Ray Allen Leaves Former Miami Heat Teammate LeBron James Off His All-Time Starting Five

Former Miami Heat shooting guard Ray Allen has thrown a few shots at his old teammate LeBron James but his latest claim was perhaps the most surprising.

Allen said his NBA all-time starting five lineup would consist of Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Shaquille O’Neal, and Hakeem Olajuwon, with James as a sixth man.

Ray Allen reveals who'd be on his all-time starting five with a sixth man.

“With a sixth man? Michael Jordan, Magic (Johnson), Larry (Bird), Shaq (O’Neal), and Hakeem Olajuwon. Sixth man? It would be, I would say LeBron.” pic.twitter.com/lXJ3bW8FPi
— Ishaan Bhattacharya (@IshaanBhatta) May 16, 2023

James gets a lot of slighting from fans and analysts but it’s more astonishing to see his former teammate say this. After all, Allen and James went to two consecutive Finals together, winning in 2013 against the San Antonio Spurs after Allen’s infamous 3-pointer in Game 6. Then again, their years together in Miami didn’t stop Allen from placing Jordan above James as the G.O.A.T., listing every statistical category Jordan exceeds James.

Ray Allen explains why LeBron is not the G.O.A.T

(h/t @AhnFireDigital) pic.twitter.com/GJRZwAqcHv
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 11, 2022

However, this scenario may be a little different. Allen could have put Bird over James at small forward to give the team better 3-point shooting. Olajuwon and O’Neal are two centers sharing the court, while the backcourt of Jordan and Johnson lacks a pure shooter beyond the arc.

Bird would give that team a 3-point attack to complement the defense and mid-range shooting. If Allen were to have someone like Steph Curry as the point guard, maybe then he would pick James since he wouldn’t have to fill the void of production from downtown.

Ultimately, all the analyses of Allen’s choice to exclude James are just speculation, just like the idea of placing NBA stars from different eras on a single lineup.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.