My NBA Dream Team

NBA basketball happened to be on the TV earlier and I happened to start thinking about what my team would be if I could put together 12 players from the prime of their career. I only chose players that I had watched for a number of years, so early 90's through the present. I had a few players that were difficult cuts (John Stockton) and some that were added for specific purposes (Reggie Miller and Robert Horry [see below]). I thought it was a pretty fun little list to put together.

Starting Line-Up:

Shaquille O'Neal - C

Dennis Rodman - PF

LeBron James - SF

Steve Nash - PG

Michael Jordan - SG

Full Team:

1. Shaquille O'Neal - C (Most dominating big man and one of my favorite players.)

2. Hakeem Olajuwan - C (The dream shake.)

3. Dwight Howard - C/PF (Nice versatile addition.)

4. Dennis Rodman - PF (Best big man defender and rebounder I ever saw)

5. Karl Malone - PF (Great scoring big man)

6. LeBron James - SF (One of the best overall players ever)

7. Robert Horry - SF (Great all around player. Knack for big moments.)

8. Steve Nash - PG (Great ball handler and used to feeding multiple players and egos)

9. Dwayne Wade - PG/SG (Very versatile guard and clutch performer)

10. Michael Jordan - SG (Best player and big game performer in my time)

11. Kobe Bryant - SG (Great scorer, another one of the greats)

12. Reggie Miller - SG (Great 3-point threat)

Players under consideration that did not make it:

Dikembe Mutombo (Great defensive center, but needed the scoring threat from the center position)

David Robinson (Really good center, but not quite there for this team)

Tim Duncan (One of the last out. I had to choose between "Timmy" and "The Mailman" and decided that Malone's bigger body and jump shooting ability were more needed on this team)

Charles Barkley (Another tough one not to include. With Rodman holding down the defensive end of the PF slot, I went again with Malone for his scoring ability.)

Kevin Durrant (Still a little early with him for me. Probably deserves to take the back up SF slot over Horry, and maybe will in a few years.)

John Stockton (Last man out. One of the best distributors of the ball I've seen, but I could only see carrying one guy who mainly looks to get the ball to others. Most of the other SG can also play PG when needed.)

Ray Allen (Extremely close with Reggie Miller. I needed a 3-point marksman and it was down to those two. Ray is probably the better rounded player of the two, but is a bit more streaky and free shooting.)