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Best NBA team's starting five

closetohumping

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17453

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Spin off from my other thread.....but this time with rules (we where sleeves here). rules:

 

Player has to have been with the team at least four years.  That means no Kyrie on the Celts or Lebron on the Lakers for now.

He doesn't necessarily have to be attached exclusively to one team, ie, is Barkley a Sixer or a Sun?

Players can switch positions.

For player's on multiple teams, their performance would be based on their time with the team, ie, Hakeem on the Raptors is Hakeem on the Raptors.

 

My Laker team:

Magic

Kobe

Worthy (or I would play Kobe at the 3 and start West)

Kareem

Shaq

 

Celtics could give them a run:

Cousy

Havlicheck

Bird

Mchale

Russell

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19122

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Rockets:

c- Yao

PF- Hakeem

3- T-mac

2- Drexler

1- Harden. 

I know Hakeem was a center but he is so damn athletic and not all that big- he could easily play power forward in any era and did during the twin tower era. 
That Rockets team would be pretty tough to beat 1-5 as you have HOFers (all other than Drexler in their absolute prime) everywhere. He played in 4 calendar years for the Rockets and won a title so I’m counting him- even if it was late prime Clyde that’s still better than Cassell or Smith or Murphy at the 1 with Harden at the 2). 
Bench is going to kind of suck. This is a pretty top heavy team.  I would take this all time team and expect it to finish somewhere around 6-9 in this league. Definitely the best all time team in Texas. 

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3263

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3 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

Warriors:

Wilt Chamberlain

Steph Curry

KD

Klay

Draymond

Chris Mullin

Paul Arizin 

Nate Thurmond

Chris Webber

Tim Hardaway

 

thats not bad

that team flies under the radar.  but KD was only a warrior for 3 years.  

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Mitch Cumsteen

Mitch Cumsteen 18550

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44 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Wolves

PG- Sam Cassell
SG-Anthony Edwards
SF-Jimmy Butler
PF- Kevin Garnett
C- Karl Anthony towns


Bench
D’Angelo Russell
Tom Gugliotta
Kevin love
Trenton Hassell
Wally Z

I don't think you can count Cassell or Butler since they didn't play there long enough. Or even Edwards or Russell for that matter. I would give you Starbury and Sprewell, but they didn't play there long enough either.

I would go:

Terrell Brandon -or- Ricky Rubio
Andrew Wiggins -or- Wally Sczerbiak
Kevin Garnett
Kevin Love
KAT

 

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19122

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2 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I don't think you can count Cassell or Butler since they didn't play there long enough. Or even Edwards or Russell for that matter. I would give you Starbury and Sprewell, but they didn't play there long enough either.

I would go:

Terrell Brandon -or- Ricky Rubio
Andrew Wiggins -or- Wally Sczerbiak
Kevin Garnett
Kevin Love
KAT

 

What a sad best 5 for a team that's been around what- 35 years now? That's just brutal.  Looking at it like that you have to feel for, and respect, Minny fans.

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Make em eat Taco Bell

Make em eat Taco Bell 1549

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13 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Rockets:

c- Yao

PF- Hakeem

3- T-mac

2- Drexler

1- Harden. 

I know Hakeem was a center but he is so damn athletic and not all that big- he could easily play power forward in any era and did during the twin tower era. 
That Rockets team would be pretty tough to beat 1-5 as you have HOFers (all other than Drexler in their absolute prime) everywhere. He played in 4 calendar years for the Rockets and won a title so I’m counting him- even if it was late prime Clyde that’s still better than Cassell or Smith or Murphy at the 1 with Harden at the 2). 
Bench is going to kind of suck. This is a pretty top heavy team.  I would take this all time team and expect it to finish somewhere around 6-9 in this league. Definitely the best all time team in Texas. 

Moses Malone > Yao, absolutely carried a 40-42 team to the 1981 Finals to meed Larry Legend. 

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19122

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26 minutes ago, Make em eat Taco Bell said:

Moses Malone > Yao, absolutely carried a 40-42 team to the 1981 Finals to meed Larry Legend. 

This is what happens when you make up a list in your head.  Yeah- I'd go with him over Yao.  But boy, Yao would be a weapon off the bench.  

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19122

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6 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

4 years+ of playing makes it a bit tougher. Lots of good big men, not a lot of notable guards on the Cavs.  

Cavs:

Lebron

Kyrie Irving

Kevin Love

Mark Price

Brad Daugherty

Larry Nance

 

Don't you dare put that slander on Boogie Gibson's name. He's a longhorn legend.  And led them to a finals appearance with some kid whose name I can't quite remember  

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HookEm

HookEm 2467

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San Antonio is criminally underrated. Other teams may have better individual players, but San Antonio has elite players who would mesh perfectly. They would be an absolute nightmare with three defensive players of the year plus a top-10 scorer in Gervin. 

  • Tim Duncan - The unanimous best power forward of all-time, playing in his natural position.  
  • David Robinson - Another top-20 player with an MVP, DPoY and scoring title
  • Kawhi Leonard - 2x Finals MVP, 2x DPoY, #2 in MVP voting.  Best win% in NBA regular season history
  • George Gervin - Top-10 all-time scorer, two top-25 individual seasons, #2 in MVP voting and averaged 33+ points per game
  • Tony Parker - Finals MVP, top-5 MVP voting, top-70 overall player
  • Gregg Popovich - Coached by a top-3 all-time coach.  Maybe the best. 

The TEAM would match up well with Lakers. 

  • Kawhi vs. Kobe - Prime Kawhi could go toe to toe with Kobe. Kawhi was 7-0 against Kobe in games they played (late stage of Kobe's career, but early part of Kawhi's).  In those games, Kawhi held him to 17.7 ppg.  
  • Gervin vs. Magic - Magic would also have a hard time with Gervin.  In 22 games played, Gervin was 12-10 against Magic and averaged 25 pts on 48% shooting.  Magic wasn't a great defender.
  • Parker vs. Worthy - Worthy is the better player, but overall this is also pretty even.  #67 vs. #48 
  • Duncan vs. Kareem - Give me the big fundamental playing against an out-of-position Kareem. 
  • Shaq vs. Robinson - In their primes (1994-1998), Robinson outplayed Shaq head to head going 5-2.  Admiral averaged 29 pts, 12 reb, 4.4 ast, 2.6 blocks and shot 82% FT against Shaq (28 pts, 13 reb, 1.8 ast, 1.9 blk, 60% FT)

I realize the above matchups probably wouldn't play out. I just wanted to show that these players actually played head to head a good bit.  It would probably be Parker vs. Kobe, Kawhi vs. Magic and Gervin vs. Worthy.  In a lot of ways I like these matchups better for the Spurs as Kawhi could slow down Magic.

If the two JUST played 5v5, I bet the Spurs would win that matchup close to 50% of the time with these rosters. Maybe more.  Pop would employ Hack-a-Shaq if the game was close and that would give at least a few more wins.  The Spurs are also a much better shooting team for a modern game.  

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Tylerocks

Tylerocks 2553

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1 hour ago, HookEm said:

San Antonio is criminally underrated. Other teams may have better individual players, but San Antonio has elite players who would mesh perfectly. They would be an absolute nightmare with three defensive players of the year plus a top-10 scorer in Gervin. 

  • Tim Duncan - The unanimous best power forward of all-time, playing in his natural position.  
  • David Robinson - Another top-20 player with an MVP, DPoY and scoring title
  • Kawhi Leonard - 2x Finals MVP, 2x DPoY, #2 in MVP voting.  Best win% in NBA regular season history
  • George Gervin - Top-10 all-time scorer, two top-25 individual seasons, #2 in MVP voting and averaged 33+ points per game
  • Tony Parker - Finals MVP, top-5 MVP voting, top-70 overall player
  • Gregg Popovich - Coached by a top-3 all-time coach.  Maybe the best. 

The TEAM would match up well with Lakers. 

  • Kawhi vs. Kobe - Prime Kawhi could go toe to toe with Kobe. Kawhi was 7-0 against Kobe in games they played (late stage of Kobe's career, but early part of Kawhi's).  In those games, Kawhi held him to 17.7 ppg.  
  • Gervin vs. Magic - Magic would also have a hard time with Gervin.  In 22 games played, Gervin was 12-10 against Magic and averaged 25 pts on 48% shooting.  Magic wasn't a great defender.
  • Parker vs. Worthy - Worthy is the better player, but overall this is also pretty even.  #67 vs. #48 
  • Duncan vs. Kareem - Give me the big fundamental playing against an out-of-position Kareem. 
  • Shaq vs. Robinson - In their primes (1994-1998), Robinson outplayed Shaq head to head going 5-2.  Admiral averaged 29 pts, 12 reb, 4.4 ast, 2.6 blocks and shot 82% FT against Shaq (28 pts, 13 reb, 1.8 ast, 1.9 blk, 60% FT)

I realize the above matchups probably wouldn't play out. I just wanted to show that these players actually played head to head a good bit.  It would probably be Parker vs. Kobe, Kawhi vs. Magic and Gervin vs. Worthy.  In a lot of ways I like these matchups better for the Spurs as Kawhi could slow down Magic.

If the two JUST played 5v5, I bet the Spurs would win that matchup close to 50% of the time with these rosters. Maybe more.  Pop would employ Hack-a-Shaq if the game was close and that would give at least a few more wins.  The Spurs are also a much better shooting team for a modern game.  

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HookEm

HookEm 2467

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BTW I'm not a Spurs fan. That Lakers team just seems like it would have too many mouths to feed.  Magic is at his best when out running (same with Worthy). Kobe could also run, but then you have Shaq and Kareem clogging everything up.  Those two bigs would NOT play well together. Neither was great outside the lane.  And the team wouldn't have the shooting necessary to keep people from clogging the paint.

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ztejas

ztejas 43487

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1 minute ago, HookEm said:

BTW I'm not a Spurs fan. That Lakers team just seems like it would have too many mouths to feed.  Magic is at his best when out running (same with Worthy). Kobe could also run, but then you have Shaq and Kareem clogging everything up.  Those two bigs would NOT play well together. Neither was great outside the lane.  And the team wouldn't have the shooting necessary to keep people from clogging the paint.

Peak Kawhi was just as good as Kobe ever was. Kobe just did it for longer. Although Kawhi's best season was unfortunately as a Raptor. TP was awesome but he's hard to hide on defense against the all time Lakers. Why I feel like DJ becomes an interesting look.

 

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HookEm

HookEm 2467

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For exercises like this, I also hate going back before the NBA ABA merger. The game was just too different then and I never saw any of the players with my own eyes.  So if I'm just going back to 1976 and trying to put together an actual Lakers starting 5 that would be a good TEAM, I might go with:

  • PG: Magic - 1987 - MVP, Finals MVP  
  • SG: M. Cooper - 1987 - Defensive PoY,  39% 3s
  • SF:  Kobe - 2008 - MVP, 36% 3s, 5.4 ast, 1st team Defense
  • PF: P. Gasol - 2011 - 2nd team NBA
  • C : Kareem - 1976 - MVP

That is a much better shooting and versatile defending team with Cooper in for Worthy.  Pau instead of Shaq also gets rid of the chemistry issues, lets the team run and solves the spacing issues.  Kobe can also be a gunner with this setup.

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ztejas

ztejas 43487

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6 minutes ago, HookEm said:

For exercises like this, I also hate going back before the NBA ABA merger. The game was just too different then and I never saw any of the players with my own eyes.  So if I'm just going back to 1976 and trying to put together an actual Lakers starting 5 that would be a good TEAM, I might go with:

  • PG: Magic - 1987 - MVP, Finals MVP  
  • SG: M. Cooper - 1987 - Defensive PoY,  39% 3s
  • SF:  Kobe - 2008 - MVP, 36% 3s, 5.4 ast, 1st team Defense
  • PF: P. Gasol - 2011 - 2nd team NBA
  • C : Kareem - 1976 - MVP

That is a much better shooting and versatile defending team with Cooper in for Worthy.  Pau instead of Shaq also gets rid of the chemistry issues, lets the team run and solves the spacing issues.  Kobe can also be a gunner with this setup.

Chemistry issues? Then tell Kobe to fuck off. No way are you not starting 2000 Shaq. And he could run the floor just fine.

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17453

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1 hour ago, HookEm said:

BTW I'm not a Spurs fan. That Lakers team just seems like it would have too many mouths to feed.  Magic is at his best when out running (same with Worthy). Kobe could also run, but then you have Shaq and Kareem clogging everything up.  Those two bigs would NOT play well together. Neither was great outside the lane.  And the team wouldn't have the shooting necessary to keep people from clogging the paint.

How about this:

 

magic

west/baylor

kobe

worthy

kareem

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Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman 3917

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13 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

Warriors:

Wilt Chamberlain

Steph Curry

KD

Klay

Draymond

Chris Mullin

Paul Arizin 

Nate Thurmond

Chris Webber

Tim Hardaway

 

thats not bad

Rick Barry would like to have a word with you and he'd be in the starting lineup over Klay and Draymond.  

5 hours ago, OB3 said:

Heat

Hardaway

Wade

Lebron

Mourning

Shaq

6th man Bosh 

 

 

Bosh over Shaq, if looking at careers not apexes.  Shaq was basically great one season and was hurt down the stretch and mediocre in the playoffs.

 

2 hours ago, ztejas said:

Peak Kawhi was just as good as Kobe ever was. Kobe just did it for longer. Although Kawhi's best season was unfortunately as a Raptor. TP was awesome but he's hard to hide on defense against the all time Lakers. Why I feel like DJ becomes an interesting look.

 

Good thoughts although he's had a couple of SA seasons where he was as good or better than Kobe.  Peak Kawhi > peak Kobe, but as you stated, Kobe has the longevity.  

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IDIOTsavant

IDIOTsavant 8499

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21 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Rockets:

c- Yao

PF- Hakeem

3- T-mac

2- Drexler

1- Harden. 

I know Hakeem was a center but he is so damn athletic and not all that big- he could easily play power forward in any era and did during the twin tower era. 
That Rockets team would be pretty tough to beat 1-5 as you have HOFers (all other than Drexler in their absolute prime) everywhere. He played in 4 calendar years for the Rockets and won a title so I’m counting him- even if it was late prime Clyde that’s still better than Cassell or Smith or Murphy at the 1 with Harden at the 2). 
Bench is going to kind of suck. This is a pretty top heavy team.  I would take this all time team and expect it to finish somewhere around 6-9 in this league. Definitely the best all time team in Texas. 

I’d probably bump Yao for either Moses Malone or Elvin Hayes, but other than that it looks pretty solid. The rest of that lineup would definitely be able to play at an elevated pace, and I think either of those guys would be better in an up and down scenario.

Edited by IDIOTsavant
Reason for bumping Yao.
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ztejas

ztejas 43487

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40 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Thunder:

PG -- Gary Payton

SG -- James Harden

SF -- Kevin Durant

PF -- Shawn Kemp

C -- Jack Sikma

See what I did there.....?

Maybe they'd be better of with GP. Westbrook was the better player though.

Also, Seattle RayRay >>>>>>> OKC Harden. Harden didn't play 4 years with them anyway. 

Edited by ztejas
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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21861

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1 minute ago, conVINCEd said:

I got the privilege of playing a pickup game with kemp, so I’m probably a little biased.

I met him years ago at the old Forum Club at The Forum.  When he shook my hand, it was like a grown man shaking a baby’s hand.

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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Just now, Sbbruin said:

I met him years ago at the old Forum Club at The Forum.  When he shook my hand, it was like a grown man shaking a baby’s hand.

I damn near threw an alley oop completely over the backboard and he still went up and put it home.  This was when he was prepping for the draft, so probably his peak athleticism.

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Blotto

Blotto 23560

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3 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Some fodder. Not starting 5s but fun to look around at all time rosters.

https://www.2kratings.com/all-time-teams

This cracked me up...

image.png.f0d0d2f485f69805422396eaba34fb0d.png

Wilt and his 30.1 ppg / 22.9 rpg sitting behind Dolph Schayes and his 18.5ppg / 12.1 rpg. Sure Schayes played most of his career for the syracuse nationals who became the 76ers, but come the fuck on. Wilt played for the 76ers for 3.5 seasons and won 3 MVPs and the 67 NBA title.  

 

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17453

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16 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

Warriors:

Wilt Chamberlain

Steph Curry

KD

Klay

Draymond

Chris Mullin

Paul Arizin 

Nate Thurmond

Chris Webber

Tim Hardaway

 

thats not bad

Mitch Richmond, who many would consider a top 3 SG during the Jordan era would be on that team. Rick Barry  How about Baron Davis?

38 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Was Spreewell too busy feeding his family to make the cut?

I'd leave his sorry ass with that damn pitt bull of his . Though Spree had good years with GSW too right?  Damn.

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