Have you ever sat around with friends and debated who were the LA Lakers best starting five of all time? If you’re a true Lakers fan, you probably have. If you are an NBA fan, you have probably had this discussion about one franchise or another. It makes for a great debate.
If you’re already debating it, why not actually do it?
Devising a list of the best starting fives for every NBA team is an easy and fun, yet impossible task. It’s easy since it’s a subjective exercise and we are all entitled to our own opinions. It’s impossible because while many will agree with your assessment, there will be many more who will not.
But hey, we’ve decided to give it a go, and just to make it a little more fun why not rank those starting fives? So how does Michael Jordan’s starting five with the Chicago Bulls stack up against the others? Are LeBron’s Cavs in the top five? What about Wilt’s Warriors? Who should be in the top five of all time?
Well, to create the list, there were certain rules that were loosely followed:
- While a player may have played and contributed to several teams, he can only be used once.
- Players chosen will have played a significant portion of their career for the team and/or made his most significant impact for that said team.
- Positions were generally followed but sometimes fudged if it meant making the best possible roster and including players that are more worthy of being in said franchise’s all time top five.
So, in following these guidelines that we set for ourselves, here are the best starting five for every franchise in the National Basketball Association, and how they stack up against the other best lineups across the league.
[post_page_title]30. New Orleans Pelicans[/post_page_title]
PG: Baron Davis
SG: Eric Gordon
SF: Ryan Anderson
PF: David West
C: Anthony Davis
The Pelicans don’t rank real high on the list largely because the relatively young franchise doesn’t have many guys to choose from. Some might think Chris Paul deserves to be on this list, but come on—his most significant impact was not in New Orleans (unless you count being traded). Anthony Davis will make teams work to beat them, but they still rank last on the list.
