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Best Player in the world right now?

These are my top 5 players in the league right now

1A. Giannis 98
1B. KD 98
3A. Embiid 97
3B. Jokic 97
5. Lebron 96

Curry and Luka both 95s

jokic, playoffs pending, has been a somewhat clear best regular season player

giannis and embiid when healthy seems to be the next best regular season players

Jokic clearly.

It's between Giannis and Jokic for me right now. I can't really say for sure who before the play-offs. I think the likes of Embiid, KD, Curry and LeBron could also make a case with a dominant run.

Luka has been a top 5 player since the beginning of this year. 29.8/10.3/9.8, Mavs 25W8L in this period.

Luka Doncic
And now he can even defend (best defensive rating for a point guard this season)!

I feel like KD is perpetually overrated. Not sure how he is placed above a guy like Steph in this poll.

To answer the question, I think it's been Jokic this year and last. Steph is my number 2 over this timespan. Giannis is 2 this year for me though.

I don't think anyone can match Jokic's consistency though Giannis has been coming on strong. Embiid is almost there and LeBron+ KD are close but haven't played enough to be real contenders imo. hm to Luka.

LeBron's lost any realistic claim at this point.

Can't believe people are still talking about Lebron in best player in the world conversations. ESPN yes but anywhere else with objective basketball analysis? Lebron has basically completely stopped playing defense and has been quite clearly saving as much energy as he can to score as many points as he can.

I'm shocked not to see a single vote for Embiid who is at least in the convo with Jokic for MVP this year.

mdonnelly1989 wrote:I'm shocked not to see a single vote for Embiid who is at least in the convo with Jokic for MVP this year.

The MVP voting takes narratives, voters' fatigue, and team records into consideration. The question here is who the best player is. The answer is pretty clear.

Peregrine01 wrote:Can't believe people are still talking about Lebron in best player in the world conversations. ESPN yes but anywhere else with objective basketball analysis? Lebron has basically completely stopped playing defense and has been quite clearly saving as much energy as he can to score as many points as he can.

LeBron is hardly the least deserving player to be listed here. Durant is having a worse season than him by just about every measure. Dude has maybe the lowest bar for any superstar I've ever seen. Embiid is also still a question mark in the playoffs because of how he's officiated. The perception is only different because the Lakers constructed possibly the worst supporting cast around a superstar since KG's time with the Wolves.

I voted for Jokic before anybody says anything.

letskissbro wrote:

Peregrine01 wrote:Can't believe people are still talking about Lebron in best player in the world conversations. ESPN yes but anywhere else with objective basketball analysis? Lebron has basically completely stopped playing defense and has been quite clearly saving as much energy as he can to score as many points as he can.

LeBron is hardly the least deserving player to be listed here. Durant is having a worse season than him by just about every measure. Dude has maybe the lowest bar for any superstar I've ever seen. Embiid is also still a question mark in the playoffs because of how he's officiated. The perception is only different because the Lakers constructed possibly the worst supporting cast around a superstar since KG's time with the Wolves.

I voted for Jokic before anybody says anything.

i am a bit confused, what do you mean there?

are you saying that he is the worse player to be considered a superstar?

falcolombardi wrote:

letskissbro wrote:

Peregrine01 wrote:Can't believe people are still talking about Lebron in best player in the world conversations. ESPN yes but anywhere else with objective basketball analysis? Lebron has basically completely stopped playing defense and has been quite clearly saving as much energy as he can to score as many points as he can.

LeBron is hardly the least deserving player to be listed here. Durant is having a worse season than him by just about every measure. Dude has maybe the lowest bar for any superstar I've ever seen. Embiid is also still a question mark in the playoffs because of how he's officiated. The perception is only different because the Lakers constructed possibly the worst supporting cast around a superstar since KG's time with the Wolves.

I voted for Jokic before anybody says anything.

i am a bit confused, what do you mean there?

are you saying that he is the worse player to be considered a superstar?

I'm saying he seems to gets the benefit of the doubt a lot more than his peers do. Maybe less of an issue on the PC board but outside of here he's the most popular pick for best player right now outside of Giannis and he's been pushed as the best player in the NBA by the media/unquestionable 2nd best player of his generation since 2014.

letskissbro wrote:

falcolombardi wrote:

letskissbro wrote:LeBron is hardly the least deserving player to be listed here. Durant is having a worse season than him by just about every measure. Dude has maybe the lowest bar for any superstar I've ever seen. Embiid is also still a question mark in the playoffs because of how he's officiated. The perception is only different because the Lakers constructed possibly the worst supporting cast around a superstar since KG's time with the Wolves.

I voted for Jokic before anybody says anything.

i am a bit confused, what do you mean there?

are you saying that he is the worse player to be considered a superstar?

I'm saying he seems to gets the benefit of the doubt a lot more than his peers do. Maybe less of an issue on the PC board but outside of here he's the most popular pick for best player right now outside of Giannis and he's been pushed as the best player in the NBA by the media/unquestionable 2nd best player of his generation since 2014.

Many people's greatest player of all-time, many people's second greatest player of al time, leading the league in scoring, and has been a top 5 player for the majority of his NBA career?

LeBron's a guy that's as long as he's in the league he's one of the best players. If we're playing one Game 7, I'm picking LeBron over any other player in the league.

Also - I think by default, anyone who leads the lead in scoring is by default one of the best players in the NBA, even if they don't contribute much on the defensive end.

Jokic but Giannis having only 1 vote is INSANITY

BIGJ1ER wrote:I feel like KD is perpetually overrated. Not sure how he is placed above a guy like Steph in this poll.

To answer the question, I think it's been Jokic this year and last. Steph is my number 2 over this timespan. Giannis is 2 this year for me though.

Steph has been mid after the first month for superstar standards. Luka prolly has a better case at this point

BIGJ1ER wrote:I feel like KD is perpetually overrated. Not sure how he is placed above a guy like Steph in this poll.

To answer the question, I think it's been Jokic this year and last. Steph is my number 2 over this timespan. Giannis is 2 this year for me though.

Steph when healthy has been better than KD every year since 2015 pretty much. KD does sometimes get overrated, and i think it's because some tend to love the aesthetics of his game over his actual impact. He's a 6'10-6'11 dude who can bomb 3s and move almost like a guard on the court. I also think there's a false belief among many that KD is this great defender too. He's had some seasons where he's been all nba caliber, but he's nowhere near a defensive anchor in fact the Nets have been in the bottom 10 of defense in his 2 seasons there.

Anyway, people need to start being honest about where we're at here. This is Jokic and Giannis' league now and will be for quite a while barring some major injury. It's likely going to be like the Wilt/Russell, Bird/Magic, Duncan/Shaq thing where they take turns as the best player over some number of years. Lebron at 37/38 is done at making a run as the best player, especially now that the league is back to an 82 game format. Curry and KD are too old and too injury prone, Kawhi if he wasn't made of glass he'd be in he conversation.

No-more-rings wrote:

BIGJ1ER wrote:I feel like KD is perpetually overrated. Not sure how he is placed above a guy like Steph in this poll.

To answer the question, I think it's been Jokic this year and last. Steph is my number 2 over this timespan. Giannis is 2 this year for me though.

Steph when healthy has been better than KD every year since 2015 pretty much. KD does sometimes get overrated, and i think it's because some tend to love the aesthetics of his game over his actual impact. He's a 6'10-6'11 dude who can bomb 3s and move almost like a guard on the court. I also think there's a false belief among many that KD is this great defender too. He's had some seasons where he's been all nba caliber, but he's nowhere near a defensive anchor in fact the Nets have been in the bottom 10 of defense in his 2 seasons there.

Anyway, people need to start being honest about where we're at here. This is Jokic and Giannis' league now and will be for quite a while barring some major injury. It's likely going to be like the Wilt/Russell, Bird/Magic, Duncan/Shaq thing where they take turns as the best player over some number of years. Lebron at 37/38 is done at making a run as the best player, especially now that the league is back to an 82 game format. Curry and KD are too old and too injury prone, Kawhi if he wasn't made of glass he'd be in he conversation.

Luka isnt as good as them now but he'll def have something to say.... It won't just be a 2 player race. Mobley, Ja, Trae, Tatum, Cade, Zion........
One or more could easily take leaps too