NBA All-Time Starting 5: Creating the ultimate lineup without altering positions

Point Guard: Stephen Curry

We begin at point guard, where we make a decision that is both obvious and highlights the difficulty of this exercise. Making the best possible lineup doesn't always mean taking the best player at any given position; most of the best players in NBA history were on-ball offensive superstars, but that doesn't mean they will excel when paired with a bunch of other on-ball stars.

This team needs players who can "scale" alongside other elite players and excel without the ball always in their hands. That's why we don't take Magic Johnson here; he would (somewhat narrowly) beat out Stephen Curry for the greatest point guard of all time, but he was not a shooter and this team needs someone who can truly excel off-ball.

That's Wardell Stephen Curry III to a T. He is the greatest shooter in NBA history, and even on the Golden State Warriors he often operates without the ball in order to run off screens and cause havoc setting screens and making cuts. He showed in the 2024 Paris Olympics that he can absolutely take over a game even without having the ball all game, and the gravity he has opens up the court for his teammates.

He will be the defensive "weak link" for this team, but that's only by comparison (at his best Curry was an above-average defender) and relatively easy to manage in this exercise where Curry is at point and can be surrounded by the very best defenders in NBA history. Curry won four titles and made it to six NBA Finals and is one of the greatest postseason performers of all times, and he is an obvious -- if difficult -- pick at point guard.

Others Considered: Magic Johnson, Chris Paul, Oscar Robertson