Creating the perfect basketball player

When we think of the greatest basketball player ever, we think of Michael Jordan and LeBron James. While that is a debate for some other time, in this article I look to create the perfect basketball player. We choose different attributes from different basketball players to create a basketball player who would be close to perfect. Without further ado, let's get to it.

Disclaimer - This list is simply my personal opinion and not based on any stats.

3-Point Shooting

Oklahoma City Thunder v Golden State Warriors - Game Seven

You already know who this is. The ideal basketball player shoots it like Steph Curry. Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and even Klay Thompson might argue but I personally believe that Steph Curry is the best three-point shooter the NBA has ever seen. Added to that he has crazy handles which allows him to create his own shot and score.

Post Up

27th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner To Benefit The Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis - Dinner

Centres can obviously post up better than guards so if we are choosing from centers I would probably go with Shaq or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In terms of skill, Kobe Bryant too would make a case for being mentioned in this list.

Pump Fake

Miami Heat v Washington Wizards

You already know this category belongs to Dwyane Wade. He has been in the league for 16 years and people still fall for that fake.

Euro Step

San Antonio Spurs v Los Angeles Clippers

This was another category where Wade would be ideal but I'm going for Manu Ginobili. He was one of the first to adopt the Eurostep. Players like Harden and Westbrook have adopted that move and made it their own.

Crossover

BIG3 - Championship

There are tons of players who could make this list but I am going with Allen Iverson. He carried his team single-handedly to the Final. He even famously crossed up Michael Jordan. A pleasure to watch for every basketball fan.

Handles (in general)

Boston Celtics Media Day

I am going with Kyrie Irving in this category. Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford all might argue with this selection and all would make valid arguments but I personally think Kyrie makes it to this list.

Passing

Earvin 'Magic' Johnson & Rob Pelinka Los Angeles Lakers Media Availability

It's a toss-up between Magic Johnson and LeBron James. I personally cannot pick between the two and so I think it's a tie in this category. One can pick LeBron for his other attributes but for this category it's a tie.

Longevity

Sacramento Kings v Los Angeles Lakers

Again this can be a toss-up between LeBron James and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Both have proven over time how consistent they are. James may edge this for the simple reason that he still is going strong in his 16th season in the league.

Consistent Intensity

UCLA v Oklahoma

By this category, I simply mean a player who does not take off days. He always gives a 100% to the game, so Russell Westbrook makes the list.

Mid Range

Beijing Ducks v Dallas Mavericks

If we are talking about all-time greats Jerry West deserves a mention. Dirk, Kobe, Jordan, Wade, Durant, Leonard are all great players from the mid-range. It is really difficult to pick one. I would go with Dirk for the reason that it is very difficult to guard someone as tall as him.

Clutch Gene

Michael Jordan #23...

I am not looking past Michael Jordan for this.

Defence

Melbourne United v Toronto Raptors

Michael Jordan was great but he could not guard every position. LeBron James is great but he has his off-days. Kobe Bryant too was a great lockdown defender but he couldn't guard power forwards. Gary Payton and Dennis Rodman are also great defenders. I personally give the nod to Kawhi Leonard.

Dunking

Atlanta Hawks Media Day

Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Julius Irving are some players I would consider as the best ever dunkers in the NBA. There are a lot of other players who would argue that they deserve a spot on this list and rightly so.

IQ

Denver Nuggets v Los Angeles Lakers

Rajan Rondo, Magic Johnson, Chris Paul all come to mind when we are talking about high basketball IQ. Frankly, this is a tough category to judge as players like Jordan and Kobe were not pass first players but equally effective at scoring.