Top 50: LeBron James, no. 1

The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.

by Ben Osborne / @bosborne17

We have our default subhead for the SLAMonline Top 50—the suddenly slightly controversial phrase “definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players”—but if I was left to write my own for this piece, it would be: “The perfect ranking at an imperfect time.”

By “perfect,” I mean, No. 1. You can’t be higher than 1, right? So by this standard, LeBron James has the perfect ranking. And in so many ways, he deserves it. I feel like I elucidated all the reasons LeBron is the best player in the game really well a year ago, and as far as skill set, durability and regular-season mindset, nothing’s changed. LeBron is still a physical freak of nature. He can still score 40 points just about any time out. He still has the vision and unselfishness to drop double-digit assists any time out. He can still hit threes, he can still embarrass opponents with violent dunks.

Sticking with what we saw in last year’s regular season (and pretty much the entire Playoffs until the Finals), LeBron still has swagger and can still be a team leader. I have a hard time believing a single GM in the League, if told they could have any one player on their team for this upcoming season, would take anyone other than LeBron James. Ergo, he got my No. 1 pick for this ranking, and enough other No. 1 votes, to easily finish first. And, if LeBron’s Twitter can be believed, there’s actually reason to expect the King to be even better this season: A legitimate post-up game, which has been the biggest hole in his offensive arsenal.

I frankly think it’s awesome that a 6-8, 250-pound player has spent almost his entire career on the perimeter—that’s what makes him so unique. But all great players need to diversify their games, and LeBron has done way too little of that so far in his career—if, this season, he can reliably go in the post and be a near-lock to either finish at the rim, hit a cutter for a bucket or draw a shooting foul, he will be that much more unstoppable. So there, in concise fashion, I have laid out my reasons for why LeBron deserves the perfect ranking.

Now, even while conceding that LeBron is one of my favorite players in the League and that I absolutely hope he wins multiple rings in his career, I will get to the imperfect portion of this write-up. First and foremost is last season’s NBA Finals. At about 11 p.m. on June 2, LeBron and the Heat were up 88-73 on the Mavericks with little more than seven minutes remaining in Game 2. Miami was on the verge of 2-0 series lead, and honestly, this thing had the makings of a sweep.

I was out watching the game with my man Tzvi, and we were sending tweets about the game looking like a layup line for the Heat. I remind you guys of how the series started so you remember that it wasn’t like it was a failure for LeBron from the jump. Even if Dwyane Wade (who LeBron had largely carried in the EC Finals) was better than Bron through two games or even an entire series and won the MVP award, people would not have had much bad to say about LeBron as a world champion.

Instead, the Mavs gutted out a historic comeback win and changed the entire tenor of the series. Once it changed, and the Heat started to be the ones with their backs to the wall, LeBron shrunk. No two ways about it. As this piece, which was tweeted to me this morning (did the writer know what I was working on today??) points out, over the six-game, 4-2 series loss, LeBron (lack of caps and styling his, not mine):

- was the leading scorer in exactly zero of them.

- scored 107 points, which was the third most on his team, and the fifth most of anyone in the series. but he also played the most minutes of anyone by far (262), a whole quarter and a half more than dirk, and almost two and a half quarters more than Wade. That works out to 19.6 points per 48 minutes. The NBA average this season for all qualifying players was 20.2 points per 48 minutes.

- was fourth on his team in free-throw attempts in the series, behind Wade, Bosh and Mario Chalmers.

- averaged exactly 3 points per game in the fourth quarter.

Honestly, I can’t defend any of that. It was confusing and frustrating. And LeBron certainly hasn’t explained it yet (don’t think I haven’t asked for an interview on SLAM’s behalf!). About the only thing that can be said, in short, is: He had the worst Finals possible for the “best player in the game.” He shrunk from the moment and let his coaches, fans and teammates down. But that doesn’t make his career a failure. As Tom Haberstroh eloquently pointed out last week, LeBron is 26 years old. Twenty-six! He could be the top-ranked player for five, six, maybe seven more seasons. In many ways (such as Playoff wins), he’s had considerably more success than the G.O.A.T., Michael Jordan, had at this age.

None of this excuses what a bad 2011 Finals LeBron had (or even the 2010 Playoff flame-out vs Boston), but it should halt those that think the guy’s career epitaph should already be written. LeBron James has a lot of career left.

The other thing that makes this an imperfect time to place LeBron No. 1 is a little out of his hands. Obviously the lockout puts a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, and even if it’s the owners fault in so many ways, the high-profile players earn much of the fans’ scorn. And, considering LeBron’s entirely legal and selfless (if horribly executed) Decision to move from the Cavs to the Heat has been twisted around to show how the owners have been wronged, LeBron seems to be getting an extra brunt of anger about the lockout.

So, while I wish that the piece that caps off almost six weeks of passionate writing and commenting could be an outright celebration, circumstances dictate that this one get an asterisk. Perhaps like the title the game’s best player will win this year?

SLAMonline Top 50 Players 2011
Rank	Player	Team	Position	Pos. Rank
50	Luol Deng	Bulls	SF	8
49	Andrew Bogut	Bucks	C	7
48	Ray Allen	Celtics	SG	9
47	Marc Gasol	Grizzlies	C	6
46	David West	Hornets	PF	15
45	Kevin Martin	Rockets	SG	8
44	Andrew Bynum	Lakers	C	5
43	Brandon Jennings	Bucks	PG	11
42	Lamar Odom	Lakers	PF	14
41	Gerald Wallace	Blazers	SF	7
40	Brook Lopez	Nets	C	4
39	Joakim Noah	Bulls	C	3
38	Carlos Boozer	Bulls	PF	13
37	Kevin Garnett	Celtics	PF	12
36	Eric Gordon	Clippers	SG	7
35	Tony Parker	Spurs	PG	10
34	Andre Iguodala	76ers	SG	6
33	Al Jefferson	Jazz	PF	11
32	Al Horford	Hawks	C	2
31	Stephen Curry	Warriors	PG	9
30	Tim Duncan	Spurs	PF	10
29	Josh Smith	Hawks	PF	9
28	Manu Ginobili	Spurs	SG	5
27	Tyreke Evans	Kings	PG	8
26	Rudy Gay	Grizzlies	SF	6
25	John Wall	Wizards	PG	7
24	Danny Granger	Pacers	SF	5
23	Monta Ellis	Warriors	SG	4
22	Joe Johnson	Hawks	SG	3
21	Paul Pierce	Celtics	SF	4
20	Steve Nash	Suns	PG	6
19	Zach Randolph	Grizzlies	PF	8
18	LaMarcus Aldridge	Blazers	PF	7
17	Chris Bosh	Heat	PF	6
16	Kevin Love	TWolves	PF	5
15	Rajon Rondo	Celtics	PG	5
14	Blake Griffin	Clippers	PF	4
13	Pau Gasol	Lakers	PF	3
12	Russell Westbrook	Thunder	PG	4
11	Amar’e Stoudemire	Knicks	PF	2
10	Deron Williams	Nets	PG	3
9	Carmelo Anthony	Knicks	SF	3
8	Chris Paul	Hornets	PG	2
7	Dirk Nowitzki	Mavs	PF	1
6	Dwight Howard	Magic	C	1
5	Dwyane Wade	Heat	SG	2
4	Derrick Rose	Bulls	PG	1
3	Kobe Bryant	Lakers	SG	1
2	Kevin Durant	Thunder	SF	2
1	LeBron James	Heat	SF	1

Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’11-12 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Maurice Bobb, Shannon Booher, David Cassilo, Bryan Crawford, Sandy Dover, Adam Figman, Jon Jaques, Eldon Khorshidi, Ryne Nelson, Doobie Okon, Ben Osborne, Quinn Peterson, Dave Schnur, Abe Schwadron, Dan Shapiro, Irv Soonachan, Todd Spehr, Tzvi Twersky, Yaron Weitzman, DeMarco Williams and Ben York.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

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Tags: Feature Too, Features, LeBron James, Miami Heat, SLAMonline Top 50

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http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

Allen, trust, I’m not that good on that game.
I’m 2-0 cause I simmed the two games against the CPU to make sure I could play against you.
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

I personally like Pro.
I feel like n Superstar or HOF your team’s turnovers and the other team’s blocks and steals are too off the charts.
http://slamonline.com nbk

What schedule type did you do Matic?
gakbrenti

d-will in big 10? questionable…
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

You mean like slow or fast or whatever?
I did slow. So peeps could do their other, real world stuff.
Allen, I made you an admin, BTW.
JTaylor too.
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

Or do you mean games?
82
buccetz714

Slam has been on Lebron’s Dick since 01′. That being said How is Dirk not the best player?????????????????????????????????????????????????? I see Slam is all about the regular season SMH!!!!!!!!
wishuwould247

Lebron not even the best player on his team! C’mon SLAM!!!
http://slamonline.com nbk

Yeah I meant the speed of the league. I almost set it too fast before I realized what that meant. Our league is at Normal I believe cuz I thought with Slow you’d catch up pretty quick and have to wait for two weeks or whatever it is for the schedule to advance
http://slamonline.com Allenp

Enigmatic
So when we gonna play the game? I think I have it scheduled for today but I didn’t check this morning to see if you accepted it.
Check

Rose better than d wade…Hell naw, wade is a wayyy better defender, better blocker, better rebounder…Offense I would still take wade over rose because wade is good from all over the floor.He might not be good from three but he knows that n dont jack up dumb shot like d rose…
Myles Brown

I didn’t vote, so I won’t complain. I also won’t complain because this is correct.
http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

AllenP, I’m not going to be available at 8:45. How bout tomorrow at 1:15pm?
http://slamonline.com nbk

wth are y’all doin to be available at 1:15PM, sh*t I wish I had a schedule like that.
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

Allen, as luck would have it I stayed home sick today (or unluck, since I was puking this morning).
So I’ll be available anytime after about an hour from now, gotta pick up my daughter at school (no days off as a parent).
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

And the Clippers just smashed me, EJ had like 20 points in the first quarter.
They’re still undefeated in our league, SMH
Toivo Asheeke

Okay so here is my beef. Firstly the rankings should be like this. 1. Kobe 2. LeBron 3. Dwight Howard 4. D Wade 5. Kevin Durant. I say all this from a talent, accomplishment, and team success standpoint. Derrick Rose is not a top 5 player in the league. He won the MVP award the same way Steve Nash twice did it and Nowitski did it once. He was the best player on the best team but come on those dudes when they won were never as good as Kobe. He is a great talent don’t get me wrong but defensively he is not elite of a talent and even offensively he is not a great talent outside of his athletic ability. Now…. for Kobe to be number one yes I know it is an issue because right now LeBron can just do more than he can because of age. But come on basketball is more about physical attributes, mentality is important and Kobe is a winner because he refuses to lose. He had a bad playoffs no doubt but he is more skilled than LeBron and he has a will of steel plus 5 rings to back it up. LeBron has not won anything yet and until he does or unless Kobe has a huge dip in production next year he can not be number one. He is better than Wade but only because of his physical attributes and his health, a healthy Wade is a better player than LeBron. What ya’ll think?
http://slamonline.com nbk

^ So what your saying is, you don’t understand how these rankings work…..
http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

I’m a different kind of cat, not on that 9-5 ish. I work mostly at night.
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

I think I just wasted 30 seconds reading your comment
http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

Ernie Johnson dropped 20 in the 1st qtr on you? Damn…Enigmatic, you really suck!
http://slamonline.com nbk

I would like to work mostly at night. And at home.
http://slamonline.com Allenp

I won’t be available. I work during the day. Regular schedule on central time.
http://slamonline.com Allenp

I will hit you up enigmatic when I get home from work.
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

@JTaylor – LOL, Eric Gordon. Although Ernie Johnson could probably whoop me too.
“And for my neat-o stat of the night…I f*cked up that kid Rigo by like 50 points on 2k12!”
@AllenP – No problem.
BTW, if it says I’m online it doesn’t always mean I’M online, my two year old boy and 6 year old girl like to Bogart the PS3 at times. lol
http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

How bout this weekend, either Sat or Sunday?
truthteller

It’s amazing how things change. ONce upon a time, Kobe was the most hated and Lebron was loved, especially on this site. Now it looks like things have changed and LeBron is the most hated. Amazing!Well Lebron fans, enjoy the hate the same way kobe fans enjoyed the hate!
Louis

WHAT ABOUT KWAME??!????
BG23

everyone here knows lebrons the best and can’t nobody question that
chingy

Can some of you guys comment on the diff between 2k11 and 2k12 in terms of gameplay (I know all about the legends stuff..seems like that’s all the reviews are focusing on)? I’m trying to justify buying 2k12.
http://slamonline.com nbk

New Collision System. New Dribble System. Create-A-Jumper. New Post System. Basically the gameplay is upgraded everywhere. But if you don’t take your time and learn the controls (do the training camp first thing when you buy the game) you’ll get frustrated with the turnovers and being dominated by the CPU. But once you do that training camp the whole opens up. It’s a lot like 2k11 in that it has a lot of bugs the Dev Team needs to patch, and like 2k11 once they fix the problem this game will make last years game seem half-assed
Heals

Chingy, more depth to gameplay and when playing the cpu the game is more active (mentally and with fingers). More nuance to plays. Cause and effect: if you half-a$$ a couple plays you’re going to pay so don’t be lazy. Reliving (depending on your age) NBA greatest. It’s just cool pick and rolling with Stock and Malone, PEwing simply kills it with JStarks, Kob and Diesel. Even though they are just one game I trully underestimated how much fun it is play as these guys digitally (the arenas are awesome). I love being up 4 with no 3pt line type stuff. I have only played 1 game with current teams and haven’t touched my player yet. nbk is spot on about some little hiccups that will have you cursing HOF’s at the top of your lungs every now and again, but it’s cool. I’d reccommend playing with shotstick-timing on and not real-form though (opposite for FT’s). So many old-timers have odd (to me) deliveries that you waste time being frustrated about missed bunnies instead of learning how to play…
Heals

Chingy, more depth to gameplay and when playing the cpu the game is more active (mentally and with fingers). More nuance to plays. Cause and effect: if you half-a$$ a couple plays you’re going to pay so don’t be lazy. Reliving (depending on your age) NBA greatest. It’s just cool pick and rolling with Stock and Malone, PEwing simply kills it with JStarks, Kob and Diesel. Even though they are just one game I trully underestimated how much fun it is play as these guys digitally (the arenas are awesome). I love being up 4 with no 3pt line type stuff. I have only played 1 game with current teams and haven’t touched my player yet. nbk is spot on about some little hiccups that will have you cursing HOF’s at the top of your lungs every now and again, but it’s cool. I’d reccommend playing with shotstick-timing on and not real-form though (opposite for FT’s). So many old-timers have odd (to me) deliveries that you waste time being frustrated about missed bunnies instead of learning how to play…
http://www.kb24.com The Seed

To be honest, Slam missed the mark on ranking him number 1. Just because you put up stats during the regular season does not make you number one. Lebron played with Wade. You put Rose with Wade or Lebron, they have a title. I truly believe Wade and Lebron should take a hit for choking the NBA finals away. When did basketball take on the everybody wins soccer mentality, where is everybody is a winner and gets a trophy. THE BEST PLAYER SUPPOSED IN THE NBA CANNOT CHOKE THE FINALS AWAY AND BE NUMBER ONE RANKED IN ANY LIST. I honestly can say Lebron choked his way to me, from being anybody’s favorite player. I would love to ask BEN OSBORNE, really what do you like about his game. He is not a pure shooter, or scorer, passes all right, doesn’t play great defense, is out of control alot of times and shrinks in big moments. Sounds like HYPE. I can’t wait till 5 years from now and when he wins no rings, People will be saying he is the greatest regular season player ever-stat wise. Sounds like Dan Marino or in Lebron case–Warren Moon BOOK IT!!!
Heals

And then there were none. It was an interesting countdown and probably an excellent diversion for those of us trying to cope with the lockout. I’d love to know if there were more comments this year than in years past. On a similar note I’d love to see some SLAMonline stats for the definitive rankings, i.e.: who got in the most arguments, who came up more LeBron, Rose or Kobe, how many personal lists were created, was there 100% agreeance on any player’s ranking, etc. All in all props to SLAM and all the diverse commentor POV’s that helped me kill time…
http://www.facebook.com/#!/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

Leave it to none other than The Seed to argue ranking him number 1. I mean, sure ranking him number 1 was kinda hard on my part since he wasn’t very good in the Finals at all but…..c’mon, he’s the most well-rounded player in the L. He still deserves number #1. Now if we’re looking at like a year or two later and he STILL hasn’t won…..then we got ourselves a problem.
http://slamonline.com LakeShow

Most boring day on Slam, the day No.1 and No.2 are released. Who woulda thought… Please start the NBA season. My body is out of wack from not spending hours on the bean bag watching ball. Ugh…
robb

I think it’s fair. For me it should be 5. KD, 4. Dwight, 3. Kobe/Wade, 2. Wade/Kobe 1. LBJ. Lebron is the best right now, yes he chokes at the end, but he’s the most complete player, great court vision, great athleticism, strong, fast, good defender, etc etc. I always considered myself a hater, but even haters must realize this guy is the No. 1. Kobe is the most skilled but overall Lebron is no. 1
http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

Agree with robb 100%
booya

Lebron is the best player in the NBA, sure he didnt play so good 3 games in the Finals, but overall the entire year he has been the most productive and dominant and the most consistant player.

He had 500+ MVP votes, Wade had only 24, Kobe had less, Dirk had less.

He was on 1st all-NBA team and 1st All-Defensive team, Wade and Dirk were not.

He led the league in PER, once again was the most productive player in the NBA.

He went from a team (Cavs) that was #1 in the NBA and they immediately became the worst team in the NBA simply without him.

He went to a mediocre/bad team (Heat) who has not won a playoff series since 2006… and they immediately went to the Finals….

THAT IS WHAT I CALL IMPACT… LEBRON HAS BEEN OVERALL THE BEST THE ENTIRE YEAR
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/a-quick-guide-to-the-issues-of-the-nba-lockout/2011/10/11/gIQAon1ZbL_story.html unf*ckwitable

Only top ten rank that Slam got right.
http://gmail.com z

Lol @ the lebron fans acting like everyone would have their panties in a bunch over this the way you guys do whenever kob gets ANY credit. Kobe fans have had 2 deal with constant hate for a solid decade (often from you guys) ya’ll better get used to the hate and not let it bother you so much (cuz brons gonna be the best and thus most hated playa for a few years yet). Unlike the kobe haters, I actually DO wanna see the player I don’t like be the best he can be and thus far bron hasn’t delivered with all due respect. He’s the most talented player in the league, has POTENTIAL to be the GOAT and needs to start living upto that potential asap. Because if he retires without at least 5 rings I will consider him an underachiever.
Jtaylor raised an interesting point the other day (unlike kobe haters I’m not so blinded by hate that I’m unable to recognize valid points regarding the object of my scorn) when he said that bron didn’t shrink from the big stage last june. He missed some shots in game 2 and seemingly lost all faith in his ability to make shots. Honestly, I find that lack of self-confidence from the game’s best player pretty vexing (and worrisome going forward). Like, I just can’t see $ or young $ losing their confidence after a few missed shots and shrinking on the big stage as a result. In fact I KNOW those two wouldn’t have done that bc I watched em both shoot their teams out of lotsa games, and you know what? I felt a lot more confident in their ability to bounce back than I feel about bron as of right now. He just doesn’t seem as mean on court as $ and kob yknow? *also I really wanna kno what eboy was talking about with him and white chocolate in summer of 06
uli

if you call a merely solid three-pointer and an (it is indeed that) awesome abilty to drive and finish at the rim an almost perfect skill set, what do Kobe, KD, Russell Westbrook, DRose, Monta Ellis or Dwayde have? Super-uber skill sets? Lebron is one of the best of his generation but he choked terribly when it has gotten really important. It hurts to see this much potential and all he does is driving and shooting threes. He might have more playoff wins that MJ, but he also has a lot more seasons under his belt and even by the age of twenty-six, MJ had a post game and a skill set that Lebron will probably never have as he relies way too much on his physical talents than on his skill.
uli

lebron is the best player in the league right now because others (Kobe,KD,DRose) have either regressed or not reached their full potential yet.
Maniac

Whew! Got a lot done today. Yeah airs bust my a$$ yesterday lmao. That’s the one thing i hate about basketball video games though… they’re video games. It’s good though because it seemed like KD and Russ had NO FAITGUE lmao. Those two took 65 shots together! Thats exactly equal to my top 6 scorers all together! We’ll see about that next time though. I owe you one. Good s*** though because i thought it was over when i had you down by 16. Made me look like a clown lol. I seeletting the superstars take all the shots is how you do it lol.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

Ben, I love you, you’re my boy… but I’ve been harping on the “definitive” title since day 1. That’s a bit unfair I get no love here. I was the original dbag.
http://bulls.com airs

haha, dude i was getting p*ssed in the first quarter.
you hit like EVERYTHING.
my only tip, learn how to break the full court press bro!
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

My game froze as I was about to play Allen, then had to turn the PS3 off and back on cause it was frozen for a good 10 minutes
. Turn it back on and caught an L. WTF?
Then I tried to play the Kings (cpu) and got blown out by like 50.
SMH this league is gonna suck for me…
HOopER

this is the only 3 peat he’ll get
Maniac

Lmao you were pi$$ed in the first quarter and I was pi$$ed every minute after. Yeah that press was killing me. I had enough turnovers for a full season. The Lakers are slow and old. I got something in store for the league in the coming days though.

Top 50: LeBron James, no. 1

The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.

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