LeBron James
This should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody. Last year was a complete outlier for LeBron James, mostly due to him suffering the first major injury of his career. Lebron, like most years, wasn't the best player during the course of the regular season, and missing the playoffs meant that he missed out on the opportunity to remind the basketball world that he is still the best player in the world when it matters most. This year, Lebron was still not the best player in the regular season, proved by him rightfully not winning MVP. However, during the course of this unprecedented post-season, he continued to close the gap between him and MJ by winning his fourth ring and fourth Finals MVP. LeBron once again proved that the crown rests on the head of the chosen one.
2. Kawhi Leonard
I was one of the people that wrongfully crowned Kawhi Leonard the best player in the NBA last year due to the absence of LeBron James and Leonard's historic playoff run that resulted in the Toronto Raptors being crowned NBA champions for the first time in their twenty-four year history. That argument now has clearly lost all standing ground thanks to the LA Clippers collapsing in the second round of the NBA playoffs in shameful fashion. However, despite his awful showing in Game 7, I still believe that Kawhi was his elite self for most of that second round series, and factors such as team chemistry and more specifically Paul George's disappearance act should take a majority of the blame. At the end of the day, I still believe that Leonard is the best two-way player in basketball and will be on a revenge tour heading into the 2021 NBA season.
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo
I suspect this to be the most controversial on the list. I completely acknowledge the fact that Giannis's teams have came up short for two consecutive years in the playoffs, but I still believe that the NBA world has been too harsh on Antetokounmpo's play. I understand that Giannis totally collapsed in the 2019 ECF after going up 2-0 on Kawhi's Raptor's, but I think what most NBA fans fail to acknowledge is that the 2019 Toronto Raptors were on of the best playoff defenses in NBA history and Antetokounmpo was being guarded by arguably the best defender in basketball. Even in this year's playoffs, Giannis averaged 26 points and 8 rebounds, whilst his teammates Khris Middelton and Eric Bledsoe proved to be liabilities. Ultimately, Giannis is the two time reigning MVP, he is the best regular-season player in the league, he is arguably the best defender in the league, and I happen to believe that he is the third best player in the league.
4. Stephen Curry
This choice might be questionable considering that Steph Curry will be essentially one year removed from playing professional basketball by the time he suits up to play next season. However, I still believe that Curry is the most valuable offensive weapon in all of basketball and I don't expect that to change one bit for this upcoming season. It is important for NBA enthusiasts to remember that Steph Curry's presence on the floor alone frightens defenses because not only is he the best shooter in the game today, he is the best shooter of the basketball in the history of mankind. I understand that Curry's defensive weaknesses may be of growing concern due to his advancing age, but I just don't believe that a slight slip up on the defensive end of the floor can even come close to canceling out his all world offense. In my opinion, Stephen Curry is the best offensive basketball player in the league today and the fourth best overall NBA player heading into next season.
5. James Harden
Personally speaking, Harden was a pretty easy choice when it came to rounding off my top five. Similar to Giannis, I would say that Harden would rank much higher on the list if we were strictly talking about the regular season. I mean, the guy has consecutively placed top 3 in MVP voting for the past half-decade, ever since he stepped foot in Houston. In my opinion, Harden is neck and neck with Curry for the title of the best offensive player in basketball during the regular season. Harden has been the only player in the 2010's to even come close to touching the scoring records that were set by Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. I know we have become numb to Harden's crazy statistics but the guy has averaged over 34 ppg in each of the last two seasons! However, Harden's drop in performance during the playoffs is just as mind blowing, with the last four post seasons ending with him collapsing under the pressure, causing him to slide much farther on this list that his numbers would suggest.
6.Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis might the be single player who increased his stock the most this season. Davis was sensational on both ends of the floor all season, a season which ended with him being crowned an NBA champion. Davis was the Laker's defensive anchor and a excellent secondary option on offense throughout the playoffs. This combination of incredible play and finally the wins to go along with it allowed AD to grow out of the "good stats bad team" label and cemented his legacy as a Hall of Famer. However, I feel like AD has been slightly overrated by some, with some individuals claiming that he is better than 2x MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. I find this take to be utterly ridiculous because it is based upon the fact that AD won a ring, but it fails to mention that AD was playing with the best player in the world and Giannis was playing with...Khris Middelton. Despite all that, AD is still a generational two-way talent and he ranks as the sixth best player on this list.
7. Luka Doncic
Speaking of generational talents, we are certainly witnessing one in the form of Luka Doncic. Luka Doncic might have just wrapped up the greatest 20 year old season in the history of basketball, a season that unfortunately ended with him going home in the first round, but not before he hit a crazy step back game-winning three in overtime to force a Game 6. Luka completely exploded in his sophomore year, averaging 28 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists on the season! Watching Luka this year was pure magic, from his euro-steps to his passes, it just seemed like he had the ability to make everybody else move at half speed. I was a huge believer in Luka during the 2018 NBA draft, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect him to ever be this good, let alone in his sophomore year! And the crazy part is that this is only the beginning of the legend of Luka Doncic, by next year he might have leapfrogged a couple spots on this list, and in a few years time we might be talking about Doncic as the best player in basketball.
8. Kevin Durant
Not going to lie, Kevin Durant was probably the hardest decision on this entire list, mostly due to the devastating Achilles injury he suffered in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. Because if we were talking about pre-injury Durant, he would undoubtedly be top 3 on this list. I mean, Kevin Durant is straight out of a video game, he is a 7 footer with guard-like handles and shooting. Pre-injury Durant is probably the most talented scorer in NBA history, the guy has averaged 28ppg for his entire career! However, history unfortunately suggests that Kevin Durant will not be close to the same player when he suits up for the Brooklyn Nets this coming season. A perfect example of this was the late great Kobe Bryant in 2013, when he went from an All-NBA caliber player to a shell of himself. But hey, Kevin Durant has been an anomaly his entire life and I hope that trend continues, but till proven otherwise I am going to rely on history and come up with the conclusion that Kevin Durant is likely to be closer to the tenth best player in basketball upon his return.
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