Me and my brothers are basketball freaks. We got into a discussion before about the best players and the best possible starting 5 and team that can be made out of them. Here's mine:

C - Hakeem Olajuwon
PF - Tim Duncan
SF - Larry Bird
SG - Michael Jordan
PG - Magic Johnson

I'd put these guys in the bench:

Shaquille O'neal
Bill Russell
Scottie Pippen
Reggie Miller
Steve Nash
Robert Horry
Jerry West

What's your team?

wow ... you have pippen and a few others but no Julius Irving. List is so full of fail. Dr J is right up there with Jordan. Should be in place of Bird as a starter easy.

.. and Tim Duncan? are you serious? Easily put The King in there.

Your list clearly dates you. lol.

Julius Erving is the same type of player as Jordan, only of lesser quality. You don't need two of the same player.

Lebron? what has he won? aside from choking in the playoffs, has he done anything relevant? Overrated. I pick winners and competitors. Not superstar wannabes.

And I'm talking of the best team possible. You need shooters and defenders in your team. You need clutch players. You can't just keep piling on scorers. Look what happened to the Lakers with Malone, Payton, Kobe, and Shaq against the Pistons.

That's why my team is populated with different types of players.

Add: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Dennis Rodman

Remove: Tim Duncan, Robert Horry, Hakeem Olajuwon, Reggie Miller, Scottie Pippen, Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal. 

But it is all a matter of opinion. 

Starting 5 would be:

C- Wilt Chamberlain

PF- Karl Malone

SF- Larry Bird

SG- Michael Jordan

PG- Magic Johnson

On the Bench:

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman, Bill Russell, Jerry West

C- Kareem Abdul Jabbar

PF-  Karl Malone

SF-  Larry Bird

SG- Michael Jordan

PG- Magic Johnson

On the bench  Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Oscar Robertson, Julius Erving, Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Bill Russell.

By the way, I am a Bulls fan and can tell you that Scottie Pippen is quite possibly the most overrated player that I've ever seen. 

Pippen overrated?

The guy can do everything. He can pass, he can score, he can defend. He can play any position. He can play point, shooting, forward, even center if he has to. More importantly, he's a complimentary player. He doesn't need to be in the spotlight.

You guys who are putting so many scorers in your team: think about it. How are Lebron, Kobe, Jordan, Chamberlain, Erving, etc. coexist in one team? All of them want the ball at the same time. None of them know how to pass. That's why I only included Jordan, because he's the best of the scorers who can create his own shot. You don't need more than one of that same player.

And what's with the Lebron thing going here? Lebron has done nothing except choke in the playoffs. He's been in the first seeded team two years in a row, yet has shown no ability to get to the finals. Lebron is overrated.

Isn't there a good enough basketball game (or basketball manager game) that lets you make your own team and see how they do, like Championship Manager for football or something? I don't know, just asking.

nah, if there were, i would have it already.. ><

Actually I did a quick search on google and it returned a bunch of links to a supposed FIBA Basketball Manager 2010, but they were all fileshares and torrents and what not, didn't look too legitimate. Plus it's with FIBA, not NBA. 

These Guys:

and of course that one guy on the bench...

Bill Murray FTW!