Mind of Michael: NBA all-time lineup

By Michael Leek
Sports Editor

Picking an NBA Basketball all-time starting five will always be a controversial topic because it is totally opinionated. But it is still fun to do, so I’m going to go over mine.

I want to create a team that will mesh together, complement each other's weaknesses and fill in any gaps a team would have.

This first pick at point guard will be a controversial one and may not even be the best at the position.

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry would be my team's point guard. Undoubtedly the best shooter of all time, he will help me stretch the floor and keep the paint from getting too convoluted.

Now to supplement Curry’s lack of defense, my shooting guard spot will be filled by Michael Jordan. The greatest player of all time is what most people would say about Jordan, but not me. However, that’s a conversation for another day. Jordan is a relentless perimeter defender and scorer. Paired with Curry it would be the most elite backcourt ever.

At my small forward position, this is almost as big of a no-brainer as Jordan was. Give me LeBron James, arguably the best basketball player ever.

People say Curry is more of a shooting guard than a point guard and will not facilitate an offense well. This is where James comes in. LeBron is one of the greatest basketball minds on the court ever. He can run and facilitate an offense at an elite level. James is a great defender and rebounder, especially in his prime, though somewhat of an average shooter later in his career.

I think Tim Duncan is the greatest power forward of all time and had one of the most underrated careers ever. However, he is not who I am going to pick for my power forward, even though I want to really bad.

My power forward is going to be Dirk Nowitzki. Kevin Garnett could have been a great choice as well. Garnett was a great defender and rebounder, but I’m going with Nowitzki because he can spread the floor better than Garnett or Duncan. I want to leave as much room for James and Jordan to get downhill without an opponents’ defense being able to sag off my other players.

Nowitzki had one of the best playoff runs ever in 2011, beating some of the best players on his way to winning the NBA Finals.

The center position might have been the hardest one to choose. There are so many all-time great centers and a few who could be on their way to joining that list.

Ultimately I am going to put Shaquille O’Neal at my center position. I think Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest center of all time, but I just favor Shaq more. Shaq will be able to hold the fort down in the paint on defense while dominating the paint on offense.

Steph Curry, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki and Shaquille O’Neal is my all-time starting five.

There may be better lineups out there, but this lineup, with everyone in their prime, looks unbeatable to me.