In normal, everyday life, intelligence is measured in a variety of ways. Children are tested on what they know and have learned in school daily. Throughout occupations everywhere, there are exams given to determine where someone should be placed within their area of expertise. When it comes to the game of basketball, throw all of that out of the window. In a similar fashion, we can measure or take a deep dive into the intelligence level of each player on the court.
Throughout the NBA today, there is a clear difference in the way some players understand the game compared to their peers. Players stand out by the way they can control a game, make smart decisions, and elevate the level of play of their teammates on a regular basis. This is also true on an individual level, with players able to show their IQ through not how much they score, rebound, assist, or defend but how they do it and what effect it has on those around them, leading to success on a team level. Often, you can get a good idea of the smartest players in the game by looking at scoring champions, assists champions, and rebounding champions, as well as the players who don’t cost their teams games with unforced errors.
These are the 10 most Intelligent NBA players in 2022-23.
Honorable Mention
Jrue Holiday
Jrue Holiday comes in just outside the top 10 of the most intelligent players in the game today, but his IQ level is off the charts. Holiday has been one of the better two-way players in the game over the last five seasons, and the results his play produces are evidence of that. His IQ on offense really shines when he and teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo get into the pick-and-roll. He can score in the lane or stop and hit the jumper as well, or he will execute a play with a lob or a skip pass with perfect precision as well as a drive and dish passer.
Where Holiday really shines and provides his biggest impact is on the defensive side of the ball. Holiday is an extremely active and demoralizing on-ball defender who can make any night a long one for most opposition. His attentiveness and leadership through communication are other defensive attributes that he brings to the table that can be credited to his IQ on the court. In 2021, the Milwaukee Bucks do not become NBA champions without him working as the engine, making everything move.
Jimmy Butler
If you ever need a measurement of Jimmy Butler’s basketball IQ, just watch this guy take the court in the NBA playoffs. He is a manipulative offensive player, constantly deceiving defenses who don;’ know whether he is going to put his head down and drive to the rim or pull up and shoot. Butler has also done the same to manipulate offense into stupid mistakes that have proven to be costly on the game’s biggest stages.
Butler doesn’t need his numbers to be astronomical to know that he had an impact on the game and made his teammates better while doing it. Look at what he is doing against Milwaukee in the NBA playoffs at this current time. He is picking them apart on both sides of the ball by forcing them into bad shots and tactically choosing his spots with the ball in his hands or forcing himself to the free-throw line. If that isn’t a sign of intelligence, then I don’t know what is.
10. Kyrie Irving
It doesn’t take a basketball savant to know that Kyrie Irving is one of the smartest players in the NBA. The most obvious first example of this is the way he can control the basketball. Kyrie doesn’t dribble without a purpose. Every move is designed to set up the next, whether that be a pull-up jumper from three or a beautifully constructed shot at the basket.
Kyrie has arguably the greatest handles of all time, but that is far from the only sign of his basketball intelligence. He is not known as turnover-prone or someone who will cost his team games with mistakes on the court. Of course, this has zero to do with anything outside of basketball. Even as he is making and creating these shots, Irving still has his eyes on the entire court, allowing him to utilize his teammates as well. Say what you will, but Kyrie is deserving of a top 10 spot.
9. Kevin Durant
There isn’t a soul alive who can argue the level of intelligence that Kevin Durant displays on the basketball court. The way he is able to use his slender frame and behave as if he is a guard is certainly a sign of a high basketball IQ. Durant is methodical and efficient when choosing his spots on the court, often creating for himself off the dribble. He has become one of the greatest mid-range scorers and recently became the first player in NBA history to have a 55/40/90 season.
Durant’s intelligence is not limited to his scoring. He is also a very underrated defender and playmaker on the offensive side of the ball. As a defender, he has become super adept at reading plays off the ball for timely steals and blocks. As a playmaker, he has become way more aware of his surroundings and finds his teammates on a regular basis when opponents throw the kitchen sink at him on defense. Durant’s scoring, decision-making, and playmaking all lead to him having a top-10 basketball IQ.
8. James Harden
Just a few seasons ago, James Harden was one of the most lethal scorers in basketball with the Houston Rockets. Now, harden has completely transformed the game after rule changes have forced his game to change as well, and he has completely answered the challenge. Harden has become one of the game’s most elite playmakers and passers, utilizing his union on the court with MVP-favorite Joel Embiid.
In 2022-23, James Harden led the NBA in assists with 10.7 APG. Once again, Harden was back to the same Harden as he was in Houston, gauging defenders’ reactions and attacking the defense accordingly. He led by example for Philadelphia this season, knowing when to take the game over or when to leave it to Joel Embiid to take them home. Harden’s high basketball IQ could be a reason the 76ers contend for an NBA championship this season.
7. Kawhi Leonard
In regards to small forwards in today’s NBA, Kawhi Leonard is among the smartest of them all. This doesn’t just apply to the basketball court, as Leonard had been an honor roll student in the classroom for most of his life. Leonard’s basketball IQ is another story as a defender and scorer at the most critical points in a game.
Kawhi is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who used his high basketball IQ to force LeBron James into bad decisions and shots for a win in the 2014 NBA Finals. He did the same for the Raptors in 2019 as he led them to an NBA championship. In the 2020s, despite injuries, he continues to do so for the Los Angeles Clippers on a nightly basis as well. His quick hands, ability to read passing lanes, and the way in which he attacks downhill on defenses are all the biggest indicators of his high basketball IQ.
6. Chris Paul
Out of all the players below the top five on this list, Chris Paul is the only one I am comfortable with being placed anywhere inside the top 10. The reasons I feel this way are simple. On the one hand, Chris Paul is one of the greatest manipulators of defense from the point guard position we have ever seen. He is a precise passer and playmaker who makes very few to no costly mistakes most of the time. He is the consummate floor general who has made countless teammates’ ceilings much higher while elevating every team he goes to.
On the other hand, we have seen examples of Paul completely folding in the big moments of big games as well. Whether it be turnovers or bad decision-making, Paul has had his moments where he has played his teams out of games as well. This does not take anything away from him as an overall point guard, but having him in the middle of the pack feels like a fair compromise.
5. Draymond Green
There aren’t many players that we can point to on this list who display exceptionally high basketball IQ on both sides of the ball. Draymond Green takes this to another level which has led to four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors since 2015. On offense, Green is the engine that makes everything go with his patience as the play unfolds, leading to easier opportunities for his teammates. His ability to know where to be at any moment is great, but it is his ability to understand where everyone else needs to be that stands out the most.
The same can be said for what he brings to the table on defense. The former Defensive Player of the Year is constantly instructing teammates on where to be and calling out rotations like a quarterback in the NFL. He makes adjustments quickly to everything he sees on both ends of the court as well, which has led to many wins for the Warriors over the years.
4. Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic is unlike any other superstar in the NBA. Once you get past the incessant complaining to the referees, his game is the most beautiful thing to watch transpire on a basketball court. No matter what point his team seems to be at in the game, Doncic is going to play it at his pace and slow things down in order to calculate his next point of attack. He is lethal as a pick-and-roll player as well, with a deadly combination of elite scoring and IQ to set up his teammates.
On offense, Doncic is the quarterback, running back, and wide receiver all rolled into one. The entire game runs through him and what his decisions are to be made. Any head coach would not allow that for even their best player unless they trusted every decision that player made on the court. In order to build that trust, Doncic has shown his ability to lead and exceed expectations using his mind combined with the skill and talent he possesses.
3. Stephen Curry
One cannot simply become the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history simply by existing and finding ways to get open. Stephen Curry did this by becoming one of the smartest players the game has ever had the honor of seeing. Obviously, Curry’s range and efficiency shooting the ball have a ton to do with why he became the greatest, but let me ask a question. Have you ever seen a player like Curry and the way he moves off the ball?
Curry doesn’t just run around without a purpose. He has intention in every step and cut he makes. He is the best we have ever seen at utilizing the screen to get the inch of space and split second of time he needs to make his shots. Curry is also a well-rounded high, IQ player. When his shot isn’t there or isn’t falling, he has zero issues putting the ball on the floor to get himself going or his teammates involved.
2. Nikola Jokic
You do not become a back-to-back MVP in the NBA while looking at a third by not having an extremely high basketball IQ. The entire Denver Nuggets offense revolves around Jokic and his ability to do whatever he wants with the ball at any time. From his perfection of the Sombor Shuffle to his innate ability to make any pass that has ever been created, Nikola Jokic is easily one of the smartest players in the NBA today.
Jokic isn’t just a one-trick pony on the offensive side of the ball. He can be placed in the high post, where he can make passes to cutters or shooters on the outside. He can be placed in the low post, where he can score fairly easily and make insane cross-court passes for open shots. Heck, Jokic can even run the point in certain situations if need be. Jokic is already the greatest playmaking and passing big man in Denver history. Is he already the greatest in NBA history too?
1. LeBron James
Before we even began this countdown, you had to know who was going to be number one. The NBA’s worst-kept secret over the last 20 years has to be the high IQ of LeBron James. For 20 seasons, we have watched one of the greatest careers in NBA history unfold as he delivered multiple championships to three different franchises while winning four MVP awards and four Finals MVP awards.
James’ IQ is so complex, it can not be limited to just numbers and math equations. As a playmaker, there is only one other player I would take in NBA history over LeBron James. His ability to be both a playmaking and scoring threat in the open court is underrated almost just as much as his ability to do it in set offenses. On defense, he has the wherewithal to cover all five positions on the court and make an impact on winning that way. He elevated his teammates’ game among the best floor raisers in NBA history as well as the best ceiling raisers in NBA history. James is many things, and the smartest player in the NBA is certainly one of them.
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