The All-Time Western Conference Starters
G - Steph Curry
G - Kobe Bryant
G/F - Magic Johnson
F - Tim Duncan
C - Kareem Abdul-Jabaar
The West starters are where things will get a little hairy. There was really only one controversy in the East (Wilt or Russell starting at center), but the West starting lineup was a lot more difficult to piece together. Should I use two starting centers with both Shaq and Kareem? What do I do about the guards? The 12 that I chose for the West only had three legit forwards (Duncan, Dirk, and KD) left me in quite a pickle. I ultimately ended up going with these five, while painfully putting the most dominant player in NBA history as the 6th man, knowing it might draw some ire. Although my defense can be that Shaq only spent 9.5 seasons in the West (and the final 1.5 seasons of those weren't great).
Not many players have changed the game of basketball more than Stephen Curry. Curry has spent all 15 seasons of his career in the West as a Golden State Warrior and has played a large role in today's NBA being the 3-point barrage that it is. He is a two-time league MVP and has won 4 NBA titles. He has career averages of 24.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 6.4 APG on 47.4% shooting from the field, 42.7% shooting from deep, and 91% from the line. Over the last 10 seasons (dating back to the year the Warriors won their first title), Curry is averaging 27.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 6.3 APG on wild 47.8%/42.3%/91.5% shooting splits. Curry is also the NBA's all-time leader in 3-pointers made (by almost 700), and he has a good chance of reaching the 4,000 made 3's mark before he retires.
One of the most popular and looked up-to players of all time, Kobe Bryant spent his entire 20-year career with the Lakers. He led them to 5 NBA titles, won the 2008 MVP, was an 18-time All-Star, a 12-time All-Defensive team member, and finished top-five in MVP voting a whopping 11 times. Kobe has career averages of 25 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 4.7 APG on 44.7% shooting. The middle 14-year stretch of his career was ultra strong as well in which he averaged 27.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 5.2 APG in over 1000 games.
Magic Johnson's positional versatility helps make this starting lineup work. He can serve as both the defacto point guard and serve as a rebounder and point-forward. Johnson played his entire 13-year career in the West (all with the Lakers) where he had career averages of 19.5 PPG, 11.2 APG, and 7.2 RPG on 52% shooting while winning 3 MVPs and 5 NBA titles. Magic was truly ahead of his time in terms of position-less basketball.
"The Big Fundamental", Tim Duncan was one of the lowest-profile, yet prolific and successful bigs in NBA history. A 19-year Spur, Duncan won two MVP's (back-to-back) and 5 NBA titles in his career. He averaged 19 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 3 APG on 50.6% shooting for his career, but that doesn't tell the full story. He was the driving force for one of the most successful years-long franchise runs in NBA history. In the first ten years of his career, Duncan averaged 21.8 PPG, 11.9 RPG, and 3.2 APG on 50.9% shooting. He's a 15-time All-Star/15-time All-NBA selection.
Kareem is one of the freakiest athletes in NBA history. While he spent the first 6 years of his career with the Bucks, they were actually in the West for the final five years of his tenure there. Thus, meaning that Kareem spent 19 of his 20 NBA seasons in the West (with the final 14 famously coming with the Lakers). In those 19 years, Kareem averaged 24.4 PPG, 11 RPG, and 3.6 APG on 56.2% shooting. He also won 6 MVPs as well. If you take out his final 3 seasons where his numbers faded a bit, Kareem averaged 26.3 PPG and 12 RPG in the West. He also had an 11-year stretch where he averaged 28 PPG, 14 RPG, and 4.4 APG on 56% shooting.