Former NBA player Rudy Gay appeared on the latest episode of the Knuckleheads Podcast, where he built quite an interesting starting five of former teammates. Gay had to choose four former teammates, all in their primes, to join him in the lineup, and he left out some big names.
“I go Kyle [Lowry], DeMar [DeRozan], myself at the three, I go Z-Bo [Zach Randolph],” Gay said. “Damn, LaMarcus [Aldridge] out there too, isn’t he? Know what? I learned so much from Pau [Gasol], I gotta say Pau, man.”
Before we take a look at who all missed out, let’s check the players Gay selected.
Kyle Lowry is the point guard, and he has career averages of 14.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. Lowry has won an NBA title and made six All-Star teams, too.
Lowry’s longtime partner-in-crime, DeMar DeRozan, is the shooting guard. DeRozan has career averages of 21.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. He, too, has made six All-Star teams along the way.
Zach Randolph got the nod at power forward, and he finished his career with averages of 16.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. Randolph made two All-Star teams and was named Most Improved Player in 2004.
Pau Gasol got the final spot in Gay’s starting lineup at center. Gasol averaged 17.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game in his career. He won two titles and made six All-Star teams, and got into the Hall of Fame.
All the players Gay chose had good to great careers, but there were better ones he could have opted for. Kawhi Leonard, Allen Iverson, DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Donovan Mitchell, Tony Parker, and Marc Gasol are some of the more obvious options.
You’d put Leonard in over Randolph in the lineup and move Gay to power forward. Iverson and Parker would probably replace DeRozan and Lowry in that backcourt, too. Gay certainly was being a bit biased with his selections there, but you can’t be too hard on him for that.
Rudy Gay Played The “Start-Bench-Trade” Game
Later in the episode, Gay played the “start-bench-trade” game too and was presented with some tough options. The three players given to him were Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, and Tracy McGrady.
“You gotta start Melo, no, I start T-Mac,” Gay said. “… I bench Melo, I trade PP.”
It is somewhat close between Melo and T-Mac. Anthony certainly had the better career, as McGrady’s was, unfortunately, cut short by injury.
At his absolute peak, though, McGrady was the better of the two. He won two scoring titles compared to one for Anthony, and was briefly battling with Kobe Bryant for the title of best shooting guard in the NBA. So, you can’t really argue against Gay starting McGrady here.
As for Pierce and Anthony, Gay didn’t have to think too much about picking between them. Pierce is the one being shipped out of town, and he might get a little upset about that if he finds out.
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