The Jalens (and Jaylens, Jaylins and Jaylons) are running the modern NBA -- but could they beat some of the all-time greats if they teamed up?
Zach Kram is a national NBA writer for ESPN.com, specializing in short- and long-term trends across the league's analytics landscape. He previously worked at The Ringer covering the NBA and MLB. You can follow Zach on X viareceived their first All-Star nods.
The four players tied for the most same-name All-Stars in a single season in NBA history., with a balanced mix of stars and role players; guards, wings and bigs; and scorers, shooters, rebounders and defenders. In other words, a team made up of Jalens could win plenty of games. The numbers agree. According to the projection system run by ESPN's Kevin Pelton, if these players all joined forces, Team Jalen would project for the best offense in the league and a 55-27 record.Clearly, the Jalens would be able to form the best same-name team in the modern NBA. But how do they stack up all time?We grouped nicknames with their formal name, so players who went by Mike and Michael are on the same team, and we discarded spelling as long as the pronunciation is the same, so the Jalens team also includes Jaylen, Jaylin and Jaylon. Using those rules, we generated a list of more than 1,000 eligible same-name teams throughout NBA history, meaning that at least five players with that name played in the same season. From there, we ranked the top 10 historical contenders plus the 2026 Jalens, limiting each set of same-name players to one entry. For instance, because the 2026 Jalens are on the list, the 2025 Jalens aren't.doesn't appear on any of these teams, for example, because there are only two LeBrons in NBA history. Meanwhile, other names have star duos and trios, but not enough depth behind them to qualify, such as these modern groupings:To qualify for this list requires star power, depth and a popular, common name. Counting down to the projected winner of this hypothetical tournament, here are the best same-name teams in NBA history, along with the starting lineups and any notable reserves they would use in our NBA battle world throwdown.The first team on this list shows the challenge of constructing a well-rounded same-name team. The young Paul/Bosh duo is the draw here, as Bosh teams up with another memberThe 2009 Chris squad was also under consideration for this spot, with the same starters except Kaman swapped out for Chris"Birdman" Andersen, who received awards votes in his first full season backThe 2004 Michaels have the best-shooting team in the field: In 2003-04, Bibby, Finley, Miller, James and Dunleavy all shot 37% or better on 3-pointers, while Redd made the All-NBA third team because of his dynamic perimeter play. Redd ranked 12th among qualified players in points per game, while Finley and Bibby also put up strong scoring numbers. The roster's clear weak point is size, with no true power forwards and only subpar centers. But the 2004 Michaels would play a fast-paced, entertaining brand of basketball -- which is ironic, given that 2003-04 was notoriously one of the slowest-paced, lowest-scoring seasons in NBA history. Like the Michaels from the same era, the 2005 Jasons are light on size and defense -- their four best starters and top two reserves are all perimeter players -- but heavy on playmaking and entertainment value. Every fast break would be a highlight opportunity, with Kidd and"White Chocolate" Williams tossing alleys-oops to two-time dunk contest champion Richardson. Terry and two-time 3-point contest champion Kapono would add ample shooting, as well, as both players shot better than 40% from distance in 2004-05. The Jasons wouldn't win the tournament, as they wouldn't be able to guard any star taller than 6-foot-6. But they might be the most fun team.This starting lineup doesn't have a true top-tier superstar, but it's full of solid contributors. Price and Jackson were young All-Star guards in 1989. Aguirre averaged 19 points and was the key midseason acquisition for the champion Detroit Pistons. Eaton won his second Defensive Player of the Year award and received down-ballot MVP consideration. Unfortunately, the Marks' bench is very thin -- forward Mark Alarie is the only Mark outside the top five who reached 1,000 minutes in 1988-89 -- and they have no shooters beyond Price. But this team is balanced enough that it wouldn't be an easy out against any opponent.are two of the best players in NBA history, and they finished first and third, respectively, in the inaugural MVP vote in 1956. They're the reason for the Bobs' appearance on this list, as the earliest team among the contenders. Cousy and Pettit are certainly the most memorable Bobs from the early NBA, but they weren't alone in skill. The lesser-known Wanzer made his fifth consecutive All-Star appearance in 1956 en route to Hall of Fame enshrinement. Harrison -- who later coached at Harvard and whoof his team's points in an eighth-grade game -- averaged 8.6 points and was an All-Star, too. And Houbregs also made the Hall of Fame despite playing only five seasons and averaging a career 9.3 points. Early professional basketball, it must be said, was a strange place.This team has some of the best top-end talent in this entire exercise. Three of the starters are Hall of Famers, and Cunningham and Russell finished third and fourth, respectively, in MVP voting in 1969. Bridges, meanwhile, was an All-Defensive honoree. While picking against 11-time champion Russell might be a fool's errand, especially because the Bills would excel in defense and rebounding, they would likely struggle with scoring and playmaking. Only in his second season, Bradley wasn't in his prime yet in 1968-69 -- he shot just 43% from the field, a mark he would beat in every subsequent season in his career -- and Russell was this team's leader with 4.9 assists per game. So the Bills rank in the middle of the pack instead of near the top.The Kevins would struggle because they have no bench. None! There were only five Kevins in the NBA in the early 2010s. But what a quintet this is. It includes at least two, maybe three Hall of Famers. And it includes one of the greatest scorers, one of the greatest defenders and one of the greatest rebounders in NBA history.scoring title and finished second in the MVP race, Love ranked fourth in scoring and second in rebounding en route to a sixth-place MVP finish and Garnett was still a force near the end of his career, averaging 16 points and finishing fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. This was a down year for Martin -- his last in Houston before joining Durant in Oklahoma City, via theUltimately, this team is all about the star trio, with some Martin 3-pointers coming as a bonus. If only there were more Kevins to form a bench so 35-year-old Garnett doesn't have to play every minute of this hypothetical tournament, then the Kevins might win the whole thing.There were four Hall of Fame Daves in the 1970s, but because DeBusschere retired before David Thompson arrived in the NBA, the Daves are stuck in this tournament with just three future inductees: Bing, DeBusschere and Cowens. Cowens won the MVP award in 1973, while DeBusschere, one of the leaders of the champion Knicks, and Bing were All-Stars who received MVP votes. Like with the Kevins, the Daves suffer from a lack of depth beyond their big three; even Wohl and Stallworth, the other two starters, averaged single-digit points in 1972-73. Unlike the Kevins, though, there are at least some lesser Daves to fill out a rotation. And the balance between three NBA legends -- one guard, one forward and one center -- is enough to bump them into the top four.. The name Jalen doesn't appear on the U.S. Social Security Administration's list of the top 1,000 baby boy names in any year before 1992, which was Rose's first season as a member of the Fab Five at the University of Michigan. But it's charted every year since, with a peak among the 150 most popular names for baby boys in 2000, 2001 and 2002 -- which just so happens to be when Jalen Williams, Johnson, Suggs, Smith, Green and Wilson were born. The alternate spelling of Jaylen also surged starting with Rose's time at Michigan and now ranks among the top 300 or so boys' names annually. All those Jalens would create an excellent basketball team; there's a clear gap in overall quality between the top three teams in this tournament and all of their competitors. The Jalens have five All-Star-quality starters and strong reserves behind them, and they benefit from stellar balance, with scoring and defense across the positional spectrum. They could be even better going forward. Brown, Johnson and Duren have all taken leaps and are Most Improved Player candidates this season, and Jalen Williams and Suggs could benefit from better health in future seasons. But there's one relative weakness that keeps the Jalens in third place: Their top-end talent isn't quite as impressive as the competition. Brunson and Brown are the most likely future Hall of Famers from this group, and they still have a long way to go to reach Springfield as their odds if they retired today are in the single digits, per Basketball-Reference. Meanwhile, other historical same-name teams have multiple Hall of Fame inductees in their prime.that any random assortment of Jordan and four other men named Mike might've been in contention, and there's plenty more talent on Team Michael besides. Of the nine players listed here, eight averaged double-digit points in 1987-88 . This is a well-balanced group with guards, forwards and centers, offensive and defensive specialists and one superstar at the top of his game. Essentially, every available advanced stat considers 1987-88 to be Jordan's best regular season, when he won the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Because he was so productive while averaging 40.4 minutes across all 82 games, this is the top-ranked season ever by Basketball-Reference's wins above replacement metric. The Michaels also have a number of standout performers across statistical categories. While Jordan led the league in points and steals , Cage led the league in rebounds, and Adams , McGee and Cooper all ranked in the top 10 in 3-pointers. Adams received down-ballot MVP consideration, and Cooper, who had won Defensive Player of the Year in 1987, was still on the All-Defensive first team a year later. A Jordan-Cooper defensive pairing would wreak havoc a la Jordan and However, the Jordan-Cooper pairing also points to the one weakness for the 1988 Michaels: They're the only Hall of Famers on the roster, and even Cooper was more of a role player than a star himself. That formula would bring the Michaels to the brink of a tournament title -- but the lack of star power beyond Jordan, particularly in the frontcourt, means they're not quite the favorites.McAdoo finished third in scoring in 1977-78 , while Lanier was eighth . Both received a first-place MVP vote. Dandridge averaged 19 points and was a playoff hero for the champion Bullets. In 1979, Sports Illustrated wrote that Dandridge had been the"best all-around player at his position" for a couple of years. Gross and Jones -- the wonderfully nicknamed Secretary of Defense -- were All-Defensive honorees. And Parish, in his second season, averaged 12.5 points and 8.3 rebounds in just 24 minutes for Golden State. Altogether, that core group includes five future Hall of Famers, tied for the most -- with a handful of other Bob seasons -- for any same-name team in NBA history. And they were almost all in their prime in 1978. The Bobs have tremendous top-end talent, and they have enviable depth. All seven players listed above averaged double-digit points in 1977-78, as did Robert"Sonny" Parker and Robert"Bingo" Smith, while point forward Robert Reid had a strong rookie season. With all of their size -- all seven players listed above were at least 6-foot-6 and averaged at least 5.6 rebounds -- the Bobs would be dominant on the boards, dominant defensively and dominant inside. And despite the lack of a traditional point guard, this roster would still have plenty of egalitarian playmaking, as six different players averaged at least 3.4 assists., the name Bob has all but disappeared from the American sports landscape. In the 2025-26 NBA season, there are no players who go by it, and only one But half a century ago, the NBA Bobs were glorious. And they form the best same-name team in NBA history.
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