Who's your ultimate starting 5?

[raspsa]

If you had to pick 5 players from past and present NBA greats to form your starting unit,who would you select? My first team:

PG - Oscar Robertson
SG - Michael Jordan
SF - Larry Bird
PF - Tim Duncan
C - Bill Russell

I only considered players who had at least 1 NBA championship ring. This bunch has 24 rings among them!

[davi78239]

PG-John Stockton
SG-Michael Jordan
SF-Larry Bird
PF-Tim Duncan
C-Hakeem Alajawan

[NoMoneyDown]

Actually, in all fairness, you have to really wonder how affective some of the players of old (Bill Russell, Big "O") would do today. Players have gotten so much better over the years. I even wonder if some of the greats back then could even be on the bench today, let alone start and be 1st team All-everything.

[sa_butta]

PG-Magic Johnson
SG-Michael Jordan
SF-Larry Bird
PF-Tim Duncan
C-Hakeem Olajuwon

[strangeweather]

PG-Magic Johnson
SG-Michael Jordan
SF-Larry Bird
PF-Tim Duncan
C-Hakeem Olajuwon

Yeah, that's my list, too.

Olajuwon is a tough, tough call, but his game is so complete on both the offensive and defensive ends that I can't bring myself to pick anyone else.

[MrChug]

Starting, PG-John Stockton SG-Micheal Jordan SF-Larry Bird PF-Tim Duncan C- Bill Russell

[resistanze]

PG-Magic Johnson
SG-Michael Jordan
SF-Scottie Pippen
PF-Tim Duncan
C-Hakeem Olajuwon

[DirkAB]

Magic
Jordan
Bird
Malone
Kareem

[1Parker1]

Magic
Jordan
Bowen
Duncan
Shaq

It's a little homeristic, but I figure, with the other 4 players, Bowen wouldn't even need to score one point.

[waly.mg]

Magic-Jordan-Bird-Duncan-Shaq

[Slinkyman]

Malik Rose
Malik Rose
Malik Rose
Malik Rose
Malik Rose

[baseline bum]

PG Magic
SG Jordan
SF Pippen
PF Duncan
C Olajuwon

Could you imagine anyone scoring on this team or keeping up with them in transition?

[Spurologist]

Magic
Jordan
Bird
TD
Wilt

[baseline bum]

Actually, in all fairness, you have to really wonder how affective some of the players of old (Bill Russell, Big "O") would do today. Players have gotten so much better over the years. I even wonder if some of the greats back then could even be on the bench today, let alone start and be 1st team All-everything.

Have you ever seen tape of Russell? He may not be an MVP right now, but I have no doubt hed be an All-Star and the DPOY every single season. He's the fastest jumper I've ever seen. He'd easily be a top-10-top-15 player in this league right now IMO.

I couldn't imagine how good Russell would be with modern weight-training programs and the like. He was already such a freak athletically.

[weidaandduncan]

Nash-Manu-Tmac-TD-Shaq guys can be great even without rings.. be objective

[TheSanityAnnex]

PG- Magic
SG- Jordan
SF- Artest
PF- Duncan
C- O'Neal

[THE SIXTH MAN]

1.)Magic
2.)Jordan
3.)Bird
4.)Duncan
5.)Shaq

[ShoogarBear]

Have you ever seen tape of Russell? He may not be an MVP right now, but I have no doubt hed be an All-Star and the DPOY every single season. He's the fastest jumper I've ever seen. He'd easily be a top-10-top-15 player in this league right now IMO.

I couldn't imagine how good Russell would be with modern weight-training programs and the like. He was already such a freak athletically.

Russell was the most technically advanced player of all time. By that I mean there has never ever been a player in any team sport (with the possible exception of Babe Ruth) who more completely changed the concepts of how the game was played. Every center who plays defense today does so doing things that Bill Russell invented.

Having said that, Russell also played in an era of mostly slow, unathletic big men (Wilt notwithstanding). And he was 6'9".

I think a parallel question to ask would be: what would Ben Wallace have done if he played in the 1960s?

[ShoogarBear]

PG-Magic Johnson
SG-Michael Jordan
SF-Larry Bird
PF-Tim Duncan
C-Hakeem Olajuwon

Center is a choice between Hakeem, Russell, and Kareem for me.

[PM5K]

Jordan
Jordan
Jordan
Jordan
Anybody @ Center..., Maybe Jordan

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Jordan
Jordan
Jordan
Jordan
Anybody @ Center..., Maybe Jordan

Starting center.....DITKA!

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

My five

Latoya
Janet
o
Jermaine
Michael

[strangeweather]

My five

Latoya
Janet
o
Jermaine
Michael

What, no love for Jackie and Marlon?

[shelshor]

Actually, in all fairness, you have to really wonder how affective some of the players of old (Bill Russell, Big "O") would do today. Players have gotten so much better over the years. I even wonder if some of the greats back then could even be on the bench today, let alone start and be 1st team All-everything.

I would imagine so, if they had the same year round training programs that the guys today have; bear in mind that up until the late Nixon/early Ford administrations only a handful of players in ANY league were paid enough to live on---they all had to have at least off season jobs and a lot of them had second jobs during the season
Picture, if you will, sitting down to dinner and the doorbell rings. When you answer it, there stands Tony Parker trying to sell you a life insurance policy.
Far fetched? That's how and when John Havlicek got his start in what turned into a very nice business. Roger Staubach couldn't feed his family on what the Cowboys were paying him; he's now a very successful real estate magnate and developer. Oscar Robertson worked at a trucking company, which he later bought and still owns
The list is very long.
Perhaps a better question would be: Could today's spoiled athletes be effective if they had to have a real job during the off season?
How effective would they be if they had to have a real job during the season to feed and house their families?

[baseline bum]

Russell was the most technically advanced player of all time. By that I mean there has never ever been a player in any team sport (with the possible exception of Babe Ruth) who more completely changed the concepts of how the game was played. Every center who plays defense today does so doing things that Bill Russell invented.

Having said that, Russell also played in an era of mostly slow, unathletic big men (Wilt notwithstanding). And he was 6'9".

I think a parallel question to ask would be: what would Ben Wallace have done if he played in the 1960s?

6'9"? So waht. Hakeem is only 6'10". I maintain that I've never seen anyone even close to as quick off his feet as Russell. There's no way Wallace could block shots or board the way Russell did. The only two guys I'd ever compare to Russell defensively are Olajuwon and Robinson.