Let’s Play a Game Part 2

There have been three eras in pro basketball since the pre 1975 era mentioned in the last article “Let’s Play a Game Part 1. Those would be the “Magic-Bird Era” that was primarily in the late 1970’s – early 1980’s, the “Michael Jordan Era” that (his career may have started in the mid-1980’s, but his real years of dominance pretty much kicked into gear after the careers of Magic and Bird’s careers wound down) was primarily the decade of the 1990’s, and the modern era, now pretty much known as the “LeBron Era,” that pretty much is what has happened in the 2000’s and after the turn of the century.

Using the same rules as used in the prior article, I will also come up with similar all star teams from each of the succeeding eras to play in our similar, hypothetical and crucial fictitious series for the survival of mankind. The Magic-Bird Era here is defined as 1975 through 1989, the Michael Jordan Era is defined as 1990 to 2002, and the LeBron Era is between 2003 and today in 2015. Because some players had careers that were split pretty evenly between two eras, there are instances where the player seems like he is missing from one era, but has been placed on a “team” from the era where he likely had the greater peak years of his career, or who simply played in that era longer (player must play a minimum of six years in an era).

It is still a team that has to play against a “super team” thrown together from invaders from another galaxy that are not just stellar, they are interstellar. Today, Part 2 of our series, the 1976 – 1989 team from the Magic-Bird era.

The Magic-Bird Era

Considering this era had two of the five or so best all around players in the history of the league and its unstoppable, all time leading scorer, I would say one could easily argue that this team might even be better than its pre-1975 predecessor. If I include Jordan on this team (which he WOULD have earned had he not won SIX championships during the 1990’s and proclaimed an entire decade as HIS era) it would definitely be the best squad of all time. In this instance, the team from the other galaxy WON’T let Jordan play on this team, he has to play on a team of 90’s players and HIS decade. Nevertheless, this is still a pretty darned good team.

The team I chose:

Coach – Pat Riley

His Laker teams won FIVE championships in the 80’s even though the Boston Celtics teams had Bird and McHale, the 76ers had Moses and Dr. J, the Pistons had Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boys, and the Bulls had Jordan. A leader. A motivator. A winner. (He also won a championship with the Miami Heat) He is the perfect coach for this team.

Magic Johnson – Magic would be the leader of this team in terms of controlling all aspects of pace and distribution of the ball. No one in history ever did what he did as a leader/point guard. No one in history could ever dribble drive to the basket and SEE everything unfold as well as Magic (and then be able to dish off to the wide open shooter he created). No one in history ever ran a fast break as brilliantly. Everything he did was for the good of the overall TEAM. Everything he did was about winning time. You start with Magic and you are in good hands already.

Larry Bird – Larry Bird had a completely different skill set than Magic, but he was equally as brilliant in effectiveness at making his team better by being the player he was. He would be the “point forward,” who, when he got the ball, he would do SOMETHING to either create a shot for himself of he would be such a threat that he would create the shot for someone else. Great shooter, passer and rebounder. Great team player. Winner, winner, you can almost guarantee the chicken dinner. With Magic and Larry’s team play, the aliens from the other galaxy are starting to get worried.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – The 7’2″ Kareem had the most unstoppable skill shot in history, the Sky Hook. When he was in his prime, he would jump a good two to three feet off the ground and then softly and accurately throw down a hook shot that could not be blocked and nearly always went in. He could also rebound and block shots as well as anybody. The all time leading scorer was also a team oriented player that did the things to make his mates even better. He also had incredibly soft hands at catching the ball when a teammate like Magic would create chaos and then fire him the ball for an open shot. SIX championships. This is Kareem in his prime. Start him at center.

Moses Malone – Malone was a pure power player. Perhaps the BEST pure offensive rebounder ever. Either as a power forward who muscles his way into a close in shot, or as a brute force of an offensive rebounder, you could get the battle of your life playing against him. He could play defense and defensively rebound against the biggest and the baddest too. The 76ers could not win a championship vs. those great L.A. teams in their first two tries. They got Moses. They DID win against L.A. the next. They won it in fo’.

Julius Erving – The legendary Dr. J was a much better player before he got to the NBA, when he was an amazing young physical specimen from the ABA. But, he was still pretty good in the NBA too. As a “small” forward with super large hands, he could create for himself and he could score points. He helped the 76ers win a championship and was consistently an all star forward. Imagine him on the fast break with Magic Johnson. Wow!!

Kevin McHale – McHale was about 6’11” and had arms of an even taller person. When the game turned into one where you needed to post up with your back to the basket, he could score from down low with the best of them. He had scoring form the low post down to a science. He could rebound and play defense too. Boston won 3 championships during the 80’s and they wouldn’t have won them without McHale (and Bird).

Isiah Thomas – Thomas was the quick point guard of Detroit that led them to two championships. He could do everything so quickly that no one could really guard him. He could get his shot off, dribble drive to the basket to either score or create, and he could play defense against the quick guards on offense. Great player. Possible the best quick, “pure” point guard ever.

Alex English – All English could do was shoot and score points. He played in all star games, and every time he got the ball with any space at all, he would shoot something (he was amazing at using the glass for a bank shot) and he would make it. He scored more points during the 80’s than everybody. Totally for his brilliant offense, he is on this team.

Bernard King – Everything that was just said about Alex English being a remarkable scorer, you can just say the same thing about Bernard King. Remembering that we get him in his prime, he could shoot from outside, dribble to create his shot against anybody, race down the court and finish on the fast break, and could basically SCORE the ball against anybody.

George Gervin – The Iceman was a great offensive threat from the guard position. At a tall 6’8″ he was tall enough to get his shot off against any guard that attempted to stop him. And he was a very good shooter and scorer too. This team needed a guard to go along with Magic and Isiah and Gervin could fill in on my team any time.

Bill Walton – Walton makes this team because you get to use the player from HIS PRIME, and not from the overall body of work (Walton being oft-injured). This team needs a little defense to make up for the overly weighted great offense. The Walton that led Portland to the 1976-77 championship was an incredible player. He was like the amazing player he was in college. Based on THAT player, he played the center position within the TEAM concept so well (including blocked shots, defensive rebounds and outlet passes), that you would have to have THAT man on this team.

Michael Cooper – I wanted to put James Worthy in this position, but I wanted this team to have the DEFENSE necessary to stop the Intergalactic All Stars whenever possible, to allow this team’s offense to do the scoring that it is so obviously capable of doing. Cooper guarded Bird, Erving, Jordan in his time. He could guard anybody. An excellent athlete, he could also shoot from outside and be a great wing man on the fast break. ?The team needed another guard. Riley would want him on this team.

The Alternates – As previously mentioned, James Worthy just missed out on this team, which has such a great array of forwards that play the same type of game as him. If Walton were to get injured, he would be the first player called up. Also, Dominique Wilkins for the same reason of “too many great forwards,” and Robert Parish misses out because the other centers seemed to fit the team’s needs a bit better. ALL three alternates are very much worthy of being on this team.

Others considered: Dave Cowens, Ralph Sampson, Andrew Toney, Paul Westphal, Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings, Sidney Moncrief, Dennis Johnson and Maurice Cheeks. Some players were close enough in talent, but just not “good enough” to make this team. Others had the feeling they belonged in different eras but didn’t play enough great ball in this era to make this team, and others you might think are from this era might end up being in the next one.

This is a team that has all of the makings of greatness. It has Magic and Bird on it. It has Abdul-Jabbar, in his prime, at center. And, while he rests, it has Moses Malone and or the Bill Walton of his prime to handle things in the middle. It is loaded with forwards (Dr. J in his prime, hello?) that can shoot and run the floor. It has Isiah Thomas to play point guard during the times when Magic Johnson is resting. A ton of offense, plenty of great rebounding. Would it play enough defense? I think, like the Lakers of the 1980’s, that it would play enough defense to WIN.