SC’s NBA All-Decade Team (Pt. 2)

Also see: SC's NBA All-Decade Team (Pt. 1)

Normally, there is little to no fanfare for coming in second place.

There is no Oscar for second best picture.

They don't give of Noble Prizes to the second best chemist.

And unless you're Tiger Woods, you don't normally get a big trophy for coming in second place at a golf tournament.

But as you will see today, there's no shame in coming in second on this list.

Today, we continue our three-part series on the NBA All-Decade Team by revealing the five players who made the Second Team. In case you missed it, here's a link part one, in which we revealed the Third Team and also the criteria for being named to the All-Decade Team. Be sure to check back on Friday as we reveal the five players who Sports Central has named as the NBA All-Decade First Team.

Second Team

G Steve Nash

In 2005 and 2006, Nash put his name beside some elite company, joining Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Tim Duncan as the only players in NBA history to win back-to-back MVP awards.

Regardless of how you feel about Nash winning the award twice, there's no denying that he deserves to be on this list.

On top of the two MVP awards, over the course of the 2000s, Nash led the league in assists three times, played in six all-star games, was on six All-NBA teams (three first team, two second team, one third team), and only Reggie Miller had a higher free throw percentage than Nash's .905.

You can question his defense, or the style of play that he thrives in (and believe me, I have), but there's no denying that offensively Steve Nash is as gifted as they come, and well deserving of a place on the All-Decade Second Team.

G Allen Iverson

Forget for a second that he played for three different teams in the 2000s, and that two of them told him to go home and never come back during the season.

Never mind the image problem that he never seemed to shake.

And for a brief moment, even forget about the "practice" rant (but only briefly; it's too awesome to not want to remember forever).

Forget all of those things for right now and focus on Allen Iverson the basketball player, and you'll see that there is no doubt that he belongs on this list.

First of all, he played in all 10 all-star games in the 2000s. That alone basically explains his spot on this list. But I'll go on.

Only Kobe Bryant averaged more points per game in the 2000s than Iverson's 28.1, edging him out by .1 at 28.2.

Need another example of how prolific of a scorer Iverson was over the 2000s? Only 11 times in the whole decade did anyone average more than 30 points per game for an entire season; Iverson did it four of those times.

He led the league in scoring three times, and finished in the top five seven different times.

It's not just Iverson's knack for scoring that has him making an appearance on the Second Team, either.

Iverson had more steals than any other player in the 2000s, leading the league in steals per game three times, and finishing in the top 10 seven different times.

Iverson may have even had a good reason for not wanting to practice all decade, too. He led the league in minutes per game a whopping six times over the 10 seasons that made up the 2000s.

All of the statistics are wonderful, and they certainly make a good case for Iverson to be on the list. But if you had the privilege of watching in person during his heyday with the Sixers or even the Nuggets, then you could have just skipped over his whole section of the column, because it was evident from watching him play live that he was one of the greatest pound-for-pound players to ever play the game. Period.

F Kevin Garnett

In reality, this picture pretty much sums up why he's on this list. But I'll list his accomplishments anyway.

Like Iverson, Garnett played in all 10 all-star games in the 2000s and won one NBA MVP award along the way.

K.G. was one of only eight players to average a double-double for the entire decade, achieving the feat in eight different seasons. In fact, he averaged at least 20 points in all eight of those seasons, making him the only player to have more than six 20-10 seasons in the decade.

He led the league in rebounding for four consecutive seasons starting in 2004 and never finished outside the top six in rebounding until joining the Celtics in 2007-08.

But for as great as his offensive and rebounding numbers were in the 2000s, it was his defense that set K.G. apart from the rest of the league. Garnett was a member of the All-Defensive team each of the 10 seasons, earning eight first team honors and two second team.

K.G.'s all-around greatness on D was finally rewarded in 2008 when he was awarded his first Defensive Player of the Year trophy, just weeks before winning his one and only NBA title with the Boston Celtics.

F Dirk Nowitzki

If consistency is what landed Iverson and Garnett on the Second Team, then surely there is a place on this team for Dirk.

Aside from 1999-2000, his second season in the league, Dirk averaged at least 20 points and 8 rebounds per game in every season of the 2000's.

He's played in each of the last eight all-star games, and has been on the All-NBA team in each of the last nine seasons (four first team, three second team, two third team).

He's finished in the top 10 in scoring each of the past seven seasons, and he and Shaq are the only seven-footers to average at least 20 points per game in the 2000s.

Dirk won the MVP award in 2007, and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting eight of the ten seasons.

C Yao Ming

There may be a lot of players in the league right now that are recognizable by just one name, but there's only one person on the All-Decade Team that earned official one-name status, and that's Yao.

When he was selected first overall back in 2002, there were plenty of question marks and intrigue surrounding him. Never before had we seen a person of his size paired up with his skill set. Hell, if it weren't for all the posters most of us had as kids featuring Shawn Bradley, we would have never seen a person of his size, period.

Yao quieted all his naysayers and doubters quickly, living up to and exceeding all the hype that surrounded him. As a rookie, he averaged 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game and never looked back.

Throughout the course of the decade, Yao averaged 19.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game.

He was named to seven all-star teams and five All-NBA teams (three third team, two second team).

Unfortunately, for as great as Yao's decade was on the floor, it may be remembered just as much for the fact that he spent a great deal of it not on the floor. Yao missed at least 25 games in three consecutive seasons from 2006 through 2008, and his decade ended abruptly when he broke his foot in the playoffs against the Lakers last season, an injury that will likely cause him to miss all of the upcoming season, as well.

Still, nagging injuries aside, Yao proved to be one of the most talent centers the league has ever seen, using a combination of size, strength, and finesse to make him one of the most well-rounded big men of all time, and easily landing himself a place on the All-Decade Team.

Be sure to check back on Friday when Scott Shepherd reveals what five players landed a spot on the Sports Central NBA All-Decade First Team.