Naming the five greatest players in NBA history is a challenge where no player, coach, or analyst has ever shared the same combination of five players. While usual suspects such as Michael Jordan feature, that same honor isn’t universally given to players outside that level. Tracy McGrady proved that while talking about his all-time starting five and naming Jason Kidd as his point guard.
“My point guard, people are gonna be like, ‘What?’ Give me Jason Devonte Kidd. I don’t even know if that’s his middle name but sh*t I gave him one. I love J-Kidd, to me he can play with the best of the point guards. Magic, Chris Paul, whoever.”
The rest of McGrady’s team features four players no fan of 2000s basketball would dispute, as he put Michael Jordan as the shooting guard, LeBron James as the small forward, Tim Duncan as the power forward, and Shaquille O’Neal as the center.
“At my two guard, it’s MJ, the black cat… At the small forward, LeBronius Lebanon, what y’all call him, King James… Best power forward of all time is Tim Bartholomew Duncan…At my center, the Big Diesel, Shaquille O’Neal himself.”
McGrady has put together a fierce roster with a starting point guard not many would have expected. People usually lean towards names like Stephen Curry or Magic Johnson for that position, but McGrady chose Kidd.
He averaged 12.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 8.7 assists, and 1.9 steals per game for his career, leading the New Jersey Nets to two NBA Finals appearances. He also played for the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, and the New York Knicks.
He was a 10-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA, nine-time All-Defensive selection, and is regarded as one of the most complete point guards of his generation. He won the NBA Championship in 2011 with the Dallas Mavericks and is now coaching a similarly genius point guard in Luka Doncic on the franchise.
He’s no. 2 on the all-time assists and steals list with 12,091 dimes and 2,684 steals. He trails behind John Stockton in both categories.
The other players are obvious selections. The only other name that McGrady could have included is Kobe Bryant, but many would lean toward Jordan over Kobe, and it’s redundant to have both on the team if you’re looking at skill sets. Duncan gives a solid defensive base, O’Neal is dominant, while Jordan and LeBron are all-around weapons for Kidd to orchestrate as the point guard.
Jason Kidd’s All-Time Starting Five
In October, I was present at the 2023 NBA Abu Dhabi Games between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Before their first game, I asked coach Kidd about his all-time starting five, and he gave a really interesting modern lineup.
“Players playing today or past players? Oh, any. Great question. I better put Luka and Kai on there. You got LeBron James, you would have to go with Shaq. I should put a shooter on there, so let’s put Steph in there.”
Kidd was biased towards his players, including Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Kyrie is a pick some people may make for his truly unique dribbling skills, but Doncic needs to put together a bigger resume before people start taking him in their all-time starting fives.
Despite being told to pick anyone in history, Kidd kept his team modern with three players he played against. Stephen Curry is arguably the greatest shooter and would be a weapon on this roster, while LeBron and Shaq round out the lineup.
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