Even with Covid-19, some things haven’t changed.
It’s that time of year when ESPN puts out their list of the top 100 NBA players under the hashtag #NBArank and we put out our full list so you all can get the full context of why Lonzo Ball is ranked so damn high! More on that later.
Looking for the top 100 NBA players for the 2021-22 season? Click here.
In the tenth year of the always-controversial list, ESPN went back to listing out 100 players again (sometimes they go withonly 74 players as they did last season) again putting out the survey to a select panel of NBA scribes, media and experts and asking “Who are the NBA’s top players for the upcoming 2020-21?” and then tabulating those votes.
A list never fails to generate discussion
As with every list that ESPN has put out, there’s very little drama with the top ten in terms of the players chosen. It should come as no surprise to even the most casual of fans that LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Luka Doncicare in the top 10, but it’s the players that are ranked from #10 on down that fans, NBA talking heads and Twitter are taking offense too.
We think Sports Illustrated’s list is a much more accurate representation of the league’s 100 best players.
This year is a little different as ESPN has hidden some of their releases (#100-51, #10-1) behind their Insider paywall, but teasing you with free access to 50-11 rankings of the list.
We’ll get into the controversies in approximately 100 rows. Until then we scoured a bunch of disparate articles to put together ESPN’s full list of to 100 NBA players for the 2021 season for you.
| Rank | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeBron James | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2 | Anthony Davis | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 3 | Giannis | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 4 | Luka Doncic | Dallas Mavericks |
| 5 | Kawhi Leonard | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 6 | Kevin Durant | Brooklyn Nets |
| 7 | Damien Lillard | Portland Trailblazers |
| 8 | Steph Curry | Golden State Warriors |
| 9 | James Harden | Houston Rockets |
| 10 | Nikola Jokic | Denver Nuggets |
| 11 | Jayson Tatum | Boston Celtics |
| 12 | Jimmy Butler | Miami Heat |
| 13 | Bam Adebayo | Miami Heat |
| 14 | Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 15 | Chris Paul | Phoenix Suns |
| 16 | Ben Simmons | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 17 | Devin Booker | Phoenix Suns |
| 18 | Donovan Mitchell | Utah Jazz |
| 19 | Zion Williamson | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 20 | Paul George | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 21 | Jamal Murray | Denver Nuggets |
| 22 | Bradley Beal | Washington Wizards |
| 23 | Karl-Anthony Towns | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 24 | Pascal Siakam | Toronto Raptors |
| 25 | Kyrie Irving | Brooklyn Nets |
| 26 | Rudy Gobert | Utah Jazz |
| 27 | CJ McCollum | Portland Trailblazers |
| 28 | Brandon Ingram | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 29 | Trae Young | Atlanta Hawks |
| 30 | Kyle Lowry | Toronto Raptors |
| 31 | Ja Morant | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 32 | Jaylen Brown | Boston Celtics |
| 33 | Jrue Holiday | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 34 | De'Aaron Fox | Sacramento Kings |
| 35 | Khris Middleton | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 36 | Russell Westbrook | Washington Wizards |
| 37 | Marcus Smart | Boston Celtics |
| 38 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 39 | Malcolm Brogdon | Indiana Pacers |
| 40 | Fred VanVleet | Toronto Raptors |
| 41 | Kristaps Porzingis | Dallas Mavericks |
| 42 | Nikola Vucevic | Orlando Magic |
| 43 | Jaren Jackson Jr. | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 44 | Draymond Green | Golden State Warriors |
| 45 | Gordon Hayward | Atlanta Hawks |
| 46 | Caris LeVert | Brooklyn Nets |
| 47 | Victor Oladipo | Indiana Pacers |
| 48 | Kemba Walker | Boston Celtics |
| 49 | Spencer Dinwiddie | Brooklyn Nets |
| 50 | Domantas Sabonis | Indiana Pacers |
| 51 | Michael Porter Jr. | Denver Nuggets |
| 52 | Deandre Ayton | Phoenix Suns |
| 53 | Jusuf Nurkic | Portland Trailblazers |
| 54 | Lonzo Ball | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 55 | Christian Wood | Detroit Pistons |
| 56 | Zach Lavine | Chicago Bulls |
| 57 | Tobias Harris | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 58 | Goran Dragic | Miami Heat |
| 59 | Tyler Herro | Miami Heat |
| 60 | Robert Covington | Portland Trailblazers |
| 61 | Davis Bertans | Washington Wizards |
| 62 | Bogdan Bogdanovic | Atlanta Hawks |
| 63 | TJ Warren | Indiana Pacers |
| 64 | Kevin Love | Cleveland Cavs |
| 65 | Blake Griffin | Detroit Pistons |
| 66 | Serge Ibaka | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 67 | Eric Bledsoe | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 68 | OG Anunoby | Toronto Raptors |
| 69 | D'Angelo Russell | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 70 | Steven Adams | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 71 | Mike Conley Jr. | Utah Jazz |
| 72 | PJ Tucker | Houston Rockets |
| 73 | Bojan Bogdanovic | Utah Jazz |
| 74 | Myles Turner | Indiana Pacers |
| 75 | Duncan Robinson | Miami Heat |
| 76 | Montrezl Harrell | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 77 | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 78 | Aaron Gordon | Orlando Magic |
| 79 | Dennis Schroder | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 80 | Josh Richardson | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 81 | John Wall | Houston Rockets |
| 82 | DeMar DeRozan | San Antonio Spurs |
| 83 | Dejounte Murray | San Antonio Spurs |
| 84 | John Collins | Atlanta Hawks |
| 85 | Danilo Gallinari | Atlanta Hawks |
| 86 | Brook Lopez | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 87 | Buddy Hield | Sacramento Kings |
| 88 | Jerami Grant | Detroit Pistons |
| 89 | Joe Ingles | Utah Jazz |
| 90 | Patrick Beverley | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 91 | Seth Curry | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 92 | Mitchell Robinson | New York Knicks |
| 93 | Ricky Rubio | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 94 | Jarett Allen | Brooklyn Nets |
| 95 | LaMarcus Aldridge | San Antonio Spurs |
| 96 | Marc Gasol | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 97 | Derrick White | San Antonio Spurs |
| 98 | Otto Porter Jr. | Chicago Bulls |
| 99 | Marcus Morris Sr. | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 100 | Joe Harris | Brooklyn Nets |
We’re clearly still working on the list. Stay tuned/check back as we put the pieces together.
As always, ESPN brings the controversy
If you’re a betting man, you know that there’s a 100% chance that these type of lists from ESPN will drum up noise. That’s a safe bet atKucasino onlineor any online casino.
In the short time the list has been live, the biggest controversy seems to be how high Lonzo Ball ranked on the list. The fact that the elder Ball brother was at position #54 wasn’t the issue technically, it was the fact that he was above players like PJ Tucker, Aaron Gordon, Tyler Herro, Zach LaVine, Blake Griffin, D’Angelo Russell, Mike Conley Jr. andDeMar DeRozan (whom most fans thought was the most-severely underrated at 82!)
DeMar thought the same. Here’s what DeRozan had to emote online:
LOL.
Can’t get enough of righteous frustration or hurt fanboys? Then check out this tweet thread for a small sample of all the above and more emotions (that ESPN counts on every season all the way to the click bank).
ESPN 2020-2021 Player Rankings:
97. Derrick White
95. LaMarcus Aldridge
83. Dejounte Murray
82. DeMar DeRozan77. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
72. PJ Tucker
71. Mike Conley
68. OG Anunoby
62. Bogdan Bogdanovic
61. Davis Bertans
59. Tyler Herro
54. Lonzo Ball
51. Michael Porter Jr.— Noah Magaro-George (@N_Magaro) December 8, 2020
Of those players ranked below Lonzo, players DeRozan, Herro, LaVine, John Collins and Russell all have their own articles and Twitter discussions dedicated to their being over and underrated by ESPN’s experts. The same goes with Zion being ranked above established superstars.
We always like looking at this list and we love Duncan Robinson at #75, but is he really better thanMontrezl Harrell (#76) or Aaron Gordon (#78) much less Collins (#84) and Buddy Hield (#87)? This article fromUSA Today does a great job summarizing some of those emotions.
What about snubs?
Some of the more notable snubs include the Derrick Rose, Andre Drummond, Pelicans’ JJ Redick, Rajon Rondo, Carmelo Anthony, Alex Caruso, Golden State Warriors’Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Eric Paschall.Wendall Carter Jr. and Paul Millsap also didn’t make the cut
The list also left off rookiesCoby White, Brandon Clarke, and Kendrick Nunn.
Just be glad Lavar Ball wasn’t on the panel of experts, Lonzo would have been much higher.
