All-Time Rosters for Every NBA Franchise

by Ben Liebowitz on SportsRaid.com

One of the more interesting sports topics to discuss is “who’s the best player in a given franchise’s history?” When talking about the vaunted Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, many would say that person is Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Others may argue for Kobe Bryant, Jerry “The Logo” West or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which makes for a spirited debate.

PointAfter took that discussion 11 steps further by pegging each NBA franchise’s best 12-man roster of all time. Using a combination of All-NBA team nods, All-Defensive teams earned, All-Star appearances, championship rings and overall contributions to the organization in question, we determined the best possible roster in each team’s history. Longevity with the franchise carried a lot of weight, but a short stint of brilliance was not always overlooked.

The purpose of this exercise is to find the best players in team history for each franchise, not the best players ever to suit up for each organization. (Shaquille O’Neal won’t be part of the Phoenix Suns, for instance.)

We pegged a starting five before filling out the bench. And while positions were important, we did have to get creative in some instances to get the best players in the starting rotation when the “next-best” player was not close to the same level.