Fantasy booking what an All-Time NBA All-Star Weekend would look like

The All-Time Western Conference Team Bench

G Jerry West
G Luka Doncic
F Kevin Durant
F Dirk Nowitzki
C Shaquille O'Neal
C Hakeem Olajuwon
C Nikola Jokic

Shaq is the most dominant player in NBA history. He, like several others, was tough to place because he split his career exactly even between the East and West (9.5 seasons each). In fact, Shaq played 617 career games in the West compared to 590 games in the East. That's pretty even. However, I put him in the West because of his stretch with the Lakers where he paired with Kobe to form one of the best duos in NBA history.

In eight seasons in LA, Shaq averaged 27.0 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, and 2.5 BPG on 57.5% shooting. He won the MVP award in 1999-00 and was a key piece in the Lakers three-peat in 1999-00, 2000-01, and 2001-02

One of the best defensive players of all time, Hakeem Olajuwon spent the first 17 of his 18-year career in the West (with the Rockets) where he helped lead them to back-to-back NBA titles (in 1994 and 1995) while averaging 27.6 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 3.6 APG, and 3.5 BPG in those two seasons. In the 17 seasons in Houston, Olajuwon averaged 21.8 PPG, 11.1 RPG, and a wild 3.1 BPG (2.5 APG and 1.7 SPG as well). He also shot 51.3% from the field and holds the record for most blocked shots in NBA history (by over 500 total blocks).

Dirk is right up there with Tim Duncan in terms of underrated all-time stars. He spent his entire 21-year career with the Dallas Mavericks, playing over 1500 games with the franchise. He won the MVP in 2006/07 and led them to their first NBA title in 2011. He has career totals of 20.7 PPG and 7.5 RPG on 47.1% shooting from the field and 38% from deep. He had an impressive 12-year run from 2000/01 to 2011/12 where he averaged 24.1 PPG and 8.7 RPG on 47.8% shooting and 38.4% from deep.

One of the greatest Lakers of all time, West spent his entire 14-year career in LA. In that time, he averaged 27 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 6.7 APG on 47.4% shooting (and this was before the introduction of the 3-point line). West was also an all-star every single season of his career and helped the Lakers win the 1972 NBA title. While he never won one, West did finish top 5 in MVP voting 8 times and was a 5x All-Defensive team selection. He's also notably the NBA logo.

Another one of our active players is reigning NBA champion Nikola Jokic. Jokic had a strong stretch to start his career, but it's his stretch of play right now that has him here. Jokic is in the middle of one of the best 4-year stretches in NBA history. Jokic won back-to-back MVPs in 2020-21 and 2021-22 and followed that up with winning his first NBA title in 2023 (while finishing runner-up in MVP voting). Jokic is also one of the favorites to win the MVP award this season. Across the last 3.5 seasons, Jokic is averaging 26.1 PPG, 12.2 RPG, and 8.7 APG on 58.9% shooting from the field and 36.5% shooting from three. He's also racked up 79 Triple-Doubles in that span, which means he's getting one roughly every 3 1/3 games.

Say what you want about his career path, but it is undeniable that Kevin Durant is among the handful of the most talented NBA players in NBA history. Durant has spent 13.5 of his 16 seasons (not counting the year he missed with his torn Achilles) in the West. In that time in the West, he has averages of 27.1 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 4.2 APG on 49.6% shooting the field and 38.6% shooting from deep. He spent his first 9 seasons in OKC/Seattle where he averaged 27.4/7.0/3.7 on 48.3%/38%/88.2%. He then averaged 25.8/7.1/5.4 on 52.4%/38.4%/88.3% in 3 seasons in Golden State. He's now averaging 27.9/6.6/5.4 on 54.2%/45.6%/86.6% in the last season-plus in Phoenix.

Luka is the youngest (and thus probably most controversial) inclusion on this list. At just 24 years old (almost 25), Luka isn't one of the 20 or so greatest NBA players in NBA history. However, he's definitely on that path and is doing things we've rarely seen (if we even have). Again, this might be crazy for someone who hasn't won an MVP yet and has had limited playoff success (part of that falls on the Mavs), but it's hard to find many better 5.5-season stretches in NBA history (much less it being the first 5.5 years of someone's career). For his career, Luka is currently averaging 28.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 8.2 APG on 46.9% shooting. When you take out his rookie season, he's at 30.1 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 8.7 APG on 47.7% shooting.