It's official. Top 5 best players in the world are NOT american

[KGtabake]

If Curry is healthy, he's the best. Obviously he's my favourite so i get that I'm not too subjective but that's what i believe.
The fact though that he's 37 years old speaks volumes about the new American players.

[Wilfried]

I already felt that it could be very possible that next Olympics will be the first USA won't win the gold medal in bball (while have their best players available).

The players that won the medal for the US in 2024 were Curry (by far), Durant and LeBron. They won't be available anymore in 2028 and I don't see that much talent getting into the mix.

According to this topic, I feel Curry should be in it, but off course, he's not really 'the future' anymore.

[bovice]

giannis isn't top 5

[NBA Sheady]

Tariffs incoming.

[bonita_the_frog]

giannis isn't top 5

Giannis 2025-26 is currently averaging 36.0 points, 16.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, .683 field, .667 threes

Its physically impossible to play better than that

And Giannis 2024-25 averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, .601 field, 34.2 minutes

And Giannis for the last SIX YEARS has averaged 29.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists, .575 field, 1.1 blocks

[Sofia]

I just find it extremely weird people fixate on this stuff.

Just give me the best players in the world without some cultish clinging to nationalism.

It’s an American thing. Most Americans don’t follow sports like hockey or soccer where international players are usually better than the Americans.

It is opposite, most americans dgaf if a player is an american or not as long as they do a good job for their teams. For other countries it is a national pride to have a high level player in the nba.

El Americano

[druggas]

Under the category: "Who cares."

[Capn'O]

Sure. But 6-20 is almost all American and maybe all American depending on how you count Embiid and Sabonis. Wherever you rank Sengun or Wagner... that's the next one after 5.

[El Turco]

It’s an American thing. Most Americans don’t follow sports like hockey or soccer where international players are usually better than the Americans.

It is opposite, most americans dgaf if a player is an american or not as long as they do a good job for their teams. For other countries it is a national pride to have a high level player in the nba.

El Americano

Imagine Sengun makes me like a dump like Houston

[tsherkin]

If Curry is healthy, he's the best. Obviously he's my favourite so i get that I'm not too subjective but that's what i believe.
The fact though that he's 37 years old speaks volumes about the new American players.

"Favorite" and "best" aren't the same thing, though. It's very obvious that Curry isn't the best player in the league at this stage of his career (nor has he been that for a very long time now), and he isn't really a top-5 guy any longer either. As we factor in health/availability over a given season, we'll see what happens. He's definitely off to a hot, strong start right now, but obviously we've seen that before and 3 games means absolutely nothing. The fact that he's still around making noise at his age and after this many seasons remains pretty awesome, though.

Health aside, Embiid, Doncic, Giannis, Wemby, Shai and Jokic are pretty much the locks for top-6 in one order or another. Beyond that, you start getting into that Healthy Tatum/Old Steph kind of tier, and onward from there, with some consideration for guys like Harden and Kawhi obviously. We still need to see what Lebron can bring in this, his 23rd season, but obviously no one is expecting him to be a top-5 player at this stage of his career, and probably not top-10 either.

The top end of the league is all people from outside of the United States for the moment. The top younger American guys have to be Tatum, Ant, Haliburton, Ja (when healthy/not suspended, obviously), Zion, Brunson and Booker. Hopefully I'm not missing anyone obvious, but regardless, none of those guys is really anywhere near the top-6 at this point. They're all very good (when healthy/on the court), but they aren't that level of player. For Tatum, I doubt he cares, because he's been so successful in the East and has a recent title, so whatever, right? Same same for Boston fans in general, like, it doesn't really matter where people rank their guy because they won a title two years ago, a couple years after making the Finals against the Warriors in 2022. So yeah, *shrug shoulders*, right? But it's clear that he isn't the same type of player that dominates the top of the league rankings, which is what this conversation is about.

Does it matter? I think most people don't really care. The best guys are the best guys. And if they're fun to watch, so much the better. This whole narrative would probably be a little skewed as well if either Tatum or Haliburton (or both) hadn't been taken out due to injuries. If one of them had one a title, I'm sure there'd be push to rate them a little differently based on that team success and we'd likely be hearing less about who is and isn't American relative to rankings, but c'est la vie.

[dballislife]

um its been a few years now lol...before it was

jokic
giannis
sga
doncic
embiid

now after embiid going downhill its wemby

[KayDee35]

This is testament to NBA marketing and reach. Basketball is still not a global sport but it's not just an American sport anymore. These guys and others will be instrumental in growing the international market which should attract more talent and so on. It's a great thing for the sport.

[Jasen777]

I think it was argumentative in the last few years but Wemby's surge has ended all debate. I don't think there's an argument for any american player right now to be inserted in anyone's top 5. Which I don't think ever happened as a semi consensus anyway.

It's Jokic, Luka, Shai, Giannis and Wemby. Forget about just the very best or top 3, we're at top 5 best right now.

Should be a fun all star game if they're all available. That would be the World starting lineup. Good luck to the other two american teams.

Talent wise, yes. But it's an all-star game and Jokic and Luka especially have given no **** about them. So anything could happen.

[The-Power]

No idea why people believe someone from North America is not American

I hear ya but most people outside the US call people in the US 'Americans'. If I were to guess, it's because USA doesn't lend itself to an easy name. "America" being the last word --> Americans just like "Emirates" from UAE --> Emiratis.

I think it has more to do with U.S. Americans referring to themselves as ‘Americans’ and calling the country ‘America’. And that has just been adopted. Ideally, the OP should be more specific, though.

[LeBronSpaghetti]

I just find it extremely weird people fixate on this stuff.

Just give me the best players in the world without some cultish clinging to nationalism.

It’s an American thing. Most Americans don’t follow sports like hockey or soccer where international players are usually better than the Americans.

It is opposite, most americans dgaf if a player is an american or not as long as they do a good job for their teams. For other countries it is a national pride to have a high level player in the nba.

There’s a reason why the American media thinks the “face of the NBA” conversation is between Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum.

[raleigh]

Ideally, the OP should be more specific, though.

Not if they were speaking English. (Spoiler: they were).

The English term (demonym) used to describe people of the U.S.A. is and has always been "American." There's no ambiguity in English; any other uses of "American" involve the use of an adjective.

[El Turco]

It’s an American thing. Most Americans don’t follow sports like hockey or soccer where international players are usually better than the Americans.

It is opposite, most americans dgaf if a player is an american or not as long as they do a good job for their teams. For other countries it is a national pride to have a high level player in the nba.

There’s a reason why the American media thinks the “face of the NBA” conversation is between Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum.

Nah, that's just you. Out of 5 players they talk about 4 of them are foreign born.

https://www.nba.com/watch/video/are-giannis-luka-tatum-next-face-of-the-nba-feb-26

[cupcakesnake]

Sure. But 6-20 is almost all American and maybe all American depending on how you count Embiid and Sabonis. Wherever you rank Sengun or Wagner... that's the next one after 5.

I was going to post this if you hadn't already.
For a sec I thought the rest of the entirety of the top 20 was American, but I think a lot of people at this point would have Sengun locked into the top 20. Wagner probably gets on a lot more of these lists this season.

Embiid played for team USA and has called himself American. He's lived here for over a decade and has citizenship, so that's up to him. I'd be surprised if Domas identified as American though. I know he was born in the States and played college ball here. His childhood was in Spain. Obviously he comes from a Lithuanian family, plays for Lithuania, etc. I'd assume he identifies as a Lithuanian. His wife is American and his kids are growing up here. He's a Jewish convert.

[Capn'O]

Sure. But 6-20 is almost all American and maybe all American depending on how you count Embiid and Sabonis. Wherever you rank Sengun or Wagner... that's the next one after 5.

I was going to post this if you hadn't already.
For a sec I thought the rest of the entirety of the top 20 was American, but I think a lot of people at this point would have Sengun locked into the top 20. Wagner probably gets on a lot more of these lists this season.

Embiid played for team USA and has called himself American. He's lived here for over a decade and has citizenship, so that's up to him. I'd be surprised if Domas identified as American though. I know he was born in the States and played college ball here. His childhood was in Spain. Obviously he comes from a Lithuanian family, plays for Lithuania, etc. I'd assume he identifies as a Lithuanian. His wife is American and his kids are growing up here. He's a Jewish convert.

Right, so any way you slice it the US is still pumping out a lot of great players and great international talent is developing fine within our systems. The extreme outliers aren't primarily coming from the US though, which you'd expect with global billions getting added to the talent pool. Basketball still isn't the biggest global sport but the best potential prospects are more and more getting funneled into basketball.

As of right now, if the US were to face off against The World, The World would probably win. For any one country we're still far and away producing the most star players even if our top end talent is in a bit of a lull.



As I mentioned in the other similar thread, The World's prospects aren't all hitting. Plenty of busts come from the European tracks as well. Been a minute since anyone hyped Sekou Doumbouya or Killian Hayes. These transcendent talents are hitting though.

[peZt]

I just find it extremely weird people fixate on this stuff.

Just give me the best players in the world without some cultish clinging to nationalism.

Its not about nationalism. I am european and I find it sad the current state of american BAsketball. And not because I care about US americans. But becuase I care about Basketball.

Its amazing that we have 5 players of this level in the NBA right now. This might be the best top 5 in a long time in the NBA. BUT in the past we always had at least 3-4 american players on this level of superstardom in the NBA. In the 2010s we had LeBron, KD, Curry, Harden, Kawhi, etc. In the 2000s Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, Wade, LeBron etc.

What I'm tryna say is that the NBA would be in an INCREDIBLE shape if we still had those 3-4 superstars in the league. Its great for the NBA that we have 5 players on the level of Doncic or Jokic. But imagine if we had 10. Imagine if we had prime KD, Curry and Harden to go along with this? If we had 10 players of this level at the same time. It would probably be the best NBA in history.

And its not mutually exclusive, talent in Europe getting better doesnt mean it has to get worse in the US. But it clearly is. So yes its great that the rest of the world is producing superstars, but as a fan it would have been great if the US kept producing them as well. Like they had always done since the 80s.

As a Basketball fan its just a shame that the greatest international genereation of all time coincides with the worst american generation since the 80s.