It’s high time for another tier list around these parts! NBA season is full blast in the second round of the playoffs and I couldn’t be more hyped to watch games right now. 6 out of 8 teams remaining I’d love to watch win it all, which then I realized made it hard for me to determine who I want winning. When it comes the NBA, I’ve noticed over the years I root more for the player than for the team (with some Southern Californian exceptions). That being said, I thought it would be fun to look up a list of the top players and rank em’ all (I don’t have opinions on just anyone who grazes the court). I am especially motivated since my favorite NBA player of all time went down this year with a career ending heart condition (LaMarcus Aldridge).
Of course some caveats.
1.) This is a snapshot from June 10th 2021. Players do things all the time that gave me gain or lose favor, especially in this social media age (Classic example).
2.) We’re ranking mega-millionaires here. They are ranked amongst other mega-millionaires. I don’t want to make more of this ranking than that.
3.) I’m rooting for them to win basketball games, not anything else.
All tiers are ranked within each rank, in order of how much I like them.
Root Hard for: De’Aaron Fox, Mike Conley, Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson, Nikola Jokic, Damian Lillard, Derrick Favors, DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson, Marc Gasol, Stephen Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, CJ McCollum, Domantas Sabonis, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Deandre Ayton, Steven Adams, Duncan Robinson, Ja Morant
Root for: Harrison Barnes, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Tobias Harris, Paul Millsap, Kyle Lowry, Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Pascal Siakam, Khris Middleton, Draymond Green, Jaylen Brown, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Dejounte Murray, Jonas Valanciunas, Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, Goran Dragic, Joe Ingles, Brook Lopez, JJ Redick, Robert Covington, Caris LeVert, Aaron Gordon, Fred VanVleet, Jerami Grant, Christian Wood
Neutral for: Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, LaMelo Ball, Malcolm Brogdon, Bam Adebayo, Bradley Beal, Kawhi Leonard, Will Barton, Serge Ibaka, Ricky Rubio, OG Anunoby, PJ Tucker, Jaren Jackson Jr, Myles Turner, Bojan Bogdanovic, John Wall, Danilo Gallinari, Jusuf Nurkic, Ben Simmons, TJ Warren
Meh for: Jayson Tatum, D’Angelo Russell, Zach LaVine, Brandon Ingram, Nikola Vucevic, Otto Porter Jr, Lou Williams, Eric Gordon, Gary Harris, Clint Capela, Kevin Love, Victor Oladipo, Collin Sexton, Kristaps Porzingis, Davis Bertans, John Collins, Blake Griffin
Actively root against: Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Trae Young, Andre Drummond, LeBron James, Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverley, Eric Bledsoe
And that’s my rankings! I’ve played fantasy basketball for several years and I was impressed how that influenced this list.
Were there any surprises on this list? Are you curious about my justification on any of them? Let me know in the comments below or through a shipped metal briefcase.
huesteus 