Ranking the NBA players, and in particular the best of them, is an exercise that always remains perilous. This is why The Athletic is trying a whole new system to separate the top 125 in the league. Let’s go !
Saying who is the best player in the league is one thing – and besides, agents are for example almost unanimous on the subject. But ranking, for example in a top 10 or top 20, is a whole different story. This is why The Athletic has embarked on a very ambitious project.
The American media, through a careful study based on a multitude of indicators and statistics, managed to sort out the 125 best NBA players. Only, no question of 1st, 2nd, 10th or even 50th here. The players are rather classified… by thirds, understand by “group”.
Seth Partnow, the journalist at the head of this project, explains that it is too difficult and ultimately futile to want to classify in a specific place. It therefore favors “groups” and “sub-groups”, for example 1A and 1B. Did you understand how it works? So let’s go, discover the 5 thirds made in The Athletic:
Note: For readability reasons, tiers 4 and 5 are written manually.
4A : Brandon Ingram, Brook Lopez, CJ McCollum, Danilo Gallinari, Danny Green, De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, Derrick Rose, Domantas Sabonis, Fred VanVleet, Goran Dragic, Gordon Hayward, Joe Ingles, John Wall, Jusuf Nurkic, LaMarcus Aldridge, Malcolm Brogdon, Marcus Smart, Nikola Vucevic, PJ Tucker, Robert Covington, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tobias Harris, Victor Olaidpo.
4B : Bojan Bogdanovic, Caris LeVert, D’Angelo Russell, Eric Bledsoe, JJ Redick, Jaren Jackson Jr, Joe Harris, John Collins, Lou Williams, Mike Conley, Montrezl Harrell, Myles Turner, OG Anunoby, Otto Porter Jr, Patrick Beverley, Ricky Rubio, Spencer Dinwiddie, Zach LaVine.
5 : Aaron Gordon, Al Horford, Andre Drummond, Andrew Wiggins, Aron Baynes, Blake Griffin, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Brandon Clarke, Buddy Hield, Christian Wood, Clint Capela, Daniel Theis, Danuel House, Davis Bertans, Deandre Ayton, Dejounte Murray, Dennis Schroder, Derrick White, Devonte’ Graham, Duncan Robinson, Eric Gordon, Evan Fournier, Gary Harris, George Hill, Ivica Zubac, Jae Crowder, Jarrett Allen, Jerami Grant, Jonas Valanciunas, Jonathan Isaac, Josh Richardson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kevin Love, Luke Kennard, Marc Gasol, Maxi Kleber, Miles Bridges, Mitchell Robinson, Paul Millsap, Royce O’Neale, Serge Ibaka, Seth Curry, Steven Adams, TJ Warren, Tim Hardaway Jr, Tyler Herro
In other words, The Athletic gives off a squad of 4 absolute elite players who are Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, closely followed by Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Note that Rudy Gobert interferes, admittedly narrowly, in the 2nd third.
Everyone will have their opinion on this list, but one thing is certain: despite the innovative method, not sure that it puts an end to the eternal debates and controversies …
