A List of the Best 5 Players in NBA History, by Position

Back during the Summer there was a poll going around Facebook asking people to name their All Time starting 5 in the NBA. I thought about it for a few minutes and here is mine. I'm sure there are probably a lot of people who would disagree with me regarding certain members of this group, and I'll be the first to admit it is not indisputable.

The most important thing first of all, to point out is that this is the starting 5 by position. There may very well be other players who are in the top 5 players all time and be better players than certain members of this team, but they play a different position and were, in my judgment, not the best at their position.

Point Guard: Magic Johnson

Magic to me is a lock here. A 6'9" point guard who handled the ball like a little guy. He was a walking triple double. He won 5 titles with the Lakers. Some might say someone like John Stockton belongs here. Magic won 5 titles. Stockton didn't win any. Stockton was also small. Magic was a giant for a point guard, but it didn't take away from his ability to handle the ball and be an assist machine. Magic was the heart of showtime.

Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan

Another lock. The anointed "best ever". The only knock against Jordan is that his titles came during the watered down expansion years and while he was winning all those titles he never had a nemesis on par with a team like the Lakers or Celtics. This is sometimes overlooked as Jordan played in the era of big media and shoe contract superstars, thus making 90s players seem like bigger stars than they actually were. However, nobody in the history of the game was better than Jordan at his spot. The knock is against his competition, not the player. He won 6 titles and 5 MVPs.

Small Forward: Larry Bird

Bird is the third lock on this list. Revisionist history has Larry Bird as a kind of mad bomber gunning it from all over the place. The fact of the matter is, Bird might be the best all around player in the history of the game. In his best seasons he could score at will, before his injuries caught up with him. However, he also averaged 10 rebounds and over 6 assists a game for his career. He was the ultimate team player. Injuries likely cost Bird a couple of additional titles, as well.

Power Forward: Karl Malone

Okay. This is where it gets interesting. A lot of people would debate this one. Karl Malone never won a title, and he was considered somewhat of a choker in the playoffs. However, the Mailman is second on the all-time career scoring list and was an absolutely dominant power forward who could muscle people and score on the inside and hit the mid-range jumper. Again, this is a list by position. So, there may be other guards and centers in the history of the league who are better than Malone, but are there any better power forwards? Malone was a beast.

Center: Shaquille O'Neal

Maybe the most debatable among the group. There are certainly better finesse players at the center position. And a lot of people would say that Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain belongs here. Probably some would argue for someone like Kareem or even Hakeem Olajuwon. Shaq is on this list because of his pure physical dominance. He is unbelievably agile for his size and in his prime was unstoppable. I think he would physically overpower those other centers, even if they had superior all around games.

There are certainly a number of other players who could be considered for this list. And some will say that it skews more toward modern players while others will say that it leaves out the younger players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. That may be true. This is the best 5 players by position, not a top 5 list. Also, LeBron has not won a title, and I can't put Kobe in there over Michael Jordan. Kobe also played the Scottie Pippen role during the title years with Shaq. I also tried to think of the matchups. If these players could play against the other greats at their respective positions, in their primes, who would be most likely to win the head to head battle?