I know this doesn't pertain to Hawaii hoops in particular, but I know a lot of you guys know the game extremely well, and I was wondering, if you could pick a starting 5, out of anyone that has ever played the game, in their prime, who would you have? At first glance it may seem like an easy task, but it is extremely difficult to me.
Here are my 5...
PG- John Stockton...his court vision is uncanny, he never turns the ball over, and can score as well, basketball IQ through the roof, I honestly think that if he didn't have to bear the curse of having to play against Jordan every year in the finals the Jazz would have won at least 2 rings...(Others considered: Oscar Robertson, Bob Cousy, Chris Paul, Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, Jason Kidd)
SG- Michael Jordan...at first I thought this was an easy pick, then I started to think twice about it. I mean there is also Kobe, Pete Maravich, Jerry West, George Gervin, Clyde Drexler..but then it all of a sudden became an easy choice again, because I remembered...hey, its jordan...he just has that drive to will his team to win. More so than anyone else on this entire list.
SF- Lebron James. Now I might get a lot of grief but this was the hardest choice for me. I desperately wanted to go with Bird, just because of how clutch he has been throughout his career, and the passion that he has to win. No one else had it like him except Jordan in my opinion. His mid-range game is one of the greatest ever, and his shot may have been un-orthodox, but it was consistent, and consistently went in. Now I had to go with Lebron because of 2 things....his athleticism is like no other, hes basically a more athletic, quicker, better shooting, better ball handling version of Karl Malone. Except he is only 24, and who knows where he will end up, we don't even know if he has reached his prime yet. Scary. (others considered: Larry Bird, John Havlecik, Elgin Baylor, Dominique Williams, Rick Barry, Julius Erving, Scottie Pippen, James Worthy.)
PF- Tim Duncan...There are many great power forwards, and I didn't realize how many there were until now. Elvin Hayes, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki, Bob Petit, Kevin Garnett, Charles Barkley, Dave Debusschere, many more as well...However I would take either Duncan or McHale on any given day. Duncan's complete game is just phenomenal in his prime, his mastery of the bank shot, his rebounding skills, and his soft touch and great footwork are one in a million. However McHale isn't far off in my books. He is longer than Duncan and caused more problems on the defensive end, and seemed to be a better finisher because of his reach. His post moves were just as lethal as Duncan's if not better, and he is one of the few bigs in the history of the game to have footwork better than Tim Duncan in my opinion. However I give Duncan the slight edge because he has been healthier than McHale was, and just has more championship experience with 4 rings.
C- Bill Russell...11 rings, come one, it's hard to pass up. Also he is most likely the greatest defensive player of all time, along with the being the ultimate team player. When no one could stop Wilt, or even Kareem, Russell did. The only downfall was his offensive repertoire, but his defense, work ethic, and team play easily made up for it and always will. His attitude was a lot better than Kareem's as well, so I give the edge to Russell. (Others considered: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Walton, Moses Malone, David Robinson, Shaq, Willis Reed, George Mikan, Hakeem Olajuwan.)