Now that the season over, rank the Top 5 players in the league

[IGotACoolStory]

Well surprisingly no one has posted this order of the top 4 yet...

1) LeBron
2) Durant
3) Howard
4) Paul
5) Kobe

[longtime lurker]

LeBron
Howard
Paul-Durant
Whoever (Love maybe?)



Kobe: demanded a trade, bitched out management, demanded the trade of Bynum for Jason Kidd, was at least partially responsible in the ousting of PJ and Shaq.

LeBron: the decision

Carmelo: the inDecesion (Dwight before Dwight).

And that's just the superstars never mind real cancers or headcases like Stephen Jackson or Cousins.

Just because something is the most recent occurance of something it doesn't make it the worst ever. Historically we can go back to examples of Shaq, MJ, Magic, Jabbar and Wilt being petty, demanding trades etc

Too many people lack perspective and see whatever happened most recently to be "the biggest" or the only instance of poor behaviour, or the last game or series as the only indication of players ability.

LOL at trying to make Kobe's actions even seem comparable to Dwight's fvcking self involved bs. You can take Carmelo off that list too.

[che guevara]

Based on this season?

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. CP3
4. Dwight
5. Kobe?

Weak season for the top 5, and I had a hard time deciding after the top 3. I don't want to put Dwight up there because of what happened in Orlando this year, but at the same time he's just too damn good to ignore completely. I also was not at all a fan of how Kobe played this year, and I thought he had his worst season since '99-'00, but I don't know who else I could put above him.

[Tenchi Ryu]

It burns me seeing Howard on so many people's list....not just here, but the general consensus.

For acting like a ***** all damn year and straight up giving up on his team and bitching out MULTIPLE times this year, just honestly feel he doesn't deserve a top 5 spot. No killer mentality, no drive, nothing.

[GOBB]

Lebron James
Kobe Bryant
Dwight Howard
Derrick Rose
Kevin Durant

[Kingwillball]

Lebron
Durant
D12
Kobe
Rondo Dude is a Unique Player but Rose, Cp3, Rose also have a claim for top PG position.

[ShaqAttack3234]

i could probably roll with this. if kobe isn't #5, i'd go love or wade. i'm most certainly factoring in wade's bum knee. he's a candidate at that spot though unless he just looks terrible again next season. mind you, terrible by superstar standards...i'm also interested to see how dwight does post back surgery. i think a lot of people are overlooking that. it wasn't just akin to a minor knee scope from what i understand. couple that with his BMI (despite looking ripped) and the fact that he carries most of his weight in the upper body...doesn't point to positive stuff

I considered Wade, but injuries combined with such limited minutes, inconsistency and the fact that I don't think he's explosive enough to make up for the lack of a jump shot the way he did in '10 and '11. I did really like his improved post game, though.

Kobe looked like a more capable player to me this year, my only issue is that I wouldn't want to rely on either Wade or Kobe to lead my team to a title the way they played this year, but I don't think Kobe would work well playing as a 2nd option either the way he's playing this year, so that's one edge Wade has.

Definitely wouldn't go with Love in the discussion for top 5, though. Maybe top 10.

Based on this season?

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. CP3
4. Dwight
5. Kobe?

Weak season for the top 5, and I had a hard time deciding after the top 3. I don't want to put Dwight up there because of what happened in Orlando this year, but at the same time he's just too damn good to ignore completely. I also was not at all a fan of how Kobe played this year, and I thought he had his worst season since '99-'00, but I don't know who else I could put above him.

Well said, I'm in complete agreement. I was bothered by Kobe's tendency to hold the ball and overdribble this season. I defended him taking as many shots as he did throughout most of the season because they had absolutely no perimeter threat until Sessions arrived. But I often don't like the way he's getting his shots, or the shots he's taking. Holding and dribbling the ball a long time to work for your own shot is not efficient basketball, imo, and because of the loss in athleticism, he has to work more for his shots than before.

Also, he shouldn't be taking a significant amount of 3s considering he shot 30%, it's not like it's only 1 year that he's been a mediocre 3 point shooter either. The finger injuries have taken away some of that ability, as well as knee injuries and age have affected his lift because he was only at 33% on 3s in '10 and 32% in '11. So it appears that part of his game is gone, he was a very good 3 point shooter from '03-'09, but now he should forget it and focus on his mid-range game. His mid-range game and post game are still phenomenal, there's no better post up guard in the league, although those opportunities are limited with Bynum and Gasol.

I think a problem is that Mike Brown is clueless offensively, and completely unwilling to critique Kobe's game. It's not surprising given the stories about Mike Brown not criticizing Lebron for mistakes he'd criticize other Cavs for. Plus Mike Brown's completely unprofessional and embarrassing quote that he'll defer to Kobe because Kobe has won titles. Does he understand what a coaches job is and that a coach should be the boss of a team? I think that we saw more of Kobe's bad habits because Phil and the triangle were gone.

Mike Brown's offensive system and strategy are a joke in general. Look at how Gasol, arguably the most skilled big man in the league is being wasted out on the perimeter with Bynum hogging the post in this offense. Phil knew what he was doing when he had Bynum reduced to a finisher and defender/rebounder, they had their best stretch of the '10-'11 season with Bynum in that role after the all-star break, and they won in '09 with Bynum a virtual non-factor in the '09 playoffs and Gasol/Odom excelling, and in '10 with Bynum as a 9/7, 24 mpg role player, and Pau playing the best ball of his career.

Gasol is clearly the better option because he can score at least as well as Bynum, but he's unselfish, much smarter, and perhaps the best passing big man in the league. Bynum is a black hole, and doesn't make other players better. He simply doesn't know how to handle double teams.

The problem is that out of the Lakers big 3, Gasol is the only one willing to defer so he ends up being the 3rd option when Bynum should be.

I'd understand more if the Lakers were rebuilding, but they're clearly in win now mode with a 33 year old Kobe as their best player. It seems like they're somewhat in transition, but as long as they have Kobe as their 1st option, they should have Gasol as their second option.

[Callystarr]

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Russell Westbrook
4. Dwyane Wade
5. Kobe Bryant

[lilgodfather1]

LeBron
Durant
Kobe
Paul
Westbrook

[Vertical-24]

Lebron James (best sf)
Dwight Howard (best C)
Kevin Durant (best shooter, pure scorer)
Kevin Love (best pf)
Dwayne Wade (best sg)

GTFO.

1. LeBron James (the MVP, the Champion)'
2. Kevin Durant
3. Chris Paul
4. Kobe Bryant
5. Dwight Howard

Unbiased. Realistic.

[BuGzBuNNy]

It's pretty clear that some people are ranking players based on the season they had and some are ranking them based on how good they think the player is regardless, some are doing a hybrid of the two. All are valid ways, but let's just get that clear.

[nightprowler10]

Lebron James
Kobe Bryant
Dwight Howard
Derrick Rose
Kevin Durant

Yup, DRose still exists.

[Fudge]

1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant

3. Kobe Bryant
4. Dwyane Wade
5. a)Chris Paul
5. b)Dwight Howard

[StateOfMind12]

Yup, DRose still exists.

If Rose is healthy, my top 5 would probably be this.

1. LBJ
2. KD
3. CP3
4. Rose
5. Howard

The problem is that he is not healthy though.

[flipogb]

1. Lebron James

*GAP*

2. Kevin Durant
3. Dwight Howard
4. Russell Westbrook
5. Kobe Bryant

like this one, includes Kobe and no CP3