ALL TIME NBA DREAM TEAM- <dibs>

[Lurker]

I thought the only way for anybody to stop Kareem's shot was to block it in his hand.  Especially in his early days, Kareem would jump so high on the sky hook he would be shooting DOWN at the basket.  So if goaltending was in effect, unless you got the ball before he released it, you'd be whistled for goaltending.  Also I've heard anecdotes and actually caught a game on NBA Classic that showed Artis Gilmore played Kareem as effectively as anybody, and he even blocked a Kareem sky hook every once in a blue moon. 

Russell against Kareem would be good since I would imagine Russell would have at least as much success against Kareem as Gilmore did.  Joe is right, though, Kareem would still get huge numbers but Russell would play him tough and change all shots coming through the lane. 

As for all-time team; a lot of players are missing with this 'dibs' policy, apparently, but I'll throw one out there for fun:

PG: Walt "Clyde" Frazier
SG: Jerry West
SF: LeBron James
PF: Nate Thurmond
 C: Hakeem Olajuwon

With Clyde running the show there is going to be team unity and singular synergy amongst the starters.  1-4 are excellent passers and unselfish.  I think my rebounding is monstrous with guys like West at SG and Thurmond at PF.  Olajuwon and Thurmond anchor the paint, while LeBron re-inforces the team's size and strength advantage.  Mr. Logo is in there for the clutch while "Dream" is there for the half-court game.  What do you guys think?  Not bad for not using any of WOW, westkoast, or JoMal's players. 

Not a bad team at all Skandery.

As far as Gilmore, yes he played Kareem as well as anyone.  He was tall enough and strong enough to force Kareem a little out of his comfort zone.  I saw a few of thier matchups in person and they were almost always amazing.  The thing was that the A-Train usually got the best of Jabbar early in the game.  By the 4th quarter you knew Kareem was going to get the ball and he was going to kill you with the skyhook.  Only battle of big men that IMO was better to watch was DRob/Olajuwon in the 95 WCF.

[WayOutWest]

Only battle of big men that IMO was better to watch was DRob/Olajuwon in the 95 WCF.

Alot of DRob's defensive matchups were good since he was a lefty and athletic as hell.

[westkoast]

If only there was a video game that had most of these players in it so we could go head to head!

Skandery I actually really like your team and I don't know if any of our teams have the clear advantage.  I can only imagine Larry Bird and Elgin Baylor having to deal with an athletic monster like Bron.  That right there would be worth seeing.  Never in their careers did Bird or Baylor have to deal with a player the caliber of Lebron James.  I dare you guys to name one they faced who came close!