It has been a joy to conduct a personal list of who I believe to be the top 25 players in the NBA. The journey has finally to come to an end as today I will be presenting you'll the two best players currently in the NBA.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors were the first two players to make the cut and the last two to be announced. Finally after two months you get to see who will be number one.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors were the first two players to make the cut and the last two to be announced. Finally after two months you get to see who will be number one.
Before I announce where I place LeBron and KD respectively, lets take a look at the list so far.
*Honorable Mentions
- C. Nikola Jokic *Denver Nuggets
- C. Andre Drummond *Detroit Pistons
- SG. Devin Booker *Phoenix Suns
- PF. Kevin Love *Cleveland Cavaliers
- PG. Kemba Walker *Charlotte Hornets
- SG. C.J. McCollum *Portland Trail Blazers
*Top 25 Players ranked #25-1
- (25.) SG. Bradley Beal *Washington Wizards
- (24.) C. Karl-Anthony Towns *Minnesota Timberwolves
- (23.) PG. Kyle Lowry *Toronto Raptors
- (22.) SG. Victor Oladipo *Indiana Pacers
- (21.) C. Rudy Gobert *Utah Jazz
- (20.) PF. LaMarcus Aldridge *San Antonio Spurs
- (19.) PF. Draymond Green *Golden State Warriors
- (18.) SG. DeMar Derozan *San Antonio Spurs
- (17.) C. Joel Embiid *Philadelphia 76ers
- (16.) PG. John Wall *Washington Wizards
- (15.) SF. Paul George *Oklahoma City Thunder
- (14.) SG. Jimmy Butler * Minnesota Timberwolves
- (13.) SG. Klay Thompson *Golden State Warriors
- (12.) PG. Damian Lillard *Portland Trail Blazers
- (11.) C. DeMarcus Cousins *Golden State Warriors
- (10.) PG. Kyrie Irving *Boston Celtics
- (9.) PG. Chris Paul *Houston Rockets
- (8.) PF. Giannis Antetokounmpo *Milwaukee Bucks
- (7.) PG. Russell Westbrook *Oklahoma City Thunder
- (6.) SG. James Harden *Houston Rockets
- (5.) PF. Anthony Davis *New Orleans Pelicans
- (4.) SF. Kawhi Leonard *Toronto Raptors
- (3.) PG. Stephen Curry *Golden State Warriors
- (2.) SF. Kevin Durant *Golden State Warriors
Kevin Durant has been superb the last four seasons in the NBA. He has a cumulative averages of(26.3 Pts, 7.5 Rebs, 4.8 Ast,1.3 Blks, 0.9 Stls, 52 Fg%, 39.8 3pt% & 88 ft%). Over this span he has won two NBA championships (2017,2018) , two NBA Finals MVPs (2017,2018), made First team All-NBA once (2018), two All-NBA second teams (2016,2017) and has made four All-Star games (2015-2018).
Durant was the 2014 NBA MVP and over the past four seasons he has finished in the top 10 , three times. His best season being in 2016 where he finished fifth. Durant has placed in the the top 10 for win shares two of the last four years, ( 2016,2018) best season was in 2016 where he placed second with (14.5) win shares. The past two seasons as a member of the Warriors he ranked in the top ten in blocks per game, in 2017 he averaged (1.6) Bpg, where he ranked 9th and in 2018 he averaged (1.8) Bpg and placed 5th in the NBA.
Also, Durant is a very efficient player. Excluding his 2014-2015 season , which he was only able to play in 27 games due to a Jones Fracture in his right foot, Durant has been one of the most efficient players in the league. Durant ranked 2nd in PER in 2016 and 2017 and last season he posted a (26.0) PER which ranked him 6th in the NBA. Durant over the past three seasons has placed second, fifth and 10th in true shooting percentage.
Furthermore, Durant has played great in the last two NBA Finals . In 2017 he averaged (35.2 Pts, 8.2 Rebs, 5.4 Ast, 1.0 Stls, 1.6 Blks, 55.6 Fg% 47 3pt% & 92.7 ft%) and hit a clutch 26-ft three-pointer to put the Warriors ahead by one with 45 seconds left in game. The Warriors won in five and KD was awarded his first NBA championship, as well as his first Finals MVP. In 2018 he averaged ( 28.8 Pts, 10.8 Rebs, 7.5 Ast, 2.3 Blks, 52.6 Fg% 41 3pt% & 96.3 ft%) and once again in game three he pulled up from 32 feet and hit another crowd silencer on the road in Cleveland that put the Warriors up six. That three sealed the game, the series and the Finals MVP.
As great as Durant has been ,it's hard to place him over LeBron James. Durant is a close second, but joining the Warriors does place doubt in your mind as whether he would even be a champion today if he chose to stay with the Thunder or go somewhere else.
Durant was apart of an Oklahoma City Thunder team that squandered a 3-1 lead to the 73 win Warriors back in the 2016 Western Conference Finals. What made that series even more alarming was that they pretty much lost that series due to the inefficiency of Durant. In game five Durant scored 40 points, but he shot 12 for 31 from the field. In game six the Thunder were up 83-75 after three quarters, but they couldn't close the deal. They lost the game 108-101, was outscored 33-18 in the 4th quarter and KD shot 10 for 31 from the field. In game seven he played well overall finishing with 25 points on 10 for 19 shooting, but the Thunder managed to get outscored in the third quarter 29-12 and weren't able come back and win the game.
That series loss against Warriors propelled KD to join them that summer. He was an obvious need for them at Small Forward seeing that Harrison Barnes was pathetic in the NBA Finals against the Cavaliers. Once again I personally don't blame Durant for choosing the Warriors as his destination, because he and the Warriors seemed to need each other, but it's a valid reason to place him as the second best player, because he didn't win big until he got on the best team.
Furthermore, Durant has played great in the last two NBA Finals . In 2017 he averaged (35.2 Pts, 8.2 Rebs, 5.4 Ast, 1.0 Stls, 1.6 Blks, 55.6 Fg% 47 3pt% & 92.7 ft%) and hit a clutch 26-ft three-pointer to put the Warriors ahead by one with 45 seconds left in game. The Warriors won in five and KD was awarded his first NBA championship, as well as his first Finals MVP. In 2018 he averaged ( 28.8 Pts, 10.8 Rebs, 7.5 Ast, 2.3 Blks, 52.6 Fg% 41 3pt% & 96.3 ft%) and once again in game three he pulled up from 32 feet and hit another crowd silencer on the road in Cleveland that put the Warriors up six. That three sealed the game, the series and the Finals MVP.
As great as Durant has been ,it's hard to place him over LeBron James. Durant is a close second, but joining the Warriors does place doubt in your mind as whether he would even be a champion today if he chose to stay with the Thunder or go somewhere else.
Durant was apart of an Oklahoma City Thunder team that squandered a 3-1 lead to the 73 win Warriors back in the 2016 Western Conference Finals. What made that series even more alarming was that they pretty much lost that series due to the inefficiency of Durant. In game five Durant scored 40 points, but he shot 12 for 31 from the field. In game six the Thunder were up 83-75 after three quarters, but they couldn't close the deal. They lost the game 108-101, was outscored 33-18 in the 4th quarter and KD shot 10 for 31 from the field. In game seven he played well overall finishing with 25 points on 10 for 19 shooting, but the Thunder managed to get outscored in the third quarter 29-12 and weren't able come back and win the game.
That series loss against Warriors propelled KD to join them that summer. He was an obvious need for them at Small Forward seeing that Harrison Barnes was pathetic in the NBA Finals against the Cavaliers. Once again I personally don't blame Durant for choosing the Warriors as his destination, because he and the Warriors seemed to need each other, but it's a valid reason to place him as the second best player, because he didn't win big until he got on the best team.
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201605300GSW.html
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201706070CLE.html
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/pbp/201806060CLE.html
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/duranke01.html
- (1.) SF. LeBron James *Los Angeles Lakers
The best player in the NBA is still LeBron James a.k.a King James is the number one player in the NBA. James has been superb since entering the league in 2003 and has been great these past four seasons as well. Over the past four seasons James has a cumulative average of (26.1 Pts, 7.3 Rebs, 8.0 Ast, 1.4 Stls, 52.3 Fg%, 35 3pt % & 71 Ft%).
Also, during this span, James has made the All-NBA first team each year (2015-2018) and has started in the All-Star game every year.
James has finished in the top four for MVP voting each season from 2015-2018 and came in second place behind James Harden last season.
James has finished no lower sixth in Win Shares, best season was last year with (14.0), has placed in the top six for PER each season, last season being his best (28.6) placing him in third and finished with a (8.9) value over replacement rating that ranked him number one in the NBA last season.
What makes all these stats great is that LeBron is going into his 16th NBA season. There have been few players in NBA history that remained this proficient this late in their career .
Also, James has been in the NBA Finals eight straight years. There's a perception that he only has been able to get to the Finals eight straight years, because he played in an inferior Eastern Conference, but one can make the case that those Miami Heat and Cavaliers teams weren't always the number one seed heading into the postseason.
LBJ has some great moments in the postseason. In game four against the Chicago Bulls he hit a game winning fall away jumper over Jimmy Butler to even the series at two all and the Cavaliers went on to win that series 4-2. In the 2015 NBA Finals he lost Kyrie Irving in game one of that series, but still managed to take the upstart Warriors to six games. LeBron averaged (35.8 Pts, 13.3 Rebs, 8.8 Ast, 1.3 Stls ) but shot poorly from the field (40 Fg%, 31 3pt% &68.7 ft%). He did have to carry the offensive load so that may have accounted for those unusually low shooting percentages, he received some Finals MVP votes despite the loss.
In 2016 , James and fellow star Kyrie Irving were able to upset the 73 win Warriors. This is James greatest Finals victory to date. He played this series, he averaged (29.7 Pts, 11.3 Rebs, 8.9 Ast, 2.6 Stls, 2.3 Blks, 49.4 Fg%, 37 3pt% & 72 Ft%). He was able to lead the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 series deficit and had that memorable chase down block on Andre Iguodala in game seven of the NBA Finals to keep the game tied at 89 a piece with a little under two minutes remaining in the game and we'll know the rest from there. James won the Finals MVP and brought a title to Cleveland for the first time in franchise history and brought a championship to the city of Cleveland for the first time since the Cleveland Browns won in 1964.
In 2017 they Cavaliers lost 4-1 to the new look Warriors squad that featured Kevin Durant, but LeBron was great statistically. He averaged a triple double (33.6 Pts, 12.0 Rebs,10.0 Ast) and shot (56.4 Fg%, 38.7 3pt% & 65 Ft%.) and in 2018 he put up some good statistics again (34.0 Pts, 8.5 Rebs, 10.0 Ast, 1.3 Stls, 1.0 Blks) and shot (52.7 Fg%, 33 3pt% & 84 Ft%), but the Cavaliers were swept 4-0 in the series.
James currently has a 3-6 record in the NBA Finals and an 1-3 record against the Golden State Warriors. That's one of the few knocks on James resume. He can lead you to the big game and he will put up numbers, but more often than not he can't lead his team to victory. Despite Lebron's sub-par record in the NBA Finals,he stills deserves credit for at least being able to lead a team to the highest stakes, year in and year out. he stills is regarded as the best player in the NBA. I agree that he's still the top player in the league, although I have Durant right on his heels and i'm interested to see how he will fare in the NBA playoffs, now that he will be playing in a tough Western Conference .
James signed to the Los Angeles Lakers via free agency on July 9th. He is now another great player to wear the purple and gold. Los Angeles Lakers history is rich with some of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Lakers history feature All-time greats such as "The NBA logo" Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal , Kobe Bryant and many more.
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2015-nba-finals-cavaliers-vs-warriors.html
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/pbp/201606190GSW.html
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2017-nba-finals-cavaliers-vs-warriors.html
- https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2018-nba-finals-cavaliers-vs-warriors.html
- http://www.nba.com/article/2018/07/09/lebron-james-officially-signs-los-angeles-lakers
Well that concludes the NBA top 25 players countdown. I had a great time doing this list. Let me how you'll feel about the countdown. Please, Don't be afraid to comment. All opinions are respected !
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