The talent level in the NBA is at an all-time high, and that brings its own problems with deciphering and determining the best of the best. How do you choose the best phrase in a literary masterpiece? Or the tastiest bite at a Michelin five-star restaurant? After a certain point it just becomes a matter of personal preference, and even then the person making the decision can waver from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute.
This brings us to the inherent torture of ranking the top 100 players in the NBA.
Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t be more different – from body type to skills to personality. Yet somehow we have to put them correctly in order of magnitude? Analyzes are useful. Awards can be a tie. But in the end, it comes down to your gut.
That’s why we’ve gone for the consensus approach here at CBS Sports. Each of our NBA writers came up with their own list of the top 100 NBA players for the 2022-23 season, taking into account potential improvement and decline. Then, through a not-so-complex process, we came up with one glorious list to rule them all. (Just to show you how hard this is, no two of our writers had the top six players in the same order.)
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The pain of an exercise like this is totally the point. We like to say “so-and-so is a top 10 player in the league.” Oh yeah? Let’s see the list. You’ll drive yourself crazy for days before realizing that the player you wanted to put in isn’t even around.
This kind of debate is one of the reasons we love sports. The games are entertaining and fandom is different from other social settings, but questions like this fuel our passion. Who is the best player in the NBA? The topic deserves a long and complex discussion, and hopefully we’ve done it justice with our list and analysis.
So here’s the sport we love, and the butterflies that can only come with a new season.
With that in mind, let’s get to the list. (For a better overview by position, CBS Sports also breaks down the rankings for point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards, and centers.)
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