NBA Split Personalities: When Players Play Two Positions at the Same Time

In NBA basketball it’s not unusual for a player to play multiple positions throughout their career.  Players are moved and made to adjust to where their team needs their talent most.

The upper-tier teams of the league that are fighting for dominance take this to the extreme—you can have one player playing two positions on the floor at the same time.

The key thing to understand in such a situation is that the coach is trying to get the best matchups, on offense and defense, against the current opponent.

I’m a Dirk Nowitzki and Dallas Mavericks fan, so bear with me as I use them to illustrate the split personalities of the five positions on the floor.

One of the best and most unique examples of playing multiple positions is when the Mavericks played small-ball, and went to a three-guard lineup.  This lineup used two point guards, one shooting guard (or two guard), and two power forwards.

Now, the Mavs’ point guard Jason Kidd will normally play his own position on offense.  But things on defense change drastically, and it very much depends on who the team is trying to cover.

Because Kidd is physically a bigger guard (6’4″, 210), he can cover the opposing teams two-guard, in effect becoming the two guard on defense.  Or he can help the frontcourt by covering the opposing team’s small forward, making him a small forward as well as a point guard.

In this three guard lineup the two guard spot on offense is played by Antoine Wright or reserve point guard J.J. Barea. On defense, Barea’s small size (6’0″) and cutting speed is used to the max by making him the point guard on defense—by covering the opposing team’s point guard.

For fans, the small forward in this lineup can get confusing to keep up with, because there are a number of variations that can be used.  Again it depends on how the players match up.

Reserve two guard Jason Terry is the third guard in this lineup, and on offense can play the traditional small forward.  On defense, however, you might see him as the point guard or the two guard—determined by who he’s guarding on the opposing team.

This team’s power forward happens to be their star scorer, Dirk Nowitzki, and the last thing you want to do is take him out of his game on offense.  On defense, though, you want to use his 7’0″size to the max so it isn’t be a stretch to use him at center as needed.

The second power forward, Brandon Bass, is a reserve center on offense.  But on defense he could be used to cover anyone from the small forward, to the power forward, to the center.

The bottom line is that teams will shuffle players from position to position to find the best matchup.  That’s where you often see lineup changes from quarter to quarter in a game.

They’re looking for the best player to lockdown the opponent’s scorers, thus controlling the tempo of the game on defense. And while it makes some players seem a little schizophrenic, it can give their offense a chance to take over the game.