If Morgan Freeman played basketball: shooting guard, rated 76

Morgan Freeman as a basketball player: scouting report

Morgan Freeman would play shooting guard the way he narrates a film: calm, unhurried and always in control of the story. His basketball IQ is the best part of his card, and the surprise is what sits just behind it. His defense is the next best mark, which makes him a rare two guard who earns his minutes on the defensive end, beating his man to the spot and talking his teammates through every switch.

He knows his way around a gym. His Academy Award came for Million Dollar Baby, where he played a former boxer working at a boxing gym, and before acting he served in the Air Force as a radar technician, a job built on reading signals before anyone else sees them. That habit becomes anticipation on the court: jumping a passing lane, sliding over to take a charge, tipping a lazy entry pass. His shooting and playmaking are level and dependable, and his rebounding is decent for a guard. He also played Nelson Mandela in Invictus, a film about the 1995 Rugby World Cup, so he has made the sports movie already.

Athleticism is where the card dips. He will not blow past anyone or fly in for putbacks, so give him an athletic point guard to push the pace and a big who runs the floor. He is at his best as the veteran presence on a young roster, organizing the defense and knocking down open shots. He can slide to point guard with only a small drop and handle small forward in a bigger lineup. Draft him in the middle rounds as a two way stabilizer, the voice everyone on the floor listens to, the same voice that has carried documentaries and films for decades.

Plays like A steady veteran guard who defends with his head

Put Morgan Freeman in your lineup

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