Starting 5

• Add a Comment
• x

  Invite a Friend

  Your name:
  Your email:
  Friend name:
  Friend email:
  
  Invite a friend
• Share
• RSS

• Tweets that mention SLAM ONLINE | » Starting 5 -- Topsy.com Posted: Nov.6 at 12:58 pm
  [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Lang Whitaker – SLAM and Jared Wade, Marcel Mutoni. Marcel Mutoni said: RT @langwhitaker: Some great olski-wolski NBA photos here http://bit.ly/2Wk2iv [...]

• Hisham Posted: Nov.6 at 12:59 pm
  loving the KG photo. tough DNP for Shaq

• Hisham Posted: Nov.6 at 1:00 pm
  okay sorry i missed the “drafted between 94 and 99″ part

• Tzvi Twersky Posted: Nov.6 at 1:00 pm
  KG loved that photo. He started cracking up when he saw it.

• celtsfan88 Posted: Nov.6 at 1:03 pm
  ya KG looks mad young. awesome pictures

• Ben Osborne Posted: Nov.6 at 1:05 pm
  Keep trying hisham: 94-09.

• Big Marv Posted: Nov.6 at 1:06 pm
  wonder who’s on the bench, MJ? Shaq? Rasheed?

• uberVU - social comments Posted: Nov.6 at 1:07 pm
  Social comments and analytics for this post… This post was mentioned on Twitter by langwhitaker: Some great olski-wolski NBA photos here http://bit.ly/2Wk2iv...

• Allenp Posted: Nov.6 at 1:07 pm
  Can’t argue with this one, although a little surprised that Iverson got the nod over Nash given his recent foibles.

• Bruno Posted: Nov.6 at 1:09 pm
  this is the best team there is between those years
  great slam

• EC Posted: Nov.6 at 1:27 pm
  AllenP surprised? a few good years after playing second fiddle and riding the bench isnt gonna trump 12 great years in any universe, sorry. Nash=overrated

• NDP Posted: Nov.6 at 1:28 pm
  That AI pic makes me want to break out my Questions today….GREAT images there. No arguments on that team…solid list.

• Zoo Posted: Nov.6 at 1:31 pm
  I do not think I would have A.I. on ANY team that could be considered “PERFECT”… I would have went with Wade, Howard or CP3 instead… with the edge 2 Finals MVP Wade.

• reidar Posted: Nov.6 at 1:32 pm
  In my opinion I would much rather have Chris Paul or Steve Nash running the team than the AI. I am not in Charley Rosen following though and hating on him though. He is responsible for getting the second worst Finals squad of this era to the Finals. T

• BeeBopLIVE Posted: Nov.6 at 1:37 pm
  Yall gotta remember these are the players who had the biggest influence in the slam era, which is from issue 1 to the current issue..

• Russ Bengtson Posted: Nov.6 at 1:44 pm
  Shaq’s open.

• Lee Posted: Nov.6 at 1:50 pm
  AI’s probably complaining that you waited to list him last in this article.

• Wayno Posted: Nov.6 at 1:53 pm
  Here’s my question to everyone though…would this team win with all those egos? Without question the talent is there, and at least two of those players (TD & KG) can fit in pretty much anywhere, but as for the rest of the team, would the egos kill the chemistry too much? Discuss…

• Lee Posted: Nov.6 at 1:56 pm
  And can we get an all Slam-era NBA Jam team? Shawn Kemp and Chris Mullin, straight up.

• tom Posted: Nov.6 at 1:58 pm
  who´s the PG in this starting 5? iverson?? better be nash or cp3

• d.j. Posted: Nov.6 at 1:58 pm
  just replace that bryant scrub with d wade and u got u a pretty good squad !

• Wayno Posted: Nov.6 at 1:59 pm
  Can’t argue with that lineup as far as individual talent goes. Solid list.

• cramzy Posted: Nov.6 at 2:00 pm
  When I saw this, first thing I thought was “are they gone put ai on here?”. A lot of revisionist history nowadays but AI was that dude.

• d.j. Posted: Nov.6 at 2:01 pm
  and the raptors jersey with the little dinosaur in that last pic is one of the sickest jerseys NBA ever made

• Wayno Posted: Nov.6 at 2:03 pm
  I actually like those Sixers jerseys alot too. Simple but nice.

• Wayno Posted: Nov.6 at 2:04 pm
  Those Utah Jerseys on the other hand…yikes…

• onlyclipfanonslam Posted: Nov.6 at 2:05 pm
  I can’t believe that no one has said this… but Doug Christie is spotted twice (Lebron, AI)

• Jukai Posted: Nov.6 at 2:07 pm
  I want a 12-man team SLAM! Top five is a cop-out!

• d.j. Posted: Nov.6 at 2:08 pm
  this years sixers jerseys are pretty clean too tho wouldn’t you agree ? also the magic t-mac jersey with the blue stars all over is classic… SLAM needs to do an article on some nice jerseys that NBA had

• Jukai Posted: Nov.6 at 2:14 pm
  Starting 5:
  Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan
  Sixth Man:
  Allen Iverson
  Bench:
  Steve Nash
  Chris Paul
  Dwayne Wade
  Paul Pierce
  Dirk Nowitzki
  Dwight Howard

• Jukai Posted: Nov.6 at 2:16 pm
  Maybe replace Pierce with Melo, I don’t know. Not enough small forwards.

• TADOne Posted: Nov.6 at 2:24 pm
  Yo! Yao?

• Double J Posted: Nov.6 at 2:26 pm
  Wow jukai you slammed shaq in a 12 man roster…

• tavoris Posted: Nov.6 at 2:28 pm
  Double J, Shaq was drafted before Slam…

• Ben Osborne Posted: Nov.6 at 2:34 pm
  Thank you, Tavoris. As for AI…I/we were aiming for our favorite/best individual talents to fill out a starting lineup, NOT looking for a real PG to distribute. And if the issue had been a little bigger we were going to do a 15-man team. Alas, we only had room for the top five, all of whom got the big picture treatment. The 15-man team was never agreed upon, though, so it’s not like I can fill it out for you guys.

• Rashard Lewis Posted: Nov.6 at 2:35 pm
  @Double J Shaq came in in 1992, ineligble player!

• Orlando Green Posted: Nov.6 at 2:39 pm
  Wade over Iverson

• useralreadyon Posted: Nov.6 at 3:38 pm
  Kobe and Iverson on one team!? They would probably take 150 shoots every evening…

• Allenp Posted: Nov.6 at 3:47 pm
  Ben
  Thanks for explaining how y’all made the picks.

• danksy Posted: Nov.6 at 3:49 pm
  nah for me its gotta be
  D.Fisher
  Kobe
  Ariza
  Gasol
  Bynum with Odom 6th man, that team was unbeatable. LOL

• davidR Posted: Nov.6 at 3:58 pm
  i’m sure iverson can run the point fine. i know it’s not really a good example, but most of the all-star games he was voted to start for, he was running his team just fine.

• snasty10 Posted: Nov.6 at 3:59 pm
  I love the Questions, one of my favorite basketball shoes ever

• Yesse Posted: Nov.6 at 4:43 pm
  You guys really dont have a center.

• Gametime Weezy Posted: Nov.6 at 5:08 pm
  of course ivy gotta be there, plus he had the best covers

• That'sWhatSheSaid Posted: Nov.6 at 5:26 pm
  My 2 cents:
  5- Tim-bot
  4- The Big Ticket
  3- King James
  2- Black Mamba
  1- CP3

• larrylarry Posted: Nov.6 at 6:13 pm
  Anyone who truly knows basketball knows that from about 1995-2005 there was not a better point guard in the world that Jason Kidd. Nowadays, probably Chris Paul. Either way, the Iverson selection was a homer pick, surprised SLAM didn’t put Stephon on there

• Alpha-bet Posted: Nov.6 at 6:47 pm
  Pretty undebateable list actually. If you were doing a all decade team, this would be the starting 5 for the 2000′s..
  __
  A more compelling argument is who would be on the 2nd team?.. I got
  pg-Jason Kidd
  sg- D Wade
  sf- Paul Pierce
  pf- Chris Webber
  C- Yao Ming

• albie1kenobi Posted: Nov.6 at 7:03 pm
  i flipped through the mag and saw this feature, then i wonder, why did you guys picked that pic for Duncan? what’s the significance of him sitting on Dean Garrett(?)? Ground-bound? incredulous look?

• Tariq Posted: Nov.6 at 7:06 pm
  Some of y’all are, for lack of a better word, tripping. You’ve got short memories, belly-aching about Iverson. Or else a lot of seventh-graders are posting.

• Tariq Posted: Nov.6 at 7:55 pm
  Some of you who are so quick to dismiss AI need to remember that Larry Holmes knocked Muhammad Ali the f*ck OUT. Ponder that for a second before you declare that Derrick Rose or, I don’t know, Stephen Curry is better than Iverson. Chee-zus.

• Damn! Posted: Nov.6 at 8:05 pm
  Allenp, yous serious?! I ain’t got nothing against nash, but you can’t even compare him to iverson. come on. Now that the answer had a bad year in motown and hes riding the bench with the grizz, you just trash his entire career.

• oliver Posted: Nov.6 at 10:24 pm
  love kg though!!!
  i miss all of them young
  im a filipino dont hate my english peace

• jrb Posted: Nov.6 at 11:06 pm
  I LOVE KOOOBBEEEEEE!!!!!!

• Th3_R3al_Chris Posted: Nov.6 at 11:20 pm
  I’m just happy that Rashard Lewis posts on SlamOnline…

• SHERLOCK_FOAMS Posted: Nov.7 at 1:41 am
  C: Tim Duncan
  PF: Blake Griffin
  SF: Lebron James
  SG: Kobe Bryant
  PG: Chauncey Billups

• Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Nov.7 at 2:04 am
  Yao Ming is the best real center (Duncan being a power forward) drafted since SLAM’s commencement.

• Eoin Posted: Nov.7 at 3:27 am
  “Slam cares about winning”. Slam picks Allen Iverson. DOES NOT COMPUTE. I don’t know if you forgot, or if you’re high, but J-Kidd was drafted in 94. J-Kidd was drafted in 94. J-Kidd was drafted in 94…

• rob Posted: Nov.7 at 4:00 am
  SHAQ???! LOL I like AI, Kobe, Lebron, KG and… SHAQ BE REAL LOL

• Steve Posted: Nov.7 at 5:44 am
  Kidd has to be in over AI. AI perfect 6th man, even though he would hate it

• Steve Posted: Nov.7 at 5:46 am
  not sure how long it will take before the morons saying Shaq should be in dries up!

• Penny the Great Posted: Nov.7 at 7:13 am
  This is crazy! This is SLAM’s startin lineup and you have hundreds of readers that feel totally different about Iverson. I love Iverson because of SLAM, where did the hate come from? Are we all readin the same magazine? It sad that we’re lettin the media tell us when players are finish now. There is no other player that has been “pushed” to retirement the way Iverson is. We even welcome another Jordan return before we can all agree on Iverson startin…sad!

• Dacre Posted: Nov.7 at 8:06 am
  so many young kids on here tripping out about Allen Iverson….this is the thing too, where talking about 15-19 year olds who dont ‘remember Michael’ it’s all youtube highlights and NBA.com memorabilia. He is a ‘myth’ to all the modern day teen-kobe-lebron lovers out there…. as will be the glory days of AI when he WAS “the answer” and not just “optional”.

• Dacre Posted: Nov.7 at 8:14 am
  As much as AI was loved by the SLAM faithful, he was never interpreted as ‘mainstream fluff’. He was real, he said what he thought, he made enemies and he played harder than anyone else every night. Who are the new breed of punks that take dare to take ANY PG over AI as the slam top 5? Sure, Kidd stands out as the probable favourite with commonsense in mind. But thats it. (THis is coming from the GREATEST NASH lover on this site). NO OTHER dominant PG has gotten their team to the FINALS and struggled against everything to get there during this period that slam has bracketed. It’s AI….then Kidd well behind him…..after that………well and truly I pick my boy NASHTY….. ALl you punk teen AI haters out there need to recognise.

• nastierthanu Posted: Nov.7 at 9:52 am
  That kg pic is off the rack. Can’t argue with the list. Ai was amazing. Speed kills and ai is a savage he definately deserves to be on this list. .

• Hoodsnake Posted: Nov.7 at 10:43 am
  All these dudes developed their skills with practice,practice,practice. PRACTICE??? Anyway JKidd for me at the point thanx. And word to Lisa Lesley. Respect

• NJ4Life Posted: Nov.7 at 11:57 am
  WHERE IS JKIDD? how quickly we forget…

• monkeyball Posted: Nov.7 at 12:10 pm
  I’ll take Kidd over Iverson. And Steve Nash. Iverson put up great numbers, be he was selfish. Yes, I know, he has high assist numbers but he could never co-exist with another scorer. He drove Stackhouse and Larry Hughes out of Philadelphia. He couldn’t make it work with Melo. Iverson was great, but poison for his team, and he threw up too many bad shots (check his career FG%, way lower than Kobe’s, which in turn is significantly lower than MJ’s).

• Jukai Posted: Nov.7 at 1:40 pm
  monkeyball: and Kobe’s FG% is wayyyy lower than Calderon’s. So Calderon must be a better player than Kobe AND Iverson.

• dma Posted: Nov.7 at 2:04 pm
  kidd over iverson. and it has nothing to do with iverson being ‘washed up’ since kidd has had that label since he arrived back in dallas.

• dma Posted: Nov.7 at 2:05 pm
  lebron’s legs look photoshopped in that picture.

• d.j. Posted: Nov.7 at 2:40 pm
  calderon and anyone else is better than that faker scrub

• d.j. Posted: Nov.7 at 2:41 pm
  calderon actually passes the ball so ya he is better now that u mentioned it….

• andy Posted: Nov.7 at 3:47 pm
  hey is this mag being shipped to subscribers or do i need to buy it. im in college and havent switched the shipping address yet

• Tarzan Cooper Posted: Nov.7 at 4:08 pm
  shaq is open for the dunk, but whats mr bean doing?

• Jukai Posted: Nov.7 at 4:57 pm
  DJ: You’re right Iverson never passes the ball, those 4-7 assists every year are actually SLAM hacking the system to make their superstar look better. (ie you’re a tool).

• vic21 Posted: Nov.7 at 7:09 pm
  I hate seeing Iverson. He’s not a true point guard so I don’t agree. Also I’d put prime Grant Hill over Lechoke Jams any day, he was way more skilled. Take away Lebron’s athleticism and you got nothing.

• AJBALLER Posted: Nov.7 at 7:12 pm
  no jordan come on

• max Posted: Nov.7 at 7:31 pm
  no being able to read properly, come on

• Hursty Posted: Nov.7 at 7:54 pm
  Hypothetically speaking, if this team was to have a PG to distribute the ball, it would be LeBron. He played PG his first 1 1/2 seasons in Cleveland alongside Jeff McIness.

• tavoris Posted: Nov.7 at 9:04 pm
  meanwhile, while everyone in the comments is bellaching about AI (again…really, is there no original thought), they fail to realize that Iverson has been on the cover more than any other player. Slam didn’t just do this because of bro-love. They did it because Slam’s mission to be the anti-SI & Sporting News needed a DIRECT tie-in with Hip-Hop culture, which could only be achieved with Iverson. He was “the little dude that crossed-up MJ” that made every undersized ball player DREAM. Of course Kidd is the best PG of the era, but that did NOTHING for Slam.

• Stephen Bayer Posted: Nov.7 at 11:55 pm
  i hate Kobe but ill admit he’s one of the best. i agree with all five, except CP3 over Iverson.

• maclovenotwar Posted: Nov.8 at 1:59 am
  C – Adonal Foyle
  PF – Darko Milicic
  SF – Nikoloz Tskitisvili
  SG – Luke Jackson
  PG – Speedy Claxton Timmy, KG, LeBron, Kobe and AI averaged $6,889 per point between them during their careers…
  Whereas my team will cost you double ($17,674 per point) and will take anyone in a game of 5-on-5.

• maclovenotwar Posted: Nov.8 at 2:01 am
  P.S. Luke Jackson got paid $24,384 per point during his “career”. So far, LeBron costs the Cavs $3,509.

• maclovenotwar Posted: Nov.8 at 2:03 am
  P.S. Nothing personal, Luke.

• pablasso Posted: Nov.8 at 2:56 am
  Kidd is the best point of that generation. By far.

• K.B Posted: Nov.8 at 8:27 am
  slam is a honest,in your face magazine and iverson represents that perfectly. he is slam so stop hatin.

• Sigurður Einar (Iceland). Posted: Nov.8 at 9:30 am
  PG Nash two time MVP and a great pg with hi IQ
  SG KOBE MVP simple the best
  SF Lebron is the king
  PF Duncan, Garnett he was great in Minnesota but Duncan was great with the Spurs and got some rings.
  C Shaq four rings and is one of the best of all time

• davidR Posted: Nov.8 at 11:35 am
  monkeyball, how’re you gonna knock iverson’s fg%? do you know what kidd’s fg% is?

• Jukai Posted: Nov.8 at 3:52 pm
  Sigurður: SHAQ WAS DRAFTED BEFORE 1994! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!!!!!111111

• Bkballin Posted: Nov.8 at 5:16 pm
  LMAO kg looked EXACTLY like soulja boy back in the day

• monkeyball Posted: Nov.8 at 5:32 pm
  Jukai: I’m pretty sure you’re not stupid, and that you understand that Calderon is not on the same league as all-timer greats like AI, Kobe, and MJ. So, as is often the case with your comments, you just put that up to make yourself look smart by putting someone else down. Pathetic.

• Jukai Posted: Nov.8 at 5:50 pm
  Monkeyball: No, that’s a very dumb point. Iverson isn’t in the league as Kobe and MJ. So did YOU just do that to make yourself look smart?

• monkeyball Posted: Nov.8 at 5:53 pm
  We could play this all day. You think Calderon and AI will both be in the Hall of Fame?

• monkeyball Posted: Nov.8 at 5:59 pm
  I was, in fact, trying to make precisely the point that AI is not in Kobe’s or MJ’s league. The allusion to FG% was one piece of evidence to make that point, as is evident to anyone who reads the post.
  But you take my point and twist it to make me sound stupid. You’re not looking for conversation about basketball. You’re looking to put other people down. And that’s pathetic.

• Jukai Posted: Nov.8 at 8:00 pm
  monkeyball: You expressed that point poorly, and it was not a needed point. Who was saying that Kobe and MJ were on the same level as AI?

• Vegas Posted: Nov.8 at 10:37 pm
  im sorry to say that most the people that read this article are complet idiots and cant understand BETWEEN 94 09

• Larsylad Posted: Nov.9 at 12:46 am
  The shot clock in the LBJ shot looks photoshopped. If it’s not, dude is faster than i ever realized.

• Incubo Posted: Nov.9 at 2:51 am
  Larsylad it was a steal they normally start the clock over….lol I agree with Slam but what about the bench:
  CP3
  Ray Ray
  Brandon Roy
  Melo
  Amare

• Ryan dC Posted: Nov.9 at 3:42 am
  @Russ: yeah i noticed that too. Then again so is Stack and that other dude. @Jukai: 6th man?! “I’m not a reserve basketball player. I’ve never been a reserve all my life and I’m not going to start looking at myself as a reserve. … To answer the question, ‘No, I’m not a bench player. I’m not a sixth man. Go look at my resume and that will show you I’m not a sixth man.”

• Ryan dC Posted: Nov.9 at 4:01 am
  Admittedly, Iverson was/is a scorer and a consistently one of the league leaders in steals. Kidd was always the team’s leader and triple double threat, always thinkin pass first and exceptional defender. Id take Kidd over AI but like they said, its based on individual stats… Im surprised to that SLAM’s beloved Starbury isnt on the list…SLAM does dig their knucklehead players..

• Jukai Posted: Nov.9 at 4:05 am
  Ryan Dc: touche

• Hisham Posted: Nov.9 at 4:30 am
  Ben you owe me an apology the website still has trouble with second comments. They don’t appear until ten minutes later!

• Hisham Posted: Nov.9 at 4:34 am
  ah man i keep looking like an idiot. that 99 was a typo. nobody cares

• Hussman25 Posted: Nov.9 at 4:17 pm
  I still got those AI kicks in my closet! The same ones that are in the pic above (bought those in 99′… got the ones in red first in 96) These are the 5 who did get the most Love from y’all at SLAM! Nice selections guys!

• truthteller Posted: Nov.9 at 10:45 pm
  Where is MJ on the all time list? AmI the only one who finds this omission absurd?

• truthteller Posted: Nov.9 at 10:48 pm
  Never mind! I missed the “drafted from ’94-’99″ part. In that case,I’ll go with this list.

• CGC Posted: Nov.22 at 10:14 pm
  PG: Jason Kidd
  SG: Kobe Bryant
  SF: LeBron James
  PF: Kevin Garnett
  C: Tim Duncan