Close if posted in another thread. Bleacher Report just posted its Top 100 NBA Players Power Ranking. And as with rankings, it's quite flawed in that you can't put players from different positions into one big clump and rank 'em. It just doesn't work that way. You can rank teams but you can't objectively rank players without classifying them into their respective positions. Having said that, there are a few unquestionable players that should belong to the top echelon of the league no matter how you look at it. But this list really took me by surprise when it put LEBRON JAMES as the No. 1 player in the NBA. What's more ridiculous is it even acknowledged Lebron's poor and inconsistent post-season performance. When you "rank" players, you HAVE to look at them across the board and consistency definitely should be a big factor....especially in the post-season. That's what separate the superstars from the rest of the pack. Anyone can put up big numbers on any given night in the regular season. If you're going to earn your strips, you have to do it as well and on a consistent basis in the post-season. This is what define Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, etc. They bring it night in and night out and they make the game look easy and effortless. Lebron James? He still hasn't proven ANYTHING. And I agree with most people in that he isn't even the best player on his team. He hasn't won anything, and wasn't even the MVP of last season. Gave a very inconsistent performance during the playoffs and was heckled to death for not showing up in fourth quarters. On top of that, critics have identified some serious flaws in his game. No post-up game, inconsistent jumpers, and sometimes questionable shot selection. He was the MAIN reason why Miami came up short in the championship. If you all remember, Wade stepped up when he was needed. Bosh stepped up. Lebron played the third fiddle in the Finals. So given all this, how can the author still put Lebron at No. 1 is beyond me. As for our three Rox players of Lowry, Scola, and K-Mart..I think all three are ranked a bit too low. Bleach Report's Top 5: 1. Lebron James 2. Kobe Bryant 3. Dwaye Wade 4. Kevin Durant 5. Dwight Howard My Top 5: 1. Kobe Bryant 2. Dwaye Wade 3. Derrick Rose 4. Lebron James 5. Kevin Durant Link to the report: http://bit.ly/osiN7x
Rose was the MVP last season. Apparently others also think the same. Lebron has bigger star power at this point than Rose, and he may be better defensively given his size and athleticism. But Rose had a better season and he's clearly the leader. Since the Top 100 list made adjustments for the 2010-2011 season, I would definitely put Rose above Lebron at this very moment. But only slightly better.
Read your post before posting again. You blame Lebron James' ranking b/c of his poor postseason performance (and you disregarded his dominant first 3 rounds, but anyways), and yet you have Derrick Rose above him in your personal ranking, when Rose had one of the ugliest postseasons ever for a superstar, let alone an MVP. Then you continue and put Kobe Bryant at #1, when his team was swept out of the 2nd round, and he couldn't even draw a double team at all in the playoffs. You're going off of reputation, which is not how rankings work. You don't agree with that ranking, but yet your arguments for players above him are way off base. Watch the playoffs. The Bulls advanced in the playoffs with Rose shooting 39.6%. The Bulls won in the reg season and playoffs b/c of their defense and rebounding. TMAC shot 39% vs the Jazz and that was his worst playoff series of all time, despite also putting up 26 points, 6 boards, and 7 dimes.
and to add, I went through the list. It is so ****ty I don't even feel like pointing out the flaws, **** don't make no sense, the person obviously haven't watched 90% of the players listed.
It's actually a pretty great article. You might differ with the rankings but this could have been an espn featured article, it's excellent.
Let me ask you a question, DO YOU KNOW how rankings work? Does anyone know how rankings work? Rankings on players are flawed to begin with and are usually very controversial. I made this point clear at the beginning of my post. Additionally, there is really no official standard or formula on how to rank players. You can look at almost any of the factors such as PER, FT, STEAL, BLOCK, FG%, championships, # of MVP awards, reputation, etc etc. It's not exactly accounting where you plug in all these numbers and a computer will give you an exact ranking. Certain intangibles such as "reputation" or "legacy" definitely plays into this. Jordan doesn't have the most number of championships in NBA history nor does he have the highest point total. Russell and Chamberlain can claim those honors. But he's arguably and has been voted by numerous media as the best basketball player in history. This debate can go on forever. I "think" most (but not all) basketball analyst will probably argue that Kobe is the best player in the league given that he's got all that legacy and championships to back him up plus he's the most complete player in the league when not injured. The problem with him last season is, he was playing injured (knee and finger) and all the wear and tear of those consecutive post-season appearances have taken a toll on his body. He's also not a 20-something player anymore. Add to that the fact that his team was having chemistry problems in the post-season. There is no other player with the exception of Duncan that is as accomplished as Kobe in the league. And Duncan has started to slide far earlier than Kobe. Mark this down, Kobe is still benchmark in the league right now. As for me ranking Wade higher, everyone knows it's Wade's team when Lebron decided to move to Miami. Wade has been and always will be the top dog in Miami and he showed that in the finals when everything mattered the most. He also has a championship ring. I think it's suitable to compare Lebron and Rose because they're both relatively young players but at different positions. Lebron had the advantage coming into the league. He was more physically gifted, athletic, and had a whole team at his disposal. Rose had to work his way up the system and prove himself worthy to the Bulls. The reason I rank Rose higher, despite lackluster performance in the playoffs is because 1). He doesn't have a super team to back him up and 2). He improved his game every season and every one saw that. Thus, the MVP. Lebron started out way ahead of the pack but I don't see him making big changes to his game and he has suffered dearly for that. Plus, he's got this T-MAC like reptutation now that was carried over to Miami from his Cleveland days where people say he tends to "check out" of games in the 4th quarter when things don't look promising. Look, without going into all the shooting % and stuff, all I'm saying is it's a really close call now between Lebron and Rose and I think I've justified myself on why I pick Rose over Lebron at the moment. You have the right to disagree. But ain't no way people should be knocking on Kobe just because he had a down season and not mentioning that he had led his team to championship the year before. When Jordan came out of retirement for the second time and joined the Wizards, nobody dared to take the top dog label away from him despite other players playing much better. Unless Lebron becomes more consistent and win a few championships, he'll never "deserve" the top spot in my mind.
I've read better articles on there than I have on more 'professional' sites. The little guys need a shot too you know.
1) A lot of ESPN analysts put Lebron as the #1 player, even after his poor Finals performance. In fact, ESPN just updated their top 10 players of last year in a slideshow, and Lebron was #1, Kobe was #4. Legacies and things like that matter to rank player's CAREER, not who is the best RIGHT NOW. Kobe Bryant is CLEARLY no longer a top 5 player right now, and injuries do play a part in that. Why? As you get older, you'll get more injuries = decline. You have to take that into account. I don't know where you get "most" analysts who will take Kobe as the #1 player right now from. They show him a ton of respect though. 2) Your argument for Wade is ridiculous stupid that I won't even mention it. Wade basically was a no-show also in the Conference Finals, but no one cared. Why? Because people have higher expectations for Lebron James, and you only do that for better players. And if anything, it shows the Heat cannot win without Lebron dominating. They can win with Wade putting up 18 points on 41% vs the Bulls, but Lebron put up 18, 7, 7 on 48% fg and the Heat couldn't do jack. 3) You can compare Rose and Lebron, but Rose isn't on his level yet. Lebron basically embarrassed Derrick Rose mano-el-mano in that series. He shut him down the entire series in the 4th quarter straight up, and Lebron is a freakin' small forward. The only player you can make a case for over Lebron is Dwight Howard. Why? Because Dwight Howard is arguably the only other player in the L who does MORE on the court and for his team than Lebron. Not Wade, Kobe, Durant, Dirk, Rose or anybody. The only 2 players who are dominant 2-way players right now in the league are Lebron James and Dwight Howard. That's it. Those 2 are a level ahead of everybody else. The game isn't just about offense people, defense is key too. Rose/Kobe/Durant/Dirk are not dominant defensive players. Wade can be if he puts his mind to it, which is not all the time.
The report is pretty accurate imho. Remember its not a review about the most liked players in the NBA, its a review about the best players.
