Lakers News: ESPN Ranks LeBron James, Anthony Davis Among League’s Top 10
In ESPN's latest installment of its annual top 100 player rankings, "NBArank 2023," analysts Zach Lowe and former NBA player Richard Jefferson debated how to break down the league's top talent.
On this list were the usual suspects: Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, and, unsurprisingly but very narrowly, your Los Angeles Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
James and Davis came in and ninth and 10th respectively, trailing the players mentioned above, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Embiid, the reigning MVP, can indisputably be put above LeBron and AD, given his historic regular season performances. While James and Davis found more playoff success, it's tough to argue this at this point in their careers.
Tatum averaged 30 points per game and was the best player on the Eastern Conference's 2 seed while providing elite defense, and Durant continued putting up monster scoring numbers on comically good efficiency.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30 on a rebuilding Thunder team, leading them to the play-in and a 40-42 record. This ranking can be seen as slightly controversial, but on a nightly basis, SGA was the engine of a team that really needed him on both sides of the ball, and because of his health and consistency, found himself on the All-NBA First Team.
James and Davis staying in the top 10 in spite of age and injury concerns is a great sign for how they fare compared to the rest of the league. While it's difficult to win an NBA championship without a top-5 player, both Bron and AD are more than capable of picking up the pace come playoff time and delivering huge performances.
One way or another, these rankings are entirely subjective and included this footnote:
ESPN's NBArank panel, composed of nearly 150 reporters, editors, producers and analysts, was asked to rank players based on their predicted contributions -- quality and quantity -- for the 2023-24 season only.
Therefore, given that these rankings including projections entering next season, it definitely alters their meaning and adds rationale for younger, higher upside players like SGA and Tatum being ahead of the Lakers' leaders.
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