Saturday, August 26, 2006

The NBA's all-time teams -- just updated

Who would play on the team of players made up of the 10th, 9th, 8th, etc. players at each of their positions? Here's the list, updated with 2005-2006 point totals. One new players entered the list for the first time.

On the 10th team:
C -- Pat Ewing, 1985-2002, 16609.2
PF -- Chris Webber, 1993-2006, 14344.0
SF -- Dominique Wilkins, 1982-1999, 14542.8
SG -- Sydney Moncrief, 1979-1991, 12982.5
PG -- Tim Hardaway, 1989-2003, 13990.9
(Lots of scoring and one shutdown defender)

On the 9th team:
C -- Artis Gilmore, 1971-1988, 17375.7
PF -- Dirk Nowitzki, 1998-2006, 14610.8
SF -- Billy Cunningham, 1965-1976, 14869.1
SG -- Walter Davis, 1977-1992, 13313.6
PG -- Walt Frazier, 1967-1980, 15210.5
(Power in Artis, shooting in Dirk, who's new to the list, and a balanced backcourt)

On the 8th team:
C -- George Mikan, 1948-1956, 18123.1
PF -- George McGinnis, 1971-1982, 15661.4
SF -- Paul Arizin, 1950-1962, 14906.3
SG -- Dennis Johnson, 1976-1990, 13731.9
PG -- Allen Iverson, 1996-2006, 15825.1
(Two old-timers would have to learn how to play with Iverson)

On the 7th team:
C -- Moses Malone, 1974-1995, 18246.1
PF -- Charles Barkley, 1984-2000, 17139.1
SF -- Connie Hawkins, 1967-1976, 14956.0
SG -- Hal Greer, 1958-1973, 13769.2
PG -- Isiah Thomas, 1981-1993, 15847.2
(Barkley and Malone would be tough inside and Isiah would take the tough shots)

On the 6th team:
C -- David Robinson, 1989-2003, 18490.3
PF -- Elvin Hayes, 1968-1984, 17347.0
SF -- John Havlicek, 1962-1978, 16248.4
SG -- Bill Sharman, 1950-1961, 13802.7
PG -- Jason Kidd, 1994-2006, 16096.0
(A team of runners and passers and one black-hole in Hayes)

On the 5th team:
C -- Shaquille O'Neal, 1992-2006, 18854.3
PF -- Dolph Schayes, 1949-1964, 17694.8
SF -- Scottie Pippen, 1987-2004, 16536.3
SG -- Clyde Drexler, 1983-1998, 15594.0
PG -- Gary Payton, 1990-2005, 16878.0
(Shaq's power, defense in Pippen and Payton, but no great outside shooter)

On the 4th team:
C -- Bill Russell, 1956-1969, 19765.2
PF -- Bob Pettit, 1954-1965, 18297.2
SF -- Rick Barry, 1965-1980, 16677.6
SG -- Kobe Bryant, 1996-2006, 16032.8
PG -- John Stockton, 1984-2003, 17006.1
(Maybe best team based on balance. Three scorers, one pure passer and one pure defender)

On the 3rd team:
C -- Hakeem Olajuwon, 1984-2002, 19935.7
PF -- Kevin Garnett, 1996-2006, 18354.6
SF -- Elgin Baylor, 1958-1972, 17552.2
SG -- George Gervin, 1972-1986, 16304.3
PG -- Bob Cousy, 1950-1970, 18554.9
(Crosses all generations, from Cousy to Garnett)

On the 2nd team:
C -- Wilt Chamberlain, 1959-1973, 21697.2
PF -- Tim Duncan, 1997-2006, 18769.3
SF -- Larry Bird, 1979-1992, 19386.9
SG -- Jerry West, 1960-1974, 17946.0
PG -- Magic Johnson, 1979-1996, 18692.0
(Wilt, West and Bird can beat anyone and Magic is there to run the show)

The all-time starting five:
C -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969-1989, 22721.5
PF -- Karl Malone, 1985-2004, 19407.7
SF -- Julius Erving, 1971-1987, 20247.8
SG -- Michael Jordan, 1984-2003, 20809.7
PG -- Oscar Robertson, 1960-1974, 18753.0
(MJ, Dr. J, The Big O, the Mailman and the Sky Hook, at least the all-time nickname team)

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