If I could.....................

I was just thinking, if I could start a team with any 2 players from any era(as rookies) Who would it be? It took me a while to sift through all of players worth consideration like..

Jordan
Bird
Magic
Wilkins
Kareem
Wilt
Russell
Erving
Lebron
West

And so on....

I tried to factor in things like ego, longevity, leadership, ect.. All the things that would either help or hinder performance on the court. And after long deliberation, my dynamic duo would be..

#1 Shaq.

Say what you will, but Shaq will net me 10 years of sheer dominance under the rim. More so than anyone before or after. Get him the ball in the paint and score 2 points, period. Which leads me to my second pick...

#2 John Stockton.

In my opinion, he is probablly the best passer to ever play the game(including Cousy). He was agressive, and deadly behind the 3 point line. Knows how to draw attention, command respect, call a game, and find the big man. And he was brilliant at them all!

You can add just about any other 3 players to the mix, and you would have a champion calliber team. Shaq would require 2-3 men guarding him closely and Stockton would require close coverage to the 3. There would always be a 3 on 1 game in their favor. And the difference Stockton would make in that scenerio is his passing ability, selfless play, and floor command. Something the Magic nor the Lakers really ever had in Tandem. Together, they would be unstopable. As good as Karl Malone was, he was no Shaq. And Shaq never had a baller like stockton to work with.

Anyway, Who are your first 2?

Magic and Bird. PG and a SF/PF. Magic 10+ assists a game and Bird 30+ pg and 10+ rebounds = money.

kdailey4315 said:

Magic and Bird. PG and a SF/PF. Magic 10+ assists a game and Bird 30+ pg and 10+ rebounds = money.

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Definitly good choices, I'm just not convinced there respective styles would work well together. However, I must say I tried to work with Bird as he is my first choice. It's just I could not find a #2 that would make them better than the 2 I came up with above.

matfanofold said:

kdailey4315 said:

Magic and Bird. PG and a SF/PF. Magic 10+ assists a game and Bird 30+ pg and 10+ rebounds = money.

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Definitly good choices, I'm just not convinced there respective styles would work well together. However, I must say I tried to work with Bird as he is my first choice. It's just I could not find a #2 that would make them better than the 2 I came up with above.

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I see it like this. Bird averaged 25 and 10 for his career. Magic is 10 times better than any PG he played with which should elevate his game even more.
I will admit that if Stockton and Shaq can do pick and rolls like Malone that would be unstoppable.

kdailey4315 said:

I will admit that if Stockton and Shaq can do pick and rolls like Malone that would be unstoppable.

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Malone could hit the jump shot to make the pick and roll work. I'd stick with Bird and Magic. And don't forget Magic could post up anybody who covered him, even most centers.

No Doubt Malone made things work, but Shaq would demand another defensive player on him, and in the paint would be an automatic 2, taking nothing away from Malone. It's my opinion Shaq and Stockton would be a better duo and make the team around them better as well.

Any other takers?

I gotta remind myself that these guys have to be chosen as though they were still rookies...
I'd have to take Shaq over Chamberlain or Russell as the last 2 were only dominating due to the lack of other big men in their era. Shaq was able to hang with the best and though he didnt develop a jumper or jump hook for a couple of years, he was still able to defend, rebound and score in the pain.

Shaq #1

My #2 has got to be Lebron. Scoring, Steals, Rebounds, Passing...as a rookie, Lebron did it all.

Stockton was not terribly impressive as a rookie, nor was Wilkins or Jordan. I cant think of 2 more impact players than Shaq (as a presence and defensively) and LeBron (scoring, passing, everything else.)

matfanofold said:

#2 John Stockton.

In my opinion, he is probablly the best passer to ever play the game(including Cousy). He was agressive, and deadly behind the 3 point line. Knows how to draw attention, command respect, call a game, and find the big man. And he was brilliant at them all!

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But not as a rookie, as you require them to be in your first line.

Good Picks! I really considered Lebron as my #2. I just think Shaq and Lebron both want to score, and it may play out as a hinderance to there respective games. I chose Stockton because of his selfless play and deadly 3. Oh, and I picked my 2 to represent the next 10 years. Because your right, Stockton was less than great his first couple seasons..

GarkoCollector said:

matfanofold said:

#2 John Stockton.

In my opinion, he is probablly the best passer to ever play the game(including Cousy). He was agressive, and deadly behind the 3 point line. Knows how to draw attention, command respect, call a game, and find the big man. And he was brilliant at them all!

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But not as a rookie, as you require them to be in your first line.

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Sure, you pick them as rookies, but plan for the future.

matfanofold said:

Good Picks! I really considered Lebron as my #2. I just think Shaq and Lebron both want to score, and it may play out as a hinderance to there respective games. I chose Stockton because of his selfless play and deadly 3. Oh, and I picked my 2 to represent the next 10 years. Because your right, Stockton was less than great his first couple seasons..

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LeBron is too good from outside the paint to not have him. With the number of jumpshots he took as a rookie, there would have been plenty of rebounds and putbacks (dunks mostly) for Shaq. I agree that 2 scorers can be detrimental, but having 2 DIFFERENT types of scorers would work OK.

I debated having Pete Maravich and Olajuwon as my 1-2 as well.

Ah, pistol Pete and the Dream!

Both worthy of consideration! But I would pick atleast 4 centers above Olajuwon:

Shaq
Jabar
Duncan
Chamberlan

And I truely feel Maravich was made to look better than he really was due to his teams.

matfanofold said:

And I truely feel Maravich was made to look better than he really was due to his teams.

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Thats why I dont think Chamberlain was all that great. He was so much bigger than EVERYONE he played with, it made him look more dominating.

Excellent thread! I cant wait to see some others chime in with ideas. Might have to think about another 1-2 combo as well.
Tom

Lets keep it simple and just take Jordan and Pippen. Yeah it may defeat the purpose of the thread but you can't argue with the results. You could argue that Pippen was the best "sidekick" ever in the NBA. He did everything, score, rebound, pass, defend and you wouldn't have to worry about if he could coexist with another star because he already has shown that he can. Without ever having an even above average center or PG, they managed to win 6 titles together and it very easily could have been 8 in a row if not for the retirement.

I would have to go with Shaq and Magic as my one-two punch because selecting "Pogo" Joe Caldwell and Teddy "Hound Dog" McClain would be frowned upon.

That being said, I freely admit I am an ABA "homer".

Spencer Haywood's rookie season (1969-70 with Denver) was a monster.

30.0 points
49.3 shooting %
19.5 rebounds

Granted, he didn't have the longevity as other players previously mentioned.


Julius Erving also got off to a good start with the Virginia Squires in the 1972-73 season.

27.3 points
49.8 shooting %
15.7 rebounds

Other ABA players to consider:

Artis Gilmore
David Thompson
Connie Hawkins
Mel Daniels

Stockton and Malone

TonyButlerStopSuckin said:

Lets keep it simple and just take Jordan and Pippen. Yeah it may defeat the purpose of the thread but you can't argue with the results. You could argue that Pippen was the best "sidekick" ever in the NBA. He did everything, score, rebound, pass, defend and you wouldn't have to worry about if he could coexist with another star because he already has shown that he can. Without ever having an even above average center or PG, they managed to win 6 titles together and it very easily could have been 8 in a row if not for the retirement.

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That combo has to be mentioned in any top duo in NBA history, but I have a few issues with them as the best combo that could be made.

#1. Although Pippen was my absolute favorite player of all time, Jordan made him. You could have inserted any average player in his shoes and the presence, and gameplay of Jordan would have produces a "Pippen". I actually did not think that at first until I saw just how bad he really was without Jordan. Now, I guess some could say he just burned out after Jordan, but it's an ironic coincidence if so.

#2. Jordan, for most of his career, was too much of a play maker and a ball hog to really take advantage of this kind of unrestrictive combo. Sure, you could put any average player around him and they would be better (see Pippen), however put a Lebron or a ShaQ in the mix and Jordans ball time would take considerably from both of there respective games.

Anyway, thats the way I see it.

Having said that, there is no doubt J and P are among the best duo ever to play the game!

Kutzy said:

Stockton and Malone

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Definitly worh the mention!

But thinking back to how good Stockton and Malone were, I get chills thinking how good Stockton and a unstopable Shaq would have been! Thats why they are my pick for best 1 and 2 match ever.

What about having Lebron and Tim Duncan?
Big man that can play center and PF, Shoots from just about everywhere, can pass, defend, etc. Then LeBron, who could run the point, play SG, SF, passes, defends. You have a great inside guy and a great outside guy that could each hold down their own positions but could also swap, Duncan shooting deeper jumpers and LeBron slashing into the lane.

Duncan has always been very unselfish, so its hard to tell how this would work.

GarkoCollector said:

What about having Lebron and Tim Duncan?
Big man that can play center and PF, Shoots from just about everywhere, can pass, defend, etc. Then LeBron, who could run the point, play SG, SF, passes, defends. You have a great inside guy and a great outside guy that could each hold down their own positions but could also swap, Duncan shooting deeper jumpers and LeBron slashing into the lane.

Duncan has always been very unselfish, so its hard to tell how this would work.

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That indeed would be a devistating combo!

I can not think of a single detraction from that equation.