If Robin Williams played basketball: point guard, rated 82

Robin Williams as a basketball player: scouting report

Robin Williams trained at Juilliard and then spent a career making it look as if he had never planned a thing in his life. That is the point guard he would be: a player who knows the playbook cold and would still rather invent something on the spot. His basketball IQ is the top mark on his card and his playmaking is next, so he probes the defense, changes direction in the middle of a dribble and finds the passing angle nobody else saw.

His improvisation was legendary, from Mork and Mindy to the rapid fire string of impressions he poured into the Genie in Aladdin, and that quickness of mind is what makes a great passer impossible to predict. He won an Oscar for Good Will Hunting, playing a teacher who saw what others missed in a gifted young man, which is a decent description of a point guard who makes his teammates better. He was also a devoted road cyclist, and that stamina shows on defense, where he grades out better than you might expect. His jumper is steady enough to keep a defender honest.

Rebounding is the honest weak spot and the lowest mark on his card. He would much rather grab the outlet pass and go than fight for position under the rim, so he needs a big beside him who does the dirty work. Shooting guard is a workable second spot, though he gives up more there than most point guards do, and small forward is a stretch. Take him as your lead guard, pair him with a physical rebounder and a couple of finishers who run, and let him make it up as he goes.

Plays like An improvising point guard who never runs the same play twice

Put Robin Williams in your lineup

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