Anyone can list the best players in the NBA, but basketball is as much about chemistry as it is about talent. Within each of the league’s 30 teams there is a hierarchy, and how well each of the five players on the court understands and fulfills his role within that hierarchy is every bit as important as his individual ability.
Ideally, a lineup has its superstar, a respectable co-star, a third star who owns his role, a fourth option and a fifth starter to tie it all together – clearing Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. In this series, we line up the five best players from each level for a broader look across the league. How close is your team to ideal alignment?
No. 1 options: The Leading Men
What is number 1? He is the alpha of the team – often in personality, always in ability. Ideally, everyone recognizes that he is the top dog in the squad; teammates fall in line behind him, and opponents make him the primary focus of their game plans. Lying situations usually go through your number 1. He calms you down when you are on the wrong end of a run. He bails you out if things go wrong. He gets his.
He comes in many forms, but you know him when you see him. King James or The Hick of French Lick. Air Jordan or The President of the Boards. Magic Johnson or The Great Foundation. Dr. J or The Postman. In whatever form, he’s the one looking for the pantheon, because you can’t be #2 forever.
Without further ado, your top five #1s…
1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Do we really need to explain why Jokić is one of the best #1 options in basketball? He won three of the past four regular-season MVP awards and should have won a fourth, instead taking home Finals MVP. In case we’ve forgotten how often in recent years we’ve agreed he’s the best player in the game, he reminded us at the Paris Olympics, where he and some guys you’ve probably never heard of nearly upset Team USA.
The Nuggets are +3,464 when Jokić is on the floor and -1,829 when he’s on the bench in his nine-year career. You could argue he’s the game’s most efficient high-volume scorer, its best passer and one of its greatest rebounders. He is nearly 7 feet and 300 pounds and will finish this season with more career triples than Magic Johnson. We’d say he’s a unicorn if he weren’t so much a rhinoceros.
Anyone who plays with Jokić is better for it, and that’s not to be desired. Since joining forces with Jokić, Jamal Murray, Jerami Grant, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Gary Harris, Will Barton and Bruce Brown — none of whom ever made an All-Star appearance — have signed more than $1 billion in contracts.
I don’t know how many other ways there are to praise Jokić. He owns the highest Game Performance rating ever – higher than Nos. 2 and 3 Michael Jordan and LeBron James. If that’s not enough to convince you, what will? A fourth MVP award? A second title? These will only jump him higher in the all-time rankings.
2. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
Dončić made the All-NBA first team for five years running. The list of players to earn as many nods to the top list before turning 26: Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant and Dončić. Not bad company.
Dončić is a dot factory. There are few players, if any, more dangerous with the ball in their hands, and no one has the ball in their hands more than Dončić. He led the NBA in scoring in three of the past four seasons, scoring or assisting on 52 points per game in that span. He has created 13,926 points – about as many as Kawhi Leonard has scored in his career – over the last four years. These are absurd numbers.
The Mavericks had no business reaching the NBA Finals last season. Their 6-foot-2 second-best player underwhelmed his three previous franchises. Their main defender was a minimum-wage journeyman. Their rookie center factored heavily into the rotation. But they had Dončić, and he was the rising tide in Dallas.
If last season taught us anything, the gap between Jokić and the field is not as wide as we once thought because Dončić exists. Now imagine he arrives at training camp, like many, in the best shape of his life.
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Underestimate Antetokounmpo at your peril. Over the past two seasons, the Bucks have cycled through four coaches and lost twice in the first round of the playoffs. Last season, they failed to win 50 games (or its equivalent) for the first time since 2018, when The Greek Freak was a rookie. His supporting cast members have aged into their mid-30s, and Milwaukee has few other resources to upgrade its roster.
However, Antetokounmpo still finished third in MVP voting in 2023 and fourth last season. Before that he was an NBA champion and two-time MVP. By any measure he is no worse than the third best player in the world.
And by actual measure he’s 7 feet, 3 inches of streaky wingspan, caressing through traffic like a Lotus, scoring 350 more points at the rim than anyone else last season. He’s a nightmare in transition, so much so that entire lines rush back, building walls at the free throw line and trying to slow him down.
Sure, Antetokounmpo isn’t a 3-point shooter in an era when they’re more essential than ever, but as he said, “I can’t have everything in life. I can’t make 3s either. God had to keep me humble .” He is nothing but everything else, normalizing the notion that one man could lead a contender in every statistical category.
4. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
If you didn’t have Jokić, Dončić and Antetokounmpo in some order as your top three, you weren’t watching basketball. This is where things get interesting. There shouldn’t be a unanimous top four.
You could easily make an argument here for any number of players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Jalen Brunson or Kevin Durant, but in my opinion they are either too young, too small, too injury-prone or too old to usurp Tatum, because he’s neither of those things.
Tatum was the best player on a team that won seven more games than any other team last season and cruised to the championship. He sacrificed statistics on a stacked roster and continued to average 27-8-5 on the highest performance of a career that got him on the All-NBA first team for three years in a row.
Much will be made of Tatum’s inefficiencies in the Finals and absences from the Olympics, but two things have been indisputable for years: The Celtics are incredible when he’s on the floor, and he’s almost always available. Those two consistencies helped Boston finish +755 with Tatum in a regular season or playoff lineup, the best plus-minus of anyone in the league. To credit his teammates for that know-how, but that would be to ignore the very real possibility that Tatum is the most well-rounded basketball player alive.
5. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Curry’s Golden State Warriors failed to make the playoffs for the second time in four years, and Edwards won 56 games on a Minnesota Timberwolves team that boasted two other recent All-NBA talents in their prime. But Gilgeous-Alexander won the West’s No. 1 seed without a single other All-Star in the rotation last season, and his Thunder gave the Mavericks more streaks than any other team in the conference.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in drives and steals last season, establishing himself as one of the most dangerous points of attack on both ends of the floor. The lanky 6-foot-6 point guard repeatedly cuts into the lane, where he can finish over, under, around or through anyone. He uses the same instincts and footwork to succeed defensively. The ball finds Gilgeous-Alexander, and he finds the net.
We shouldn’t have to explain further why the player who finished second in last season’s MVP race deserves to be on this list, but here goes: While other teams were looking for more stars this summer, the Thunder were chasing high-level role players because they felt comfortable with who they have on the bill. They don’t wonder if Gilgeous-Alexander will be healthy, productive and committed. They expect it.
The consistency with which Gilgeous-Alexander surgically killed opponents last season was perhaps most impressive. His 30.1 points, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game weren’t just averages; they were standards he encountered more often than not. And he is 26 years old. There’s a chance he’ll come back even better.
Of course, 20-year-old San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama is coming. I seriously considered listing him here in his second season. He’s already the league’s best defensive player, and equal offensive dominance is within the realm of possibility. Then, I remembered that a 40-win campaign would be a victory for Wembanyama, while Gilgeous-Alexander could flirt with 60 wins as the lone star on a title favorite.
Honorable mentions
6. Stephen CurryGolden State Warriors
7. Victor WembanyamaSan Antonio Spurs
8. Anthony EdwardsMinnesota Timberwolves
9. Joel EmbiidPhiladelphia 76ers
10. Kevin DurantPhoenix Suns
11. Jalen BrunsonNew York Knicks
12. LeBron JamesLos Angeles Lakers
13. Yes MorantMemphis Grizzlies
The rest
14. Donovan MitchellCleveland Cavaliers; 15. Jimmy ButlerMiami Heat; 16. Zion WilliamsonNew Orleans Pelicans; 17. Kawhi LeonardLos Angeles Clippers; 18. Tyrese HaliburtonIndiana Pacers; 19. Paolo BancheroOrlando Magic; 20. De’Aaron FoxSacrament Kings; 21. Through YoungAtlanta Hawks; 22. Lauri MarkkanenUtah Jazz; 23. Scottie BarnesToronto Raptors; 24. Cade CunninghamDetroit Pistons; 25. LaMelo BallCharlotte Hornets; 26. Zach LaVineChicago Bulls; 27. Anfernee SimonsPortland Trail Blazers; 28. Jalen GreenHouston Rockets; 29. Kyle KuzmaWashington Wizards; 30. Cam ThomasBrooklyn Nets.
