Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! This is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to basketball video games, the real NBA or another area of interest to our community, either as a list of five items or in the form of a Top 5 countdown.

Here’s a topic that I’ve somehow overlooked in a little over a year and a half of writing The Friday Five: My All-Time Starting Five. I’m not sure why it hasn’t come to mind sooner, as “Who’s in your all-time starting five?” is a very common fantasy related question among basketball fans, and one that lends itself quite well to an article in which I’m talking about five items.

For a long time, my answer to that question hasn’t changed: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Larry Bird, and Bill Russell. While I still believe that to be a tremendous lineup, and a few of those players are still in my all-time starting five, I’ve decided to swap out a couple of others upon further reflection. Read on to find out my current selections for my all-time starting lineup.

Shooting Guard – Michael Jordan

I’m going to start out with the player that you knew I definitely wasn’t going to replace: Michael Jordan. As most of you are probably aware, he’s my all-time favourite player, so naturally I’m not going to be inclined to leave him off my all-time starting five. Beyond that, my reasons for picking him should be fairly obvious. While there’ll never be a consensus regarding his rank amongst the all-time greats, few would dispute that he’s indeed one of them. I imagine that he appears on many people’s all-time starting five, even if they aren’t particularly fans of his.

Really, the only player that I could see most people replacing him with – assuming that they wanted to put together the best possible lineup, that is – would be Kobe Bryant. I don’t think that’s unreasonable, but I still rate MJ as the superior player, and scoff at the ridiculous suggestion I sometimes see that Kobe has “far surpassed” him. That’s not to say that you can’t mention Kobe in the same breath as MJ, or suggest that he may have equalled or surpassed him (you’d be wrong, but it could at least be argued), but “far surpassed”? If you truly believe that, you’re a Lakers fanboy, clueless about basketball, or both. In any event, MJ is my pick at shooting guard, ten out of ten times.

Point Guard – Magic Johnson

Here’s another one of my long-time picks that I’m still including in my all-time starting five, though I have to admit that for a moment, I did consider making a change. For what it’s worth, the player that I considered replacing Magic Johnson with was John Stockton, who is obviously right up there with Magic as one of the top three point guards of all-time, and a bona fide Hall of Fame player. Stock was also a slightly more proficient three point shooter, so it was tempting to go with him instead.

At the end of the day though, how can you go past Magic, who remains one of the greatest floor generals we’ve ever seen, and a player who could play all five positions on the court? It’s not as though Magic couldn’t shoot or score in addition to getting his teammates the ball right where they needed it, and his size obviously creates a mismatch as well. Finally, on top of his tremendous fundamental skills, court vision and basketball mind, Magic was an incredible showman. With Magic in my all-time starting five, I believe that they wouldn’t just win a lot of games, but also be a lot of fun to watch in the process.

Small Forward – Scottie Pippen

Yes, so far my lineup is the same, but this was a really difficult choice given the two other players that I was also considering for this spot. Sure, Scottie Pippen is another one of my all-time favourites, one of the most versatile players in league history, a six-time champion, and a tremendous defender. Still, how do you go past Larry Bird? With the player that he’s become over the past few seasons, how do you go past LeBron James?

The answer is, with great difficulty. As I was considering my selections, I went back and forth between those three players a number of times. The fact of the matter is, LeBron has to be in the discussion now. In terms of my top five players of all-time, Larry Legend is on that list. But as far as my starting five is concerned, with the other players in the lineup, I’m going with Pip. He could do it all, and his defensive acumen would take a lot of pressure off MJ (himself a great defender). I’ll freely admit that a little bit of personal bias does come into play here, but again, it was a really tough decision.

Still, I do have one forward spot left…

Power Forward – LeBron James

…so I’m picking LeBron.

This choice was practically a coin flip, and chances are I’ll have a different opinion the next time I reconsider my all-time starting five. You don’t pick against a player like Bird lightly, but LeBron has simply become that damn good. I’ll admit, I still find it difficult to cheer for him, but he handled his exit from Miami a lot better than his Decision four years ago. As far as his performance on the court is concerned, he’s definitely solidified his place as an all-time great. That said, for those who would suggest that he’s far surpassed Michael Jordan…well, refer to my earlier comments about Kobe Bryant.

Nevertheless, at this juncture LeBron has to be considered one of the top fifteen players of all-time…probably even top ten. As such, I feel comfortable enough in giving him the nod over Larry Legend. It should be noted that I’m also snubbing some outstanding traditional power forwards in the name of a smaller, more versatile lineup. However, with LeBron’s size and strength on top of his immense talents – which of course, he’s taking back to northeastern Ohio – I think that my lineup would be just fine.

Centre – Tim Duncan

Given the number of legendary big men that have graced the NBA hardwood over the years, this is probably the toughest choice of all. Before you say it, yes, I’m picking the player that many of us would consider the greatest power forward of all-time as my starting centre. I’m also aware that many of you are currently muttering “C-E-N-T-E-R”, but I’m Australian and that’s the spelling that we use down under, so please, let’s not make a big deal out of it.

First of all, let me address the decision to replace Bill Russell. If making a choice between Scottie Pippen, LeBron James and Larry Bird was difficult, arguing against Russell’s eleven rings in thirteen seasons is virtually impossible. In particular, I don’t want to be the younger fan that writes off the earlier years of the NBA by foolishly suggesting that Bill Russell couldn’t (or wouldn’t) thrive in later decades. However, I do feel that my lineup needs a little more size, preferably in the form of a player who has excelled in an era that has a larger number of quality seven footers compared to the 1960s.

Of course, that doesn’t make the choice a whole lot easier. I was originally going to go with Hakeem Olajuwon, with the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and David Robinson also making the shortlist of big men. Duncan was originally going to be my power forward, before I decided on the smaller frontcourt of Pip and LeBron. Watching Duncan in the Finals this past season and reflecting upon his career, right now I feel that he has to be in my all-time starting five one way or another, and he’s more than capable of being a great player in the middle. Once again, I may change my mind the next time I answer this question, but right now, Timmy D is my pick at centre.

Now, if we could only get Michael Jordan in NBA Live as well as NBA 2K. If that were to happen, you can bet that I’d be looking to run with this lineup in both Ultimate Team and MyTEAM.

That’s going to do it for now. What’s your all-time starting five? Let me know in the comments below, give me your thoughts on my selections, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum. Thanks for checking in this week, please join me again next Friday for another Five.