Alright, we all know people have the "All Time Greatest" players. Bill Russell is sometimes considered the greatest center ever, but realistically, could he stop Shaq in his prime?
What I'd like to see is everyone's all time starting 5. You have to consider how they could match up with other created starting 5s. You can mix positions if you want, like putting Russell at the 4 since he'd probably be a PF if he played today because of his size. So I'll start:
PG: Jordan
SG: Kobe
SF: Durant
PF: Hakeem
C: Shaq
Pretty much any lineup can be beaten depending on the matchups, but you need to create a team that would be beaten by the least amount of teams.
Please entertain me with this game!
I don't think much of this game, because I think that the alltime team is pretty much set, with the only real question at powerforward, though some might argue over the center:
Russell
Duncan
Bird
Jordan
Johnson
The comment you make about Russell vs Shaq is just so pointless and tiresome, in my opinion. If we were really to have various all-time teams face off against each other, we'd have to give them all equal advantages. We'd have to assume that the old-timers would have the fitness and training advantages that today's players have. Thus, I think you'd see Bill Russell playing with a body more akin to Dwight Howard, combining speed, jumping ability and endurance with power. Russell would come into this knowing that he'd have to add bulk to cope with the likes of Shaq. At the same time, Shaq would have to cope with Russell's speed and endurance. We'd also see old-timers who would have the opportunity to pick up skills of later generations. To assume that an old timer couldn't, for example, become a strong three shooter is silly. If Larry Bird were in the game today, his threes would be even more deadly.
Thus the only consideration that would divide different eras is height, and that might require folks changing positions. But mostly, the truly greats make height surprisingly less relevant. Just as Magic would be point guard, despite his ridiculous height, Russell would be center, despite giving up pounds and height.
If it seems a little bit too artificial to imagine old-timers having a chance to 'catch up' with today's stars in terms of physical training and skills, just consider how artificial the whole concept of having stars from different eras play each other is. Russell's strength was in his mind, and still today that would give him a tremendous advantage.