Breaking down the history of all 30 teams by identifying every NBA team's best starting 5 of all-time.
As we inch closer to the official end of the 2024 offseason, the intrigue surrounding the new season is only going to grow. However, for at least one more second, let's take a look back at history a bit. In this article, we decided to break down the history of each NBA team by predicting what each team's best starting 5 of all time would look like. It's almost impossible to have unanimous selections across the board, but I decided to tackle this almost impossible task just before the start of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Every NBA team's best starting 5 of all time
Atlanta Hawks
Best starting 5: Lenny Wilkens, Pete Maravich, Dominique Wilkins, Bob Pettit, Dikembe Mutombo
The Atlanta Hawks have a vast history of huge contributors to the franchise and there were a couple of difficult decisions in coming to this list but I believe this is a pretty strong starting 5. The easy selections included Pete Maravic, Dominique Wilkins, and Bob Pettit. I'm not sure there will be much pushback on any of those selections. However, I do believe that the boldest of takes falls at the center position with Dikembe Mutombo.
I simply believe he's been overlooked as one of the greatest all-time players time and time again. I love what Mutombo brought to the game, both with his on-the-floor impact and the consistent intensity he played with. The argument could seemingly be made that he gave some of the best seasons of his career to the Hawks, even though he only played five seasons with the team.