NBA top 100 player rankings: Giannis, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant vie for No. 1; LeBron James slips

The expertise degree within the NBA is at an all-time peak, and with that comes its personal set of issues with regard to deciphering and figuring out the most effective of the most effective. How does one select the most effective sentence in a literary masterpiece? Or probably the most scrumptious chew at a Michelin five-star restaurant? After a sure level it simply turns into a matter of private desire, and even then, the particular person making the choice might waver from everyday, hour to hour, minute to minute.

Thus, we arrive on the inherent torture of rating the highest 100 gamers within the NBA.

Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo could not be extra completely different — from physique kind to talent set to character. But we’re one way or the other presupposed to accurately place them so as of greatness? Analytics are useful. Accolades will be tiebreakers. However in the end it comes all the way down to your intestine.

That is why, right here at CBS Sports activities, now we have gone with the consensus strategy. Every of our NBA writers got here up with their very own record of the highest 100 NBA gamers for the 2022-23 season, bearing in mind potential enchancment and decline. Then, by way of a not-so-complex course of, we arrived at one superb record to rule all of them. (Simply to indicate you ways tough that is, no two of our writers had the highest six gamers in the identical order.)

The agony of an train like that is totally the purpose. We like to say “so-and-so is a top-10 participant within the league.” Oh yeah? Let’s examine the record. You may drive your self loopy for days earlier than realizing the participant you wished to place in there is not even shut.

Debates like this are a part of the rationale why we love sports activities. The video games are entertaining and fandom is not like some other social establishment, however questions like this gas our ardour. Who’s the most effective participant within the NBA? The subject deserves a prolonged and sophisticated dialogue, and hopefully we have finished it justice with our record and evaluation.

So here is to the game we love, and the butterflies that may solely include a contemporary season.

With that in thoughts, let’s get to the record. (For a more in-depth position-by-position look, CBS Sports activities additionally breaks down its rankings for point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers.)