. Here is the list of players that the 38-year-old had to choose from, along with their prices.
Williams didn’t hesitate to pick LeBron James and Michael Jordan, but both of them being worth $5 meant he had already eaten up $10. He couldn’t pick anyone from the second row, so Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Kevin Garnett, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were no longer in consideration.
Williams still managed to make solid selections in Scottie Pippen, Anthony Davis, and Wilt Chamberlain. Interestingly, the three-time Sixth Man of the Year had the option to pick Charles Barkley over Davis or Nikola Jokic over Chamberlain, but decided against doing so.
The reason became clear when Williams expressed how happy he was with his selections.
“I got a pecking order,” Williams stated. “I got guys that wanna guard. I got rim protection. I got a guy that scored 100 points in a game… I got 40,000, I got the leading scorer of the entire league.”
Williams wanted defenders, which meant Barkley and Jokic were never going to be picked. All the players he chose are/were excellent defenders.
While there is no weak link on defense on this team, it was pointed out to Williams that he didn’t have enough shooting. He hilariously stated he didn’t need it, as he had Jordan.
Some more shooting certainly wouldn’t hurt, but this is an incredible team as is.
James is the point guard, and he has won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, a scoring title, and an assists title in his career. He has made 21 All-Star, 21 All-NBA, and six All-Defensive teams.
Jordan slots alongside James in the backcourt, and he won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles. He made 14 All-Star, 11 All-NBA, and nine All-Defensive teams. Jordan and James are widely regarded as the two greatest players in NBA history, so this certainly wasn’t a bad start.
Jordan’s former teammate Pippen is at the small forward position, and he won six titles in his career. He also made seven All-Star, seven All-NBA, and 10 All-Defensive teams.
James’ former teammate Davis, meanwhile, gets to play in his preferred power forward role in this lineup. Davis has won a title, and has made 10 All-Star, five All-NBA, and five All-Defensive teams.
Lastly, we get to Chamberlain at the center spot. He won two titles, one Finals MVP, four MVPs, seven scoring titles, and 11 rebounding titles in his career. Chamberlain made 13 All-Star, 10 All-NBA, and two All-Defensive teams.
Those are impressive resumes, and that team would give trouble to whatever combination you might come up with on your own from that graphic.
