Soko selects the starting five, sixth man and head coach of his All-Decade dream team
Thursday 5 December 2019 12:42, UK
Who are the players who have defined the last decade of play in the NBA? We asked Sky Sports analyst Ovie Soko to select his Team of the Decade.
We asked GB baller Soko to pick his All-Decade starting five, sixth man and head coach while outlining his reasons behind each selection.
Have your say on Ovie's picks in the comments box at the foot of the article.
2010s resume: Three-time NBA champion (2012, 2013, 2016), three-time Finals MVP (2012, 2013, 2016), regular-season MVP (2010, 2012, 2013), All-Star (2010-19)
My first pick is an absolute no-brainer. LeBron is among the most special players to have ever picked up a basketball.
He is able to run a team and I've always seen him in that Magic Johnson mould as a player.
He is position-less, but excels in any role. So I'm using him as the floor general in my team.
2010s resume: NBA champion (2010), NBA Finals MVP (2010), All-Star Game MVP (2011), All-Star (2010-16)
Another no-brainer. Kobe defined what it meant to be a competitor. The guy wanted to win at any cost. The game will never see another Kobe. He was a scoring juggernaut.
I wouldn't say Kobe was a full-on villain like LeBron became when he left Cleveland for Miami or Kevin Durant when he moved from the Thunder to the Warriors, but he was happy to be the 'odd one out' from the beginning of his career.
He was a teenage kid that came into the NBA and wanted to be the man straight away.
2010s resume: Two-time NBA champion (2017, 2018), two-time Finals MVP (2017, 2018), regular-season MVP (2014), All-Star (2010-19)
When it is all said and done, 'KD' will go down as the best scorer of all time. His ability to score and do what he does at his size is unreal. The guy is almost 7ft and he can play as a legit two-guard. He is such a skilled guy at that size, a lot of the things he does on the court barely make sense! I don't think we've seen anything like him.
I would take the Golden State version of Durant over the younger 'KD' from his OKC days. By the time he got to the Warriors, he was tired of being Mr Nice Guy.
He was no longer worried about what fans said about him. He knew he was the bad guy, embraced it and we saw a new level of 'killer' come out of him.
You saw it in the playoffs. You saw it in the Finals. No one could stop him.
2010s resume: Eastern Conference champion (2010), Conference Finalist (2011, 2012), All-Star (2010-11, 2013), All-NBA Defensive First Team (2011)
I've got 'KG' playing the four-spot in my team. Yes, his NBA title came in 2008 but he led the Celtics to the Finals in 2010 and two more Conference Finals after that.
His Boston team were the first to do the 'superteam' thing. A lot of people will say that the Celtics were Paul Pierce's team but what 'KG' brought to the table every night, that sort of intensity, I don't think you find any power forwards in the last decade who were legitimately head-and-shoulders better than Garnett.
There were guys on a similar level, Dirk Nowitzki was unreal, but there isn't anyone I could pick that I could say was clearly above him, especially when you consider what he brought at both ends of the floor.
Garnett is also a huge 'culture' guy. That's something I want running all the way through my team. I've picked guys who are about winning through and through, extremely competitive guys who would rather rack up championship rings than be MVPs.
2010 resume: NBA champion (2014), All-Star (2010-11, 2013, 2015), All-NBA First Team (2015), Team-mate of the Year (2015)
One of the best big men to ever do it. He rarely gets enough credit because his game wasn't flashy. But if you are teaching a young big man how to play the game, the way Timmy played is what you teach, as far as footwork and fundamentals go. Duncan was extremely, extremely sound.
Of the players I've picked, Garnett had the biggest influence on me because I can relate more to his style of play but I always loved how beautiful Tim Duncan's game was. He made the game look very easy and never overcomplicated things.
2010s resume: Three-time NBA champion (2015, 2017, 2018), regular-season MVP (2015, 2016), All-Star (2014-19)
There is a long list of guys I thought about picking in this spot. I thought long and hard about Dwyane Wade but I went for Stephen Curry for the simple fact that he changed the game. He moved the NBA to the three-point shooting game we know today.
My starting five guys are ridiculously special players but I love the impact Curry has made on the league and the game as a whole. He will go down as the best shooter of all time if he hasn't claimed that title already.
He changed the game to the three-point-heavy style of play we see today.
2010 resumes
Popovich: NBA champion (2014), Coach of the Year (2012, 2014), All-Star Game head coach (2011, 2013, 2016)
Rivers: Eastern Conference champion (2010), winning record in every year of the 2010s
Can I have two guys? OK, I'll take 'Pop' as my head coach with Doc as my lead assistant.
For me, Popovich's greatest skill has been his ability to humble superstar players. That's so rare in the professional game. There are very few coaches who have the power to command the respect of players making four times their salary. That speaks to his skill as a coach and the Spurs as an organisation.
He has been in that seat for a long time and he has built a winning culture where the right way of playing is expected. You never heard much about character issues within the Spurs locker room when they were playing winning basketball. Without a shadow of a doubt, Popovich is one of the most respected coaches the game has ever seen.
Is Popovich the coach I would have most liked to play for? One hundred per cent, yes. I know I would have improved so much with a coach like that and I would have continued to learn and grow. That's what you always want as a player.
Doc Rivers is all about culture and doing things the right way. He was the first guy to lead a 'superteam' and he was very successful, very quickly.
It takes a special kind of coach to deal with multiple, big character players. He proved it when he was in Boston. He has proved it with the Clippers too.
