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Which Soccer Players Would Form the Best Basketball Starting 5?

During the NBA playoffs, we've been asking ourselves which soccer players would come together to form the best starting five. It seems soccer players love shooting around, with a few possessing a little more talent on the court than you might expect. Here's our starting five:

C - Zlatan Ibrahimović  

While he may be a few inches shy of what one might expect for a modern NBA center, at 6’ 5”, Zlatan is no shrimp. He brings a solid set of skills to the court including strength, size, and good technical ability. Looks like Ibra had no trouble with this lay-up during a PSG basketball game, making him our choice at center. 

PF - Paul Pogba   

We’re thinking Pogba would be the perfect fit as a power forward on our team. He’s tall, has incredible athleticism, and apparently can shoot the ball a little. Judging by this one-on-one game with Romelu Lukaku, Pogba is going to slot into our team quite nicely. 

SF - Cristiano Ronaldo - You didn’t really think we’d make this team without the freakishly athletic Ronaldo did you? The guy could probably do well in any sport, so we’ll absolutely take him as our small forward. Everyone knows how well he does in the air and his insane vertical would certainly translate well to the court. The hoop he’s seen dunking on here may be less than ten feet but we don’t have any concerns about his ability to get up and do some damage.

 

SG - Antoine Griezmann 

The Atlético Madrid forward has been surrounded by rumors regarding his possibly heading elsewhere during the summer transfer window. With the way he's shooting from beyond the arc in his recent Instagram post, he might as well leave the Spanish capital and give basketball a try. On the pitch, he’s quick, has great vision, and can lead the attack. We’ll take him as our shooting guard.

PG - Edinson Cavani

The Uruguayan striker snags the point guard position and rounds out our team of basketball hopefuls. The PSG man can bring some serious speed and he puts on an absolute clinic from the line in this video. We have no doubt he’s going to come through in the clutch and knock down some free throws in the final minutes to lead us to victory.

We can't deny that in picking our starting five, we came across some pretty atrocious basketball, most notably from Raheem Sterling (he got blocked by Wayne Rooney, oh boy). In spite of that, there is some serious balling going on from the guys above. We like our chances on the hardwood. 

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