The definitive ranking of the best players in the NBA today…
by Ryan Jones
So: Is he? Is Kobe Bryant, right now, the best basketball player alive?
Sure.
He is, without question, a very good basketball player. He is tall. He runs fast, and he 
jumps high. He makes a lot of baskets, and he possesses a “high basketball IQ.” Among the rest of the basketball players playing basketball in the NBA today, his “skill set” is arguably unsurpassed. He does, in other words, most of the things involved in playing basketball better than do most other basketball players. No. 1 seems about right.
Who might be better? Probably no one. There are only a handful of basketball players in the “who’s the best basketball player” conversation, and arguably only one in legitimate contention, but the case for that basketball player has had numerous holes poked in it. A lot of those pokes have been valid. So, maybe consensus is easily reached: There is no basketball player who is clearly better at playing basketball than is Kobe Bryant.
Ergo, Kobe Bryant is the best basketball player.
And yet.
A rehashing of Kobe Bryant’s myriad and widely documented “issues” would be overkill here. It does seem worth mentioning, however, that Kobe Bryant was rarely the best basketball player on the court during the 2008 NBA Finals, and only very occasionally the best basketball player on his own team during the 2008 Summer Olympics. For someone “widely” considered to be the best basketball player on the planet, these are pretty strong indictments re: his best-basketball-player status.
But, again, when debating the topic of who the best basketball player is, there is no clear-cut “better” option. There is only preference.
As in, Which basketball player would you RATHER have to start a basketball-playing team?
Or, Which basketball player does the most to make their basketball-playing teammates better?
Or, Whose shoes are hotter?
Or, Who seems like less of a dick?
Fair questions all, but they boil down to opinion, not fact. Which is fine.
The world works this way.
So, one more time: Is Kobe Bryant the best basketball player in the NBA today?
Yes. If you think so.
Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.
*awaits furious hate*
you got at least one ranking right
The days where Jason Williams were still with the Heat and they still have a winning record.
It’s usually nice to have a conversation with him. Now, it’s all hatred…
Yes, you’re never been “nice” but at least when Chukaz were still around you judge apple as an apple
For the last 2 years, it’s like you’re channeling your inner Ryan Jones. Even you made comments about D-Wade’s cheeks, as if he’s been sucking too much lemon. I’m just sayin’ here…
SLAM was a real disapointment through the list but to rank lebronha #2 and licking his nuts all over the article, than ranking kobe #1 and hating on him the whole way??!?!
why?!?!?
if you wanna do that, rank Kobe#2 … the list was crappy anyway. lebron deserves to be #1 somewhere, than, make it on this list.
.
wasn’t #1 in the finals. and how was your king in the east finals?!?!?!? A COMPLETE FAILURE!!
i wonder if Boston gave Kobe all that room to shoot…
wasn’t #1 in the olympic team, yeah, can be, but who won the only game that counted?????
that was a disgrace.
really. reading the #1 spot in the list just being questioned… hahahaha
what a bull$hit.
what a surprise.
do u get paid by SLAM or just wants to?
.
i’m out guys.
RYAN JONES, you took the word su(king to a whole new level, congratulations.
Ryan, i’ll expect my commission check in the mail this week.
or maybe he wanted Joe Johnson as #2 on this list.
Eboy, I gotcha back bro!
NOW PICK WHICH ONES ARE MORE IMPORTANT AND MAKE A DAMN ARTICLE!
jesus….
i can’t believe!
i’ve liked something Jukai wrote about kobe x lebron!!!!
Oh well, at least Iverson got his due. He was in the top ten, right?
we disagreed through the ENTIRE list and this is even expected cause each one of us takes some part of the game more important the another and we like a player more than another for some subjective reason, but there’s one thing we all agree… we all BUT “ball licker” TADOne…
THIS ARTICLE SUCKS BIG TIME! probably the worst ever!
so Ryan is really a genius… he showed we are different but we are all one in the end!
hauhahauhauhua
RYAN JONES gets paid to write something like this. USA is really a land of dreams!
hahahahaahah
no, the reason kobe’s better (in my opinion, for what it’s worth) is (a) he’s a better defender and (b) proven by his output in money time in the gold medal game. but then that’s just me.
Well god damn, I am an ESPN.com reader!
2. Pen!s graspers (he needs to be able to grab them after his hands were cut off)
3. Pen!s flavored mints (he needs the taste in his mouth 24/7)
4. ESPN.com
5. Ryan Jones
6. Hot Sauce (to put in his belly button to make him scream)
7. SLAMS top 50 list (for him to poop on!)
8. people to read his comments
9. The Humpty Dumpty dance
10. Fake Nikes
12. Fake Jukai’s
13. White Hot Eboy’s road kill dinner
14. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed
15. Cross dressing hot mofos (thats what he calls them)
16. Prostate cancer (so his pen!s can be active)
17. John McCain
18. Golden Coral
19. The white cream in twinkies
20. frog legs
To end it this way has been a waste. If this is what it means to be the best basketballer in the NBA (slams choice)- contempt and apathy, why would anyone want to be no 1. Kobe has had one of his most successful seasons EVER, and SLAM acts like it would be better if he had played that little bit worse moving him to 2. I hope LeBron enjoys being no 1 for the forseeable future and enjoys such apathy just as Kobe does
but what do i know amiright?
You know, I don’t get a kick of criticizing articles just because I can type whatever I want to (I see you, Maria/Nikos). HOWEVER, that article was terribly disappointing. SLAM bailed out on its own list. I’m actually surprised that Jones wrote this as I consider him to be quite ballsy. Don’t even get me started on the lack of content about why is Kob’ the best in the L…
Glad the list is over, this has not been fun at all.
Fannnnnnnnntastic.
Well, another good day of getting horse crap shoved in our mouths. I remember why I decided to stop on this list in the first place. I love SLAM, but this whole fiasco certainly lowered my opinion of it.
Great write up though. The whole pissing on everyone, loved it.
Lunch time. G’day folks.
guess what?
when its because of an opinion on a player, FINE. its too subjective and each one consider it different but today its cause its RIDICULOUS. Worst article ever and exacly on the #1. congratulations.
you’ve s(rewed more than i thought it could.
that discussion about why would you rank Kobe or Lebron #1.
What would make Lebron better than Kobe if he was really #2:
* learn how to shoot.
* defense (not talking about highlight blocks just cause you jump high)
* guts to shoot game-winners
* FT
* post-moves i had more, but i’ll stop here.
what Kobe would need to be better if he was #2:
* same “juice” Bron’s had;
* trust his teammates (i think he did this well in the olympics, just taking over when the KIDS needed (see Gold Medal Game last 5min))
.
well, i guess, for me, its pretty obvious why Kobe is #1… whts now really that obvious is that Lebron #2, but we will have the whole season to talk about and praise DWade and Chris Paul.
all-defensive first team
all-nba first team
player of the month 2 times
player of the week 4 times
num 1 seed in the west 57-25
average 32ppg..6assits…6rebs.51%..in first three rounds
first player ever to score 5straight 30pts gms with atleast 6rebs..6 assits in playoffs history(did that against nuggs,and jazz)
and got to the nba finals well deserve kobe..num 1 once again..kobe was born to be num 1.. i cant picture kobe being 2nd to someone.. it will be wierd,kobe will always be num 1.. by time lebron trys to be num 1..kobe will be winnging rings to stay on top of everybody list
RV: Lang debated a lot in the beginning, and sort of shyed away, notably when a couple of people were getting violent… but also notably when Ryan and Russ were making it look like if you hated the SLAM top 50, you also hated SLAM and you shouldn’t give dissenting opinions.
(nothing more,nothing less.)
Sure, there’s negativity. There is negativity no matter who the writer for what. But somewhere along the line, people like myself and Allenp, who came here to debate, got grouped in with people like Bruno, who don’t give reasons but just give blind opinions. I hated the way Myles, Russ and Ryan handled the negativity. It was awful, condescending, mindless guilt attacks. And when Russ DID debate about Steve Nash, did he concede anything, did he act any different from any of the other posters? No. He was right, there were wrong. He followed everything up “oh WHAT DO I KNOW THOUGH” or “OH but you’re clearly right and I know nothing!”
Just bad form all around.
Also, the list is called “definitive.” Not “opinionated.”
Congrats Ryan! And I hope you’re happy with the product, Izzo!
But you’re against others giving their opinions. On the same article which you gave yours.
Have we perfected brain transplants? Because James needs one, its an emergency.
Nope, no effort what-so-ever. Yet, everyone who disagrees is a bad commentator. Ryne is probably getting more “ban Jukai!” emails as we speak.
This is funny to me because thruout the list people complained more about where exactly someone was placed instead of actually enjoying the particular write-up on the subject. It turned into a vicious, almost daily cycle. Then we get a piece basically pointing this out and people now have something different to argue about. Anyway, for the dense of mind, I never said I liked the article or that is was a good piece. However, I did like the premise. Was he supposed to regurtitate the million and one things that have been written about Kobe or KB vs. Bron?
And I think it is a perfect generalization. Suddenly those who recited why Allen Iverson should be better, even while saying “I know it’s just an opinion but I think this…” were treated the same way as “HEY YOU SUCK AND THIS LIST SUCKS!”
And if, honest to god, if it was just meant to be a conversation starter, why the hell are the writers up in arms about the conversations that have spawned from it? They made their beds, sleep in it. If you don’t like what people are saying from YOUR article that you purposefully made to get people to start talking, stop pissing them off every more. There were so many things wrong with how SLAM went about this, and it’s mind boggling for them to think that even though 75% of people didn’t like it, they should change NOTHING because they are in the right and everyone is just a dumb ESPN fan and wrong!
S hould
P lay
N ice
The comments have nothing to do with Kobe Bryant. You know why? Because even the ones who prefer Bron Bron (like myself) can hear an argument about Kobe being the best player on the planet. No beef. Sh–, I just expected the final article to be the best.
Now, how about we take a look-see at your individual lists? Wouldn’t that be fun?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/uselectionroadtrip/2008/oct/27/barack-obama-muslim-antichrist
Still, you can’t say “it was a success because so many people read it and they did exactly what SLAM wanted them to do!” while at the same time say “of course SLAM didn’t want what happened, who would want to be abused like that?”
However, the point that myself and RV have both made is that a lot of that abuse could have been minimized had ANYONE tried to make a coherent argument about where a certain person was placed. Man, just look at the Kevin Martin and Marcus Camby and Josh Smith arguments… they were FAR more intelligent. I honestly believe this was because the articles actually talked about their skillsets, and arguably their cons, and discussed why they were ranked for what reasons. Why was Gilbert’s selection met with such hate? Because there was no reason for it. He was there, and there was an interesting interview that could have been placed anywhere on the website.
I hate being told to go to ESPN if I want to read that crap, too. This list eventually seemed like just some excuse to write something funny on all these players… and when the commentators didn’t like what the writers were doing, the writers took offense and just finished it up with as little effort as possible.
And Iverson is better than Gilbert Arenas.
Cause at least I would have found it funny while simultaneously finding it pathetic.
http://www.avclub.com/content/videocracy/9472
I’m really convinced that’s his secret. This kid points at the camera like a motherf*cker.
For REAL Soulja Boy. You my dawg. I feel you.
-Porsche now owns 74 percent of Volkswagen. Didn’t know that.
-New home sales rose 2.7 percent in September. Good news!
-Verizon’s third-quarter earnings are up 31 percent. Impressive.
We’re all good now, right?
500.
I win.
My Friends won’t let me join in any games..
And I can’t sing Christmas songs
Or decorate a Christmas tree..
Or leave water out for Rudolph
’cause there’s something wrong with me..
My people don’t believe in Jesus Christ’s divinity..
I’m a Jew, a lonely Jew.. on Christmas. Hanukkah is nice, but why is it,
That Santa passes over my house every year?
And instead of eating Ham
I have to eat Kosher Latkes..
Instead of Silent Night
I’m singing hey-hach-dol-gavish..
And what the f**k is up
With lighting all these f**king Candles, tell me please?
I’m a Jew, a lonely Jew..
I’d be merry but i’m Hebrew
on christmas Hey Little Boy, I can’t help but hear,
You’re feeling left out of Christmas Cheer..
But i’ve come to see that you shouldn’t be sad
This is the one month that you shoud be glad.. Because it’s nice to be a Jew on Christmas
You don’t have to deal with the season at all..
You don’t have to be on your best behavior, or give to charity
You don’t have to go to grandma’s house with your alcoholic family..
And I don’t have to sit on some fake Santa’s lap
And have him breathe his stinky breath on me!
That’s right! You’re a Jew, a stylin’ Jew..
It’s a good time, to be Hebrew.. on Christmas
And that problem is transport.
It take very very long,
Because Kazakhstan is big. Throw transport down the well,
So my country can be free.
We must make travel easy,
Then we have big party! In my country there is problem,
And that problem is the Jew.
They take everybody’s money,
They never give it back. Throw the Jew down the well,
So my country can be free.
You must grab him by his horns,
Then we have big party. If you see the Jew coming,
You must be careful of his teeth.
You must grab him by his money,
And I tell you what to do… Everybody! Throw the Jew down the well
So my country can be free
You must grab him by his horns
Then we have big party Throw the Jew down the well
So my country can be free
You must grab him by his horns
Then we have big party!
Depends how thin you slice them.
What’s a Kobe?”
Noun.-A basketball Player
Verb- THE basketball player who can score, score, score, and win, win, win (except in the finals where he chokes chokes chokes, or rides Shaq)
Advective- A ball hog, r@pist, a$$hole, self-absorbed, b!tch @ss, punk @ss, 81 point scorin @ss, Shaq Beefin @ss, crybaby @ss, The Last Season by Phil Jackson @ss, wannabe Jordan @ss, global icon @ss, and a @ss
NOTE: Players are listed in groups-levels of greatness. You can pick any player from one group depending on your team needs since they are considered to be equal in talent-value.
1)KOBE
2)DUNCAN
MANU
DERON
DIRK
3)WADE
PAUL
MING
T-MAC
GARNETT
GASOL
NASH
4)BOSH
LEBRON
BILLUPS
PIERCE
PARKER
ARENAS
5)SHEED
AMARE
SPLITTER
CALDERON
6)DELFINO
FERNANDEZ
DIAMANTIDIS
BUTLER
HEDO
ALLEN
SISKAUSKAS
SCOLA
http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2008/10/slamonline-top-50-kobe-bryant-no-1/
“The idea of getting a, y’know, syringe full of heroin and shooting it in the vein under my c*ck right now seems like almost a productive act.”
5x NBA MVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998)
14x NBA All-Star (1985-1993, 1996-1998, 2002-2003)
6x NBA Finals MVP (1991-1993, 1996-1998)
1x NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1988)
10x All-NBA First Team Selection (1987-1993, 1996-1998)
1x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1985)
9x NBA All-Defensive First Team Selection (1988-1993, 1996-1998)
1985 NBA Rookie of the Year
1985 NBA All-Rookie Team
3x NBA All-Star Game MVP (1988, 1996, 1998)
2x NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner (1987, 1988)
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
1x NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion (1982)
1982 ACC Freshman of the Year
1x ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year (1984)
1x USBWA College Player of the Year (1984)
1x Naismith College Player of the Year (1984)
1x John R. Wooden Award (1984)
1x Adolph Rupp Trophy (1984)
1991 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
2000 ESPY Athlete of the Century
1990s ESPY Male Athlete Decade Award
1990s ESPY Pro Basketballer Decade Award
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/27/obama-assassination-plot_n_138297.html
Make sure you list your criteria, or people will get cranky!
3-time NBA Champion
(2000, 2001, 2002)
NBA Most Valuable Player
(2008)
2-time NBA Scoring Champion
(2006, 2007)
All-NBA First Team
(2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008)
All-NBA Second Team
(2000, 2001)
All-NBA Third Team
(1999, 2005)
All-Defensive First Team
(2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008)
All-Defensive Second Team
(2001, 2002)
NBA All-Rookie Second Team
(1997)
NBA All-Star Game MVP
(2002, 2007)
NBA Slam Dunk Champion
(1997)
1996 Naismith Prep Player of the Year
41.0
(1993) Record: Regular Season Career Scoring average
30.1 Points per game in Playoffs, career average
33.4
Record: NBA Scoring Titles
10
(1987-93, 1996-98)
Record: Consecutive NBA Scoring Titles
7
(1987-93) Record: most points in a playoff game
63
(against Boston on May 20, 1986, first round) Record: most Finals MVP
6
(1991-93, 1996-98) Record: All-Defensive First Team
9
(1988-93, 1996-98)
Record: total points, playoffs, career
5,987 Record: Field Goals Attempted, playoffs
4,497 Record: Free Throws Made, playoffs
1,463 Record: Consecutive games with 10 or more points
866
Record: Slam Dunk Contest Titles
2
(1987-1988)
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6121915&page=1
-
“”You ever notice that everyone who believes in creationism looks really unevolved? Eyes real close together, big furry hands and feet. “I believe God created me in one day.” Yeah, it looks like he rushed it.”
What is not a FAIL is getting to 650 before the West Coast kids have even gotten home from school. You guys are awesome. Not as awesome as me, but, you know, still.
And also,unfortuatley it’s enshrined in your constitution,no matter how much it has lost it’s relevancy or how antiquadated it is.Considering the only reason it was included in the Constitution was because the “founding fathers” were deadset against a standing,regular army.Surely the logical step would be since,you like have an army that can do stuff,to do away with it.But maybe that would make too much sense.
either that or replay the cd and post more here.
kobe is the best in the game today..i am a die hard kobe fan but MJ is still the GOAT
as for the kicks…love the zkII but not sure where this line is going and speaking of the goat….name a better shoe than the jay xi!
It’s on Eboy’s blog. You have to clik his name to get there. I hadn’t visited before because I was turned off by the name, but I might go back. Eboy is shorter than I thought and TAD is taller. Initially, I thought the picture of the white dude on the main SKO page was actually Eboy. That fit with my mental image of him.
It’s sort of cute, in an unproffessional way.
No, really though, SKO needs to do this
Or something like that.
James: you clearly did not see my post directed at you today. So cool beans.
KG
Josh Smith
Gerald Wallace
Al Jefferson
Michael Beasley
Derrick Rose
OJ Mayo
Greg Oden
Raymond Felton
Emeka Okafor
Samuel Dalembert
Kevin Martin I know it’s a bit high-risk, but tell me what you think.
I wasn’t judging Eboy or TAD for their blog’s name. I just figured that their site was going to be about making fun of athletes for hanging children out of wedlock or other sundry things that many blogs cover with a snarky tone. Given Eboy’s performance on this site, it seemed likely.
Second, if people are turned off by my blog title that’s ok. I really wasn’t going for wide audience. Well, everybody would like to famous, but I didn’t expect it given the topics I plan on addressing on my blog. I chose the title because I’ve been called that, or something similar, on several occasions on several sites when I’ve discussed certain topics. So, it just kind of fit.
@Eboy … naw is aid i play the harmonica and you called me that lol, but ill take that as a compliment.
@ RV … Crazyness, Kobe deserves 2000!!!
I didn’t realize all those folks were involved. I only saw a pic of you and Eboy. And the interview with Ryan Jones was done by Eboy. My bad.
When are y’all putting up pictures of Cheryl? I’ll be sure to check in for that cause I got a feeling that she and CoCo might be cute.
If tealish is a girl, she seems like she might be cute too. I can’t remember if she’s a girl or not though.
Clearly, I judge beauty based solely on how often people make intelligent comments on the internet. That means the rest of y’all are butt ugly.
Maybe.
Unless your Russ and Ryan.
Eboy
I’m nost disgusted with most of white America. I’m disgusted with most people period. I just talk about white people more cause y’all are the ones with all the power.
Plus, if people want to hear about all the evils of “the blacks” they can just watch Fox News. We run sh#t over there in case you didn’t know.
Nah, I’m married with a baby and another one on the way. I’m not looking for any prospects.
Although girls who like sports are sexy.
I would be funny more often, but my mind doesn’t work in one-lined zingers.
Plus, they have enough funny people on here. I’m trying to be more like Krayzie Bone. Serious comments that make people think.
And I don’t want to be anything like Jukai.
Hey, Slam folks, y’all know if y’all just hired Jukai he would stop complaining so much, right? Seriously, he just wants a job.
You’re white baby. Embrace it. Lol.
White people do run most stuff in America. The people who are in power tend to get the most criticism. That’s the way life works.
Plus, there is some unfinished business as far as racism that white folks keep trying to sweep under the rug.
Nah, I’m funny with cats I know. I thought I was being pretty light-hearted in the past few comments. Serious topics deserve a serious tone. When you joke with folks they tend to take things too far, and that causes a whole new set of problems.
Jukai
You don’t want to work at Slam for the money. You want to work at Slam because it’s your dream job. Dude, it’s obvious you have some brains, but your opinions are so clouded by craziness it’s scary sometimes. Plus, you clearly think you should be doing what Myles, Russ and Ryan have been blessed to do, and it shows.
Honestly, I think you’d be disappointed in what life is like as a basketball writer. It’s much more fun to be a fan. I was once offered a job covering the Minnesota men’s basketball team and turned it down because I realized I like basketball too much to cover it on a full-time basis. Being a reporter seems to suck the joy out of people who cover sports. Klosterman was right.
Really, this may sound very vain (mostly because I am) but I DON’T want to be a basketball writer. That’s why I don’t have a blog. That’s why I’m not jump starting whatever AMAZING article I’m going to post on SKO and whatever the hell BLong writes for. It’d be a fun one-or-two article thing, but while I think I have the sense for it, I’d run out of creativity very fast.
I do love to be entertained, however. That’s why I’ll give Russ or Ryan or Myles so much crap when I feel they’re doing it wrong. Yet I don’t think I could possibly do it myself. A little screwed up, but I think you could figure that out talking to me. It’s REALLY not my dream job, man. I woulda majored in journalism instead of engineering.
Hop hop dragon hop hop
stop dragon stop
The dragon thought it was all in fun
“Roarrrrr” went the dragon!
It aint no funnnnnn, if the homies cant havavavavave none!!!
hoes recognize, ni&&@s do too, when bitches get scandalous and pull a voo doo!!
Anyway, Kob should have gotten surgery on that pinky. If he did it immediately after the Olympics, he would be completely recovered by mid-November. The rest of the show could have stepped it up and toughed it out for the first 3 weeks of the regular season and they would be rewarded a healthy mamba.
The idea of waiting 1.5 years for surgery doesn’t seem appealing in the long run.
1: Me
2: Ryne Jones
3: BET/Moose
4: Simone
5: Jukai/Jukais Sister