The 2000s were a new era for the NBA, as the association moved on from the glory days of Michael Jordan and the 90s superstars into a new chapter of professional basketball. With new faces and tons of stars on the rise coming straight out of high school, the 2000s featured the dying off of one group of NBA legends and the birth of another.
But who were the brightest stars of the decade? Who will be remembered from the 2000s among the all-time greats 100 years from now? To help put an entire decade filled with magnificent players into perspective, we’ll be creating another All-Decade team for the 2000s. We’ve already done Third Team, Second Team and First Team honors for the 1990s, so now it’s time to move on to the next millennium.
We’ve also already covered the honorable mentions, Third Team honors and the Second Team for the 2000s, so today we’ll look at the cream-of-the-crop First Team.
In case you’re unfamiliar with how All-NBA teams work, there are two spots for guards, two spots for forwards and one spot for a center. The First Team is the highest honor, Second Team is second highest and Third Team is third highest. Without further ado, here’s a look at the 2000s All-Decade First Team.
Next: Steve Nash
First Team: G – Steve Nash:
2000s Resume: 10 seasons, 2 regular season MVP awards, three-time All-NBA First Team, one-time All-NBA Second Team, two-time All-NBA Third Team, three-time NBA leader in assists, three-time 50-40-90 club member, six-time NBA All-Star, 16.0 PPG, 9.0 APG and 3.2 RPG, 20.6 average PER
Steve Nash’s first few seasons in the league weren’t anything special, but once he got the opportunity to start with the Dallas Mavericks, he soon blossomed into one of the NBA’s best floor generals. But it wasn’t until he signed with the Phoenix Suns halfway through the decade that Nash became an elite assist machine, the NBA’s best pick and roll point guard and a two-time MVP (even if he may not have truly deserved the second one over Kobe Bryant).
In his time with the Suns, Nash helped Amar’e Stoudemire develop into one of the league’s most dynamic power forwards, he led the NBA in assists three times and he joined the prestigious 50-40-90 club not once, not twice, but three times. He was never a high-volume scorer, preferring to get his teammates involved on offense, but he was lethally efficient when he did put up shots, especially in the lane when he became a magician with the ball who could find the tiniest of openings for either a dazzling reverse layup or an uncovered teammate.
Nash and the Run-N-Gun Suns changed the course of NBA history, using a high-paced offense that led the league in scoring in five out of his first six seasons in Phoenix. The Suns averaged 109.7 points per game during that stretch, employing a “Seven Seconds Or Less” offense that had Nash constantly pushing the tempo and finding open teammates out of quick pick and rolls. Three trips to the Western Conference Finals never yielded a title or even an NBA Finals appearance for Nash (for various reasons), but there’s little doubt about who the best point guard of the 2000s was.
Next: Kobe Bryant
First Team: G – Kobe Bryant:
2000s Resume: 10 seasons, six NBA Finals appearances, four NBA titles, one NBA Finals MVP award, one regular season MVP award, seven-time All-NBA First Team, two-time All-NBA Second Team, one-time All-NBA Third Team, seven-time NBA All-Defensive First Team, two-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team, two-time NBA leader in scoring, 10-time NBA All-Star, 28.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 5.3 APG, 24.5 average PER
When most people think of Kobe Bryant now, they either think about his frail, injury-plagued 2013-14 season or all the Kobe Stans who make him so hard to like sometimes. But before you go all “Shaquille O’Neal carried Kobe to his first three titles!” on us, let’s not forget that the Black Mamba was hands down the most accomplished player of the 2000s. Before LeBron James’ rise to power in the late 2000s, it was Kobe Bryant who was drawing all the comparisons to Michael Jordan.
Because of Kobe’s competitiveness, his fadeaway, and the all-around similarities to MJ’s game, the comparisons between His Airness and his greatest creation/copycat are more apt than they are for LeBron. But even though Kobe wasn’t the best player on his team for his first three titles, and even though he wasn’t always the best teammate, you won’t find a player with a more impressive resume for the decade: six trips to the Finals, four titles, an MVP award (should’ve been two) and about as many All-NBA and All-Star selections as Phil Jackson has rings.
The numbers speak for themselves, but Kobe’s graceful imitation of Jordan’s game also helped him pass the eye test with the kind of flying colors that would give an epileptic seizures. The numbers don’t quite back up his reputation of being “clutch,” but there was a time when the league held its breath whenever Kobe Bryant caught the ball in a close game. There were the game-winners, the 81-point game, and countless other memories that make him so endearing to Los Angeles Lakers fans. He’s not the greatest player of all time, but for the first decade of the 2000s? Unlike Kobe, that point of view is certainly defendable.
Next: Kevin Garnett
First Team: F – Kevin Garnett:
2000s Resume: 10 seasons, two NBA Finals appearances, one NBA title, one regular season MVP award, four-time All-NBA First Team, three-time All-NBA Second Team, one-time All-NBA Third Team, one NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, eight-time NBA All-Defensive First Team, two-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team, four-time NBA leader in rebounding, 10-time NBA All-Star, 21.4 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 4.6 APG and 1.6 BPG, 25.2 average PER
Want to know a fun game? Ask any knowledgeable NBA fan “Prime Tim Duncan or Prime Kevin Garnett?” and watch as they begin to sweat out one of the greater mental dilemmas or their lifetime. Luckily, this piece isn’t concerned with stacking the two legendary power forward/centers up against each other, and we can simply appreciate the singularly unique personality of KG, while also mourning how a series of poor management decisions by the Minnesota Timberwolves front office wasted his prime.
At his peak, Garnett was an absolute monster in every aspect of the game. He played all three frontcourt positions in Minnesota, he was a beast on the boards, a nasty interior defender, a merciless shot-blocker and when he rose up to the rim, you got the @#$* out of his way. In the event you were able to contain him with a double-team, his impressive passing skills found open teammates for easy shots. His loyalty to the franchise was the downfall of his early best years, however, since KG was only ever able to carry his team to one Western Conference Finals appearance.
When Kevin McHale finally put him out of his misery and traded him to the Boston Celtics, he was able to win his first and only NBA championship alongside Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. As one of the league’s most intense, borderline psychotic personalities, The Big Ticket was certainly worth the price of admission for his heart, hustle and skill. His time as Zombie KG with the Brooklyn Nets recently hasn’t been pleasant, but he’s one of the all-time Boston Celtics greats and undoubtedly the best player in Minnesota Timberwolves franchise history.
Next: Tim Duncan
First Team: F – Tim Duncan:
2000s Resume: 10 seasons, three NBA titles, two NBA Finals MVP awards, two regular season MVP awards, seven-time All-NBA First Team, three-time All-NBA Second Team, seven-time NBA All-Defensive First Team, three-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team, 10-time NBA All-Star, 21.4 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.3 APG and 2.3 BPG, 25.4 average PER
It’s hard to remember a time when Tim Duncan didn’t have an old man’s game and it’s even harder to remember that at one point, the idea that there’d ever be a greater player than David Robinson in San Antonio Spurs franchise history seemed ludicrous. But by drafting Tim Duncan first overall in 1997, the Spurs altered the course of their franchise forever, slowly becoming a model of success for the rest of the league to respect and try to imitate.
Though the confines of this decade exclude two of The Big Fundamental’s championships, Duncan in his prime was a sight to behold. He wasn’t overwhelmingly athletic like Kobe, he wasn’t a s**t-talker like KG and he wasn’t as flashy with the ball in his hands like Nash. But every calculated move Duncan made was unstoppable, almost like the game of basketball was simple math to him. The rest of the power forwards and centers in the league are still trying to figure that math out decades later.
Duncan and the Spurs have often been unfairly labeled as “boring,” but it’s only because they’re so consistently successful and play fundamentally superior basketball. The google-eyed face Duncan makes when he’s whistled for a call he disagrees with is easy to make fun of, but Duncan is one of the NBA’s all-time great winners, a top eight player of all time and in the first decade of the 2000s, was arguably the league’s best “power forward” as a two-way machine that got buckets, blocks, wins and championships.
Next: Shaquille O'Neal
First Team: C – Shaquille O’Neal:
2000s Resume: 10 seasons, five NBA Finals appearances, four NBA titles, three NBA Finals MVP awards, one regular season MVP award, seven-time All-NBA First Team, one-time All-NBA Third Team, three-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team, one-time NBA leader in scoring, nine-time NBA All-Star, 22.6 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 2.6 APG and 2.1 BPG, 25.6 average PER
If it weren’t for Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal would have been the most accomplished player of the 2000s. His vibrant, comedic personality made him beloved off the court, but on the court Shaq was a freight train you did not want to get in front of. One of the most dominant big men in NBA history, Shaq wasn’t the most technically skilled player. But his sheer size, strength and shot-blocking ability helped him anchor four different title teams in the 2000s.
Shaq was a poor free throw shooter, but was still able to completely take games over when his team needed it. His easy-going attitude didn’t help tensions with his ultra-competitive teammate Kobe Bryant, but the Lakers were still able to threepeat and make a fourth Finals appearance with that dynamic duo. After Shaq left L.A., he was an instrumental force in helping Dwyane Wade win his first title with the Miami Heat.
Shaq’s defense was never as good as it should’ve been for a guy his size, but Diesel was capable of putting up video game numbers on any given night and he usually did. His time with the Phoenix Suns was mostly forgettable, but O’Neal probably should have won more than one MVP award during his time in the league. In 2000, Shaq joined Michael Jordan and Willis Reed as the only players to ever win the MVP, All-Star Game MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he was the most dominant center of the decade and by all rights one of the greatest 12 players of all time.
What do you think of our NBA 2000s All-Decade First Team? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!