Asked who the best five-man NBA roster ever would include, Steph said: “Shaq at center, Tim Duncan at the power forward, Bron at the three, MJ at the two and me at the one.”
November 17, 2024
Asked who the best five-man NBA roster ever would include, Steph said: “Shaq at center, Tim Duncan at the power forward, Bron at the three, MJ at the two and me at the one.”
34 comments
Probably the least controversial all time starting 5 ever. However for max mobility I might consider playing devil’s advocate switching Shaq for Hakeem and Timmy for Greek Freak. Still unbelievable D but just a bit quicker for the modern game.
He’s right honestly. Some people would say Kobe over Steph, but Kobe and MJ are redundant, and Steph would get so many open 3s in this lineup.
This is coming from someone who has Kobe over Steph all time.
I’m a big Duncan guy I think he’s top 10 easy, but I’d prob replace him with Bird for modern basketball. Gives more shooting and space for shaq to operate. Hurts defense tho. I’d consider maybe swapping shaq with Hakeem and leaving Duncan. I don’t think Steph Jordan LeBron can be beat tho. Maybe Magic over Steph for just size but then outside shooting is worse
This is correct.
I think a line up of Steph, MJ, Bird, LBJ and Kareem would be just as formidable.
Shaq is obviously insane powerhouse, top-10 all time great, but this squad already has so much firepower at 1-3 that I might want a more defensive center.
I would put jokic instead of shaq. And prime before injury CP3
Stephen Curry is the greatest point guard of all time.
If the team is for the modern game do you not want a 4 that can shoot 3’s too? I know Timmy is amazing but with the driving power of shaq bron and MJ do you not want KD at the 4? Idk who the best shooting 4 is but let me know if I’m being dumb af with this take
Would not Kareem just murder in todays game? I feel like he doesn’t get enough love from the modern lists.
My starting on NBA2k is 1 is steph, 2 is steph, 3 is steph, 4 is steph, 5 is steph. 100% offense, 0% defense
Y’all ever played NBA2k all small team vs all bigs team? It’s hilarious
With this team you can hack a shaq all you like and it won’t matter
That team versus: Magic – Kobe – KD – Bird – Kareem
This is hard to argue with
Would be intrigued to see what Wilt at the 5 would do here lol
Tim and Shaq feel a bit out of place together foe the modern NBA. While famous for being the best 4 in NBA history, most 3s from Tims era would be 5s today.
And having both Tim and Shaq kinda makes the spacing Steph provides feel a bit off, which makes MJ more limited on offense than he would be if there wa sa guy spacing at the 4.
I mean its an amazing roster that would destroy the league regardless. Just that id rather have Dirk or KD at the 4 instead of Tim. Or have Tim at the 5 instead of Shaq with Dirk or KD at the 4.
winners.
Arch enemies would be Kyrie, Kobe, Baylor, AD and Kareem
Shaq and Timmay feels redundant. Just not enough spacing/handles to allow for MJ to attack the paint.
Curry MJ Bron Durant Shaq
What’s wild is how the 4 could be one of KG, Dirk or Durant and it would still be valid.
5 Larry Birds. Nobody can survive that amount of trash talking.
honestly if we knew Tim Duncan can stretch and hit open 3s that would be an even more formidable lineup for this generation of basketball
Pick 5 to go against them:
Magic, Durant, Bird, Hakeem, Kareem
Tough to argue against that pretty much unbeatable
Shaq has elevated his status through post career PR I feel, no reason why he should be over several centers particularly for defensive reasons why not Olajuwon or Kareem
Hakeem Fucking Olajuwon
That’s exactly my answer. Only toss up is KG over Duncan and Magic over Steph. If you gave me Steph’s 5 he listed, I’d bet on winning it all.
This has been my starting 5 for about 8 years now too
Me 🤝Steph
Crazy starting 5, I like it
Steph and LeBron and 3 bums is good enough
Hard to argue with this five. I’d probably go Steph, Mj, Bron, KD, Hakeem as my all-time 5.
I find it interesting trying to construct a second team to play a first team. Lol I’m sure one exists, but I’m drawing a blank trying to find a team that can guard an all-time first five squad
This is totally irrelevant but as soon as I see one of those stupid mini microphones I immediately lose all respect for whoever is “hosting” not that I ever had any respect for dude perfect but this is a nice cherry on top
I would have KD as power forward. KD is one of the easiest super stars to integrate on any team. He doesn’t need to take many shots to get 20+ points. Tim Duncan is great. But KD would integrate so easily with any team.
And then I would have Hakeem at center. I believe peak Hakeem was the greatest center of all time. And his paint defense and shot blocking would be needed. Especially since I replaced Tim Duncan with KD.
I would keep Steph, Jordan and Lebron though.
I’m sure we’ve all thought about the best starting five before. Everyone who isn’t stupid can agree that Steph/MJ/Bron are your first three guys. That part’s easy.
It’s the 4 and the 5 that are tough, since there are so many greats and they all bring something a little different to the table. For the center you could make arguments for Kareem, Shaq, Russell, Hakeem, even Jokic. For the 4, you could go for defense (Duncan, KG, Giannis) or put in a sniper (Bird, Dirk, KD). Lotta great choices, but none of them are 100% perfect. You have to give up a little bit of spacing or defense.
34 comments
Probably the least controversial all time starting 5 ever. However for max mobility I might consider playing devil’s advocate switching Shaq for Hakeem and Timmy for Greek Freak. Still unbelievable D but just a bit quicker for the modern game.
He’s right honestly. Some people would say Kobe over Steph, but Kobe and MJ are redundant, and Steph would get so many open 3s in this lineup.
This is coming from someone who has Kobe over Steph all time.
I’m a big Duncan guy I think he’s top 10 easy, but I’d prob replace him with Bird for modern basketball. Gives more shooting and space for shaq to operate. Hurts defense tho. I’d consider maybe swapping shaq with Hakeem and leaving Duncan. I don’t think Steph Jordan LeBron can be beat tho. Maybe Magic over Steph for just size but then outside shooting is worse
This is correct.
I think a line up of Steph, MJ, Bird, LBJ and Kareem would be just as formidable.
Shaq is obviously insane powerhouse, top-10 all time great, but this squad already has so much firepower at 1-3 that I might want a more defensive center.
I would put jokic instead of shaq. And prime before injury CP3
Stephen Curry is the greatest point guard of all time.
If the team is for the modern game do you not want a 4 that can shoot 3’s too? I know Timmy is amazing but with the driving power of shaq bron and MJ do you not want KD at the 4? Idk who the best shooting 4 is but let me know if I’m being dumb af with this take
Would not Kareem just murder in todays game? I feel like he doesn’t get enough love from the modern lists.
My starting on NBA2k is 1 is steph, 2 is steph, 3 is steph, 4 is steph, 5 is steph. 100% offense, 0% defense
Y’all ever played NBA2k all small team vs all bigs team? It’s hilarious
With this team you can hack a shaq all you like and it won’t matter
That team versus: Magic – Kobe – KD – Bird – Kareem
This is hard to argue with
Would be intrigued to see what Wilt at the 5 would do here lol
Tim and Shaq feel a bit out of place together foe the modern NBA. While famous for being the best 4 in NBA history, most 3s from Tims era would be 5s today.
And having both Tim and Shaq kinda makes the spacing Steph provides feel a bit off, which makes MJ more limited on offense than he would be if there wa sa guy spacing at the 4.
I mean its an amazing roster that would destroy the league regardless. Just that id rather have Dirk or KD at the 4 instead of Tim. Or have Tim at the 5 instead of Shaq with Dirk or KD at the 4.
winners.
Arch enemies would be Kyrie, Kobe, Baylor, AD and Kareem
Shaq and Timmay feels redundant. Just not enough spacing/handles to allow for MJ to attack the paint.
Curry
MJ
Bron
Durant
Shaq
What’s wild is how the 4 could be one of KG, Dirk or Durant and it would still be valid.
5 Larry Birds. Nobody can survive that amount of trash talking.
honestly if we knew Tim Duncan can stretch and hit open 3s that would be an even more formidable lineup for this generation of basketball
Pick 5 to go against them:
Magic, Durant, Bird, Hakeem, Kareem
Tough to argue against that pretty much unbeatable
Shaq has elevated his status through post career PR I feel, no reason why he should be over several centers particularly for defensive reasons why not Olajuwon or Kareem
Hakeem Fucking Olajuwon
That’s exactly my answer. Only toss up is KG over Duncan and Magic over Steph. If you gave me Steph’s 5 he listed, I’d bet on winning it all.
This has been my starting 5 for about 8 years now too
Me 🤝Steph
Crazy starting 5, I like it
Steph and LeBron and 3 bums is good enough
Hard to argue with this five. I’d probably go Steph, Mj, Bron, KD, Hakeem as my all-time 5.
I find it interesting trying to construct a second team to play a first team. Lol I’m sure one exists, but I’m drawing a blank trying to find a team that can guard an all-time first five squad
This is totally irrelevant but as soon as I see one of those stupid mini microphones I immediately lose all respect for whoever is “hosting” not that I ever had any respect for dude perfect but this is a nice cherry on top
I would have KD as power forward. KD is one of the easiest super stars to integrate on any team. He doesn’t need to take many shots to get 20+ points. Tim Duncan is great. But KD would integrate so easily with any team.
And then I would have Hakeem at center. I believe peak Hakeem was the greatest center of all time. And his paint defense and shot blocking would be needed. Especially since I replaced Tim Duncan with KD.
I would keep Steph, Jordan and Lebron though.
I’m sure we’ve all thought about the best starting five before. Everyone who isn’t stupid can agree that Steph/MJ/Bron are your first three guys. That part’s easy.
It’s the 4 and the 5 that are tough, since there are so many greats and they all bring something a little different to the table. For the center you could make arguments for Kareem, Shaq, Russell, Hakeem, even Jokic. For the 4, you could go for defense (Duncan, KG, Giannis) or put in a sniper (Bird, Dirk, KD). Lotta great choices, but none of them are 100% perfect. You have to give up a little bit of spacing or defense.
His ass is not better than Magic Johnson.