Creating The Ultimate NBA Player, Frankenstein Style

Every NBA player has flaws. Every single one. But what if you could combine the best characteristics of each NBA player to create the ultimate player? This perfect player wouldn’t have any shortcomings in his game on either end of the court. He would make LeBron James look like a one-trick-pony in comparison. What would this player look like, and — borrowing from other players’ skill sets — how would you create the ultimate player from scratch?

This season, LeBron James is attempting to do something that no player in the history of the NBA has ever done: win five league MVP awards in a six-season span. For all the great players that the sport has had, it’s a feat that nobody has ever accomplished — not Jordan, not Russell, not Magic, not Bird, not anybody.


LeBron is clearly today’s best, but he might also be the closest thing to the perfect basketball player that we’ve ever seen. He can score at will, he’s an excellent passer, he’s a lockdown defender, he rebounds very well for his position, and he’s an incredibly smart player. There might never again be a player as complete as LeBron is right now.

But here’s the thing: despite how good he is, LeBron is far from actually being a perfect player. Just like every other player, he has flaws to his game — they might be slight and mostly minuscule peccadilloes — but he has flaws just like everyone else.


Obviously, we’ll never see a perfect basketball player. But what if we could take one aspect from the games of several different NBA players in order to build the ultimate player? If nothing else, it’s a fun idea to think about and debate. So, without any further ado, here’s how I would craft my ultimate player:

*** *** ***

Court Vision of Rajon Rondo
Over the past 10 or 15 years, there hasn’t been a single player with court vision as good as Rajon Rondo’s. That includes Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Tony Parker, or any other All-Star point guard that you want to throw out there.


Rondo just makes passes and sees things that other guys don’t. He’s averaged over 11 assists per game in each of the last three seasons, the only point guard in the league to do so. And it’s more than just the mere fact that Rondo gets his assists, it’s how he gets them.

To see what I mean, just take a look at some of these passes:


Does this guy have an extra set of eyes or something? It sure seems like it.


Perimeter defense of Andre Iguodala
Here’s all you need to know about Andre Iguodala the defender: he was one of only two players–the other being Tyson Chandler–on the 2012 Olympic team to make the roster solely because of his defensive ability.


He can guard just about every position on the floor, and it’s his defense on the perimeter that really stands out. He gives fits to different shooting guards and small forwards on a nightly basis, even when he’s matched up against the league’s best.

In fact, here are the numbers put up by Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, and James Harden against Iguodala and the Denver Nuggets during the 2012-13 season:

(Warning: these aren’t all that flattering.)

Anthony (averages over two games): 21.5 PPG, 6.5-18.0 FGM-FGA, 2 TO

Bryant (averages over four games): 28 PPG, 10.25-22 FGM-FGA, 3 TO

Harden (averages over four games): 18.25 PPG, 5.25-13.75 FGM-FGA, 4.25 TO


Carmelo and Harden both had pretty putrid averages, and although Kobe’s look pretty normal for Kobe, they were inflated by a 13-of-24, 40-point performance.


Simply put: Iguodala’s a great defender. And if you really want to learn more about his craft, read this interview he did with CBS Sports regarding his defense. If you’re feeling lazy, at least watch these clips of Iguodala narrating his defensive approach against guys like Carmelo, Harden, Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook, LeBron, and Kobe:

See who else makes up the ultimate player, including the best midrange scorer…

Mid-range offense of Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Nowitzki had a forgettable 2012-13 season. His Mavericks missed out on the playoffs, he missed nearly 30 games due to injury, and he had his lowest scoring average for a single season since his rookie year.

Luckily for Dirk, the new season is finally upon us, and I fully expect him to return to doing what he has always done best: scoring in the midrange.

In the season prior to last, Nowitzki made over 51 percent of jump shots between 16 and 24 feet. During the 2010-11 season — the year the Mavericks would go on to win the championship — Dirk made 53 percent of those shots.


When he’s healthy, which he was not last season, Dirk has a better midrange offensive game than anyone in the league today, and maybe anyone in the history of the sport.


LeBron James’ ability to score at the basket
If you’re an NBA defender and you’re standing between LeBron James and the rim (and your name isn’t Dwight Howard), your best plan of action is to probably just get out of the way. LeBron is like a freight train when he’s attacking the basket, and when he decides he wants to score at the hoop, he’s going to score at the hoop. You can foul him and more often than not, he’ll still probably score–that’s how strong this dude is. So, next time it’s you, LeBron, and the rim, do yourself a favor and just move out of the way.

According to this Grantland graphic from Kirk Goldsberry, James converted on over 72 percent of his field goal attempts in the restricted area last season. Yeah, that’s pretty good.


LeBron is so good at the rim that there is even a YouTube video documenting the top ten in-traffic dunks of his career. Take a look:


Kyle Korver’s pure shot
Kyle Korver is the definition of a three-point shooting specialist. It’s really all he does. Korver isn’t a good passer, he doesn’t play much defense, and his career-high for rebounds in a single season is just over two per game.


But in the last four seasons, Korver has been deadly from beyond the arc. He made 46 percent of his three-pointers last year, he made 44 percent in 2012, he made 42 percent in 2011, and he converted on an incredible 54 percent of his three’s in 2010 as a member of the Utah Jazz. Through five games with the Atlanta Hawks this season, Korver is shooting 63 percent from three. He might not be as fun to watch as Steph Curry, or have the reputation of a Ray Allen, but Korver is the best pure shooter in today’s NBA.


Athleticism of Russell Westbrook
This is meant with no disrespect to Derrick Rose or LeBron James, but Russell Westbrook is the most freakishly athletic basketball player I’ve ever seen. He’s strong, he’s quick, he’s agile, and he can jump out of the gym.


There really aren’t many stats to back this argument up. It’s more of an eye test than anything else, and when I watch Russell Westbrook play, he leaps off the screen. It’s fair to say that Kevin Durant is Oklahoma City’s best player, but when you watch the Thunder play, it’s hard not to get the vibe that Westbrook is the motor that makes them go. I don’t know if he’s more valuable than Durant, but the Thunder did look pretty lost during the Western Conference Semis without Russell.


Anyway, check out Westbrook’s most athletic plays and you’ll see what I mean because #WhyNot?

Who else will be used to create the perfect player?


Stephen Curry’s ability to shoot off the dribble
Steph Curry took the league by storm last season. He quickly became the most entertaining player in the league, and when he was in one of those zones that only he gets in, you immediately had to drop everything and flip to the Warriors’ game on League Pass to watch him.


What’s most impressive about Stephen Curry, the basketball player, isn’t just that he can shoot absolutely lights out, it’s that he doesn’t need to be set up by teammates in order to be effective. Instead of needing to rely on a catch-and-shoot game like most great shooters — ahem, Kyle — Curry has the ability to create for himself and score off-the-dribble.


Steph’s real breakout game during the 2012-13 season came in front of a national television audience when his Warriors made the trip to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks. He scored 54 points at the World’s Most Famous Arena, and the majority of them came off of shots that Curry created for himself.


It was a trend that continued throughout the rest of the season and into the early parts of this season, as Curry’s off-the-dribble scoring has really become his trademark. Best of all, it’s still really, really fun to watch.


Ray Allen’s clutch gene
A couple of months ago, I wrote a piece depicting the top players in NBA history that I would want taking the last shot. On that 25-player list, the only active player to crack the top-five was Ray Allen, whom I had ranked slightly above both Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce.


My theory for being so high on Allen was largely based on his game-tying three late in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, a shot that I argue is the greatest one in NBA history.

If you missed my piece from August, here’s why I think that three-pointer was the best shot of all-time:

-It was an elimination game: if Allen doesn’t make that shot, that’s it. Game over, series over, and the Spurs win the 2013 NBA Finals, leading to an absolutely miserable offseason for the Miami Heat organization.

-His presence of mind: to me, the most impressive thing about the play wasn’t that Allen made the shot, it was that he was able to get in perfect position to take the shot. Despite not once being able to glance at the floor while backpedalling from the paint to the corner, he somehow knew exactly when he was beyond the three-point line but not yet out of bounds. As soon as he was in three-point territory, he caught the ball and nailed the tying shot, sending the game into overtime.

-He saved LeBron’s legacy: the game was an instant classic, but what seems to never be mentioned is that LeBron had pretty much blown it for the Heat before Allen saved him with that three. After a spectacular fourth quarter in which he carried Miami back from a double-digit deficit, James made two turnovers in the final 40 seconds, and suddenly the Spurs were shooting free throws with a four-point lead. The game was over! The Heat were dead in the water and the Spurs were on their way to a championship mainly because LeBron’s 2011 demons had returned in the form of those two awful turnovers. And then, suddenly, the Spurs missed a couple of free throws, the Heat grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds, and most importantly, Allen hit that game-tying three-pointer. If he doesn’t, it’s a long offseason full of questions and doubts revolving around LeBron’s ability to perform in the clutch.

And despite how great the shot was, it’s not the only reason that I would take Ray’s clutch gene when crafting this player. He hit huge shot after huge shot with the Celtics, including one dagger to clinch Game 4 of the 2008 Finals. It was always Allen — not Pierce or Garnett — who took the biggest, most important shots for those great Celtics teams.

You can certainly make the argument that Kobe or Carmelo or Kevin Durant or someone else is the league’s most clutch player, but I’ll take Ray Allen. The dude has ice water in his veins.

Click to see how the ultimate player will rebound and block shots.

Dwight Howard’s rebounding
Last season, Dwight Howard averaged 12.4 rebounds per game, best in the NBA. Last season was also considered a down year for Dwight. Huh? Yep, that’s right, Dwight is such a dominant force on the glass that even in an injury-plagued, miserable one-year stint in Los Angeles — a place he didn’t enjoy at all — as a Laker, he still led the league in rebounding.

Dwight has averaged double-digit rebounds in each of his first nine seasons and has led the league in rebounding on five separate occasions. He even averaged more than 14 rebounds per game in three different seasons: 2007-08, 2010-11, and 2011-12.


In his first season with the Houston Rockets, Howard is already out to an impressive start on the boards; he’s averaging nearly 15 rebounds per game and tied his career-high for rebounds in a single game when he pulled down 26 of them in his Rockets debut.


Anthony Davis’ shot blocking
We aren’t even two weeks into the 2013-14 NBA season, but Anthony Davis is already making his case to be the league’s recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award. After a good rookie season — but one where he failed to meet the sky-high expectations many had for him — Davis has played exceptionally well through a handful of games in his sophomore campaign. He’s pulling down over 11 rebounds per game and blocking an absurd four shots per game, even recording six blocks in a game against the Bobcats last week.


And although the sample size might seem small, this block-party that Davis has put on display is no mirage. In his one season of college basketball at Kentucky two years ago, he averaged nearly five blocks per game. Just like making three-pointers is what Ray Allen does, or dishing out assists is what Rondo does, blocking shots is just what Anthony Davis does.


So far, Roy Hibbert is actually blocking more shots than Davis this season, but I’m more inclined to believe that The Brow’s trend will continue. Hibbert has never averaged more than 2.6 blocks per game for an entire season. He’s just not a natural shot-blocker like Anthony Davis. So, if I’m getting one player in the NBA to borrow the shot-blocking skills of to craft this perfect player, I’m using Anthony Davis.

What traits would you use for your ultimate player?

Follow Michael on Twitter at @michaelburke47.

Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.

Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.

×