New Orleans Pelicans: Evaluating Lonzo Ball’s All-Time Starting Five

Lonzo Ball recently revealed his all-time NBA starting five. Let’s take a look at who the New Orleans Pelicans’ point guard chose and where he might have gotten it wrong.

Lonzo Ball of the New Orleans Pelicans recently took part in a quick Q&A with Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com

He was asked questions about everything from his favorite musical artist (Future) to who he thinks is the most underrated NBA player (Jrue Holiday…and we agree).

But the most interesting question was when Lonzo Ball was asked to name his all-time NBA starting five.

If you asked a hundred NBA fans to name their all-time starting five, you might get a hundred different answers.

It really depends on the age, as there are young fans out there who think basketball started with Zion Williamson and Jaxson Hayes of the New Orleans Pelicans.

It’s easy to have recency bias when it comes to these types of questions, especially if you watch old footage and see players in tiny shorts who look like they are hungover while wearing canvas Chuck Taylor’s.

Yes, we’re talking about you, Larry Bird.

He may have been wearing a borderline man-kini, rocked a porn stache and curly mullet, but the dude could play, so let’s not rule out the old-timers.

It’s easy to watch modern players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and think that there is no way players from the past could hang with these guys athletically and you might be right.

I’ll give Lonzo Ball credit, he didn’t just choose a team full of his contemporaries and actually picked a couple of guys who are *gasp*…. old.

Given Lonzo Ball’s self-confidence it is surprising that he didn’t just pick himself and four other guys on the current New Orleans Pelicans, but he chose modesty instead.

Here’s Lonzo Ball’s all-time NBA starting five and where we thought he might have gotten it wrong.

Point Guard

Magic Johnson: Los Angeles Lakers

It is not surprising that Lonzo Ball named Magic Johnson as his starting point guard, as they have a lot in common.

Magic was the prototype for point guards like Lonzo Ball. His height gave him the ability to see over defenders and allowed him to guard multiple positions on the floor.

Lonzo Ball isn’t quite as tall as Magic, but has flashed similar otherworldly passing ability and always seems to be a step ahead of everyone else.

Lonzo Ball is trying to start a new “Showtime” with the New Orleans Pelicans after being traded from the Lakers for Anthony Davis. (We think the New Orleans Pelicans won that trade by the way).

We can’t really argue with this one, as Magic had five rings and three MVPs. Hopefully Lonzo Ball will bring similar hardware to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Who we would have chosen: Magic Johnson

Honorable Mention: Isaiah Thomas, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Stephen Curry