all time starting 5

[HoopsNY]

I watched the games during those Olympics. He actually wasn't that great of a fit, took the most shots on the team, but was still outscored by LeBron & Wade.

The funny thing is, I vividly remember Kobe telling the media that he was mostly going to focus on defense during those Olympics, but he couldn't help himself.

Really odd. This is a gross mischaracterization of his contribution to that team, and a strange way of minimizing his play.

[1987_Lakers]

Really odd. This is a gross mischaracterization of his contribution to that team, and a strange way of minimizing his play.

I watched the games, Kobe in general didn't really do much up until the gold medal game, which you could say is the only game that mattered. But LeBron & Wade were clearly the co MVPs on that team. They dominated the tournament from start to finish.

Kobe shot 5 of 14 in the semis vs Argentina

4 of 13 vs Angola.

There was only 2-3 games in the entire tournament (out of 8 games) where Kobe really stood out. He was pretty inconsistent.

[SouBeachTalents]

I watched the games, Kobe in general didn't really do much up until the gold medal game, which you could say is the only game that mattered. But LeBron & Wade were clearly the co MVPs on that team. They dominated the tournament from start to finish.

Kobe shot 5 of 14 in the semis vs Argentina

4 of 13 vs Angola.

There was only 2-3 games in the entire tournament (out of 8 games) where Kobe really stood out. He was pretty inconsistent.

Kobe took 34 more shots than Wade and scored 8 less points Which again, is a reason why he wouldn't be an ideal fit in an all-time lineup, you don't need someone who's going to shoot that much when you potentially already have 4 other 25-30 ppg scorers.

And I still haven't gotten a good answer for why people would choose Kobe over Jordan when they play very similarly but he's the inferior player. It's not like the minimal advantage in 3 point shooting would supersede the substantial advantages Jordan has over him.

[Lakers Legend#32]

Guards: Magic, Jordan
Forwards: LeBron, Duncan
Center: Shaq

[gengiskhan]

Guards: Magic, Jordan
Forwards: LeBron, Duncan
Center: Shaq

what is Lebron doing in that list.

Put Bird instead. solves all the ball dominated problems LBJ has.

Shaq is acceptable. He is just too physical and dominant at Center.

[post]

nikola jokic/david robinson/joel embiid
draymond green/kevin garnett/giannis antetokounmpo
lebron james/kawhi leonard/paul george
michael jordan/dwyane wade/manu ginobili
stephen curry/chris paul/james harden

nikola jokic/shaquille o'neal/david robinson
kevin garnett/draymond green/tim duncan
lebron james/larry bird/charles barkley
michael jordan/dwyane wade/james harden
stephen curry/chris paul/john stockton

nikola jokic/david robinson/shaquille o'neal
kevin garnett/draymond green/tim duncan
lebron james/charles barkley/larry bird
michael jordan/dwyane wade/james harden
stephen curry/chris paul/john stockton

[Carbine]

If you're building a starting lineup to compete in today's NBA and factoring in fit, keeping in mind their is only one basketball....


Center - Jokic

Best offensive center ever overall. Fits all play styles. His defense is good enough to not get picked on with supreme results.


Power Forward - Larry Bird

He's essentially the same archetype as Jokic but a couple inches shorter. Fits any play style. Tough as shit. Defense is good enough.


Small Forward - Kawhi Leonard

The best combination of size, defense and shooting for a SF I've ever seen. He was apart of the most beautiful team basketball of the 20th century with the mid 2010 Spurs, so he's capable of dialing it back for the betterment of the team and playing off other great players.


SG - Michael Jordan

Contrary to what people might think of someone who shoots the amount of times he did, he was an all timer when it comes to off ball ability. I compared him to the 2pter version of Steph Curry. It's OK to have one none shooting (although he can obviously hit them) guard in the lineup when his name is Michael Jordan.

PG - Steph Curry

Imagining him playing off Bird and Jokic would be beautiful basketball we likely have never seen. His defense is a concern, but the fit with this squad is undeniably perfect



I don't think Lebron "plays nice" with other greats like the rest of these starters do, which is why I don't have him on this team.

[SouBeachTalents]

Definitely not a fan of a Jokic/Bird frontcourt defensively. You'd be much better served replacing Bird with KG or Jokic with Hakeem.

[Carbine]

I think Hakeem needs to be played through to get the Hakeem effect. I don't feel like having a "post up first" offense because that's not what the modern NBA is.

It's about spacing, shooting, perimeter focused offense.

KG is a perfectly fine choice at PF for this team. He was #2, but I truly done think Birds defense is a large concern. You can only involve one of Jokic/Bird in pick and rolls to hunt and that would likely be Jokic who would be getting "hunted" leaving Bird to do what he's really good at, play team defense.