MJ Picks His Personal "All-Time PIck-up Team". Bird's Not On It.

[SHAQATTACK]

Maybe he meant picking up the ladies?

I've leave Larry off that team too.

Wilt ...could draw the ladies

[Jon]

1. Magic

I know, I hate the Lakers too. But he is, beyond dispute, the greatest point guard of all time.

2. Jordan

Duh.

3. Lebron

This one hurt. Obviously Bird is just behind him on my list, but let's face it: barring major career-ending injury, Lebron is going to finish when it's all said and done with more rings, more individual awards, and probably more records. I've got to give the edge to Lebron.

4. Duncan

This one hurt too, since KG is right behind Duncan. At his absolute peak, I would argue that KG was better than Duncan. However, Duncan overcomes this through sheer consistency over his entire career.

5. Kareem

All of you people putting Wilt should be ashamed of yourselves. First of all, Bill Russell was better than Wilt and I'm not going to let some stat-stuffing shenanigans by Wilt convince me otherwise. Wilt won 2 championhips, ladies and gentlemen. Just two. And Bill Simmons has completely destroyed the myth that "Russell's teams were loaded while Wilt was carrying his team". That's BS, Wilt actually played with more all-stars. Wilt couldn't win because he didn't play team basketball.

At any rate, as great as even Bill Russell was, Kareem was even better and for that measure the best center of all time. I almost forgot to mention Shaq, who is somewhere up in that category but nowhere near Kareem territory.

Here's my problem with your list, it doesn't take into account the strength of competition when evaluating Bird. 

You say Kareem and and Magic are both top 5 players of all time, but if that's the case, how is it a slight to Bird that he "only" won 3 titles when Magic won 5?  How many would Bird have had had he been paired with Kareem? 

Similarly, Bird, Magic, and Kareem all played in the same era.  LeBron didn't come into his own until Duncan was in the twilight of his career and there has yet to be a superstar to emerge to challenge him.  Would LeBron have ever won a title if he had to compete against a Magic, Bird, or Jordan?  Or how many titles would Bird have won had Magic been born 10 years earlier or later? 

So I don't think you can discredit Bird while simultaneously giving credit to Magic, Kareem, and LeBron at the same time. 

[Snakehead]

Who was the best player LeBron played with on the Cavs?  Big Z?

Once he had talent around him he won.

Magic, Bird, etc all played with great talents.  Don't discount LeBron.  It's remarkable LeBron ever made it to the Finals with the Cavs.  To me, this is still the greatest playoff performance that I have ever seen (yes I am not old enough to reach too far back, still a good amount of basketball and a crazy performance, especially again, look at who else is on the floor with LeBron).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPMkaSNtZ0k

It's all taste when you're talking all time starting 5, but that's a weak argument against LeBron.  By all means choose Bird, I'm just saying.

[Mr Green]

I'm not surprised Jordan didn't choose Larry, he's 56 with a bad back and hasn't played in years.

[Fan from VT]

Interesting premise. Let's say Jordan gets to pick his entire team first, then you get to pick a team to beat them. Everyone in their primes.

Magic
Jordan
Pippen
Worthy
Hakeem.

Frankly, that's a beatable team in an all-time respect. A little weak up front and limited due to sentimentality. Pippen is great, but there are better players than him. Worthy is a clear step below the conversation, really leaving the door open. Advantages are Magic as greatest PG ever and Jordan as probable GOAT.

But there are several ways to beat them. They are small up front, and, in the context of an all-time conversation, give up a bit at the SF/PF spot. They really lack three point shooting when considering the advancing skill levels of modern players, and lack the size to really make up for the lack of spacing due to the lack of 3 point range.

I'd try to create a great across the board team without true positions but ball-sharers. Strict positions are less important when talking about all-timers.

Counter Magic with Lebron. Lebron basically as good as Magic on offense but plays a little different style as a SF/PF rather than PG so less assists. But better shooter and post player, and much better defender.

SG I'm going to bypass Kobe. Overrated, gets too much credit for Shaq's success. Too inefficient to be in the true elite discussion, too much hero ball for this type of team without the real jordan-esque skill to back that up. Not nearly as good as jordan but could think he is and sink the team trying to go 1 v 1.

So eliminating Kobe, the choice is hard. Tempted to go with range to really drive home the spacing and continue to punish Jordan's team with Bron/Bird/KG/Duncan in the post. If that's the case you take Ray; Miller's overrated and about 2 steps below Ray in terms of sharing the ball and rebounding. Ray an underrated all-around player in his prime. But he lacks some defense. Tempted to go Drexler, logic being great all-around 2 guard; if he can take the Jordan challenge and play him to 80% of a draw, I take the advantage at the other positions and win. Fantastic all-around player; lacking elite range. Even more tempted to go unconventional and go with Payton; he could be PG on offense, but stick with Jordan on defense. Got the size to really bother him (as much as anyone could), and obviously greatest PG defender of all time. Really intriguing and tempting. But sticking with unconventional, i'm going Havlicek. All-time great 2 way player. Great distributor/ball mover. Elite all time player; at his peak a 20/7/6 per 36 minute kind of player. Definitely  makes Jordan work on D. And here's the kicker: unlike my other tempting SGs, Havlicek was all-defense 1st or 2nd team 8 times. Really makes Jordan work on both ends of the floor more than anyone (except maybe the Payton/Lebron combo swap), and a phenomenal team player on offense.

Bird at SF; gives up some on D, but keeps the great team ball movement going, adds range and elite rebounding at the 3.

PF/C is really actually hard. I'd probably actually go with KG and Duncan for this purpose. Holy cow. Duncan can handle Hakeem, probably battle him to a draw 1 on 1. KG owns Worthy, and, in his prime, was basically the pinnacle of team-D, ball handling, ball movement, all-around PF. Just incredible big man passing with that duo, and since Jordan goes small, you don't miss the bulk you normally would with a KG/TD duo. Duncan and KG can play low, taking advantage of the Worthy/Hakeem frontcourt, but also have elite PF/C range to draw each of those away so the other guy can post up. Not only that, but both can draw both their guys out, allowing the Bird/Lebron post-up on Pippen/Magic. Bird and Lebron in the post vs a SF and PG?!?!? I'll take it.



So there we go. Versatile, and an absolute defensive menace. Distributors at every position. No ball stoppers, a team of players who love to pass and all comfortable initiating the offense. Everyone can play inside or outside. 4/5 of the team spending the better part of a decade each on an all-defensive team (counting Lebron, at 5 and still in his prime), and even Bird, the weak defensive link, was on 3 2nd teams. Size advantage almost across the board with range advantage also across the board. I'd take that team in a 7 game series.

Final Roster:

Lebron
Havlicek
Bird
KG
Duncan

[Celtics17]

I decided to pick another team to beat Jordan's. My first was Wilt, Russ, Bird, Big O, and Kobe.

Jordan's squad seemed like dynamite on the fast break with Magic running the show, MJ and Worthy on the wings and Pippen with Olajuwon. Wow, that is a talented bunch and some great athletes.

I'll counter with an equally athletic squad. At point I want Rondo, then Lebron, David Robinson, Dominique an David Thompson. I'm not sure if that is a legitimate group of actual players to fit each position but they sure match up well athletically.

[2short]

Not a fan of needing Michael Jordan's opinion on everything.

so simple yet dead on
tp!

[Celtics4ever]

Jordan's squad seemed like dynamite on the fast break with Magic running the show, MJ and Worthy on the wings and Pippen with Olajuwon. Wow, that is a talented bunch and some great athletes.

You can't break if you don't get the rebounds.  Who is the rebounder on that team besides Olajuwon.   The rest of them are pretty mediocre rebound guys.

[Celtics17]

Well Magic was the best rebounding Point the game has seen an MJ was a great rebounder from the SQ position. Olajuwon was great too. Pippen and Worthy though are a little weak though.

Still, they would get there share and if you outrun the other team you dont have to rebound layups or dunks very often. If Rondo can get 18 rebounds in a playoff game I think a team with MJ, Magic, and Pippen can do just fine in that department.

[More Banners]

Pretty sure I'd take The Legend on my team, and go from there.  KG at PF is a good idea on a superteam.  Kobe at SG is hard to argue.  Bill Russell at C, of course.  I'd want to take Jo Jo White at PG so he finally gets some respect.

That team would move the ball, defend like crazy, and score in bunches.

Worthy and Olajuan would be useless against KG and Russ, Bird beats Pippen, Kobe and MJ are a wash, and Jo Jo White is the difference maker that proves why he should be in the HOF.

White
Kobe
Bird
KG
Russell

[celts55]

Maybe he was talking about no chance of losing in the video game? But since he picked his team I think the following team would have a pretty good chance of beating them.
Big O Oscar- pg
Kobe- sg
Russell- Center
McHale- pf
Bird- sf

Second team
Nash or Stockton
West or Reggie Miller
Wilt or Kareem
KG or Malone
LaBron or Pierce.

[sofutomygaha]

I hope the media talks to other stars of the dream team era and stirs this up a little bit. I want to see who doesn't make Bird's team.

[CelticD]

i dont think its that a big a deal. maybe he wanted an athletic team? maybe he didnt give the question much thought to begin wit? either way i dont think its offensive, everybody knows larry bird is one of the greatest players in nba history. to me it jus sounds like some celtic fans are those types of gurlz that wanna constantly be reminded that they're pretty. it seems like celtics fans wanna constantly bask in the glory of the good ol days by havin one of the games greatet players say he'd want a celtic on his team. i get it. its a pride thing, but its not that serious imo.