As long as there is organized basketball to watch, there will be fans trying to determine which player can objectively be called the best player at a time. We have seen years where the answer was usually LeBron James, but as LBJ enters Year 20, he is not held as the best player in the league.
There are plenty of players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and others that also can stake a claim to being the best in the world.
NBA fans over at Reddit have decided to have a constantly updated ranking of the players according to the fans that are a part of the r/NBA subreddit. The list currently sees Giannis at the top, followed by reigning Finals MVP Stephen Curry. Luka Doncic edges out LeBron James and Kevin Durant for the third spot, while reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and scoring leader Joel Embiid take spots 6 and 7.
The list has Kawhi Leonard, Jayson Tatum, and Jimmy Butler as the last 3 names in the top 10. Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, and Trae Young barely missed the top 10 according to the fans. The thread was full of arguments between the fans, especially with Embiid’s low ranking and Anthony Edwards being placed at 22, ahead of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Kyrie Irving.
Lists like these are always subjective, but the edge that Reddit has is that they have been able to account for multiple fan opinions and decide this list. This is a large average of multiple people sharing their preferences, so it could be the truest result we can get as far as fan opinion goes.
A list like this on Twitter or Instagram could generate different results, so it is important to know that this is specific to the Reddit audience. We haven’t seen a large-scale public ranking undertaking by anyone, so at least this list gives us a strong idea as to how people look at the current crop of NBA talent. It’ll be interesting to see how this list evolves over the 2022-23 season.
