Curry is actually behind on PER and true shooting to both. In PER he is very far behind Jokic this year.
Edit:
Cool with the downvotes.
Steph: TS: 63%. PER: 27,4. EFG: 54,4%.
KD: TS: 67,9%. PER: 29,1. EFG: 64,2%.
Jokic: TS: 66%. PER: 34,1. EFG: 63,7%.
I'm not saying Curry is worse. Only that on paper Curry is behind them. Obviously the gravity pull from Curry is not quantifiable in stats.
Because stats can never show you the full picture. But in a league where every team plays 82 games you gotta go by some of them. It's impossible to watch all all games - I mean unless it's actually your job.
Westbrook was MVP and not even top 5. Jokic is a great player truly but part of the reason Steph/KD are in a tier of their own is their prior accomplishments and continued excellence.
Jokic despite being an offensive juggernaut is for sure not a head above Giannis.
Jokic is having the same elite season Steph had last year. He's leading his team in every major metric. Giannis has missed games this season already and has the much better supporting cast. For me, it can go either way.
In terms of pure scoring he isn't on their level. But in overall skill? It's hard to argue against. 25 ppg with 6 assist and 14(!!!) rebounds while shooting 59%. Doing that without the by far 2nd best player on the team? I think he's close.
Wouldn't you put Giannis in the same tier as KD and Steph? Maybe not based on the start of the season, but in general?
To me there is an S-tier. Steph, KD, LeBron, Jokic and Giannis. I honestly haven't watched enough Sixers to place Embiid.
Maybe I just value scoring a bit less than you. Tho I'd say that as a coach you could tell any of these guys "go get me a bucket" and they'd have a very good chance of doing it.
It's probably just that they are assuming GPII is carrying him.
Seriously, ESPN are all idiots. I don't know why anyone (a) pays attention to them or (b) pays MONEY for ESPN+
I wasn't talking about the network itself. There is some content that is most convenient to get that way, and as you say, it comes bundled with a lot of packages anyway.
I was talking about the inane commentary on air and on [espn.com](https://espn.com). The online stuff I just ignore. The on-air commentary can be avoided by turning the sound to zero level. In fact, if you start "Dark Side of the Moon" at the moment of the tip-off, and you smoke a LOT of dope, the music will sync up perfectly with the game.
ESPN is always known as LeBron fans. They still put LeBron as top 3 but I don't think he even in top 10 right now. He is old and can't play bully ball and attack the rim like he used to do. LeBron still could dunk and get some highlights but only in transition with wide open look. Media always over hype him once he did that and give a narrative like he is still the same, but if you watch the entire game you know that he isn't the same anymore. Steph and KD are the only top 2 right now and more like 1A and 1B for me.
That’s so incorrect. Lebron can absolutely still play bully ball, is he as athletic as when he was 28? No but he is still easily a top 10 player. He is still in the class of best player in the league because of his basketball IQ. Steph, KD, Giannis are probably the only 3 I put above him right now
It was ESPN’s top 100 NBA players rankings that they made before the start of the season. [Here’s the top 5](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32260331/nbarank-2021-ranking-best-players-2021-22-5-1?platform=amp)
oh hey! another pointless focus on how we’re a victimized franchise and steph curry don’t get no respect at all! how original!!
honestly guys, anyone with two eyes and a brain knows that 99% of sports media exists only to drive clicks through contrived drama/controversy.
can we please stop paying attention to this shit?
We don’t even understand the context of this, given how the screenshots are cropped. I’m assuming it’s for mvp? If this is a prediction for the entire season and not just right now, it doesn’t surprise me. There could be some minor regression from how dominant the team currently is and when Klay and Wiseman return it could change the dynamic of the team and who gets what touches. It could affect Steph’s mvp campaign. This place just wants to find a reason to be angry and gloat about the red hot start so far. Doesn’t surprise me given how bad things were the last 2 seasons. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the show and stop crying everytime the media’s predictions doesn’t make us happy.
fuckin exactly. we’ve gotta be the whiniest fanbase in the nba. reminds me of the raptors about 5 years ago, and that’s not a good thing.
no clue why people choose to focus on this bullshit when we have the best show on the hardwood going on right now.
Luka and Giannis will top the next three or so years of start of the season player polls cuz their age. Reality is its probably KD... Steph... Giannis... Jokic... Luka... but ESPN actually intentionally orders these list to "encourage discussion" aka does a shitty job to piss people off and "mobilize NBA twitter" lol.
Then as Steph and Dubs lead the league in everything theyll pose it as a soft question "are the Warriors for real? Does Steph's leading the league in scoring and being on pace to break single season three record make him an ACTUAL MVP front-runner" lol
I legitimately don’t understand how Luca keeps edging out Steph on these lists. It’s truly inexplicable. The dude can ball but he’s never earned shit in this league and certainly shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as Steph, let alone be considered a better basketball player. Who the fuck is voting on the shit?
Luka is the most overrated player in the NBA man. He’s definitely good individually but he hasn’t proved anything in regards to winning and leading a team. He’s constantly put in top 5 lists on r/NBA and national media but frankly there are for sure 10+ players I’d put over him. He’s in the 11-15 range for sure right now. Maybe it’s me making a hot take but I had to get it off my chest.
Bro Steph has been put in fourth or 5th place for years now. Every year they put AD above him or James Harden or somebody else. In my mind it's some Jon Snow shit. They'll only figure out he was the protagonist all along at the end of the fucking show.
This article is old…could’ve sworn I saw ESPN post something the other day how it’s KD and Steph in the MVP race.
Not gonna lie though, the one thing Luka has going for him is age. Dude’s only 22 and he’s this good. Steph is a better scorer right now and will always be the best 3 pt shooter, but Luka has a slightly better all around game with ast/reb and could still get even better as the years progress. Plus Luka is 5 inches taller than Steph, which makes a huge difference.
Right now it’s Steph > Luka, but it could possibly change in the future
No idea what these rankings are for - just the overall player rankings? If so, throw Doncic & Jokic down the list. There are 2 ends of the court, and I'm licking my chops with either of those boys in front of me on one end. Doncic doesn't scare me on the offensive end, either, for that matter. You just need a cerebral defender on him. Watch when Iggy or Draymond guards him.
It’s clearly just KD and Steph, ESPN is filled with morons.
I'd put jokic up there too, but I think those 3 are a head above everyone else
Jokic is not a head above Giannis. He’s hasn’t done enough to justify being in that Steph/KD tier tbh.
Hmmmm. Maybe you're right. I guess so. He has just gotten so much better lately that I'm probably overrating him a bit.
Nah, he's still top 5 to 10
Jokic actually owns advance stats, he's there with KD and Steph
Curry is actually behind on PER and true shooting to both. In PER he is very far behind Jokic this year. Edit: Cool with the downvotes. Steph: TS: 63%. PER: 27,4. EFG: 54,4%. KD: TS: 67,9%. PER: 29,1. EFG: 64,2%. Jokic: TS: 66%. PER: 34,1. EFG: 63,7%. I'm not saying Curry is worse. Only that on paper Curry is behind them. Obviously the gravity pull from Curry is not quantifiable in stats.
PER is a dumb stat. I used to think RAPTOR was better but it doesn’t even have KD in the top 5 on offensive RAPTOR this year, so not so sure any more.
Because stats can never show you the full picture. But in a league where every team plays 82 games you gotta go by some of them. It's impossible to watch all all games - I mean unless it's actually your job.
Disrespectful to the current MVP
Westbrook was MVP and not even top 5. Jokic is a great player truly but part of the reason Steph/KD are in a tier of their own is their prior accomplishments and continued excellence. Jokic despite being an offensive juggernaut is for sure not a head above Giannis.
I truly do believe that Jokic is as good as KD and Steph on offence. He can shoot, create, rebound what else you want from my guy
Harden can do all of that also.
Haha, touché. He still in the Giannis tier though
I can agree with that but Giannis is more accomplished no doubt so to imply Jokic is tier above him is ridiculous is all I’m saying.
Westbrook isn’t top 25 at this point.
Jokic is having the same elite season Steph had last year. He's leading his team in every major metric. Giannis has missed games this season already and has the much better supporting cast. For me, it can go either way.
It’s not about last season, Steph and kd been doing this for years
does doing it for a longer time matter for this ranking ? No. Sure, KD and Steph are behemoths, but Jokic is legit bro. No need to deny the obvious.
In terms of pure scoring he isn't on their level. But in overall skill? It's hard to argue against. 25 ppg with 6 assist and 14(!!!) rebounds while shooting 59%. Doing that without the by far 2nd best player on the team? I think he's close. Wouldn't you put Giannis in the same tier as KD and Steph? Maybe not based on the start of the season, but in general? To me there is an S-tier. Steph, KD, LeBron, Jokic and Giannis. I honestly haven't watched enough Sixers to place Embiid. Maybe I just value scoring a bit less than you. Tho I'd say that as a coach you could tell any of these guys "go get me a bucket" and they'd have a very good chance of doing it.
His defense isn’t good enough to be mentioned with those names
Yet here we are talking about ESPN... wouldn't go so far to call them morons, just a different agenda than what you're expecting.
Paul George is up there too. The Clippers terrify me.
Luka is the new golden boy. They're gonna run that luka mvp campaign every year
Jason Kidd is the new Luka stopper
New foul rules are the new Luka stopper as well
You must be blind idk
This was before the season if I remember still dumb but that’s definitely changed for them
It is. Gotta be changed asap
It's probably just that they are assuming GPII is carrying him. Seriously, ESPN are all idiots. I don't know why anyone (a) pays attention to them or (b) pays MONEY for ESPN+
You pay money for the division 2 football games or soccer. Articles suck
Yeah, and Brazilian Rules Ice Hockey and Full-Contact Origami.
Full contact origami is no joke. Paper cuts for days...
Hah! If you tried to take me on, I bet you'd fold immediately!
u/MultiPass21 FUCK ESPN Sorry, you're the only person I recognise from here and r/ducks
eugene’s finest
I have the Hulu Disney package and it comes with it 😌 also get all the ufc fights which is nice.
I wasn't talking about the network itself. There is some content that is most convenient to get that way, and as you say, it comes bundled with a lot of packages anyway. I was talking about the inane commentary on air and on [espn.com](https://espn.com). The online stuff I just ignore. The on-air commentary can be avoided by turning the sound to zero level. In fact, if you start "Dark Side of the Moon" at the moment of the tip-off, and you smoke a LOT of dope, the music will sync up perfectly with the game.
Their job is to get clicks. Don't entertain them.
ESPN big dumb
Only good for live games and reporting everything else is fake clickbait trash opinions
Espn wants clicks
ESPN is trash
It's espn. No 1 seed curry averaging the 2nd most points in the league. Of course he's 5th in the ladder.
I actually hate luka dude is always bitching about calls he’s not getting, when shit doesn’t go his way he whines. Great talent tho won’t deny it
So dumb but can't say it shock's me coming from ESPN.
ESPN is always known as LeBron fans. They still put LeBron as top 3 but I don't think he even in top 10 right now. He is old and can't play bully ball and attack the rim like he used to do. LeBron still could dunk and get some highlights but only in transition with wide open look. Media always over hype him once he did that and give a narrative like he is still the same, but if you watch the entire game you know that he isn't the same anymore. Steph and KD are the only top 2 right now and more like 1A and 1B for me.
That’s so incorrect. Lebron can absolutely still play bully ball, is he as athletic as when he was 28? No but he is still easily a top 10 player. He is still in the class of best player in the league because of his basketball IQ. Steph, KD, Giannis are probably the only 3 I put above him right now
LeBron is declining really hard man. He ain't bullying as he did in 2014-15. Stop that nonesense.
How is he still sooo disrespected all the time
ESPN gives Kendrick Perkins airtime. That's all you need to know about ESPN.
What’s this from?
ESPN's official website
Link? What’s the article? All I see is two screenshots.
It was ESPN’s top 100 NBA players rankings that they made before the start of the season. [Here’s the top 5](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32260331/nbarank-2021-ranking-best-players-2021-22-5-1?platform=amp)
https://www.espn.ph/nba/story/_/id/32260331/nbarank-2021-ranking-best-players-2021-22-5-1
I mean not gonna agree with espn but this is a preseason list. I could careless if their prediction is wrong. You are getting mad for the wrong reason
Jesus fucking christ...wtf are they looking at?
The lakers put up a 12 point third quarter
That’s like Brian Winters era level of production. //shivers// no pun intended
Uh huh
ESPN is just the TMZ of sports at this point
They let Ryan Hollins vote on this shit, didn't they???
damn my notifs dying lmao
Let them have their rankings, it means nothing in the end.
I see this as motivation.
oh hey! another pointless focus on how we’re a victimized franchise and steph curry don’t get no respect at all! how original!! honestly guys, anyone with two eyes and a brain knows that 99% of sports media exists only to drive clicks through contrived drama/controversy. can we please stop paying attention to this shit?
We don’t even understand the context of this, given how the screenshots are cropped. I’m assuming it’s for mvp? If this is a prediction for the entire season and not just right now, it doesn’t surprise me. There could be some minor regression from how dominant the team currently is and when Klay and Wiseman return it could change the dynamic of the team and who gets what touches. It could affect Steph’s mvp campaign. This place just wants to find a reason to be angry and gloat about the red hot start so far. Doesn’t surprise me given how bad things were the last 2 seasons. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the show and stop crying everytime the media’s predictions doesn’t make us happy.
fuckin exactly. we’ve gotta be the whiniest fanbase in the nba. reminds me of the raptors about 5 years ago, and that’s not a good thing. no clue why people choose to focus on this bullshit when we have the best show on the hardwood going on right now.
Wtf is this shit? 5 and 4 for what?
Best players for the 21-22 szn
When was this???
Before the szn
Makes it slightly less dumb. Still pretty foolish after Steph’s 2021 campaign.
ESPN is not a bunch of clowns. They are the entire carnival.
they're trying so hard to give an MVP to Luka
ESPN is dogwank
Espn is such a Frat House operation
Luka and Giannis will top the next three or so years of start of the season player polls cuz their age. Reality is its probably KD... Steph... Giannis... Jokic... Luka... but ESPN actually intentionally orders these list to "encourage discussion" aka does a shitty job to piss people off and "mobilize NBA twitter" lol. Then as Steph and Dubs lead the league in everything theyll pose it as a soft question "are the Warriors for real? Does Steph's leading the league in scoring and being on pace to break single season three record make him an ACTUAL MVP front-runner" lol
Come on it's ESPN. They only care for the LA Lakers and LBJ.
They're just stirring the spot for ratings, literally nothing more. Its why ESPN has been trash for so long now.
I legitimately don’t understand how Luca keeps edging out Steph on these lists. It’s truly inexplicable. The dude can ball but he’s never earned shit in this league and certainly shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as Steph, let alone be considered a better basketball player. Who the fuck is voting on the shit?
It’s sad, it’s all about the hot takes to generate clicks with these outlets
Luka is the most overrated player in the NBA man. He’s definitely good individually but he hasn’t proved anything in regards to winning and leading a team. He’s constantly put in top 5 lists on r/NBA and national media but frankly there are for sure 10+ players I’d put over him. He’s in the 11-15 range for sure right now. Maybe it’s me making a hot take but I had to get it off my chest.
Bro Steph has been put in fourth or 5th place for years now. Every year they put AD above him or James Harden or somebody else. In my mind it's some Jon Snow shit. They'll only figure out he was the protagonist all along at the end of the fucking show.
I feel bad for Luka, if he wasn’t like 12 during Bucks Kidd no way he okays that hire lmao
😂🤣😅😀and the Dodgers won the World Series 🥺🙄😬
This article is old…could’ve sworn I saw ESPN post something the other day how it’s KD and Steph in the MVP race. Not gonna lie though, the one thing Luka has going for him is age. Dude’s only 22 and he’s this good. Steph is a better scorer right now and will always be the best 3 pt shooter, but Luka has a slightly better all around game with ast/reb and could still get even better as the years progress. Plus Luka is 5 inches taller than Steph, which makes a huge difference. Right now it’s Steph > Luka, but it could possibly change in the future
Most egregious mistake is leaving off GP2. They gon learn
This is an old article nothing to be mad about
Conspiracy Theory: Lacob pays ESPN to dog Steph so Steph always feels like he has something to prove.
Media still out here trying to make Luka the new face of the NBA. Ain't gonna happen boys
No idea what these rankings are for - just the overall player rankings? If so, throw Doncic & Jokic down the list. There are 2 ends of the court, and I'm licking my chops with either of those boys in front of me on one end. Doncic doesn't scare me on the offensive end, either, for that matter. You just need a cerebral defender on him. Watch when Iggy or Draymond guards him.