On September 23rd, ESPN published, the NBArank, a list of the players they believed would be the best for the 2022–23 season, breaking the hearts of countless. This is not the first time ESPN’s NBArank made the fans along with the players sit and scratch their head over this controversial listing.
Introducing the NBArank top 5️⃣
— ESPN (@espn) September 23, 2022
More from our experts: https://t.co/bdHb6B6BFe pic.twitter.com/qrp0krZrKx
Countless debates arose since the names of two great SFs, one from Lakers and other from Nets, are not mentioned in Top 5. Last year’s NBArank’s #1, Kevin Durant, who had previously beaten out every other major player, has dropped to this year’s #8 spot, a decrease of seven places.
Though LeBron’s drop of position is not as exponential as KD, he sits in a position 2 ranks higher, #6.
The top 5 includes Warriors PG Stephen on 5th with no change compared to previous year’s ranking and 76ers center Joel on 4th marking a climb of 3 ranks, Dallas PG Luka Doncic on 3rd ascending one step, Denver center Nikola Jokic on 2nd rising 4 spots and Milwaukee Bucks PF Antetokounmpo on 1st position who was 2nd last year.
Fans expressed their dismay in the tweet’s comments after ESPN put Luka Doncic ahead of Stephen Curry, King James, and KD, “Steph should be higher and Jokić isn’t top 15.”
NBA fans were outraged when King James, despite averaging 30.3 PPG for the Lakers, dropped outside the top five, prompting the cry, “Y’all Should Just Stop Doing This.” One of the enthusiast fans even made his own list suggesting Kevin Durant on 2nd and Lebron James on 3rd.
In the ESPN’s NBA rankings this year, King James and his companion Anthony Davis both took a tumble. Davis fell from ninth to twenty this season. It didn’t flabbergast public since his records of being injured for long is not a secret.
Davis on 20th isn’t that startling, but LeBron being out of Best 5 list is. Soon to be 38, LeBron set new bars for player’s peak but his presence on the floor pushed the Lakers towards negative net rating which prevented him from cracking the top five despite having great offensive skill.
A -3.5 net rating was the result of 355 minutes of playing time from LeBron, Westbrook, and AD.
As things stand, Kevin’s good fortune has apparently run out. A serious knee injury kept the former MVP out of the floor for two months. In the previous two years, KD, soon to turn 34, has appeared in 90 of a total 152 regular season games.
Concerns over the 2022-23 season for the Brooklyn Nets persist in light of Durant’s trade request and the rumor that Kyrie Irving will become a free agent in the following season.
