For the purposes of this, I used guards and forwards interchangeably.
EAST
Atlantic Division
Toronto Raptors
Kyle Lowry
Vince Carter
Kawhi Leonard
Chris Bosh
Antonio Davis
Lowry has been with the team 8 seasons, a 6-time All-Star. Damon Stoudamire wasn't a Raptor long enough. Carter, Leonard, and Bosh are locks. Antonio Davis, a 2001 All-Star, was a vital piece to the early 2000s teams.
Boston Celtics
Bob Cousy
John Havlicek
Larry Bird
Kevin McHale
Bill Russell
Tenure and multiple championships in Boston give McHale the advantage over Kevin Garnett, though Garnett is more talented player and arguably had a better career. The rest of the lineup is easy.
New York Knicks
Walt Frazier
Richie Guerin
Carmelo Anthony
Willis Reed
Patrick Ewing
6 straight All-Star appearances for Guerin from 1957-1963. Frazier is the best player in team history. Anthony won a scoring title and went to seven straight All-Star games as a Knick. Reed played the 4 position for 3 years with the team, going to 3 All-Star games as a Power Forward. Ewing was the leader of their contending 90s teams, one of which went to the Finals in '94.
New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets
Jason Kidd
Vince Carter
Julius Erving
Buck Williams
Derrick Coleman
Williams averaged 16.4 points and 11.9 rebounds with the Nets, where he spent 8 of his 17 seasons. averaging a double-double from 1981 through 1988. I considered Rick Barry, who played 2 seasons with the franchise, from 1970-1972, when they were in the ABA (averages of 29 and 32 points). Coleman was a Net from '90 through '95, and was named to the 1994 Eastern Conference All-Star Team.
Philadelphia 76ers
Allen Iverson
Hal Greer
Julius Erving
Charles Barkley
Wilt Chamberlain
Greer and Chamberlain led the 1966-1967 76ers team that won 68 games and beat the Golden State Warriors in 6 games in the NBA Finals. Chamberlain on here is easy. Greer made seven straight All-Star appearances with the team from 1963-1970, the team having moved to Philadelphia for that '62-'63 season. Moses Malone is a tough omission for the 76ers, but I have him on the Rockets.
Central Division
Chicago Bulls
Derrick Rose
Michael Jordan
Scottie Pippen
Dennis Rodman
Artis Gilmore
Gilmore played for the Bulls from '76 through '82, going to four All-Star games in that span, though he might be better known as a Kentucky Colonel playing in the ABA. Bob Love spent 8 years in Chicago, and has an argument over Rodman for the Power Forward spot. Love went to three All-Star games as a Bull, averaging 25 and 26 points in consecutive seasons, but Rodman's three championships and overall career give him the edge.
Indiana Pacers
Roger Brown
Reggie Miller
Paul George
George McGinnis
Mel Daniels
Brown spent 8 of his 10 pro seasons in Indiana, in the ABA. Four times he was an ABA All-Star, 3 times a champion, and 3 times an All-ABA team member. Miller is obvious. George was the best player on the most recent seriously contending Pacers, a three-time All-Star while a Pacer. You could argue that either McGinnis or Daniels are the best players in team history.
Milwaukee Bucks
Oscar Robertson
Ray Allen
Marques Johnson
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Oscar, Abdul-Jabbar, and Antetokounmpo are easy choices. Marques Johnson, too. A career 20-point a game scorer, he played 7 of his 11 seasons in Milwaukee, going to four All-Star games. Allen went to three All-Star games as a Buck, from 1999-2001. Bob Dandridge is a tough omission, but I chose Johnson over him.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Kyrie Irving
Austin Carr
LeBron James
Larry Nance
Brad Daugherty
Nance and Daugherty were mainstays on the contending Cavs teams of the 80's and early '90s. Carr is "Mr. Cavalier" and was their original great. Irving gets the nod over Mark Price because of the championship.
Detroit Pistons
Isiah Thomas
Joe Dumars
Grant Hill
Dave DeBusschere
Ben Wallace
Wallace over Bob Lanier is tough. Lanier is obviously the better all around player, but Wallace's impact on the Pistons as the anchor of their tough defense, coupled with 4 Defensive Player of the Year Awards, is why I chose him. Lanier, though, made the All-Star team 7 times in 10 seasons in Detroit.
Southeast Division
Orlando Magic
Penny Hardaway
Nick Anderson
Tracy McGrady
Rashard Lewis
Shaquille O'Neal
Dwight Howard seems like a terrible omission, but it is hard to put him in over O'Neal, who was the better player even in Orlando. Anderson averaged just over 15 points per game in Orlando (15.4), and was one of the top shooters in the league. Horace Grant averaged 11 points and 8 rebounds with the team, but his best days were as a Bull. Lewis was a key member to the 59 win 2009 Finals team, helping spread the floor to let Howard dominate the interior. Lewis, a natural Small Forward, played the 4 position in Orlando, and averaged 16.3 points per game in his 4 seasons there.
Miami Heat
Tim Hardaway
Dwyane Wade
LeBron James
Chris Bosh
Alonzo Mourning
Easy choices really all across the board. Mourning over Shaquille O'Neal (even though O'Neal has a championship with them) because of years with the franchise and production. Mourning played 11 seasons in Miami and was a 5-time All-Star. Before Dwyane Wade, he was the best player in team history.
Atlanta Hawks
Pete Maravich
Lou Hudson
Dominique Wilkins
Bob Pettit
Dikembe Mutombo
Relatively easy choices. Hudson played 11 of his 13 seasons in St. Louis/Atlanta, and went to 6 straight All-Star games. Walt Bellamy was one of the first and is one of the all-time great big men. He played in Atlanta from '69 through '74, in the twilight of his career, but still averaged 16 and 12 with the team. But his best years were earlier on, with Chicago and Baltimore. Mutombo was a three-time All-Star in Atlanta, and led the league in rebounding in 2000 (14.5 per game).
Washington Bullets/Wizards
Gilbert Arenas
Earl Monroe
Bob Dandridge
Elvin Hayes
Wes Unseld
Monroe and Bradley Beal is a tough choice, but Monroe is a Bullet original and was an outstanding player. Unseld is one of the great rebounders in league history and a champion. Hayes might be the best player in franchise history. 10 seasons with the franchise, and an All-Star 9 out of those 10 seasons, leading the league in rebounding in 1974 with 18.1. Six out of his nine seasons there he averaged over 20 points per game, and averaged double digits in rebounding in all but one season there. One of the all-time great Power Forwards, he averaged 28.4 points as a rookie in '67-'68 with the San Diego Rockets, leading the league in scoring. Arenas in his prime was one of the top scorers in the NBA.
Charlotte Hornets
Kemba Walker
Baron Davis
Glen Rice
Larry Johnson
Alonzo Mourning
Davis is the odd choice, due to the fact that he is a Point Guard. But he was a two-time All-Star with the Hornet franchise (both Charlotte and New Orleans), and led the league in steals in 2004. Walker is the best PG the team has ever had, and Rice, Johnson, and Mourning are easy choices.
WEST
Northwest
Denver Nuggets
Fat Lever
David Thompson
Alex English
Dan Issel
Dikembe Mutombo
Thompson, Issel and Mutombo are easy choices. English over Carmelo Anthony due to longevity. 8 All-Star appearances for English in a Nuggets' uniform, and a scoring title in '83. He averaged 26 per game in 11 seasons in Denver, 3 times All-NBA. Lever was a two-time All-Star in 6 seasons with the Nuggets, with averages of 17 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.5 steals. He is 9th all-time in career triple-doubles with 43 and is one of the more overlooked and underrated guards.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Stephon Marbury
Andrew Wiggins
Kevin Garnett
Kevin Love
Karl-Anthony Towns
Garnett and Love are easy. Wiggins, the 2015 Rookie of the Year, is in over J.R. Rider, a strong guard who could score but who only played 3 seasons in Minnesota. I'm listing Garnett at the 3 because at times, he could play Small Forward - doing so in his first couple seasons. For the majority of his career, he played Power Forward and late with Boston and Brooklyn played Center. It's kind of slim pickings for the Timberwolves, a team that joined the NBA in 1989, hence Garnett at the 3 in this lineup. Towns is on his way to a career where he could be a perennial, double-digit All-Star. Marbury played less than 3 seasons in Minnesota, but was an All-Rookie team member in 1997 and averaged 17.7 points and 8.6 assists the following season.
Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder
Russell Westbrook
Ray Allen
Kevin Durant
Spencer Haywood
Jack Sikma
Westbrook over Lenny Wilkens, Gary Payton, and Dennis Johnson is tough, but Westbrook did something that hadn't been done in over 50 years, and did it for three straight seasons. Allen and Durant are easy choices. Haywood over Shawn Kemp because he was simply the better player. Sikma is one of the all-time underrated players as a big man who had very good offensive skills.
Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard
Brandon Roy
Clyde Drexler
Lamarcus Aldridge
Bill Walton
The Blazers have two cases, with Roy and Walton, of players whose careers were either shortened by, or ruined by injuries. In Walton's case, he was able to salvage his and turn it into 10 seasons where he reinvented himself as a Sixth Man of the Year on the '86 Celtics, after being completely dominant in Portland in his first 4 seasons. In Roy's case, he was on the perennial All-Star path before his 2010 knee injury. He made three straight All-Star appearances from 2007 to 2010. Drexler is an easy choice, and Aldridge (4 straight All-Star games, averages of 19.4 and 8.4 in Portland) gets the nod over Maurice Lucas, an all-time tough guy, rebounder, and champion.
Utah Jazz
John Stockton
Pete Maravich
Adrian Dantley
Karl Malone
Mark Eaton
Easy all across the board. Eaton was a multiple time blocked shots leader, Dantley a smooth scorer.
Southwest
Dallas Mavericks
Derek Harper
Mark Aguirre
Michael Finley
Dirk Nowitzki
Roy Tarpley
Steve Nash is more known as a Phoenix Sun. Harper spent 12 seasons with the Mavericks and was one half of one of the league's best back courts with Rolando Blackman. Harper was a two-time All-Defense member in 1987 and 1990. Aguirre was a 25-30 point per game scorer with the Mavericks, a three-time All-Star there. He averaged 29.5 points per game in 1984 at age 24, and ended up being a key piece to the Pistons' title teams of the late '80s. Finley went to two All-Star games as a Maverick, and Tarpley - though he struggled with substance abuse - was Sixth Man of the Year in 1988 (13.5 points and 11.8 rebounds), and averaged double-doubles for the following seasons.
Houston Rockets
Calvin Murphy
James Harden
Tracy McGrady
Moses Malone
Hakeem Olajuwon
Easy choices. Murphy, a little guy at 5'9, was an electric scorer, and played his entire 13-year career with the Rockets between San Diego and Houston. Malone spent 6 seasons in Houston, and was an All-Star all 6 times, leading the league in rebounding 3 times as a Rocket.
Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies
Mike Conley
Tony Allen
Shareef-Abdur-Rahim
Zach Randolph
Marc Gasol
Four of the five are from the "Grid and Grind" Grizzlies, with Abdur-Rahim - the 3rd pick in the '96 draft - the only one of the five to have played in Vancouver. With the Grizzlies, he averaged over 20.8 points per game, becoming an All-Star with the Hawks.
San Antonio Spurs
Tony Parker
George Gervin
Kawhi Leonard
Tim Duncan
David Robinson
I know people would probably think that Manu Ginobili belongs instead of Gervin, but Gervin was flat out just the better player. He was an All-Star 12 out of his 14 seasons, and 4 times led the NBA in scoring. His career 26.2 points NBA points per game is 9th all-time (his first 4 seasons were in the ABA). The rest are easy choices.
I'm not including the New Orleans Pelicans because I have no idea how to categorize them. Do you include the New Orleans Jazz, the New Orleans Hornets, the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, or just the Pelicans? If it is the Jazz, then there's Pete Maravich, if it's just the Hornets, then it's Chris Paul. If it is just the Pelicans, you're going to have a trio of Jrue Holiday, Anthony Davis and Demarcus Cousins, and the rest would be throw ins. Holiday, Ingram, Davis, Cousins, and Rondo? It's too difficult to try and break down which to include. But the best players in New Orleans basketball history list starts with Pete Maravich and Chris Paul. David West was a two-time All-Star playing in New Orleans.
Pacific
Los Angeles Lakers
Magic Johnson
Kobe Bryant
Elgin Baylor
James Worthy
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Magic, Kobe, and Kareem are the most accomplished Lakers. LeBron James has played just 115 games with the team. Baylor is a Laker original and was one of, if not the first dominant forward in the game. Worthy was the MVP of the 1988 Finals. Wilt is more of a Sixer/Warrior, and Kareem was more accomplished than Shaquille O'Neal.
Los Angeles Clippers
Chris Paul
World B. Free
Randy Smith
Blake Griffin
Bob McAdoo
Kawhi Leonard may go down as the best Clipper ever, but he hasn't played a full season with them yet and hasn't accomplished anything except an All-Star appearance. Manning was a two-time All-Star in 6 seasons with the Clippers, and averaged just over 19 points per game. Griffin went to five straight All-Star games, averaging 21.6 points and 9.3 rebounds as a Clipper. McAdoo, as a Buffalo Brave, was an MVP at 23 years old, and averaged 28.2 points and 12.7 rebounds as a Brave. He also won 3 consecutive scoring titles. The Braves moved to San Diego in 1978. and Los Angeles in 1984. Smith played 9 of his 13 seasons in Buffalo and San Diego, was a two-time All-Star ('76 and '78), was All-NBA in 1976 and the 1978 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. From 1972-2, he played in 906 games, a record since broken by A.C. Green.
Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry
Klay Thompson
Rick Barry
Kevin Durant
Wilt Chamberlain
Barry is one of the all-time great three men, along with Durant. I place Durant at the 4 here because he does play it sometimes, and for the purposes of this, he is a top five all-time great Warrior who also is a forward so he can play the 3 or 4. Chamberlain is an easy choice again, as is the greatest shooting back court in NBA history of Curry and Thompson.
Phoenix Suns
Steve Nash
Paul Westphal
Connie Hawkins
Charles Barkley
Amare Stoudemire
Hawkins was a 5-time All-Star, four straight with the Suns, and is one of the four Hall of Famers in this lineup. Stoudemire won't get there, but made 5 All-Star teams as a member of the Suns in 8 seasons.
Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City/Omaha/Sacramento Kings
Nate Archibald
Oscar Robertson
Jerry Lucas
Chris Webber
DeMarcus Cousins
Lucas was a 7-time All-Star, six straight as a Royal, and at 6'8 is one of the league's all-time great rebounders. Robertson is an easy choice, as is Webber. Tiny Archibald led the league in points and assists in the 1972-1973 season (34 points, 11.4 assists) and minutes (46!), shooting 49% and playing in 80 games. It may be one of the all-time great seasons that is not talked about enough. As a King, he averaged 25 points and 8 assists. Webber, from '99-'03, was an All-Star with the Kings, and was the leader of a perennial contender. He has a strong case for the Hall of Fame and will likely get there one day. Cousins, when healthy in Sacramento, was the best center in the NBA. 7 seasons in Sacramento, with averages of 21.1 points, and 10.4 rebounds. He is a four-time All-Star, was named to the All-Rookie team and is a 2-time All-NBA player.
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