The Sports Page: Top Ten NBA Players (2012)

It's amazing how we always find a way to complain about life. Last year, I was complaining about there not being an NBA season at all while the absurd lockout was happening. This year, I am b****ing about two things. First, I decided to change my cable service from Time Warner to AT&T. Well, the Lakers decided to ink a deal with Time Warner to establish basically their own network on Time Warner Cable Sportsnet. I always keep broad perspective and keep life about sports. AT&T is giving me a significantly better deal and I refuse to change back. I guess I won't be watching that many Laker games this year, at least for now.



The second thing is this very thing, this blog entry. It was hard putting this list together perhaps because I am a too nice. Last year I had no problem with the list. Outside of the top five, it was difficult. As with any list, the last spot or two is most difficult because as you get further away from the top, the gap between players decreases. Here it goes.



The Cluster

As I struggled with making this list, I realized that the players left out were right on the precipice of being in the top ten, but they were similar in status. Between Gasol, Griffin, Jefferson, Bosh, and Aldridge, how would you rank them? The difference between them isn't very discernible. Meanwhile Williams and Westbrook are similar, but as guards. Outside of there being little to no difference between these players, you could easily argue for any of these players to replace number ten or even number nine on the list. Over time, some of these players will drop while others will eventually ascend into the top ten.















10. Rose, Derrick

I probably had most trouble with Rose and Rondo and their ordering. Rose's ability is well-known at this point. He has improved his outside shooting, which he will definitly need to keep doing for two reasons. First, he going to be returning later in the year from knee surgery and will not be as explosive initially. Second, he needs to do so for the sake of preservation. Even if or when he gets his explosiveness back, he needs to preserve it by taking more pull up jumpers. Recently retired Brian Scalabrine said on the BS Report said he was dumbfounded by the things Rose can do athletically, things that defied physics (I am a witness too after seeing him play live a couple seasons ago). However, Rose could not defy the nature of anatomy. The Bulls win games with defense and rebounding and offensive execution. While Rose carries them on offense with his scoring, I still don't feel he impacts the game enough in other facets, including leadership. Leading by example is not all it takes; at some point, all great, effective leaders have to be confrontational. Rose hasn't shone that yet.

9. Rondo, Rajon

This is probably the most interesting member of my top ten because I have him over both Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook. Both Rose and Westbrook are significantly better scorers than Rondo. However, Rondo has a better abillity to exert his will into his team and the game. Last year against the Heat in the East Semis, he basically carried them up until game 6 when LeBron became this. We basketball fans tend to get caught up with just points, but I prefer to observe how is each player exerting their will on the game if that player is even capable of doing so to begin with. Rondo is never going to be a player that averages 20 points and shoot lights out, but he's still a dangerous scorer. Rondo does things that lubricates, for lack of a better term, his teammates both offensively and defensively. He is also more willing than Rose to be confrontational and thus a more effective leader.

8. Love, Kevin

In the last two years, Love has pulled away from The Cluster. He started by losing weight and being in better shape. He is a great passer and has a devastating outlet pass. He can play in the low post, mid post and high post. He can shoot from long distance. He can play pick and roll. He can even take defenders off the dribble a little bit. With that being said, his best ability is probably rebounding. Pound for pound, he's probably the best rebounder in the NBA. Dwight Howard owns rebounding over Love probably because of his athleticism combined with his instincts, but Love's instincts are second to none. He doesn't have a lot to work with up in Minnesota and Rubio's injury was a huge blow. He's probably more limited defensively than the forwards in The Cluster due to his lack of length and leaping ability to guard the rim, but he can make up for it with great position defense (and rebounding is a part of defense).

7.  Parker, Tony

I thought Parker made the biggest jump, at least in my biased eyes. Before last year, I saw Parker as a player who knew how to score, but not really lubricate the flow of his team like many of the top floor generals do consistently. Last year, however, I saw him turn the corner and my eyes weren't lying to me. He averaged well above his career average assists and did a better job leading and setting up teammate while still scoring. He's among the league leaders in points in the paint which defies logic given he's a small point guard. The Spurs are at a stage where they are going to go as far as Parker takes them. Duncan has been past his prime for about 4 years or so and Manu is still going to decline due to age and his fearless (reckless if you are a cynic) style of play. I think Parker still has a couple peak years left before he starts to decline. My only advice for him? Stay single...

6. Wade, Dwyane

I am most nervous about Wade than any other person on this list. There were moments last year when he looked terrible mostly due to injuries and a consistent knee problem. In stretches in the playoffs, the Heat were sort of winning in spite of some of Wade's play. Once he sort of let LeBron take the mantle, it was all gravy from that point. I'm not only nervous about his health, but his attitude. Let's say Wade is relatively healthy this year. How is he going to impact the "calibration" of the team as retired columnist Bob Ryan would say. By default due to injury, it was easy for the Heat to be LeBron's team. However, D-Wade is an alpha male. You mix in his alpha maleness with good health, will there be a power struggle. If the Heat are anything other than LeBron's team, there will be struggles and consternation. Nonetheless, he is still solidly in the top ten, at least for now.

5. Bryant, Kobe

Nobody told Kobe I had Wade over him last year, right? He finished right behind Durant last year for the scoring title even at his stage in his career. However, he was mostly a gunner and wasn't as efficient due to Gasol not really being an aggressive type player and playing out of position, Bynum being mercurial, and not having a true point guard as needed once the Triangle was scrapped. His on ball defense has delince significantly over the last several years while he's still a good overall defender mainly as a help defender. I look for him to be more efficient as he can pick his spots with the addidions of Nash and Howard. My only fear is him going into gunner mode when there are stretches when he hardly touches the ball. Scoring will be down while his FG% and assist should be up. That is what I am hoping for at least.

4. Durant, Kevin

I'm probably most optimistic about KD more than any other. During the playoffs I saw glimpses of the player he could ultimately become. He was setting up teammates and started going down to the high post and low block even if only a little bit. People tend to forget he's still a baby in NBA terms. Also, I think being schooled by LeBron last year opened his eyes to the fact that he needs to evolve his game in other facets. I look for him to jump up and compete with the top three on this list, or at least make it more difficult for me to rank him among those three. I don't want to keep beating this dead horse, but we still need him to adapt that killer instinct on defense as much as he does on offense. Nearly all the greats are killers on defense too (see Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant, Hakeem Olajuwon, et al), even if mostly mentally if they aren't as physically gifted.

3. Howard, Dwight

SMH. I heard a report that the doctor that operated on Howard was befuddled and amazed at his body. He had emmense swelling around the impact area of his back. The doctor said that muscles around the swelling area tend to atrophy. With Howard, he said once the swelling went down and perfermed the operation, he notice little to no atrophy. I hate Dwight Howard, the bastard. Some people just win the genetic jackpot. When he made his first pre-season appearance, all of us Laker fans quickly shut down the previous thought of Bynum competing with Howard for top center in the league. That was us rationalizing knowing we knew the truth. I mean he just jumped off the screen, totally night and day. Kobe agrees. Remember when Fisher was traded last year? Kobe was crushed and notice how he didn't really speak on it for a long time and avoided the media somewhat. Well when Bynum was traded, Kobe was basically like "good luck Drew, time to move on though." He said this almost instantly. He knows Howard is far beyond Bynum's reach as top center. I look for Howard to be Howard, 20 points 14 rebounds 2-3 blocks a game while controlling the paint defensively.

2. Paul, Chris

He's just a little bulldog and I love it. Really no serious weaknesses. I love how he exerted his will in the Gold Medal Game this past Olympics against Spain. He even got Coach K out of his chair and jumping around like a 5 year old. That was great. Paul now has some new toys to play with though some of them are up in age. The Clippers will need Paul a lot because their roster will need to be well-managed. There are only so many minutes that can go around and some very solid players are not going to get burn in stretches of the season. The great thing is that many of those players are not "ball-needers" (Barnes, Hollins, Jordan, Turiaf, Hill to some degree). Paul will have to be as good as managing the attitude of the team as much as he needs to be a dominant player on the court.

1. James, LeBron

I mentioned the "calibration" of the Heat with Wade's health and alpha maleness. I just finished a book that discussed our genetic predisposition to personality traits mixed with the social environment and life experiences. LeBron is what she would call a Builder. Builders are great at knowing the big picture and knowing how to manage a group and keep everyone involved and active. LeBron isn't one to automatically dominate the ball and the team. He tends to do that when his final calculation shows that he needs to take over for the benefit of his team. Naturally, he's going to get everyone involved and keep the team lubricated. It may not be as easy if Wade is back to his old self. I'm not saying Wade is a bad teammate at all (he is what the author would call a Director). My only question is that if challenged, will LeBron have it in him to still rise up and say "this is my team and we are going as far as I take us," or will he just go with the flow. His personality is that of the latter, which should make for an interesting season.