Ethical Sports Takes

An 82–0 season is a feat that I can confidently say will never happen in the NBA.

Even the greatest teams lose games. Players have bad nights, shots don’t fall, injuries happen, schedules get brutal and sometimes an opponent simply catches fire. The 2015–16 Golden State Warriors won an NBA-record 73 games and still lost nine times.

But that got me thinking.

If we could take any five players in NBA history, put every one of them in their prime and build the perfect starting lineup, what team would have the best chance of going 82–0?

This isn’t necessarily about taking the five greatest individual players ever. Fit matters. Roles matter. Shooting matters. Defense matters. Leadership matters. We need five superstars who could actually function together rather than five players fighting over the basketball.

After some internal debate, these are my five:

PG — Stephen Curry
SG — Michael Jordan
SF — LeBron James
PF — Tim Duncan
C — Shaquille O’Neal

Now let’s explain ourselves.

PG — Stephen Curry

The first surprise for some people will probably be Stephen Curry over Magic Johnson.

Magic is my greatest point guard of all time, so why isn’t he here?

Because with this particular lineup, I don’t need him.

LeBron James is already one of the greatest distributors and offensive engines basketball has ever seen. He can bring the ball up the floor, initiate the offense, find cutters, attack mismatches and create open shots for everyone around him. Putting Magic alongside him would give us another phenomenal playmaker, but there would also be some redundancy.

Steph gives this lineup something nobody else in basketball history can provide at his level:

Shooting.

Curry’s presence completely changes the geometry of the court. Defenses have to respect him from several feet beyond the three-point line, and his constant movement without the basketball means you can’t simply assign someone to stand next to him.

Now imagine trying to deal with that while LeBron James is attacking the basket and Shaquille O’Neal is standing in the paint.

You want to collapse inside? Steph is waiting. You want to stay attached to Steph? Good luck dealing with everything happening behind you.

For this team, I don’t need my point guard to be the primary distributor.

I need Stephen Curry to be Stephen Curry.

SG — Michael Jordan

There isn’t much debate here.

If I’m building a team that needs to win every single night, I’m taking the greatest shooting guard of all time: Michael Jordan.

Jordan gives this lineup an unstoppable scorer who can take over a game whenever necessary, but that’s only half of what makes him perfect for this team. He was also an elite perimeter defender, a Defensive Player of the Year and a player who brought relentless intensity to both ends of the floor.

That’s important because this lineup doesn’t need Jordan to score 35 every night. Some nights Steph might explode. Some nights Shaq might be completely unstoppable inside. LeBron might control an entire game without needing to score much himself.

But when everything else fails and we need somebody to simply go get a bucket?

Give the ball to Michael Jordan.

SF — LeBron James

LeBron is the piece that connects everything.

At his peak, LeBron could score at an elite level, control an offense, dominate in transition, rebound, defend multiple positions and create shots for everyone around him.

On this team, I would make him the primary distributor.

Imagine LeBron coming down the floor with Steph Curry moving around the three-point line, Michael Jordan looking for space, Tim Duncan setting screens and Shaquille O’Neal establishing position underneath the basket.

What exactly is the defense supposed to take away?

LeBron has spent his career making the correct basketball play. Surround him with this much talent and ask him to run the offense, and the possibilities become ridiculous.

PF — Tim Duncan

This might be the least glamorous selection on the team.

It’s also one of the most important.

I don’t need another player demanding 25 shots. I don’t need another superstar who needs the offense built around him. I already have Steph Curry, Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal.

I need Tim Duncan.

The greatest power forward of all time gives this lineup elite defense, rebounding, rim protection, post scoring, screens and one of the highest basketball IQs the game has ever seen.

But there’s another reason I want Duncan on this team:

Leadership.

We’re talking about a lineup filled with enormous personalities. Jordan’s competitiveness was legendary. Shaq was larger than life. LeBron has spent most of his career as the center of attention wherever he’s played.

With this much talent and personality in one locker room, I want a quiet leader who doesn’t need to dominate the room every second but commands it whenever he speaks.

That’s Tim Duncan.

He led without needing attention and proved throughout his career that he could be the face of a dynasty while putting the team ahead of himself. He could dominate a game without making everything about him.

Need him to score? He can score. Need him to defend the opposing team’s best big man? He’ll do it. Need him to grab rebounds, protect the rim, set screens and barely touch the basketball offensively? He’ll do that too.

On a team this talented, somebody has to be willing to sacrifice without sacrificing greatness.

Tim Duncan is the perfect man for that job.

C — Shaquille O’Neal

And finally, we need the most dominant player in NBA history.

Prime Shaquille O’Neal.

There have been more complete centers. There have been better shooters and better free-throw shooters. There have been centers with longer stretches of sustained greatness.

But if I need to win one basketball game tonight, there might not be a matchup problem in NBA history more terrifying than prime Shaq.

Teams built entire rosters around trying to survive against him. Defenders couldn’t handle him individually, and sending additional help created opportunities everywhere else.

Now we’re giving him Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

Think about the impossible choice a defense would face. Collapse multiple defenders onto Shaq and you’re leaving some combination of Curry, Jordan and LeBron with space. Stay home on the perimeter and you’re asking one defender to stop Shaq near the basket.

Neither option sounds particularly promising.

And if everything else somehow stops working?

Throw the ball inside and let the big man go to work.

How Do You Beat This Team?

Simple answer?

You DON’T.

That’s the entire point of building this lineup.

Offensively, you have the greatest shooter ever in Stephen Curry stretching the defense beyond the three-point line and arguably the most dominant force in NBA history in Shaquille O’Neal pulling the defense toward the basket.

And between those two extremes?

You have my #1 and #2 greatest basketball players of all time: LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

Yeah, you’re not winning.

Just pack it up.

Double Shaq and somebody is open. Collapse the paint on LeBron and Steph is waiting outside. Chase Curry around the perimeter and suddenly there’s more room inside for Shaq. Focus too much attention on any of them and Michael Jordan is standing there waiting to take over the game.

Oh, and we haven’t even mentioned Tim Duncan, the greatest power forward of all time, doing whatever this team needs on both ends of the floor.

Defensively, there isn’t an obvious place to attack either. Jordan can take an elite perimeter scorer, LeBron gives you size and versatility, Duncan anchors the defense and Shaq gives you enormous size and physicality around the basket.

This team can run with LeBron in transition, slow everything down and feed Shaq, run Curry around screens, let Jordan hunt a matchup or simply allow Duncan to punish whatever weakness remains.

Would they actually go 82–0?

Probably not. Basketball has too much randomness for me to believe any team could survive an entire NBA season without losing once.

But if you told me I had to build one team from all of NBA history to try it, I’m sending out:

Stephen Curry. Michael Jordan. LeBron James. Tim Duncan. Shaquille O’Neal.

Good luck.

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