(Looking for the 100 Best Players for 2023-24? Click here!)

As we write this article, we have less than a month left before the NBA kicks off the 2022-23 season schedule when the Boston Celtics take on the Philadelphia 76ers on October 18th. Still seems like too long? Well, the NBA preseason starts even earlier than that on September 30th when the Golden State Warriors play against the Washington Wizards in Japan.

Alright we’re straying a bit off subject, the reason why we bring up the upcoming season is because it’s getting to that time of year when predictions, NBA odds for the championship, NBA2K player ratings, talking heads make bold claims, podcasts come back from vacation, and all types of other rankings come out of the woodwork. In order words, the NBA media and content machine is revving their engine.

ESPN’s  ‘The NBA’s 100 Best Players of 2022-23’

One of the more popular lists that come out around this time of year is the ESPN’s list of the NBA’s 100 Best Players. The annual ranking of players surely gets fanbases riled up and setting internet forums on fire.

Check out the ESPN 100 Best NBA Player Rankings

If you’re reading this near the publication of the list, you may be looking at an incomplete list. That’s because ESPN announces the list in parts. First ESPN put out the players at #100 to #26 then released positions 25-11 on Thursday, September 22nd.  The full list hasn’t been released and there’s already videos calling the rankings bad and “getting worse.”

It won’t be much of a surprise to see the top ten players. It’ll be the league’s superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, Luke Doncic, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and Nikola Jokic along with younger players Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, and Devin Booker). Save for Booker, none of those names are breaking news, it’ll be the positions where they land.

The only questions are where they’ll land. ESPN’s 2021-22 list ranked Durant at #1 and I wouldn’t be surprise to see KD on the lower end of the ten best – I’m guessing #9 (updated: Durant landed at #8).

Where does the two-time, reigning MVP Jokic land on the list? How does Steph’s dominance in winning the NBA title last season, solidifying his legacy, improve his placement this year? Yes, LeBron is one of the league’s best players and averaged 30 points last season, but his Lakers are predicted to be subpar again.

Even if a list like this could be objectively perfect, fans’ opinions and biases get will get in the way of objectivity. Translation means no one is going to be happy with ESPN’s list. And ESPN loves this. They know First Take, Pardon the Interruption, Get Up and Around the Horn are a some of their most popular shows because of the ridiculous takes and opinions expressed on them.

Not that Ohm Youngmisuk, Jamal Collier, Tim McMahon, Kevin Pelton, Tim Bontemps, and friend of interbasket Jonathan Givony. didn’t do their best to be fair, they just know that lists grab eyeballs, clicks and advertiser money. No doubt when they review the year, the #NBARank list is going to be one of ESPN’s most-popular articles for the 2022-23 season.