Another day, another NBA legend who would not take LeBron James if he was starting a team with five players. On Friday morning, Jason Kidd appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show” to discuss his new head coaching gig with the Brooklyn Nets. Somewhere along the line, he got to discussing who he thinks are the best players in NBA history.
Kidd was asked the same question Patrick asked Karl Malone last week about naming an all-time starting five. He went with John Stockton at point guard, Michael Jordan at the two-guard, Scottie Pippen at small forward, Tim Duncan at power forward and Shaquille O’Neal at center. The decision to choose Pippen seemed to take Kidd the longest, and naturally he was asked about leaving LeBron out.
“Lebron…I mean I could play him at (center),” Kidd responded, before Patrick told him he would take Hakeem Olajuwon over Shaq. “Listen, Hakeem is not bad and I’m leaving LeBron off right now. Those are two Hall of Fame guys and you can easily say they’re the best at their position.”
Given all the Hall of Famers that have played at each position, naming an all-time starting five is impossible to do without leaving some guys out. There were some similarities between Kidd’s starting five and the five choices Malone made, but at least Jason included Jordan.
As far as LeBron and Pippen are concerned, it’s important to remember that James is only 28 years old and could end up winning his second championship within the next week or so. If nothing else, Kidd’s and Malone’s decision to include Pippen shows the level of respect former players have for Scottie as being more than just MJ’s sidekick. Dennis Rodman, on the other hand, may take his argument a bit too far.
