Ranking The Top 5 NBA Players (2024) 

Great observation!

top 5 bro blatantly leaving sga out like that is just disrespectful

@@farhansarkar2394 SGA 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

Part of it is probably some level of fatigue; giannis hasn’t improved all that much even though he’s been scoring great and getting more playmaking into his game. Part of it is the team success; two first round exits in a row, and even though he played great against the celtics in 2022, it was still a loss in the second round. Especially 2023, losing as the first seed. The other side of the team success narrative is other MVP candidates winning championships while competing numbers wise. In terms of the top five, Shai is a very new addition, so obvious hype there. But in recent years it’s always been giannis, joker and embiid. Luka has been in his way up for a while, and got to the finals this year. So essentially, recency bias.

Tradionally people were critical of Giannis because of his shooting. This is still his biggest flaw as a player, but not actually taking those low percentage shots really increased his impact and effectiveness. My issue with Giannis though, is that he is fairly limited if he can't shoot. He does not provide spacing, he does not provide screens, his passing is good .. but not compared to any other top players and while he is a top rim finisher and good in the very short midrange, his main value comes from his defense. And that is exactly why I have him lower, his defense this year has regressed by a lot, just like it has last year from the year before. Part of it is certainly his offensive load and part of it is coaching and schemes that doesn't always put him in the perfect postitions, but still .. he has regressed. A point of emphasize on this list was judging guys in a vacuum and how easy it is to build a team around a player. In this case, I think it is not easy at all to build around Giannis. You need a big to space the floor and provide the bulk of the rim defense and you need other lead creators to get enough playmaking and stable offense, you also need a few good defenders to stack on his defensive qualities. Unlike a player like Kawhi, who when healthy will simply dominate regardless of anything, Giannis can and will be schemed against and you need long range shooting and good playmaking to break that open. Maybe in today's NBA I can consider him 4th, just because of his efficient, high scoring year and defensive potential, but in a vacuum I have him lower, possibly as low as 6 to 8.

I think part of it is because we haven't really seen him in the playoffs for several years

Because it’s jokic and not a discussion

I think it’s because nobody expects him to finish the season/playoffs, so he and his team are kinda written off. Nobody would rank him less than top 5, but nobody would expect to see him in the finals either

its just that football is number one in the other countries and not many people play basketball if everybody would the nba would have more international players then usa obviously

in football we have not one even barely good american player and they are ass

The European clubs are using the football development strategy that works. Unlike the usa aau money makes great bs that doesn't work...

The NBA is made for entertainment and has the largest collection of basketball talent in the world, but they could be a little better at developing homegrown talent. Copper Flagg seems like the next big thing around the corner though, so this point might be moot in a year or two. Also, it is hard to deny that Anthony Edwards is still a top world talent coming up. He is still really young and improving, but already an All-NBA level player. It is a weak period for USA based players, where the old guard like Curry and Lebron and AD are still really strong, but slowly aging out of their prime and the new guard is coming up but not exactly ready to replace them. (except for Ant, he is ready as anyone) There are some other diamond like brightspots coming up though, like Zion, Cade Cunningham, both Tyreses (Maxey and Haliburton), Banchero, Mobley, possibly one or both of those OKC guys Williams and Holmgren and certainly a bunch of others. Not to mention there are also a few 26-28 guys that have now proven to be good, like Brunson, Booker, Bam, Brown and Donovan Mitchell, who stands out for not having a 'B' to start his name. They might not be in the top 5 just yet and some will never make it, but at some point, there are bound to be US born players to make it back into the top 5. If it isn't Ant, it might very well be Zion, or Ja Morant, or some other future talent we haven't seen in the league yet like Cooper Flagg.

That’s amazing and also disgusting 🤮

Yesterday, July 14th, 2024, I ate my first and second McNugget in over 20 years. I've eaten a few dozen McChicken sandwiches in the last few years, so it's not like I'm a McPrude or chicken-averse or anything of the sort. I'm American, I occasionally go to McDonald's. So I bought their $5 special. OMG. It was awful. Everything had been packaged 20 minutes earlier, or worse. I ate two of the McNuggets, and then had to stop. I literally threw away food. I never throw away food. They gave me 4 McNuggets, I threw 2 away. Not quite worthy of puking, but terrible. The Coke was good, that's it.

​@@tarico4436😂😂

It's like how your sister's horoscope gives her the illusion of a monthly personality variation.

mcD is one of the worst ‚food‘ out there…. too salty, too sweet and everything else is awful or not existent

Facts that what lebron did he continue to loose weight after his heat years

He is faul grifter who gets exposed when the real basketball is being played, Fiba/NBA playoffs after the 1st round...biggest fraud of this generation...Harden 2.0.

Same for Luka!

His injuries were worse when he was lighter. None of his impactful playoff injuries have been caused by weight of would have been prevented if he was smaller as they were all contact/freak injuries.

Jokic-level decision making here.

@@HoopVenue😂😂

He’s definitely a top 3 player, but above Luka I just can’t agree

@@hazzabazza24 not being a cone on defense is the difference if luka was even a passable defender u would have a argument

@@KurinKato1 Well Lukas a way better scorer and playmaker, and he didnt get first rounded

@@hazzabazza24 luka made history for most blown by player in the finals. He is a cone

@@KurinKato1 Steph curry can’t defend shit either. But I guess we’re just hating on luka

Very good points!

Thunder could be a 60+ win team so he’s got a chance.

@@joshahlstrom2764strong mvp is just a player ability descriptor on his scale, has nothing to do with the actual award

SHAI IS NOT A TOP 5 PLAYER! Tf are yall on these days??

This list fine except for shai idk what is with yall and shai hes good no doubt but top 5 is ridiculous he barley top ten. Its jokic, gainiss, lebron, steph, kd, luka, kyrie, kawhi, embiid, ad.

@@trackmaster3009 if you think Shai doesn’t belong at 5, then you simply need to study more basketball.

Why is he comfortably better than jokic

@@cookn6732 because he is a better scorer, he is basically the same level at playmaking, and he is now about he same at defense (when HEALTHY) so he is better.

⁠@@caydenruzickajokic scores more consistently & efficiently

@@UnoDinero95001more consistently how? More efficiently can be argued based on the quality of shots either way. There’s a big difference in the way they score and Luka is just as consistent scoring, 38% from 3 eclipses jokic btw

@@E4Mafiapowers Jokic actually gets his team involved. Luka is too much of a ball hog, despite his assists. Like he mentioned, he has no off-ball game compared to Jokic. His style of play hasn't won him a ring yet. Jokic has.

Thank you for sticking around!

Hoops venue is amazing, no need to discredit other channels. Have you ever seen thinking basketball?

Thank you! I’m not sure if I’ll update historic ones yet or not, but will definitely be adding the 70+ I did from this season.

He's not the playmaker Luka and Jokic are and he's not the defender Giannis and Embiid are.

I mean, don't get me wrong, but it's ridiculous for Shai to be ahead of Luka in MVP race, and ahead of Giannis too

Giannis would also be strong mvp in that scenario tho hes a 2x mvp (should have been 3x)

@@Pashashab it team success dalles only got there shit together after all star break and the bucks looked terrible at some points in the season

He only finished 2nd in MVP race due to team record and OKC blowing past their expectations coming into the season. Remember, MVP voting is heavily based on narrative and team success.

Thank you!

Thanks!

Same but I got jokic, luka, giannis, Joel, Shai

@@HuhhUhh-s7f Yeah I think that’s about the consensus right now, I just can’t put Joel above the rest because he routinely shows either poor performances in the playoffs or injuries

@@GetInVan sorry bro that is not the consensus and embiid can not control being hurt while being triple teamed on regular occasions. btw Giannis is number #1 simply because he's ELITE on both ends of the floor while luka reserves his energy for offense, which I do not hold it against him to much.

@@christiandarlington7876 It’s the consensus top 5 fs, and while it isn’t his fault for getting injured it happens to often for it to not be a detrimental factor.

I had to leave him off to make it fair for everyone else.

Very much appreciated!

@@HoopVenue I do have 1 question when it comes to paolo banchero what’s some steps needed for him to reach that next level not just for himself but to also establish more team success

People really underrate that crazy stretch.

Yea I would put him 2 or 3, if we’re taking durability into consideration he’s over Giannis and joel

Can make an argument for Embiid, MAYBE I can see Luka, but Jokic and Giannis are clear 1 and 2 to me

I really respect this perspective on “controlling the game”, and would assume this also leaves you higher on Brunson than most.

Agreed he's definitely a top-tier player but Jokic was the MVP. His numbers are still better, he does control the game as u state and if you wanna get advanced the on/off numbers still heavily favor him.

SGA is not better than Jokic, Giannis, Luka, or Embiid when all players are at full health cmon now To say he’s elite defensively is also absurd

not true buddy calm down sga outplayed luka in their series and luka got smoked on defense and wasn't that efficient bro sga b4 his all-star injury was averaging 55% from the FIELD AS A GUARD and 39 PERCENT FROM 3 AND 88 PERCENT FREE THROWS like bro luka is 3 sga is 4 I personally think sga above luka but it's arguable and neither are better than giannis or jokic simple

He could check in with the "newest first" comments every now and then, and just respond to a few of 'em. That way after thousands of comments, we commenters could still have hope of being recognized for our greatness.

You guys are both elite.

@@HoopVenue And you, HoopVenue, are a great judge of character!!

Thanks for watching!

Jokic still better than Luka until Luka wins his ring

ill have luka at 2

I prefer Giannis and Jokic because they have been able to lead theirs teams to championships

i think Luka Giannis and Jokic in any order at 1 2 and 3 is acceptable it just depends on preference and what you value more

Yes sir speaking facts - luka at 1. I'm not complaining but it's my opinion.

Very fair adjustments!

So when Luka is dominating he’s the best player in the league but everytime he loses he’s “injured” Maybe he just needs to get in better shape

Giannis isn’t gonna fall off a cliff at 30. He’s not 34

@@ry_an. huh?! He was already injured before going into the playoffs but he isn’t a 🐱he was already thebest during the regular season, the team just sucked the first half of the season before the trade deadline.

@@ry_an. bro there’s no guaranteed that he’ll still be dominating, he relies on pure athleticism and it will definitely affect his explosiveness. He has no bag at all and never improved his shooting and that’s huge in today’s nba compared to five years ago

@@JERWINIVANCORBETA the team was mid buts let not act like PJ Washington Derrick jones Daniel Gafford weren’t playing elite defense all throughout the playoffs. Giannis hyperextended his knee and came back to beat the Hawks

Nice, but don’t like SGA he’s a foul actor

Man that’s really tough because his numbers to start the season were absurd. He’d probably be somewhere in the top 15 I’d imagine.

He only played 9 games. He should be top 15 if healthy

Yeah he should be like #18, but he and the grizzlies will remind everyone next year

I didn’t include him because he only played 9 games. He’d likely land around 15-ish for me!

Could’ve definitely gotten there! Flip a coin for 2-4 and I’ll support the order.

Why would embiid be 2? He barely played any games

@@hazzabazza24 he avg 36ppg

Thank you!

Appreciate it!

It has nothing to do with actual voting. It's a static scale. If it's easier think of a weak MVP as a 9.0-9.2 grade and strong MVP as 9.3-10 with 9.7 and up as top 10-15 all time seasons

It's a grade based on stats and his criteria. The labels are kinda just titles to capture your attention rather than using the standard A and S grade

@@BigBroKumabest explanation

Steph is too high, embiid and giannis are too low

1. Jokic 2. Luka 3. Steph 4. SGA 5. KD 6. LeBron 7. Giannis 8. Embiid 9. Brunson 10. Kawhi

@@HoopVenue Off the top of your head, how does Jokic's offensive peak stack to the GOATs?

You ask and you shall receive.

2 hour video would be even crazier!

He can pass and play bully ball at the rim just as well as them but has Kobe's mid-range game/shot making and Harden's step back game. How is that not better? You're arguing he's not an elite finisher and passer then?

It’s tough for me because those 2 are such standouts in transition (as is Nash), but Luka to me just has so much more versatility in the half court with his mid range game and use of off the dribble 3s.

Sabonis shouldve been on here but klay???

Brunson one of my favorites, but recency bias is crazy

It's because of team success and the factors that bring down sga. SGA was only considered that high because the Mavs were only dominating for the last stretch of the season, the bucks were miserable, and Embiid was injured.

jokic isnt a negative, he's been an above average defender for the past couple seasons, while luka is pretty clearly a below average defender

@@bobbitsc7539 Jokic is a negative in most metrics same as Luka i'm not saying that they're both horrible but clearly far from positives. So if it's being held against Luka so much it should also be held to the same standard for Jokic, on top of that one went to the finals and the other got bounced in the second round by a team Luka nearly swept. And I got no clue why Giannis is even in the top 4 since it clearly should be Luka, Jokic, SGA, Embiid.

He considered past seasons for both giannis and Embiid because this season doesn't give enough because of the injuries. Luka making the finals and jokic losing in the 2nd round is a stupid argument. Matchup matters, Nuggets would've beat the Celtics, would've beat the mavericks, but couldn't beat the wolves because they had a better matchup against them.

Tatum above Brunson is wild. Brunson was arguably the best Eastern conference player last season.

Why is cade in the top 25 hes stuck in the pisstons but he aint been the savior either id put maxey over him did better numbera with joel and helped the m76ers mord

@@jawndicenah giannis got it same offesivly but one the best defender in the league tatum better 2 he was in a slump but helped otherways

@@HuhhUhh-s7f I value optics a lot. I think Cade is way better than what the results show, it's just that Detroit are terrible. There's no saving them unless you are a top 5 player imo.

The reason why boston won a chip because of how good their supporting cast was, not their starpower. They had porzingis, jrue, derrick white, al horford

SGA isn't better than luka i agree lukas a bad defender but luka playmaking more than enough makes up for that you can scheme a defence with luka to make it better but luka ability to play in the half court you cant replicate it.

SGA better than Luka 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂