Top 10 NBA Players

Top 10 NBA Players Now

While this list consists of the top 10 players now, the past is taken to account, but it is not a list of the best players who happen to be active. Previous ranks posted on October 24, 2020

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#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Antetokounmpo (2)	LeBron (1)
2	LeBron (1)	Antetokounmpo (2)
3	Harden (3)	Curry (NR)
4	Jokic (7)	Durant (NR)
5	Kawhi (4)	Jokic (10)
6	Doncic (8)	Kawhi(NR)
7	Curry (NR)	Harden (4)
8	Durant (NR)	Embiid (9)
9	J. Butler (6)	Doncic (7)
10	Lillard (9)	Lillard (6)

Top 10 NBA Careers Among Active Players
You're making a list of the ten best players in NBA history, but there's one caveat; you can only include players who played during the 2020-21 season (injuries excepted). These are our choices, taking the players' entire careers into account. Previous ranks posted on October 24, 2020.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	LeBron (1)	LeBron (1)
2	Durant (2)	Durant (2)
3	Curry (3)	Paul (4)
4	Westbrook (4)	Curry (3)
5	Harden (5)	Harden (6)
6	Antetokounmpo (NR)	Westbrook (5)
7	Paul (6)	D. Howard (7)
8	D. Howard (7)	A. Davis (9)
9	Kawhi (8)	Kawhi (NR
10	A. Davis (9)	Carmelo (8)

Top 10 NBA Franchise Players
This list is about which players you would pick to start a franchise right now. They must have played in an NBA game. Previous ranks posted on October 24, 2020.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Doncic (1)	Antetokounmpo (2)
2	Antetokounmpo (2)	Doncic (1)
3	Jokic (4)	Jokic (NR)
4	Zion (3)	Embiid (NR)
5	Tatum (6)	Tatum (10)
6	T. Young (NR)	Zion (NR)
7	Booker (7)	A. Davis (3)
8	Adebayo (5)	Kawhi (4)
9	Morant (7)	Durant (8)
10	B. Simmons (8)	Harden (6)

Game 5 : A Greek Holiday in the Middle

When Milwaukee's three best players are at their best, there might not be a collection of players out there that can beat them. There were moments when all three came together in Game 5.

None of those moments occurred in the first quarter. The Suns blaster the Bucks 37-21 in the first and it wasn't even that close. The Bucks had more turnovers in the first than they did in all of Game 4. Devin Booker went off, proving himself to be a scoring machine and frustrating P.J. Tucker to no end. At one point, Booker dunked on the Greek Freak and taunted him, although it had already been called a foul before. Jrue Holiday went out with two early fouls.

This season in the NBA there has been lots of blowouts and wild swings mostly because one team just doesn't bring it. It has been a trying season. In Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the second quarter featured a wild swing that lasted into the start of the fourth. Milwaukee came roaring back because of great play from their stars.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was struggle a bit to score in the first half. So he flashed his other skills. He had 6 assists, almost all incredible passes utilizing his amazing court-vision. He grabbed 9 meaningful rebounds including five on the offensive glass. He is a strong defender on the ball, in the post, or coming from the weakside.

And oh by the way, he finished with a team high 32 points.

Giannis has been criticized for coming out of a couple games early and looking tired out on the floor. The criticism in ridiculous. The guys works about three times as hard as the average player. He works his butt off on both sides of the floor and doesn't stop until a rebound is secured (often by him). Meanwhile, he is also involved in almost every transition play. Give the guy a break.

Khris Middleton is primarily a scorer. He finished with 29. But he is also a good passer, defender, and rebounder. He added 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Jrue Holiday came back from his foul trouble and had one of his best games of his career. Holiday had 27 points on 60% shooting, but that doesn't tell the story. The shots he made were incredible. At one point, he faded to the baseline and Deandre Ayton contested and still made it. It seemed like every contested shot went in. He is an elite defender and contributed 13 assists and 3 steals.

While Milwaukee seemed like they would run Phoenix out of the building, the Suns are a very good team as well. Chris Paul had a quiet game, but came on in the fourth and finished with good numbers (21 points, 11 assists, 1 turnover). Ayton's numbers were also a bit better than the game he played. He had 20 points and 10 rebounds. He doesn't get cheap rebounds either. The Suns mostly rebounded better than in the last two games.

Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder were productive for the Suns while Pat Connaughton was effective off the bench.

The Sun crawled to within three on a long Booker three. CP3's layup cut it to one with less than a minute to go. With 30 seconds left, the Suns had the ball with a chance to take the lead. Booker drove into the lane where several Bucks were waiting. Holiday crept in from behind and ripped the ball away. He flew down the court and threw an alley oop to Giannis who flushed it and was fouled.

Antetokounmpo missed the free throw but grabbed the board/ Middleton hit 1 of 2 from the line to ice the game at 123-119. The Bucks are one win away from their first title in 50 years.

Game 4 - The Middle Way

The Suns and Bucks fought neck and neck throughout the first half. Devin Booker hushed the critics who based the entire assessment of a player based on one game. He'd ultimately pour in 42 points or just 28 shots. He got to line and only missed one in nine attempts.

On the other side was Khris Middleton for the Bucks. He had substandard games in the first two of the series. But in Game 4, he had trouble missing, particularly in the clutch. Middleton exploded for 40 points on 33 shots. He was 7 for 8 from the line.

The game was tied at 56 at the half and Phoenix held a six point lead going into the fourth. Jae Crowder has played well since the Game 2 and he contributed 15 points, 8 rebounds with 3 blocks and 3 steals. The Suns got production from the bench, particularly the Cams. Payne scored 9 in 17 minutes and Johnson 10 points.

Cam Johnson is receiving a lot of praise in this series for his athleticism and scoring ability. But his rebounding has been woeful. He grabbed one miss in 29 minutes. Johnson isn't the only Sun who doesn't box-out on a missed shot, but he is the poster child and lamely reaching the ball as a Milwaukee player grabbed an offensive board.

Offensive rebounding numbers for the Bucks went like this in Game 4: Giannis Antetokounmpo 5, (undersized forward) P.J. Tucker 3, (backup guard) Pat Connaughton 3, (point guard) Jrue Holiday 3, (in 20 minutes) Bobby Portis 2. The Suns as a team grabbed just 5.

That lack a rebounding hurt the Suns in the fourth. Antetokounmpo didn't have the best game ever. Only 26 points (on 11 for 19 shooting), 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. One of those blocks came late in the game.

With a 1:15 left in the game and the Bucks up 2, Booker threw an alley oop to a wide open Deandre Ayton who caught it and went in for the dunk. Instead, Giannis came from no where to preserve the lead.

Ayton grabbed 17 boards but scored only 6 in 39 minutes. Chris Paul played poorly as well. He just clipped double digits ins coring but sported a 7-5 assist to turnover ration. One of those turnovers came late with the game on the line. Paul just slipped and lost the ball. Mikal Bridges couldn't repeat his stellar games at home early in the series.

Brook Lopez, the Bucks center, scored 14 in 19 minutes. Connaughton has taken a lot of Lopez's minutes because his game has more variety than Lopez's. He added 11 points and 9 rebounds. Holiday shot terribly, but he did other things with 7 assists, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals.

Towards the end of the game, Booker had five fouls and seemingly tried to get the sixth on several different plays. The refs refused to oblige in a bizarre stain on the officials' reputation.

Milwaukee won 109-103 to tie the series heading back to Phoenix.

Game 3: Home Cooking

Milwaukee bounced back at home in Game 3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the games best player, was the story. He poured in 41 points (on 23 FGAs) for his second consecutive game. He's only the 6th player in NBA history to have back-to-back games in the Finals. He added 13 rebounds (4 offensive) and 6 assists. Giannis was 13 for 17 from the charity stripe

The Bucks' got better production from their other two best players. Khris Middleton had a good first half and scored 18 with 7 boards and 6 assists. Jrue Holiday was even better. The defensive master we've watched all season finally resurfaced. He also added 21 points on 14 shots with 9 assists.

Holiday started out on Devin Booker and shutdown the Sins' leading scorer. Book finished with 10 points on 14 shots and he played only 29 minutes. No one tookl Bookers place for Phonix. Chris Paul was solid with 19 points and displayed his usual amazing court vision. He gave Deandre Ayton some beautiful passes in the first half. Paul had 9 assists. Ayton curiously played only 24 minutes. He scored 19 on 8 for 11 shooting.

Jae Crowder also scored 18 points. He made 6 of his 7 threes. Cam Johnson had an amazing funk on P.J. Tucker asd part of his 14 points. But Johnson was a symptom of the Suns' problem in Game 3.

The Bucks grabbed 13 offensive boards and they all seemed to lead to points. Cam Johnson is a talented young player, but perhaps he doesn't know how to box-out. Maybe he just forgot to box-out. Or maybe Phoenix has an organization aversion to boxing out, but their defensive rebounding was poor. Johnson and friends tried to meekly jump for missed shots instead of getting position. That didn't work against Giannis and a very feisty Bobby Portis.

Brook Lopez, Tucker, Portis, and Pat Connaughton all contributed to the cause. Even Giannis's big brother Thanisis even got into the act with three boards.

The Bucks won 120-100 to cut Phoenix's series lead to 2-1.

Game 2: Phoenix for Three

Milwaukee led after one quarter thanks to domination of the paint. Mikal Bridges kept Phoenix in the game. The Suns burst out to an 11 point lead at halftime thanks to their dead-aim long distance shooting. The importance of the three point shot was in full effect in Game 2. The Bucks would ultimately make 9 on 29% shooting while the Suns knocked down 20 on 50% shooting.

Giannis Antetokounmpo struggled a bit in the first half by his standers. He took over in the second half. The Phoenix crowded mocked his elaborate free throw ritual just as fans in other playoff opponents' cities had. So far, we've learned Phoenix fans don't count as well as those back East. Counting up to 10 can be tricky for some. The quick counts were moderately effective, however. The Greek Freak made 11 out of 18 from the line. Yet, to his credit, he kept taking the ball to the basket.

Topday, there might not be a scarier thing for a defender to see that Giannis Antetokounmpo with the ball at the three point line, his eyes focused on the rim. The only way to stop him is to foul him. While Shaq was a post up player, not a driver, I've experienced bouts of deja vu recently because of Antetokounmpo's dominance of the paint and his suspect free throw shooting. He finished Game 2 with 42 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and a block.

The Suns held a steady if not comfortable lead throughout the second half. Bridges, who led the Suns in scoring in the first half, outscored himself in the second and finished with a highly impactful 27 points, including quite a few late free throws. Devin Booker scored 31 and Chris Paul had a quiet 23 with 8 assists.

While Deandre Ayton (10 pts, 11 rebs) wasn't the same monster as in Game 1, Jae Crowder was much better. He failed to make a single shot from the floor in Game 1, but, along with Bridges, was an early spark in Game 2. He added 11 points and 10 boards. While Cam Johnson had another productive day off the bench, the Suns got thinner when Torey Craig became injured. Dario Saric already wasn't able to play.

For the Bucks, Pat Connaughton was the sole productive bench player and the only effective outside shooter. In 34 minutes he scored 14 on 4 of 9 from downtown and grabbed 7 caroms. P.J. Tucker has played well in a starting role.

The Bucks real problem isn't Giannis's free throw shooting or a lack of depth. Milwaukee's issue in the first two games has been the lackluster play of Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday. The Bucks need a third scorer and Holiday is a perfect fit. But he couldn't throw it in the ocean in Game 1. He came out aggressive in Game 2 and continued to struggle He scored just 17 on 21 shots. He dished it off for 7 buckets, but part of Holiday's excellence comes on the defensive floor. In this series, he's had some good stretches, but not enough as Paul and Booker have played well.

Holiday's shooting woes aren't the only reason Jrue hasn't yet been a capable third scorer this series. The Buicks haven't had a second scorer either. Khris Middleton is one of the best second bananas in the league, but has been squashed. While he stacked up 8 assists, he only scored 11 on 16 shots. Middleton is the type of guy who can go for 30 without breaking much of a sweat, but the Suns have thus far locked him down.

Phoenix matched their Game 1 total of 118 while the Bucks finished with 108. The Suns now have a 2-0 lead. Game 1 marked their first ever series lead in the NBA Finals.

My All-NBA Team

This is my All-NBA Team that I've watched. I've been watching the NBA since 1990.

Starters
C Shaquille O'Neal
PF Tim Duncan
SF LeBron James
SG Michael Jordan
PG Jason Kidd

Bench
C Hakeem Olajuwon
PF Kevin Garnett
SF Kevin Durant
SG Kobe Bryant
PG Stephen Curry
C David Robinson
C Patrick Ewing


Others considered
John Stockton
Allen Iverson
Scottie Pippen
Karl Malone
Russell Westbrook
James Harden
Chris Paul
Dirk Nowitzki

Game 1 - Chris Paul Goes for it All

After missing the playoffs for a decade, the Suns showed progress with an 8-0 showing in the bubble last summer. However, they still missed the playoffs. A trade for veteran point guard Chris Paul seemed like a shrewd transaction that would not only assure a playoff spot but possibly a second round appearance.

Instead, Paul was the perfect fit. Phoenix's homegrown players developed nicely. Head Coach Monty Williams was the right voice. The Suns shot out of the gate a remained a surprise contender throughout the regular season.

Still, we all waited for the clock to strike midnight. They pushed past the banged up defending champion Lakers in the first round. They stormed by the banged up Denver Nuggets, last season's Western Conference runner-up, in the second round. They survived the banged up Clippers in the Conference Finals. Yes, a little luck helped, as Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray, and Kawhi Leonard spent time on the bench of their respective series. But with their first trip to the NBA Finals since 1993, the Suns seemed to bring back team basketball to the NBA

The Bucks had been written off before the season. They would finish near the top of the Eastern Conference standings in the regular season, but come playoffs, they would choke just as they had done the last several seasons.

Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo had another stellar year, but his declining free throw shooting became a story. Adding a superb defender and scorer in Jrue Holiday was a nice pickup, but he didn't seem like the type of player that could expunge their misery of past loses.

After sweeping the Heat, the team that surprisingly sent home the Bucks last season, Milwaukee faced the heavily favored Nets. James Harden played some hurt and Kyrie Irving bowed out due to injury, but the Bucks utilized team play to defeat Brooklyn, which by the end, had become the Kevin Durant show.

The Bucks outlasted a game Hawks team in the Conference Finals to make their first NBA Finals since 1974. But in Game 4, Giannis suffered a hyper-extended knee, an injury that could've been much worse. He was willing to play in Game 1 of the Finals, but was he ready.

Antetokounmpo came out aggressive, even pushing back DeAndre Ayton on his way to the cup at one point. But the injury must have effective Giannis who tailed off a bit in the second half. He finished with 20 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block on 6for 11 from the field (7-12 from the line). Those might seem like amazing numbers, but not for the Greek Freak, the best player in the world right now.

The Suns held a modest four run lead after the first without the benefit of a single point from Paul. Jae Corwder, their openly player with Finals experience, finished 0 for 8 in 33 minutes. Yet, the Suns don't rely on  only a couple of players. Their usual leading scorer, Devin Booker, would finish with 27.  Ayton added 22 points on 8 for 10 shooting and making all 6 of his free shots. He pulled down 19 boards as well. Mikal Bridges started the game strong and contributed 14.

Whenever it seemed as if the Suns would run away with the game, the Bucks answered back. They didn't allow the crowd or the moment to weigh them down. Khris Middleton, an All Star, was once labeled as a three and D guy. Now he led the Bucks in scoring with 29. Brook Lopez came into the league as an elite scorer with the Nets and he reverted to his old form with 17 points in 23 minutes.

But the Suns have more depth and they showed it in the second half. They took a 20 point lead. Back up point guard Cam Payne scored as many points as Milwaukee's star point guard Holiday on six fewer field goals although Holiday was an effective passer. Cam Johnson was the Suns' unsung hero. He played tough defense on Giannis and scored 10 of his own.

The Bucks fought back int he fourth and cut the lead to seven, but the Suns are able to kill rallies because of their balanced scoring. You can't just shut down Booker and think you've solved the Suns' offense.

Paul was on fire in the second half. He finished his first Finals game after 16 years in the league with 32 points on 12-19 shooting. He added 9 assists. The Bucks tried bigs on Paul early and Holiday late. Holiday, normally a great defender, couldn't hang with the slippery CP3.

The Bucks are hopping that Giannis will continue to get healthy and Holiday will play better. They normally have a good bench, but Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, Jeff Teague, and Bryn Forbes struggled.

Phoenix, looking for their first title now holds a 1-0 lead with a 118-105 win.