Sports illustrated has officially joined the chat. The top 100 NBA players chat that is. You see, ranking the 100 professional basketball leagues players in the NBA is not unusual for these sports media companies. Not only are these lists a fun exercise for SI’s writers, experts, but these types of lists often incense fans both diehards and “casuals” that collect the most eyeballs.
Whether they’re intentionally aiming to anger fanbases or not isn’t entirely clear. The simple fact that a well known sports media company puts out a list that purports the “best” anything is going to raise the temperature of NBA Twitter.
Sports Illustrated’s 100 Best NBA Players List
Sports Illustrated has done this the last several years including last season’s 2021-22 list of the top 100 players in the league.
The best bet, casino cashback to ensure your readers’ emotions are running high, sharing out your content, and discussing it on a deep reddit thread with dozens of replies is not only to put out a top 10 or top 50 or top 76 list or top 100 list, but assigning a rank to those players. You know like ranking Kevin Durant below Jayson Tatum.
Anyways, this list will surely have the internet ready to fight (virtually). Here’s Sports Illustrated’s 100 best NBA players going into the 2022-23 season.
Rk | Player | Team |
---|---|---|
100 | Myles Turner | Indiana Pacers |
99 | Josh Giddey | Oklahoma City Thunder |
98 | Jusuf Nurkić | Portland Trail Blazers |
97 | Monte Morris | Washington Wizards |
96 | Ivica Zubac | Los Angeles Clippers |
95 | Bojan Bogdanović | Detroit Pistons |
94 | Dillon Brooks | Memphis Grizzlies |
93 | Dorian Finney-Smith | Dallas Mavericks |
92 | Robert Covington | Los Angeles Clippers |
91 | Spencer Dinwiddie | Dallas Mavericks |
90 | Alex Caruso | Chicago Bulls |
89 | RJ Barrett | New York Knicks |
88 | Al Horford | Boston Celtics |
87 | Julius Randle | New York Knicks |
86 | Anfernee Simons | Portland Trail Blazers |
85 | Herb Jones | New Orleans Pelicans |
84 | Harrison Barnes | Sacramento Kings |
83 | Norman Powell | Los Angeles Clippers |
82 | Franz Wagner | Orlando Magic |
81 | Jordan Poole | Golden State Warriors |
80 | D’Angelo Russell | Minnesota Timberwolves |
79 | Cam Johnson | Phoenix Suns |
78 | Seth Curry | Brooklyn Nets |
77 | Jalen Green | Houston Rockets |
76 | Terry Rozier | Charlotte Hornets |
75 | Kristaps Porziņģis | Washington Wizards |
74 | Malcolm Brogdon | Boston Celtics |
73 | John Collins | Atlanta Hawks |
72 | Jerami Grant | Portland Trail Blazers |
71 | Keldon Johnson | San Antonio Spurs |
70 | Jonas Valančiūnas | New Orleans Pelicans |
69 | Jalen Brunson | New York Knicks |
68 | Nikola Vučević | Chicago Bulls |
67 | Michael Porter Jr | Denver Nuggets |
66 | Klay Thompson | Golden State Warriors |
65 | Gordon Hayward | Charlotte Hornets |
64 | Aaron Gordon | Denver Nuggets |
63 | DeAndre Hunter | Atlanta Hawks |
62 | Clint Capela | Atlanta Hawks |
61 | Tyler Herro | Miami Heat |
60 | Jaren Jackson Jr | Memphis Grizzlies |
59 | Kyle Lowry | Miami Heat |
58 | Tobias Harris | Philadelphia 76ers |
57 | Jarrett Allen | Cleveland Cavaliers |
56 | Robert Williams III | Boston Celtics |
55 | Desmond Bane | Memphis Grizzlies |
54 | O.G. Anunoby | Toronto Raptors |
53 | Andrew Wiggins | Golden State Warriors |
52 | Tyrese Maxey | Philadelphia 76ers |
51 | Mikal Bridges | Phoenix Suns |
50 | Marcus Smart | Boston Celtics |
49 | Deandre Ayton | Phoenix Suns |
48 | Scottie Barnes | Toronto Raptors |
47 | Darius Garland | Cleveland Cavaliers |
46 | Cade Cunningham | Detroit Pistons |
45 | Domantas Sabonis | Sacramento Kings |
44 | Evan Mobley | Cleveland Cavaliers |
43 | De’Aaron Fox | Sacramento Kings |
42 | LaMelo Ball | Charlotte Hornets |
41 | Tyrese Haliburton | Indiana Pacers |
40 | Fred VanVleet | Toronto Raptors |
39 | Ben Simmons | Brooklyn Nets |
38 | Draymond Green | Golden State Warriors |
37 | Dejounte Murray | Atlanta Hawks |
36 | Kyrie Irving | Brooklyn Nets |
35 | Anthony Edwards | Minnesota Timberwolves |
34 | CJ McCollum | New Orleans Pelicans |
33 | Zach LaVine | Chicago Bulls |
32 | Pascal Siakam | Toronto Raptors |
31 | Jamal Murray | Denver Nuggets |
30 | DeMar DeRozan | Chicago Bulls |
29 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Oklahoma City Thunder |
28 | Rudy Gobert | Minnesota Timberwolves |
27 | Khris Middleton | Milwaukee Bucks |
26 | Jrue Holiday | Milwaukee Bucks |
25 | Brandon Ingram | New Orleans Pelicans |
24 | Chris Paul | Phoenix Suns |
23 | Donovan Mitchell | Cleveland Cavaliers |
22 | Jaylen Brown | Boston Celtics |
21 | Bradley Beal | Washington Wizards |
20 | Bam Adebayo | Miami Heat |
19 | Zion Williamson | New Orleans Pelicans |
18 | Anthony Davis | Los Angeles Lakers |
17 | James Harden | Philadelphia 76ers |
16 | Trae Young | Atlanta Hawks |
15 | Karl-Anthony Towns | Minnesota Timberwolves |
14 | Ja Morant | Memphis Grizzlies |
13 | Damian Lillard | Portland Trail Blazers |
12 | Devin Booker | Phoenix Suns |
11 | Paul George | Los Angeles Clippers |
10 | Jimmy Butler | Miami Heat |
9 | Jayson Tatum | Celtics |
8 | Kawhi Leonard | Los Angeles Clippers |
7 | LeBron James | Los Angeles Lakers |
6 | Luka Dončić | Dallas Mavericks |
5 | Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers |
4 | Kevin Durant | Brooklyn Nets |
3 | Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors |
2 | Nikola Jokić | Denver Nuggets |
1 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks |
If you’re catching this article earlier in the week of October 3rd, 2022, you are likely seeing an incomplete list as Sports Illustrated has released their list in portions. First they put out the first fifty on Monday (100-51), the next 20 on Tuesday (50-31) then positions 30-11 on Wednesday and so on.
We all know that fans are biased for their teams and their players. So the Russell Westbrook fanboys and fangirls cannot fathom the idea that Westbrook didn’t make Sports Illustrated’s list this year.
This doesn’t mean that all the journalists came into this process with objectivity and integrity as their main objectives. they know what type of content has the highest potential for clicks, pageviews and virality which is how internet success is often measured.
Any list put out by ESPN or Sports Illustrated or The Ringer is going to cause controversy, and thus, be one of the most read articles of the season. That’s the way it is and that’s how it’s going to be. You’re here, aren’t you?