The NBA is full of amazing players, but who are the best. Peter Klein unveils his list of the Top 10 Players in the NBA right now.
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We Had No Idea: every Wednesday morning,
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SportsTranscript
00:00Love a list on this show, don't we?
00:09It is time for the NBA Preview to continue, and these lists are often hotly debated.
00:16So whether it's in the chat or if you're watching later on YouTube, let me know if
00:20you disagree with any of these, because this was actually a bit of a tricky one to put
00:25together.
00:26Maybe a talent level dropping in the CFL.
00:30That's not happening in the NBA.
00:31There are tons of talented players across this league, and so whittling it down to ten
00:36was a little bit difficult to do.
00:39Coming in at number ten, it's Anthony Davis.
00:40I think because he's paired with LeBron, people forget how good this guy is.
00:45He stayed healthy all of last year and was just an absolute monster for the Los Angeles
00:50Likers.
00:51And he's just, when he is comfortable shooting, he can do it all, and is just, I think people
00:58really do forget how good this guy is.
01:01So he comes in at ten.
01:03At number nine, it's Jalen Brunson.
01:05You get the proof of concept in the playoffs.
01:07He has turned into an absolute superstar.
01:10You get a slight bonus point for taking the discount to help the team win, but in terms
01:14of what he can do offensively, there are few in the league that can keep up with him.
01:19And he has shown the ability now to just have those games where it's like, hey, you
01:23know what?
01:24Don't feel like losing tonight.
01:25Let's not lose, hey?
01:27And just carry this team.
01:28He has made so many players around him better as well, and so that is why he gets onto this
01:32list at number nine.
01:34At eight, it's Steph Curry.
01:36Probably too low.
01:39For some, too low.
01:41For some, they would argue that it's too high and this is a lifetime achievement thing.
01:45But if he was on a team that was being even a little bit more competitive, people are
01:51still talking about him as a two or three best player in the league.
01:53And I get it's the NBA, a whole lot of the team's competitiveness should be on you.
01:57That's not the case in Golden State.
01:58There is nothing more you could ask Steph Curry to do.
02:01Still the best shooter in the history of this sport.
02:04Still an amazing ball handler.
02:05Still amazing without the ball in his hands as well.
02:07His movement and the cuts really help open up the offense.
02:12Interesting to see what it looks like now that Klay Thompson is officially all the way
02:15gone, but Steph Curry is still one of the top ten players in the league.
02:19He comes in at number eight.
02:20At seven, it's Joel Embiid.
02:23Last year leaves a bad taste because of the injuries and because you have a close to the
02:30season that looked a little bit rough for him.
02:34It gets a little bit better in the playoffs.
02:35It was a heck of a series against the New York Knicks in the first round.
02:39It was must watch TV.
02:41But now, presuming he is healthy and presuming that he'll be ready to go, this is a gigantic
02:48season for him.
02:50This needs to be a year where he proves it's not just I can win MVP, it's I can win rounds
02:56in the postseason.
02:57I can make it to my first Eastern Conference Finals and I can really be a guy who can carry
03:02a team in that way.
03:04There would be, I think, a lot more of a conversation around him if he hadn't had the game he had
03:09against Serbia at the Olympics where he looked phenomenal against Nikola Jokic, who comes
03:15up a little bit later on here.
03:16But there needs to be, I think, that real big playoff performance for Joel Embiid.
03:22Guys who have had that before.
03:25At six, Jason Tatum.
03:27He wasn't the best player on his team at the back part of the postseason.
03:31But overall, he's been the best player on that Celtics team for a really long time.
03:35He is not as well-rounded as maybe he thinks he is.
03:37He settles for a three-point shot a little bit more than you would like, but defensively
03:40he is great.
03:41As a ball handler, he is fantastic.
03:44He's great at attacking the rim, he's a good distributor as well, and again you get the
03:48proof of concept with him going out and helping the Boston Celtics to a championship win.
03:54He has had some unbelievable playoff performances.
03:57There just isn't a whole lot this guy doesn't do.
03:59And so that's why he comes in in the top ten.
04:03At five, this one might be, I don't know, controversial might be a bit of an overstatement.
04:07But Anthony Edwards.
04:08I have Anthony Edwards over Jason Tatum.
04:10I just feel like Edwards does a lot of the things that Tatum does, and he does a few
04:16of them better.
04:18He attacks the rim a little bit more aggressively.
04:21Defensively, he is legitimately one of the best defensive players in the league.
04:24And now it helps when you have Rudy Gobert behind you, and a very good defensive team
04:28just in general.
04:29But Tatum also has a pretty good defensive team as well.
04:32And I just think Anthony Edwards, for as young as he is, to already be as talented, I think
04:36he deserves to be in the top five in players in the NBA.
04:40At four, it's Giannis.
04:41Speaking of a, oh y'all forgot about me, Giannis Attentacumpo.
04:46He's still the Greek freak.
04:47Injuries have slowed him up the last little bit.
04:49And so we have had, in very important viewings, we have either seen a limited version of him,
04:55or just no version of him at all, because injuries have kept him out.
04:58But still, when healthy, phenomenal defensive player, excellent offensive player as well.
05:04Good shooter, but the athletic gifts that he has, and the work ethic that he has, does
05:10outweigh any limitations.
05:12And I think this year, having a full year with Doc Rivers, having a full year with,
05:16and training camp and all of that, with Damian Lillard, and if there's any health to Chris
05:20Middleton at all, I think we get a reminder of how good Giannis is.
05:24At three, it's Shea Gilgis Alexander.
05:27The fact that he has continued to take step after step and grown as a player in the ways
05:32that he has, has been very impressive to watch.
05:35And has just been... it's been fun to watch.
05:38He can take over games, he can score, he can shoot, he's at least good enough defensively
05:43that he can guide you into the very good defensive players.
05:47And he makes everyone around him better offensively.
05:49He really is the total package.
05:51Coming in at two, it is Luka Doncic, who is kind of just all of those things, but bigger.
05:56And again, the proof of concept, we get his team to the NBA Finals.
06:00There were a couple of games in the Finals where you kind of question, like, what does
06:02this guy have?
06:04But offensively, he does things that no one else can do, in a way that no one else can
06:08do them.
06:09You wish there was more of an effort defensively, and you wish that there was maybe a little
06:13bit more of a conditioning edge that he may have.
06:17But the gifts and the talents that he has are so clear.
06:22And there is a very real world where he is number one on this list very, very soon.
06:27Coming in at number one, it is still Nikola Jokic.
06:31He's big, can play the game small, but can also play the game big.
06:35There is no way to actually defend him.
06:38And even on a team that was limited by injuries, and was kind of bagged after a couple of long
06:43stretches in a row, still almost took his team to the Western Conference Finals.
06:48He is an unbelievable shooter, he is one of the best passers, he is the best passing big
06:53man, big man, sorry, in the history of the sport.
06:55And just one of the better passers, regardless of size, in the history of this sport.
07:00Defensively, he can turn it on or off.
07:03But you talk about making players around you better, very few have ever been as good as
07:08Nikola Jokic as doing that.
07:10And so that is why he comes in at number one.