The question of the five greatest players of all time by position stirs a lot of debate. Rarely do we have a unanimous consensus over the five players that should be on the team. Shaquille O’Neal inadvertently addressed that when he shared an Instagram post with a series of clips featuring some of the greatest players in league history sharing their all-time starting fives.
The video features the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Shaq himself, among others.
Kobe Bryant: “Magic at the one, MJ at the two, Larry at the three, Bill Russel at the four, Wilt at the five.”
Kevin Durant: “LeBron is my point. MJ at the two, Kobe at the three. Me at the four and Hakeem Olajuwon at the five.”
Shaquille O’Neal: “Mike and Kobe in the backcourt. LeBron at the three. Karl Malone at the four and at the center, I’ll go for the late great Bill Russell.”
Dwyane Wade: “Steph, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaq.”
Charles Barkley: “Michael, Oscar, Wilt, Kareem, Bill Russell.”
Stephen Curry: “Magic, Michael, Larry, Shaq, Tim Duncan.”
Ray Allen: “Magic, Michael Jordan, Larry, Shaq, and Hakeem Olajuwon.”
Kevin Garnett: “Magic at one, Kobe at my two, KD at my three. I’m going with Wilt the Stilt at five, and I’m playing the four.”
Jalen Rose: “Magic, Isiah, Jordan, Bird, Kareem.”
Paul Pierce: “Magic, Mike, Kobe, Bill Russell at the four, and my center is Kareem.”
Ray Allen revealed his all-time starting five to Fadeaway World last May and even that led to immense conversation because he decided to name LeBron James as the sixth man on his team instead of putting him in the starting five.
Common Themes In These All-Time Lineups
There’s a healthy mix of different lineups named by all these legends, but there’s one consistent name that features in all but one list. That name is Michael Jordan, as every player selected MJ, except for Garnett.
LeBron James wasn’t mentioned by everyone but managed to make his way into most lineups. Magic Johnson received more inclusions than LeBron, speaking to his impact on the game. Thought, Johnson did get pipped in point guard selections on this list a few times, with players choosing Stephen Curry or Isiah Thomas to be their lead guard.
There were a lot of different names included for big men, ranging from legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell to more modern names such as Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan. Even Wilt Chamberlain, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Karl Malone got a couple of shouts, showing that it’s much harder to decide on who the greatest big men in NBA history are.
The variety among forwards was also interesting to see. LeBron James and Larry Bird dominated the mentions, but there was a lot of love shown to Larry Bird and some inclusions for Kevin Durant as well.
The shooting guard debate was not hard to settle, as the position always will be remembered with Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant received a lot of mentions as well, but always alongside Jordan meaning one of the two players will play small forward in a fictitious lineup. Oscar Robertson also received some love.
These are some of the greatest players of all time so it’s hard to get a lineup like this to be bad. It’ll be interesting to see if any players out of the current crop of players push their names into the conversation. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have already solidified their all-time status, with Joel Embiid getting to their level if he can also win a ring. Young stars such as Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum will also be eyeing notoriety of this level by the time their career is done.
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