If Dolly Parton played basketball: shooting guard, rated 76

Dolly Parton as a basketball player: scouting report

Dolly Parton would play shooting guard, and she would play it like someone who has spent a lifetime making hard work look easy. The best parts of her game are the ones between the ears. Her basketball IQ is the top mark on her card and her playmaking is right behind it, so she runs the two guard spot like a second point guard: reading the help defense early, swinging the ball one pass ahead of the rotation and keeping the offense humming the way a band follows a lead singer.

Her jumper is steady rather than spectacular, which suits a guard who knows exactly where her shots come from. She grew up in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and was performing on Knoxville radio and television as a child, and that early start shows in how she fights for loose balls and talks on defense. Her defense grades out level with her shooting, so a coach never has to hide her on the other end.

Athleticism is the one place her card dips. She will not win many races down the floor or finish above the rim, and that matters less than it sounds. A performer who held stages for six decades knows how to change pace, sell a fake and get a crowd looking the wrong way. Slide her to point guard and she gives up only a couple of points, which makes her one of the more flexible guards in the middle rounds. Pair her with an athletic wing and a strong rebounder and let her run the show.

Plays like A crafty combo guard who plays a step ahead

Put Dolly Parton in your lineup

8 rolls, a starting five and a bench, 82 games. Can you go 82-0? Free, no account.