The Ultimate Team
If I could pick any basketball players from their prime to play on one 12 man team here's who I would choose:
The Starting 5
Point Guard: Ervin Magic Johnson. Best point guard who ever played, period. Also, incredibly versatile. Can play center if you need to win a championship.
Shooting Guard: From North Carolina, number 23 Michael Jordan. I don't know that a lot has to be said about this choice. Cleveland's still suffering from the shot on Eloh, and Karl Malone is still wondering where that ball, and his dreams of winning a championship, went.
Small Forward: Larry Bird. Others may have been better, but no one competed harder. He always got the most out of himself and his teammates. If you ever need a miracle steal, or a shot to win a game, this is your man.
Power Forward: Bill "The Champion" Russell. He won everything there is to win, and did so with grace, class, and an unbreakable will to win. Any team would be lucky to have had him. Boston certainly was, he helped them win 11 titles.
Center: Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain. Perhaps the greatest talent to ever play the game. If he had Russel's toughness he would have been unstoppable. But even so he was one of the best ever. His versatility is never given enough credit; he was one of the greatest passing big men to ever play the game.
The Bench
"The Big O" Oscar Robertson. The guy averaged a triple double for a season.! Are you kidding me!
"The Iceman" George Gervin. The nickname says it all, George Gervin was as silky smooth cool as they come. Certainly one of the best shooters the game has ever seen.
Dominique Wilkins. You want your face dunked on? No. Well then get out of Dominique's way!
Sir Charles Barkley. The round mound of rebound was as ferocious as they come. You'd have to be to try and rebound against guys half a foot taller than yourself.
Shaq "Daddy" O'neal, a.k.a. the Big Aristotle, the Big Maravich, the Big Everything generally. When the big man's got it going on, there are few, if any, who can stop him. One of the top two or three best post players of all time.
Dennis Rodman. Great energy guy if he's engaged, and when he's playing with the best he always is. You need guys like Rodman to come off the bench for you and help change the energy and tempo of the game with their full-throttle play. He was a key player on 5 championship teams, was a lock down defender and superb rebounder. There's only one ball, so any successful team needs guys who get other players the ball, and no one was better at chasing down the ball than Rodman.
Bernard King. One of the best scorers ever. Any good team needs guys who can come of the bench and provide instant offense, and King could certainly do that. He could put up 50 on you in a heart beat.
(Those who also received considderation: Pistol Pete Maravich - you gotta love the floppy hair, the slick moves, the passes that came from nowhere. Wes Unseld - You wanna get a fast break started? Just start running down the court, Wes'll get you the ball. Earl "the Pearl" Monroe - Black Jesus floated through the air like Christ walking on water. Isiah Thomas - Horrible coach, but this little man could play. Hakeem "Dream Shake" Olajuwon - Did so many little things well for a big man, and few have ever been as graceful. Just as Shaq had the power, Olajuwon had the finesse. He faked countless victims right out of their shoes. Lastly, Dwayne Wade - I love his game. He's always attacking, attacking, attacking.)
The Starting 5
Point Guard: Ervin Magic Johnson. Best point guard who ever played, period. Also, incredibly versatile. Can play center if you need to win a championship.
Shooting Guard: From North Carolina, number 23 Michael Jordan. I don't know that a lot has to be said about this choice. Cleveland's still suffering from the shot on Eloh, and Karl Malone is still wondering where that ball, and his dreams of winning a championship, went.
Small Forward: Larry Bird. Others may have been better, but no one competed harder. He always got the most out of himself and his teammates. If you ever need a miracle steal, or a shot to win a game, this is your man.
Power Forward: Bill "The Champion" Russell. He won everything there is to win, and did so with grace, class, and an unbreakable will to win. Any team would be lucky to have had him. Boston certainly was, he helped them win 11 titles.
Center: Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain. Perhaps the greatest talent to ever play the game. If he had Russel's toughness he would have been unstoppable. But even so he was one of the best ever. His versatility is never given enough credit; he was one of the greatest passing big men to ever play the game.
The Bench
"The Big O" Oscar Robertson. The guy averaged a triple double for a season.! Are you kidding me!
"The Iceman" George Gervin. The nickname says it all, George Gervin was as silky smooth cool as they come. Certainly one of the best shooters the game has ever seen.
Dominique Wilkins. You want your face dunked on? No. Well then get out of Dominique's way!
Sir Charles Barkley. The round mound of rebound was as ferocious as they come. You'd have to be to try and rebound against guys half a foot taller than yourself.
Shaq "Daddy" O'neal, a.k.a. the Big Aristotle, the Big Maravich, the Big Everything generally. When the big man's got it going on, there are few, if any, who can stop him. One of the top two or three best post players of all time.
Dennis Rodman. Great energy guy if he's engaged, and when he's playing with the best he always is. You need guys like Rodman to come off the bench for you and help change the energy and tempo of the game with their full-throttle play. He was a key player on 5 championship teams, was a lock down defender and superb rebounder. There's only one ball, so any successful team needs guys who get other players the ball, and no one was better at chasing down the ball than Rodman.
Bernard King. One of the best scorers ever. Any good team needs guys who can come of the bench and provide instant offense, and King could certainly do that. He could put up 50 on you in a heart beat.
(Those who also received considderation: Pistol Pete Maravich - you gotta love the floppy hair, the slick moves, the passes that came from nowhere. Wes Unseld - You wanna get a fast break started? Just start running down the court, Wes'll get you the ball. Earl "the Pearl" Monroe - Black Jesus floated through the air like Christ walking on water. Isiah Thomas - Horrible coach, but this little man could play. Hakeem "Dream Shake" Olajuwon - Did so many little things well for a big man, and few have ever been as graceful. Just as Shaq had the power, Olajuwon had the finesse. He faked countless victims right out of their shoes. Lastly, Dwayne Wade - I love his game. He's always attacking, attacking, attacking.)
posted by Tbone at
7:37 PM
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