So who are YOUR first & second team all-time NBA?

[Myotis]

Griff over Dwayne Wade, Kobe, and Curry?

Definitely over Wade, Kobe and Curry make a tougher argument. Gave in some to my fandom, going back to HS. It's arguable, he was NBA ROY and led Utah to their first winning season and division championship ever. They later retired his jersey. He set the (at the time) record for 3pt goals in the NBA, something that was not even hinted at during his storied college career where he was know as Dr. Dunkenstein, not for being a long range bomber. Just incredibly versatile. He scored 12K points in a career hobbled by injury, assume I'm selecting him on the basis of his best years. Had injury not so impacted his career, his final numbers might have made a better case - something that undoubtedly could be said for many players.

Plus, see my earlier comment about the difficulty of selecting just 10 players out of all the past and current greats. <in my best Jim Varney voice> It cain't be done, Verne!

 

[BlueLegends]

Definitely over Wade, Kobe and Curry make a tougher argument. Gave in some to my fandom, going back to HS. It's arguable, he was NBA ROY and led Utah to their first winning season and division championship ever. They later retired his jersey. He set the (at the time) record for 3pt goals in the NBA, something that was not even hinted at during his storied college career where he was know as Dr. Dunkenstein, not for being a long range bomber. Just incredibly versatile. He scored 12K points in a career hobbled by injury, assume I'm selecting him on the basis of his best years. Had injury not so impacted his career, his final numbers might have made a better case - something that undoubtedly could be said for many players.

Plus, see my earlier comment about the difficulty of selecting just 10 players out of all the past and current greats. <in my best Jim Varney voice> It cain't be done, Verne!

Can’t stand anything about UL but growing up, that Dr Dunkenstein poster of Griff was and still is off-the-hook dope (as they say).

 

[RunninRichie]

First team:
Magic
Jordan
Lebron
Bird
Kareem

Second team:
Curry
Kobe
Pippen
Duncan
Shaq

Curry?

I’m just curious why we never see names like Tony Parker, John Stockton, and even Steve Nash. These guys were some of the best in processing the pill. Particularly Stockton the all-time assist leader.

Rex Chapman was pretty good at passing the pill too.

 

[JFCats22]

MJ
LeBron
Kareem
Magic
Wilt
Shaq
Bird
Kobe
Russell
Oscar Robertson

 

[drcats2013]

Curry?

Rex Chapman was pretty good at passing the pill too.

Absolutely Curry

 

[Titpwhami2014]

1st
PG - Magic
2G- MJ
SF - LeBron
PF - Duncan
C - Russell

2nd
PG - Pistol Pete
SG - Kobe
SF - Bird
PF - Mailman
C - Wilt

 

[BlueLegends]

Curry?

Rex Chapman was pretty good at passing the pill too.

Not the meaning I was aiming for...

 

[Elliott Tim]

Since we’ve all been watching the fight about Dr. J’s list, I thought we could start our own, since we all think we can do better 😁 Mine is as follows...

1st Team
pg- Magic Johnson
sg- Michael Jordan
sf- Lebron James
pf- Larry Bird
c- Wilt Chamberlain

2nd Team
pg- Isiah Thomas
sg- Jerry West
sf- Kevin Durant
pf- Tim Duncan
c- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

And for the record, if I had to start a team, I would have picked Bill Russell over anybody but Kareem on my second team. But I tried to stay true to positions and I just couldn’t put him about Wilt or Kareem. I kinda agonized over Kobe or West on my second team but I think West gets kinda overlooked somewhat. The dude scored 28 per game for his career assists long range sniper before the 3-points shot existed.

I feel like most 1st teams will be pretty similar. The second teams are where it might get really interesting. Show me what you got!

Russell was hands down, one of the most intelligent players to ever lace up.
He was a master at outsmarting the opponent.
Coming from a Laker fan who knows.

 

[UKRuppster]

I should preface by saying my teams were picked without pigeonholing players into any specific position. If you made a rule where I had to peg these guys into one specific position, my teams would go like this...

First Team:
PG - Magic Johnson (virtual no brainer for me)
SG - Michael Jordan (bar none best SG of all-time)
SF - Larry Bird (Larry Legend made my second team without positions. With them, he makes the first team)
PF - LeBron James (Love him or hate him, he's a top 5 player in my book. I consider him and Bird interchangeable at the 3 and 4 spots)
C - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (I don't think there's a more accomplished big in NBA history)

Second Team:
PG - Oscar Robertson (Incredible basketball player, a definite top 10 guy for me)
SG - Kobe Bryant (He's not quite Jordan, but Kobe most closely resembles him)
SF - Kevin Durant (Pains me since I personally don't care for him, but I have a hard time keeping him out)
PF - Tim Duncan (Since I have to pick a 4, it's Tim Duncan in this spot for me. Tough to leave off KG or Karl Malone, though)
C - Wilt Chamberlain (Not a more statistically dominating player in the history of the game)

Honorable mentions - Bill Russell, KG, Malone, Julius Erving, Shaq, Hakeem Olajuwon

 

[ukfan1622]

Am I wrong that Jerry West played point guard on those great Laker teams with Wilt and Gail Goodrich at the 2 guard? He did average 6.3 assists per game for his career.

If West was a point guard only Curry could compete with him as a scorer; he averaged 29.1 points per game for his career and holds the playoff record averaging over 46 per game for a series.

And as far as defense West was all first defense team 5 times and second team once. Oh, he was 32 years old when the all defense awards were introduced. So I'd say West was way better on defense than Magic or Curry or even Isaiah Thomas or John Stockton.

 

[stereonut]

It’s hard to believe that Oscar Robertson has been left off so many lists, as is Jerry West.

The Big O averaged a triple double for his career.

 

[stereonut]

1st
PG - Magic
2G- MJ
SF - LeBron
PF - Duncan
C - Russell

2nd
PG - Pistol Pete
SG - Kobe
SF - Bird
PF - Mailman
C - Wilt

Pistol Pete in college? Agreed!

Pistol Pete in the NBA? Nope!

 

[Tubbyfan78]

This is the greatest thread ever on Rafters because it identify guys who just want to talk politics and you can ignore them all. Anyone who doesn't have Lebron in their top 10 either only wants to start a political fight or isn't worth discussing basketball with. Either way, blocking them is the smart move. I understand why Dr J did this though. He's tipping his cap to his era and the guys he played with. I'm fine with it.

 

[Myotis]

...Anyone who doesn't have Lebron in their top 10 .... isn't worth discussing basketball with.

The problem with that is that there are about 20-30 other guys you could make that statement about.

 

[jrpross]

Am I wrong that Jerry West played point guard on those great Laker teams with Wilt and Gail Goodrich at the 2 guard? He did average 6.3 assists per game for his career.

If West was a point guard only Curry could compete with him as a scorer; he averaged 29.1 points per game for his career and holds the playoff record averaging over 46 per game for a series.

And as far as defense West was all first defense team 5 times and second team once. Oh, he was 32 years old when the all defense awards were introduced. So I'd say West was way better on defense than Magic or Curry or even Isaiah Thomas or John Stockton.

Yeah West was incredible but you don’t see him on a whole lot of top 10 lists. He played both point and shooting, but he was more known as a scorer so he’s usually listed as a 2 even if he spent more time at the 1.

It’s hard to believe that Oscar Robertson has been left off so many lists, as is Jerry West.

The Big O averaged a triple double for his career.

Not for his career. Just one year in 1962.

 

[stereonut]

Yeah West was incredible but you don’t see him on a whole lot of top 10 lists. He played both point and shooting, but he was more known as a scorer so he’s usually listed as a 2 even if he spent more time at the 1.

Not for his career. Just one year in 1962.

You are 100% correct on Oscar, and I stand corrected. I don’t know when I dreamed that.

Excuse me while I go wallow in a tub of my ignorance.

 

[Myotis]

You are 100% correct on Oscar, and I stand corrected. I don’t know when I dreamed that.

Excuse me while I go wallow in a tub of my ignorance.

It should be added however that, taken as a whole, he did average a triple double for the first five years of his professional career: 30.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 10.6 assists over the combined 1961-1965 seasons.

 

[rupp876]

Jordan
Magic
Bird
LBJ
Shaq. Would dominate any other center

Wilt was a lot better than Shaq. Wilt was superior by any measure you choose to look at individually.