The Greatest (Functional) Starting Five

[RodyTur10]

I know I'm not playing by the rules by sticking to just 21st century players, but these guys are all so talented and adjusted to the modern game that I don't think I could go really wrong against anyone. For completion I also constructed a bench.

starters
Stephen Curry 15/16
LeBron James 12/13
Kevin Durant 13/14
Kevin Garnett 03/04
Nikola Jokic 21/22

bench
Chris Paul 08/09
James Harden 18/19
Dwyane Wade 08/09
Kobe Bryant 02/03
Tracy McGrady 02/03
Kawhi Leonard 15/16
Giannis Antetokounmpo 18/19
Tim Duncan 02/03
Dirk Nowitzki 06/07
Joel Embiid 22/23

[BASS_THUMPER]

Scalabrine



Radja



Johnson



House



Shaq

*drunk*

[Big333223]

PG - Curry
SG - Jordan
SF - 12' or 13' Lebron
PF - Bird
C - Hakeem

It is a fun thought experiment for sure. Hakeem is the craziest intersection of offense/defense skill dominance and I think he could excel next to anybody. (The Celtic in me wants to pick Russell for the sheer winning and defensive dominance.) Bird and Lebron could be interchangeable at the 3/4. Curry is an off ball god. And Jordan is the GOAT.

I really like that lineup.

The only qualm may be that there's not much shooting outside of Bird and Curry, with MJ being a poor to average outside shooter and 12/13 Lebron being average at best, with Hakeem being a non-shooter.

In all honesty, I might replace Lebron with someone like 2017 KD. You have enough playmaking and passing with Curry, Jordan, and Bird already, and prime KD is only a slight downgrade defensively from prime Lebron, in my opinion. Thus, his extra shooting and spacing would be much more beneficial than the rest of Lebron's upgrades over KD.

Or what about 2016 Kawhi? Maybe the best wing defender of all time and elite sopt-up 3P shooting to surround Curry, Jordan, & Lebron with.

[gouki88]

PG: Dennis Johnson
SG: Danny Ainge
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Kevin McHale
C: Robert Parish

[footey]

23 joker?

[Surferdad]

I know I'm not playing by the rules by sticking to just 21st century players, but these guys are all so talented and adjusted to the modern game that I don't think I could go really wrong against anyone. For completion I also constructed a bench.

starters
Stephen Curry 15/16
LeBron James 12/13
Kevin Durant 13/14
Kevin Garnett 03/04
Nikola Jokic 21/22

bench
Chris Paul 08/09
James Harden 18/19
Dwyane Wade 08/09
Tracy McGrady 02/03
Kawhi Leonard 15/16
Giannis Antetokounmpo 18/19
Tim Duncan 02/03
Dirk Nowitzki 06/07

You put an extra restriction on yourself, but for a good reason: The OP asked if you could transport players to the current era. My guess is your team would beat any other team in this thread.

[Vermont Green]

Magic Johnson
Michael Jordan
LeBron James
Larry Bird
Bill Russell

Magic Johnson is by far the best point guard ever in my opinion.  In my mind, he is in the discussion for the best player ever.  I think people forget how good he was.  He is on my all time greatest team in any scenario, in any era.  PF is the hard one.  Larry Bird could play PF in today's game, easily.  So I put him in there.  This unit would have plenty of size and rebounding.  Also shooting but really, with how much good passing this unit would have, I don't think you would need to rely on pure 3-point shooting.  Every player on this unit can score, pass, rebound, and defend.  Magic would run the show, keep everyone involved.

Now if you want to put Kareem or Wilt or Shaq in at center, I understand.  Jokic is also a very good option that has been mentioned.  But I think the best center for this unit is a defensive center.

[johnnygreen]

PG - Magic Johnson
SG - Michael Jordan
SF - Larry Bird
PF - Kevin Durant
C - Hakeem Olajuwon

I truly believe if Jordan played in today's game, he would have improved his 3 point shooting. He played in an era when it wasn't prevalent and he still averaged over 30 ppg.

As a Celtic fan, it was hard not choosing Russell. However, I never saw him play, so I'm not sure how his game would translate across different era's of play. I did see Olajuwon, and he was a monster on both ends.

I wanted to put in a traditional PF like Duncan or Garnett, but I went with an elite shooter instead. I do believe Bird and KD can play both SF and PF, so in that respect, I allowed for some flexibility.

As for Magic, I think some people forget how athletic he was. Curry is in the conversation for the team, but no PG comes close to running a team like Magic. He was the ultimate leader, which would help keep this team together.

As for Larry, he was one of the most versatile players that I have ever seen. He gave what the game and team needed every night.

[gouki88]

I like making it difficult for myself. Here's mine from just the last 10 years.

PG: '15-'16 Curry
SG: '18-'19 Kawhi
SF: '13-'14 Durant
PF: '21-'22 Giannis
C: '22-'23 Jokic

[Celtics4ever]

PG: Dennis Johnson
SG: Danny Ainge
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Kevin McHale
C: Robert Parish

Hard to argue with the 86 Celtics as functional starting five.   I think they could give the best Russell teams a run for their money.   Prime Larry Bird too.   Good luck getting a lot of rebounds  against that front court.

[Surferdad]

I like making it difficult for myself. Here's mine from just the last 10 years.

PG: '15-'16 Curry
SG: '18-'19 Kawhi
SF: '13-'14 Durant
PF: '21-'22 Giannis
C: '22-'23 Jokic

LeBron says hi.

[green_bballers13]

Last 10 years:

Lebron
Steph
KD
Giannis
Jokic

NBA History:

Magic
MJ
Lebron
Duncan
Kareem

The difference in these teams shows how important the 3pt shot has become.

[Big333223]

Magic Johnson
Michael Jordan
LeBron James
Larry Bird
Bill Russell

Magic Johnson is by far the best point guard ever in my opinion.  In my mind, he is in the discussion for the best player ever.  I think people forget how good he was.  He is on my all time greatest team in any scenario, in any era.  PF is the hard one.  Larry Bird could play PF in today's game, easily.  So I put him in there.  This unit would have plenty of size and rebounding.  Also shooting but really, with how much good passing this unit would have, I don't think you would need to rely on pure 3-point shooting.  Every player on this unit can score, pass, rebound, and defend.  Magic would run the show, keep everyone involved.

Now if you want to put Kareem or Wilt or Shaq in at center, I understand.  Jokic is also a very good option that has been mentioned.  But I think the best center for this unit is a defensive center.

Those are probably the 5 best players of all time but I don't think that team beats a lot of the teams others are posting here.

The problem is, if you have Magic running the offense and Jordan taking a ton of shots (which he will do) what is Lebron doing? He'll get the ball some of the time but the reason Lebron is as great as he is, is because of what he does with the ball in his hands.

If you're going to start the team with Jordan and Magic, I think you'd be better off with someone like Kawhi at the 3. Obviously Kawhi isn't as good as Lebron but he's a better defender and a better spot-up shooter than Lebron which would make the team work better and make better use of the skills everyone has.

Either that or keep Jordan and Lebron and bring in a PG who would make more sense with those two ball-dominant wings. It's why I have Joe Dumars on one of my teams.

[Moranis]

I mean it is pretty clearly

PG - Mo Cheeks
SG - Drazen Petrovic
SF - Adrian Dantley
PF - Pau Gasol
C - Amar'e Stoudemire

[hpantazo]

How about greatest dysfunctional starting 5? Something like:

Kyrie Irving
JR Smith
Ron Artest
Rasheed Wallace
Rick Mahorn