classic basketball question. no Michael Jordan for obvious reasons.




if you want to overthink this question, read this: (otherwise just vote)

people might bring up the "could early stars play in the game today?" question and how it relates to this hypothetical: so we are assuming all players in this poll will have gone through the lifestyle of today's NBA stars with the physical conditioning, the diets, the year-round basketball, etc. so someone like Bill Russell, for example, remains 6'9" (an undersized center today), but we are assuming he has an extra 15-25 pounds of muscle on him and slightly increased ball handling and shooting coordination as a result of year-round AAU and we are assuming with his basketball IQ that he would have no problem understanding the advanced team defenses. so basically, he is a slightly more athletic Ben Wallace with an insanely high basketball IQ, hyper-competitive attitude and exceptional passing and offensive instincts (but still no real polished scoring skills). Wilt would be a polished scoring version of Dwight Howard. Oscar would basically be Dwayne Wade. you get the point.

the idea is to translate the impact these players had on their era so that you are judging them on an equal playing field without just saying "well, 60s stars couldn't handle the speed and athleticism of today's game". natural ability still matters (we aren't pretending Jerry West can jump out of the gym or anything), but modern advantages in training and practice are taken into account.

who do you pick?

First instinct is to go with SHAQ. Unparallelled combo of size and strength+feetwork(as he'd say)/quickness/athleticism, completely dominant post scoring presence, capable (read: really large and imposing) defender. Even against the best of the best post defenders, he's at the very least going to make them work absurdly hard to stop him, and presumably limit the impact elite post defenders would have elsewhere on the game. He was also a pretty good passer. Was in the playoffs every year from age 21-35, averaged basically 40mpg/30/15 in his playoff prime, definitely would say he elevated his game for the postseason. Missed free throws would be a tough pill to swallow though.

Lebron would probs be my second choice.

Another good poll idea might be who you'd take to start a franchise, but instead of the top 10-15, maybe use players 15-30 or something. The Dirks, KGs etc.

wilt.

then either shaq or kareem. then lebron

One thing I have to say about this: Russell was 6'9 in college. His listed height in every publication at the time of the Olympics was 6'10 (he also certainly weighed more than 215). Also keep in mind that players were measured in socks back then, while are measured in shoes today. It may have been 6'9 in socks and 6'10 in shoes, I can't be sure. So, I think it's fair to say he'd be listed at 6'10 today (if not taller). Then, you have players who are listed taller than their actual height. 7-foot Hakeem Olajuwon's pre-draft measurements were 6'10. I saw something somewhere that said Russell and Olajuwon had the same height and wingspan (also Kevin McHale, but his arms were so long, I wonder if he'd have the longest arms). There is a picture somewhere where 7'3+ Swen Nader is holding the ball as far as he can above his head and Bill Russell (standing flat foot) is reaching up and holding the ball.

yeah i've seen pics of him standing next to Howard and Garnett and he's only about an inch shorter. plus those arms are insane. (and as for my Ben Wallace comparison, i don't think Wallace was even 6'9 to begin with. he looks a good two inches shorter than LeBron in some pictures.)

another one is Bill Walton, who had to be at least 7'1" (not 6'11" like he's listed):

Geeze. Kareem had a small head. Or maybe Walton has a huge one. His shoulders are below Kareem, but his head is right there.

Anyway, even without adjusting anything, I'd probably pick Wilt or Kareem (despite the small head).

Anyway, some then-and-now interactions:

Hakeem but there were a number of close contenders (Shaq, Lebron, Magic).

Having a big man (particularly in today's league) with the skills of Hakeem is incredibly invaluable. The gulf between the best and the replacement level is bigger than for perimeter players. Now this only works if I get to pick the proper roster to surround him with.

Kareem, my small headed brethren.

what would be the best "all-time" type team to surround Hakeem with (without loading it up with top 20 players)? i think the blueprint would be:

a shooting point guard who excels in the half-court (Chauncey Billups?)
one quality shot-creator on the perimeter who has range (Ginobili?)
a physical forward who can hit the corner three (DeBusschere?)
a rebounder who doesn't care about offensive touches and likes to pass (Unseld perhaps)

the awesome thing about Dream is he really doesn't need a second star or an elite point guard. just shooters with range and a big man partner who doesn't care about scoring.

Honestly, DeBusschere gives me enough rebounds to pair with Hakeem, who was no slouch on the boards either. Give me another shooter and we'll play inside-out all game (sort of like Orlando, but with a center with a polished offensive game).

well granted most of my viewing experience is from his later years (i watched it as it happened from about late '95 season through the end, and i've went back since then and watched various games from the first title playoffs as well as a lot of games from the last two rounds of the '86 playoffs). so i missed a lot in between those years. but all the games i've seen him play he had a quality rebounder next to him. my feeling was if you were going to lean on him for more offense you had to give him a bit of a break on the glass. his scoring and shot attempts went up at the exact same time that his rebounding went down. but he had Thorpe. and he seemed more than willing to let Barkley crash the boards when he got there too.

He did win a championship with Robert Horry as the PF. Granted, that team barely squeezed into the playoffs and had to depend more on Hakeem, but it still won. But mostly I was saying that DeBusschere was a pretty good rebounder himself (adjusting for eras, I'd say DeBusschre at his peak would be only a rebound or a rebound and a half below Thorpe at his peak).

One impression I get when watching the Rockets, though, is that they needed to run. The half court game was primarily give it to Hakeem and watch (maybe catch the outlet pass for a re-post). I'm not sure if that means I should get better half court players than the Rockets had or simply keep the model and have guys who could run.

Magic because I think it's important to have a guy that always has the ball in his hand and can take it anywhere on the court.

Those are all pretty good options. I think I lean towards pgm and would like one more quality shooter (especially if I have Ginobli who can help with passing). Perhaps a guy who rebounds well for his size. I'm tempted to say Ray Allen would look good here. Steve Nash would also be fantastic with Hakeem (but he might be off the board). I tell you an intereting pairing (I think) would be Dirk and Hakeem. Both excel in the half court and neither would have to take touches from the other in their favorite spot. Prime Dirk was a great rebounder too (at the cost of not as effective of a low post game). Best thing about Dirk with Hakeem is he doesn't need a high number of touches to get his offense and rarely turns it over (relatively low usage high scorers are great). They'd also be so large in the front court that even though Dirk is only an average on ball defender and an average help defender they'd make it extremely difficult for players to get off shots in the paint. Of course Dirk probably wouldn't be available depending on the size of the league we're filling out. I also think Barkley and Hakeem was a great pairing (although Barkley probably liked to take too many shots).

David Robinson because of his win shares.