Best Player in League?

[ShotCreator]

It’s still Lebron, for me. He missed 27 games, but as far as his actual level of play goes — he was still more complete than anyone else.

Lol? Lebron is a positive on defence, Giannis is literally the second best defender in the league.

And since when did we not factor in injuries into these evaluations?
Hell forget the injury, this season Lebron's regular season was inferior to Giannis's by every sort of metric. What the **** are we basing lebron #1 off?

Hypothetical playoffs?

Giannis isn’t better than Brook Lopez defensively. Or Embiid.

[Jaqua92]

Loool. Are you seriously trying to use assists to measure playmaking? Fam, when a bucks player is shooting an open look off the dribble because the defence is walling giannis off, giannis still created the oppurtunity. When giannis gets a hockey assist because the defence prioritized him over the third reciepent of the pass, giannis created the oppurtunity.

if you're gonna use assists, then at th eminumum use turnivers where kawhi is like 1:1 on ratio. Bucks have been the best team of the playoffs which Giannis as theier best defender, scorer and playmaker. Kawhi ha sonly been toronto's best scorer.

Giannis is the one carrying here. It's just that he carries so much, his team doesn't need 7 games to win.

Bucks don't have a great passing PG, so Giannis does more playmaking. Lowry is an elite playmaker and he does most of the playmaking.

Yes. This is called carrying. That Kawhi has an elite playmaker to run things instead of himself is why he's able to "will the team" to the ecf. If a 1:1 assist to turnover machine was running the offense, that machine's scoring would plummet. Giannis is a both a better passer and has more gravity than Kawhi so the bucks didn't have to waste cap space on an elite playmaker. Giannis already is one.

Celtics swept dysfunctional celtics team with Irving as the leader? Lol that's not impressive man and you know it. Irving is a drama queen and a dork as a leader. I would say even Jimmy Butler is a better leader than Irving and 76ers also have the best defensive big man in the NBA (Embiid). Beating 76ers > Beating Celtics regardless of if it was done in 5 or 7..

Celtics won the season series over philly and boasts as good of a record vs playoff teams. If we shouldn't be impressed by the bucks suddenly adopting switch everything and more player movement to win 4 straight(by 15 points) against a team who was supposed to be a nightmare matchup for them, I don't see why I should be impressed by Toronto scraping by a Philly side the bucks went 3-1 against whose best player was out of shape, dealing with injury in the prior series and had multiple illnesses.

Bucks have posted a top 30 all time srs and are on pace for an all time dominant playoff run with giannis as their #1 at every part of the game. Torontohave not been as good as the bucks and kawhi hasn't had to fill as many roles as giannis has. Giannis is simpley better.

Just for context. The guy you are arguing said playoff Kawhi = peak MJ.

I'd spare yourself the headache

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[HBK_Kliq_33]

Loool. Are you seriously trying to use assists to measure playmaking? Fam, when a bucks player is shooting an open look off the dribble because the defence is walling giannis off, giannis still created the oppurtunity. When giannis gets a hockey assist because the defence prioritized him over the third reciepent of the pass, giannis created the oppurtunity.

if you're gonna use assists, then at th eminumum use turnivers where kawhi is like 1:1 on ratio. Bucks have been the best team of the playoffs which Giannis as theier best defender, scorer and playmaker. Kawhi ha sonly been toronto's best scorer.

Giannis is the one carrying here. It's just that he carries so much, his team doesn't need 7 games to win.

Bucks don't have a great passing PG, so Giannis does more playmaking. Lowry is an elite playmaker and he does most of the playmaking.

Yes. This is called carrying. That Kawhi has an elite playmaker to run things instead of himself is why he's able to "will the team" to the ecf. If a 1:1 assist to turnover machine was running the offense, that machine's scoring would plummet. Giannis is a both a better passer and has more gravity than Kawhi so the bucks didn't have to waste cap space on an elite playmaker. Giannis already is one.

Celtics swept dysfunctional celtics team with Irving as the leader? Lol that's not impressive man and you know it. Irving is a drama queen and a dork as a leader. I would say even Jimmy Butler is a better leader than Irving and 76ers also have the best defensive big man in the NBA (Embiid). Beating 76ers > Beating Celtics regardless of if it was done in 5 or 7..

Celtics won the season series over philly and boasts as good of a record vs playoff teams. If we shouldn't be impressed by the bucks suddenly adopting switch everything and more player movement to win 4 straight(by 15 points) against a team who was supposed to be a nightmare matchup for them, I don't see why I should be impressed by Toronto scraping by a Philly side the bucks went 3-1 against whose best player was out of shape, dealing with injury in the prior series and had multiple illnesses.

Bucks have posted a top 30 all time srs and are on pace for an all time dominant playoff run with giannis as their #1 at every part of the game. Torontohave not been as good as the bucks and kawhi hasn't had to fill as many roles as giannis has. Giannis is simpley better.

You can be carrying the team without being the teams best playmaker, just look Michael Jordan in the 90s. Pippen was pretty much always the bulls best playmaker, especially the 3rd 3peat. As far as Celtics beating 76ers, how many of those games did 76ers have both Embiid\Butler on the court is what matters and even than playoff basketball is a different story. I agree Toronto has not been as good as bucks as a team in the playoffs BUT that's only because Bucks have more talent and also have faced worse competition. You can build a much wider range of roster personal around Kawhi than you can Giannis. Kawhi can win with a team that doesn't have shooters, Giannis would struggle without shooters.

[kuclas]

Lebron has one more year to prove he's still the best. So I vote for LeBron. The Lakers likely finish 3 lebron healthy and team didn't quit after the AD fiasco.

Which means likely lebron gets pass the nuggets and in conference finals.

And we wouldn't be having this discussion

[AIfan3]

The Curry disrespect is real with the last several posts. The guy single handedly eliminated the Rockets by himself with his stunning 4th quarter beat downs and now is the main catalyst for potentially sweeping the Blazers right out of the West.

His production is elite, his efficiency is elite and his 3 point shooting cannot be matched. Don't even get me started on his gravity and how elite he makes others around him with just his presence on the floor.

Curry >> Giannis

I don't know about this one. Curry looks like a straight mannequin on defense sometimes. He's fortunate that he is not asked to defend scorers on the opposing team (we saw how the Rockets exploited this last two post seasons). That's mostly left to Draymond and Iggy.

[SeniorWalker]

For people saying "it's still LeBron" I just have one simple question: When wont it be LeBron for you anymore?

What if by chance his team doesnt make the playoffs again next year because they dont get another star. Will that be enough for you? Or what about if the Lakers make the playoffs but he loses in the first round? How much do you actually need to see to be convinced he is no longer #1?

You do realize that human beings age? Are you counting on LeBron James being as good of a player at 35 and older than he was at 33 and younger? When has that ever happened in the history of the sport, especially for a player whose playstyle relies heavily on athleticism?

Do you really believe that a year from now LeBron is going to be better than he was at any point this year? Was there any point this year in which you really thought LeBron was the best player based on what he was actually doing on the court? What about when LeBron said "I'm going to go playoff mode now", which as we know translates to him caring much more about the games....and yet he still didnt lead his team to the playoffs?

Better yet: what if someone like Giannis makes the finals THIS year, playing without another superstar, and pushes the 2X defending champs to a tightly contested series...or even wins the finals? Will that be enough for you to acknowledge that maybe someone else has surpassed what LeBron currently is?

[freethedevil]

Lebron has one more year to prove he's still the best. So I vote for LeBron. The Lakers likely finish 3 lebron healthy and team didn't quit after the AD fiasco.

Which means likely lebron gets pass the nuggets and in conference finals.

And we wouldn't be having this discussion

if curry didn't sprain his ankle he likely wins back to back titles with the greatest team of all time.

And yet we still have the conversation.

[freethedevil]

When last seen in the postseason Lebron put 34/9/9 through to the finals — with less help than either KD or Kawhi has. It’s not like he fell off a cliff, he averaged 27/8/8 on 59%TS and was obviously controlling the game better than either of them.

Using counting numbers is hilarious when we have advanced data. All of which say curry and giannis were > lebron this season.

[freethedevil]

Bucks don't have a great passing PG, so Giannis does more playmaking. Lowry is an elite playmaker and he does most of the playmaking.

Yes. This is called carrying. That Kawhi has an elite playmaker to run things instead of himself is why he's able to "will the team" to the ecf. If a 1:1 assist to turnover machine was running the offense, that machine's scoring would plummet. Giannis is a both a better passer and has more gravity than Kawhi so the bucks didn't have to waste cap space on an elite playmaker. Giannis already is one.

Celtics swept dysfunctional celtics team with Irving as the leader? Lol that's not impressive man and you know it. Irving is a drama queen and a dork as a leader. I would say even Jimmy Butler is a better leader than Irving and 76ers also have the best defensive big man in the NBA (Embiid). Beating 76ers > Beating Celtics regardless of if it was done in 5 or 7..

Celtics won the season series over philly and boasts as good of a record vs playoff teams. If we shouldn't be impressed by the bucks suddenly adopting switch everything and more player movement to win 4 straight(by 15 points) against a team who was supposed to be a nightmare matchup for them, I don't see why I should be impressed by Toronto scraping by a Philly side the bucks went 3-1 against whose best player was out of shape, dealing with injury in the prior series and had multiple illnesses.

Bucks have posted a top 30 all time srs and are on pace for an all time dominant playoff run with giannis as their #1 at every part of the game. Torontohave not been as good as the bucks and kawhi hasn't had to fill as many roles as giannis has. Giannis is simpley better.

You can be carrying the team without being the teams best playmaker, just look Michael Jordan in the 90s. Pippen was pretty much always the bulls best playmaker, especially the 3rd 3peat.

Pippens was also their best defender. The difference here is that even though jordan carried the bulls less then say, peak duncan carried the spurs or peak garnett carried the timberwolves, the chicago bulls were much better than any of these teams. If Jordan had led a worse team than those 3 while only carrying as a scorer it would probably be fair to argue the other three are better.

The raptors aren't better the bucks. And Kawhi isn't doing as much as giannis. Giannis is clearly better.

[pr0wler]

Too much recency bias.

This. Kawhi, while still a great player, goes from a Top 7 type guy to clear #1 in a lot of people's eyes based on two playoff series.

[freethedevil]

Too much recency bias.

This. Kawhi, while still a great player, goes from a Top 7 type guy to clear #1 in a lot of people's eyes based on two playoff series.

imagine complaining about recency bias when discussing who is currently the best player...

[WarriorGM]

The Curry disrespect is real with the last several posts. The guy single handedly eliminated the Rockets by himself with his stunning 4th quarter beat downs and now is the main catalyst for potentially sweeping the Blazers right out of the West.

His production is elite, his efficiency is elite and his 3 point shooting cannot be matched. Don't even get me started on his gravity and how elite he makes others around him with just his presence on the floor.

Curry >> Giannis

I don't know about this one. Curry looks like a straight mannequin on defense sometimes. He's fortunate that he is not asked to defend scorers on the opposing team (we saw how the Rockets exploited this last two post seasons). That's mostly left to Draymond and Iggy.

What goes unappreciated is that Draymond's and Iguodala's defensive contributions are so often important because the team is still in the game because of Steph's offense. If they were on another team with a less potent offense their defensive contributions would be for naught. Case in point look at the Utah Jazz.

[freethedevil]

The Curry disrespect is real with the last several posts. The guy single handedly eliminated the Rockets by himself with his stunning 4th quarter beat downs and now is the main catalyst for potentially sweeping the Blazers right out of the West.

His production is elite, his efficiency is elite and his 3 point shooting cannot be matched. Don't even get me started on his gravity and how elite he makes others around him with just his presence on the floor.

Curry >> Giannis

I don't know about this one. Curry looks like a straight mannequin on defense sometimes. He's fortunate that he is not asked to defend scorers on the opposing team (we saw how the Rockets exploited this last two post seasons). That's mostly left to Draymond and Iggy.

What goes unappreciated is that Draymond's and Iguodala's defensive contributions are so often important because the team is still in the game because of Steph's offense. If they were on another team with a less potent offense their defensive contributions would be for naught. Case in point look at the Utah Jazz.

Giannis can both run and be the focal point of one of the league's best offences while anchoring the league's best defence. I don't care what you wanna say about steph's value to the warriors. Steph>>Giannis is a horrible take.

[HBK_Kliq_33]

Yes. This is called carrying. That Kawhi has an elite playmaker to run things instead of himself is why he's able to "will the team" to the ecf. If a 1:1 assist to turnover machine was running the offense, that machine's scoring would plummet. Giannis is a both a better passer and has more gravity than Kawhi so the bucks didn't have to waste cap space on an elite playmaker. Giannis already is one.
Celtics won the season series over philly and boasts as good of a record vs playoff teams. If we shouldn't be impressed by the bucks suddenly adopting switch everything and more player movement to win 4 straight(by 15 points) against a team who was supposed to be a nightmare matchup for them, I don't see why I should be impressed by Toronto scraping by a Philly side the bucks went 3-1 against whose best player was out of shape, dealing with injury in the prior series and had multiple illnesses.

Bucks have posted a top 30 all time srs and are on pace for an all time dominant playoff run with giannis as their #1 at every part of the game. Torontohave not been as good as the bucks and kawhi hasn't had to fill as many roles as giannis has. Giannis is simpley better.

You can be carrying the team without being the teams best playmaker, just look Michael Jordan in the 90s. Pippen was pretty much always the bulls best playmaker, especially the 3rd 3peat.

Pippens was also their best defender. The difference here is that even though jordan carried the bulls less then say, peak duncan carried the spurs or peak garnett carried the timberwolves, the chicago bulls were much better than any of these teams. If Jordan had led a worse team than those 3 while only carrying as a scorer it would probably be fair to argue the other three are better.

The raptors aren't better the bucks. And Kawhi isn't doing as much as giannis. Giannis is clearly better.

Lopez is the younger better version of gasol, Middleton is easily more efficient and consistent than Siakam and actually provides 3 point shooting, brogdan is an elite shooter and many have said bucks second best player, Bledsoe is a better scorer-slasher than Lowry and more consistent, Mirotic is easily better than G league boy Danny Green. Bucks actually have shooters and raptors have none. Bucks are clearly better in the supporting cast.

[WarriorGM]

I don't know about this one. Curry looks like a straight mannequin on defense sometimes. He's fortunate that he is not asked to defend scorers on the opposing team (we saw how the Rockets exploited this last two post seasons). That's mostly left to Draymond and Iggy.

What goes unappreciated is that Draymond's and Iguodala's defensive contributions are so often important because the team is still in the game because of Steph's offense. If they were on another team with a less potent offense their defensive contributions would be for naught. Case in point look at the Utah Jazz.

Giannis can both run and be the focal point of one of the league's best offences while anchoring the league's best defence. I don't care what you wanna say about steph's value to the warriors. Steph>>Giannis is a horrible take.

They are comparable. I haven't really seen a lot of Giannis so won't make a judgment. If they make the finals then we'll have something good to go on. Steph still led the league in +/- but Giannis was second.

[AIfan3]

The Curry disrespect is real with the last several posts. The guy single handedly eliminated the Rockets by himself with his stunning 4th quarter beat downs and now is the main catalyst for potentially sweeping the Blazers right out of the West.

His production is elite, his efficiency is elite and his 3 point shooting cannot be matched. Don't even get me started on his gravity and how elite he makes others around him with just his presence on the floor.

Curry >> Giannis

I don't know about this one. Curry looks like a straight mannequin on defense sometimes. He's fortunate that he is not asked to defend scorers on the opposing team (we saw how the Rockets exploited this last two post seasons). That's mostly left to Draymond and Iggy.

What goes unappreciated is that Draymond's and Iguodala's defensive contributions are so often important because the team is still in the game because of Steph's offense. If they were on another team with a less potent offense their defensive contributions would be for naught. Case in point look at the Utah Jazz.

This is an ass backward take..

When Curry is tasked with actually defending, he's not the same player offensively. We saw this during the Rockets series the last two years.

You remove Dray and Iggy from the equation, Curry has to defend , he's no longer as effective offensively.

[LKN]

It’s still Lebron, for me. He missed 27 games, but as far as his actual level of play goes — he was still more complete than anyone else.

Lol? Lebron is a positive on defence, Giannis is literally the second best defender in the league.

And since when did we not factor in injuries into these evaluations?
Hell forget the injury, this season Lebron's regular season was inferior to Giannis's by every sort of metric. What the **** are we basing lebron #1 off?

Hypothetical playoffs?

Giannis isn’t better than Brook Lopez defensively. Or Embiid.

[WarriorGM]

I don't know about this one. Curry looks like a straight mannequin on defense sometimes. He's fortunate that he is not asked to defend scorers on the opposing team (we saw how the Rockets exploited this last two post seasons). That's mostly left to Draymond and Iggy.

What goes unappreciated is that Draymond's and Iguodala's defensive contributions are so often important because the team is still in the game because of Steph's offense. If they were on another team with a less potent offense their defensive contributions would be for naught. Case in point look at the Utah Jazz.

This is an ass backward take..

When Curry is tasked with actually defending, he's not the same player offensively. We saw this during the Rockets series the last two years.

You remove Dray and Iggy from the equation, Curry has to defend , he's no longer as effective offensively.

They have a synergistic relationship and are force multipliers for each other. But Curry is the more unique player.

[kuclas]

Lebron has one more year to prove he's still the best. So I vote for LeBron. The Lakers likely finish 3 lebron healthy and team didn't quit after the AD fiasco.

Which means likely lebron gets pass the nuggets and in conference finals.

And we wouldn't be having this discussion

if curry didn't sprain his ankle he likely wins back to back titles with the greatest team of all time.

And yet we still have the conversation.

Lol. If LeBron had love and kyrie in 2015. Curry wins nothing.

[spikeslovechild]

Giannis
Kawhi
Harden

In that order. Lol @ including Jokic