Who is the best player in the NBA?

[WestbrookGOATed]

Cant say Giannis with confidence until he gets a jumper. Gotta go with Westbrook

[mudsak]

1. Durant
2. Giannis
3. Harden/Steph
4. Lebron
5. Kawhi/PG

Giannis is coming... it's his league soon.

[Drygon]

Durant's my favourite. He's the best shot maker, but he's mentally weak, and that counts a lot.

Eh, Durant has been argubaly most scrutinized superstar of 2010s while winning 2 rings & FMVPs as Warriors' best player.

Sure, he's a very sensitive human being but it shouldn't cloud on Durant being judged as a basketball player.

There's no doubt Durant delivers even when he's under pressure.

Not really. Durant hasn't been under pressure since the 2016 WCF. He went 12-31 in game 5, 10-31 in game 6, and 10-19 in game 7. He hasn't faced any pressure since he collapsed in that series.

I'm baffled on people still saying Durant "choked" during entire WCF 2016. He had one bad game in Game 6...


- Michael Jordan shot 5-19 in Game 6 of the 96 Finals.
- Kobe Bryant shot 6-24 in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals.
- Larry Bird shot 6-18 in Game 6 of the 84 Finals.
- LeBron James even shot 9-24 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals 2016.


Durant had a horrendous shooting performance in Game 6 & I'm not gonna defend that. However, Durant still played great defense, rebounded well & created for teammates. And in the other 3 losses, Durant scored extremely well. 29 points on 71 TS% in Game 2, 40 points on 55 TS% in Game 5, and 27 points on 65 TS% in Game 7.

But yes, let's pretend like a bad performance in 1 of the 4 losses is the reason they lost the series. Completely ignoring the fact that if it doesn't coincide with Klay Thompson having the best game of his entire career, OKC would've reached NBA Finals 2016 and Durant's performance from Game 6 would've been forgotten just like Jordan, Kobe, Bird, and LeBron's.

[dhsilv2]

It's either Harden or Giannis. Curry is a threat and in 3rd with no other reasonable choices. After those 3 it gets really tricky. KD has never shown to have enough impact on winning. Lebron, I can't tell if he's done or if this was just an aberation. Leonard doesn't play enough. I think Jokic is the answer but I can't decide if I"m seeing meaningful results vs the spurs or if it is just noise. With that said AD is actually the logical choice for 4th but this year was a train wreck for him. I'm also wondering why I didn't say Paul George. hmm gun to head a first pass list

Haden
Giannis

Curry

AD
Jokic
Lebron
George
Leonard
KD

Then you'd deal with Lillard, Gobert, Embiid and a few others..

[Drygon]

KD has never shown to have enough impact on winning.

Like getting 2 rings + 2 FMVPs as the best player for Warriors since joining them?

[thebigbird]

KD has never shown to have enough impact on winning.

Like getting 2 rings + 2 FMVPs as the best player for Warriors since joining them?

Winning two rings with the Warriors is about as impressive as losing your virginity to a hooker. Like congrats, I guess.

[Impuniti]

It's close, but I have Giannis. And beginning next year, and for the next 5 years, it won't be close.

1. Giannis
2. Curry
3. Harden
4. LeBron
5. Durant



This is also true. It's hard to differentiate between guys who are consistently elite, and guys who aren't but can get up for a series if needed.

Giannis has no case for this until he does something relevant in the playoffs.

If past playoff appearances are the criteria, then I'd go:
1) LeBron (3 titles, 3FMVPs, 4 RMVPs)
2) Curry (3 titles, 0 FMVPs, 2 RMVPs)
3) Durant (2 titles, 2 FMVPs, 1 RMVP)
4) Harden (0 titles, 0 FMVPs, 1 RMVP)
5) Giannis (0 titles, 0 FMVPs, 0 RMVPs)

My previous list was more about the question of who the best player in the league is right now. If you're talking about who the best over the last 5-10 years, that's a different list.

Lebron has 1 title in 6 years and missed the playoffs this year though. As of right now, Giannis needs to prove he can do something in the playoffs. Last year he lost to a team who was missing its 2 all stars. If he loses to them again next round, we shouldn't even put him anywhere near this conversation.

[har13]

Giannis has no case for this until he does something relevant in the playoffs.

If past playoff appearances are the criteria, then I'd go:
1) LeBron (3 titles, 3FMVPs, 4 RMVPs)
2) Curry (3 titles, 0 FMVPs, 2 RMVPs)
3) Durant (2 titles, 2 FMVPs, 1 RMVP)
4) Harden (0 titles, 0 FMVPs, 1 RMVP)
5) Giannis (0 titles, 0 FMVPs, 0 RMVPs)

My previous list was more about the question of who the best player in the league is right now. If you're talking about who the best over the last 5-10 years, that's a different list.

Lebron has 1 title in 6 years and missed the playoffs this year though. As of right now, Giannis needs to prove he can do something in the playoffs. Last year he lost to a team who was missing its 2 all stars. If he loses to them again next round, we shouldn't even put him anywhere near this conversation.

I didn't vote cause i'm homer and I cant say that Giannis is better than Durant, Curry or Harden but please, respect the **** game of basketball, its a team sport.

[floppymoose]

For me its Curry. The heart of a dynasty team, and he has the biggest impact to winning of anyone on that team:

http://www.82games.com/1819/1819GSW.HTM

[zimpy27]

Was there a clear best player in the NBA from 1998 to 2007?

Shaq from 98 to 03 maybe? Garnett after that? Was Duncan, Kobe or Dirk ever the best? Or Nash?

Sometimes there isn't a clear best.

[asas]

Curry has everything. He is the reason GSW is a dynasty, very likeable, fun to watch, very impactful(both stats and watching him), does something we've never seen, never complains or points finger at others, plays hard defense even though he's not built for it, humble(not on the court), really loves the game.

Went off-topic in a way but I had to...

[TaylorTRoom]

The NBA has two seasons and two different games- regular season and playoffs. Let the games play out and we’ll get some clarity.

[Joey Wheeler]

With Lebron out of the playoffs, there's no clear cut best player at the moment. I think the best case is for Kevin Durant though, he's the most unstoppable and versatile scorer/offensive player and has the best track record in the postseason with his historic scoring volume and efficiency and the last 2 FMVP awards. All will depend on what happens in these playoffs though, someone like Giannis could easily prove to be the best player with a dominant playoff run.

[ocelot17]

James Harden. There's no one in the league that has to carry his team like Harden does every game. I think if you were to switch Harden with Lebron, Lebron would've quit on his team and the narrative would be that "Lebron doesn't have any help."

[Dan Z]

The disrespect towards Curry truly is remarkable. He continues to be underrated.

Curry is the player with the best winning record among the candidates having made the finals 4 times in the last 4 years and winning in 3 of them. Curry is the player who has beaten the other candidates the most in playoffs series head-to-head. Curry has been setting records left and right both individually and with his team during the past few years and not just cherry-picked records but clear records every player is supposed to be gunning for.

You guys are living in some ridiculous echo chamber because there really should be only one obvious answer.

How is he being disrespected? He's in a thread that's considers him a top player in the NBA and possibly the best player overall.

As for his winning record he also has the best team out of any of the players mentioned in this thread (and even plays with another top candidate...Kevin Durant).

[HeartBreakKid]

James Harden. There's no one in the league that has to carry his team like Harden does every game. I think if you were to switch Harden with Lebron, Lebron would've quit on his team and the narrative would be that "Lebron doesn't have any help."

lebron would quit on his team? he has carried plenty of bad teams to the playoffs, way more than harden has - the 2018 Cavs weren't exactly ideal and came with a lot of criticism, and they made the playoffs.

you're pretty much just saying this because in this specific year where James missed 20 games or so and the post season that now he wouldn't try to carry a team.

Also, carrying a team to the playoffs wouldn't make someone the best player in the league.

[false]

James Harden. There's no one in the league that has to carry his team like Harden does every game. I think if you were to switch Harden with Lebron, Lebron would've quit on his team and the narrative would be that "Lebron doesn't have any help."

Man i love Harden, he is my number one but wtf?

Paul is Paul, Capela is one of the best C, Gordon when he is hot he can kill you, Tucker is a great D player and their role players can shoot, this is not a bad team.

[ATLHoops97]

It's still Lebron

[Hindenburg]

1. Durant
2. Giannis
3. Harden
4. Kawhi
5. Curry

[dhsilv2]

KD has never shown to have enough impact on winning.

Like getting 2 rings + 2 FMVPs as the best player for Warriors since joining them?

He hasn't been their best player. Nor has he shown to have close to the impact of a curry or even really dray.