The NBA is experiencing an era where talent is as abundant as ever, which hasn’t always been the case.
The Los Angeles Lakers will be led by LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis. The former two are either in or heading into their late 30s, but are still All-Star talents.
The Milwaukee Bucks have a 25-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way with Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton as his elite supporting cast.
The talent extends to teams that aren’t contenders yet. The Charlotte Hornets have found their franchise cornerstone, LaMelo Ball, while the Sacramento Kings, despite not making the playoffs in 15 years, have De’Aaron Fox providing a glimpse of hope.
The league is in good hands, and to sort the ridiculous talent prevalent around the league, Seth Partnow of The Athletic ranks the best players in a tiered format based on multiple factors that extend beyond the basic box score.
In Partnow’s tier article for the The Athletic after this past season, he has James in the “Tier 1A” category, the highest tier. Antetokounmpo is at the top of the tier; Kevin Durant comes in second; James rounds out the tier at No. 3.
Here’s Partnow’s reasoning about James:
“This coming season will represent one of the bigger challenges of LeBron James’ career. I’ve learned the hard way that predicting decline for James is a fool’s errand. I’ve been spectacularly wrong in doing so at least once. But at some point, it will happen. If the defining feature of a Tier 1A player is maximizing margin for error, this season will go a long way toward demonstrating whether LeBron still provides that for a team.
Not since he left Cleveland the first time has the team around him been as oddly constructed as this coming year’s Lakers squad. I’m not talking about talent level, as Los Angeles has plenty. Rather, the established approach to winning big with LeBron is to surround him (and an offensive partner like Anthony Davis) with plenty of shooting while playing stifling defense. Adding Russell Westbrook certainly doesn’t provide the shooting, and the defensive impact of all of the Lakers’ moves is more likely to be negative than positive.”
James, who turns 37 in December, is still one of the best players in the world; he was a top candidate for MVP last season before an ankle sprain derailed his momentum.
If James and company can remain healthy, the Lakers will be in contention for the franchise’s 18th championship.
[vertical-gallery id=42000]
[mm-video type=video id=01fcpgczd5dc3hcgm2w0 playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fcpgczd5dc3hcgm2w0/01fcpgczd5dc3hcgm2w0-e0944afc9ad4deaaad9d97021073c8b7.jpg]