Players often select Shaquille O’Neal on their all-time starting five despite Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being two of the greatest Centers ever. Like many analysts and enthusiasts listing the players on their all-time starting five list, James Harden also named Shaq at the “five” position. However, Harden’s list was slightly unconventional, especially with his selection of the Point Guard.
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Similar to James Harden, even Stephen Curry recently left himself out of his all-time starting five. Unlike the Beard, Curry is a player often picked as the PG of many such hypothetical lineups. Despite being one of the greatest shooters ever, the Golden State Warriors leader named Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan as the two backcourts. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan were Steph’s two Forwards with Shaq as the Center.
Shaquille O’Neal approves of James Harden’s all-time starting five
In a recent reel uploaded by USA TODAY Sports, James Harden disclosed names of the legends on his all-time starting five. Apart from his selection for the Point Guard, the 2018 Most Valuable Player had a pretty common list. The southpaw named Kobe Bryant as his Shooting Guard, Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan as the two Forwards, and O’Neal as the “five”. Selecting LeBron James on this list isn’t shocking. However, naming the King to play at the PG position is something that comes as a surprise.
“I’m going LeBron at my Point Guard, I’m going Kobe at my two, I’m going Jordan at my three, I’m going Timmy at my four, and I’m going Shaq at my five,” Harden said.
It seems like Shaquille O’Neal approves of this list. As seen in tragicpatek’s tweet, the TNT analyst reshared the reel on his Instagram story.
Magic Johnson or Stephen Curry are the popular choices when naming the PG on an all-time starting five lineup. However, LeBron is equipped with the required skills to play Point Guard. As seen during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons, James was the Los Angeles Lakers’ Point Guard for a majority of the campaigns. During those two years, Bron averaged 25.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 9.2 assists, and was even the assists leader in 2020.
Much like Stephen Curry and Harden, Shaq also dropped himself out of his starting five
On an appearance on NBA Rewind with Ahmad Rashad, the Big Aristotle named his all-time starting five. Apart from selecting Julius Erving, “Superman” further shocked everyone by snubbing himself out of the lineup.
“Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”
In fact, O’Neal went on to name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell as the two players who were the best Centers ever.
