All-Decade Starting Lineup – 1960s

Welcome back McSports Report fans! After a…however long hiatus, Matt and I are excited to start pumping out some quality content to help deprived sports fans get through the entire sports world – and the rest of the world – being cancelled.

Being born in 1993 provides a slight distortion to my opinion on basketball history. For my entire basketball viewing career I’ve been a fan of watching LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and their ilk in the mid to late 2000’s, and more recently Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Giannis Antenekounmpo. As a fan, I’m always looking for reasons to dig into basketball history to better my understanding of how the game and players have evolved. That’s why I am going to go through the decades – starting in the 1960s – to name who I feel should be on the ‘All Decade Starting 5’ in each decade. Without further ado, bring on the 60’s.

         The 1960’s were a decade in the NBA that was dominated by the big man. That is not to say that there were not good guards, but 9 of the 10 MVPs from 1960-69 were Centres or Power Forwards. We are leaning into that strength with this lineup.

Column1	Player	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	PER	TS%	AST%	OWS	DWS	WS
C	Wilt Chamberlain*	0.54	5.8	11.4	0.511	22.9	4.4			30.1	26.1	0.547	15.8	153.3	93.9	247.3
PF	Bill Russell*	0.44	3.3	5.8	0.561	22.5	4.3			15.1	18.9	0.471	14.9	29.9	133.6	163.5
SF	Elgin Baylor*	0.431	6.8	8.7	0.78	13.5	4.3			27.4	22.7	0.494	16.1	63.6	40.5	104.2
SG	Jerry West*	0.474	7.7	9.4	0.814	5.8	6.7	2.6	0.7	27	22.9	0.55	27.1	124.6	37.9	162.6
PG	Oscar Robertson*	0.485	7.4	8.8	0.838	7.5	9.5	1.1	0.1	25.7	23.2	0.564	30.3	152	37.2	189.2

As previously mentioned, the real strength of this team lies in the big men. Having Wilt and Bill locking down the inside will leave literally no rebounds for the other team. On top of that Bill and Wilt both rank in the top 5 in all-time defensive win shares (era adjusted) as per basketball reference. No rebounds, and no easy inside points for the other team makes for a formidable pairing.

With the glass and paint locked up on both sides of the court, it’s time to add some dynamic scoring. Enter Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, two generational scorers who even exhibited some range in a time where the three pointer was still not a part of the league. Baylor also provides additional rebounding prowess, while Jerry acts as a great secondary quarterback for the offense as a playmaker.

The last member of our starting 5 is the ‘Big O’, Oscar Robertson. Arguably the greatest all-around guard of all-time. A visionary passer, excellent rebounder, and a strong scorer, he is an excellent facilitator to orchestrate the offense. Whether feeding the ball into Wilt for isolation post scoring, or running aggressive pick and rolls with a great dive partner in Bill Russell. Surround those fulcrums with a great spot up shooter in Jerry West, and a great slashing scorer in Elgin Baylor, and you have a robust offensive arsenal that can read and react to almost any defensive scheme thrown at you.

         Opposing teams will have a tough time figuring out the best way to attack on the offensive side of the ball. If they opt for rangier ‘stretch’ power forwards and centres, the likelihood of them keeping up on the glass is small. However, if they try and match strength with strength, aside from Shaq I cannot think of many centres who could physically keep up with Wilt. I think the best way for a modern line-up to attack this starting 5 would include having a physical brute at centre like Joel Embiid, Marc Gasol (ideally a little younger version), or Steven Adams and then playing a rangy stretch 4 with rebounding ability like Kevin Love alongside him. Assuming Embiid or Gasol are at centre – you could play a 5 out or 4 out 1 in system that draws Wilt and Bill away from the rim, thus allowing them to attack off the dribble or through pick and rolls. Not that any of the perimeter defenders on this team are slouches, but in comparison to the defensive prowess inside it’s a much friendlier option…best of luck to all who still try to get into the paint.

As will be the case with all of these decade teams this starting 5 is loaded with very few weaknesses. The 1960s were an interesting age in basketball where the real physical freaks were starting to appear, and the game was slowly inching away from the paint, and showcasing the first era of perimeter game changers. This team exemplifies these trends and showcases the best that the 60s had to offer.