Give me your best Starting 5 at each position that never won a championship. Mine is the following: C - Patrick Ewing PF - Karl Malone SF - Elgin Baylor SG - Dominique Wilkins (technically a SF, but I'm not leaving him off in favor of Iverson) PG - Lonzo Ball (just kidding, John Stockton) I'd rate Karl Malone as the best player who never won a title. Your list???
G - John Stockton G - Sidney Moncrief F - Bernard King F - Karl Malone C - Patrick Ewing ...better choices I'm sure but I enjoyed watching the above cats' play.
I never really considered Nash. I think he was really good, but the Phoenix years made him Hall of Fame, but I think it was the system that inflated his numbers, ala harden.
Bernard King is a great choice. Another one I didn't really consider, but he was a handful. I remember him dropping back to back 50 point games in the 80s.
...there was a 30 for 30 feature on him and Grunfeld. Good watch. King made the All-Star Team with the Bullets after what was then considered a career ending injury. I really thought of Thurmond as a my starting center. Tough as nails and considered by many the best defensive center ever not named Russell.
...damn, there was a time when we could have landed Sampson instead of Worthy. Sterling wussed out on a handshake deal with Dr. Buss.
I'm only going with players I remember watching, because I can't say from game to game how good a player was just from looking at their stats and record. PG- Gary Payton SG- Iverson SF- Tracy McGrady (Hear me out. There was a time pre-injury where it was debatable on who was better, Kobe or McGrady. McGrady was never the same after injuries hit.) PF- Karl Malone (Honorable mention: Chris Webber) C- Ewing
Good thread idea. Center: Arvydas Sabonis (amazing in his prime, which ended before the NBA) PF: Mailman SF: Elgin (THE best player to never win a ring in NBA history bar none) SG: Russell Westbrook PG: Stockton
I'm going small, versatile and interchangeable for today's game. PG - Penny Hardaway SG - Elgin Baylor SF - Tracy McGrady PF - Charles Barkley C - Karl Malone
Payton did win with the Heat. Made a critical shot in one of the games too. I think Penny and McGrady are grossly underrated by today's fans.
Healthy Penny and healthy T-Mac (also healthy Grant Hill) were joy to watch. Just like healthy Kobe ;-).
Even though Elgin Baylor retired a few games into the 71-72 season, he was given a ring, so technically Elgin did a ring that year. My list: PG: Penny Hardaway SG: Reggie Miller SF: Grant Hill PF: Karl Malone C: Patrick Ewing I went with this lineup because you get a long, dynamic point guard in Penny Hardaway, floor spacing and clutch play from Reggie, a swiss army knife 2 way player and playmaker in Grant Hill, one of the greatest scorers ever and underrated defender and tough dirty SOB in Karl Malone, and of course Ewing, who held his own in the era of big men. I wanted to throw T-Mac in there somewhere but I think this lineup is more balanced, we have length and dynamic players on the wing, and bruisers in the paint who can score.
Best passing big man? I've heard the stories and saw him with Portland. I can only imagine how good he was in his prime.
