Brian Windhorst argues LeBron James is STILL a Top 5 player | NBA Today
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 18. 04. 2024
- Brian Windhorst joins the NBA Today panel to defend why he believes LeBron James should still be considered a Top 5 player in the NBA despite ranking at No. 6 on ESPN's Top 100 list.
View the full No. 100 to No. 6 list at đ es.pn/3BTNWJM
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ESPN offseason logic: Let's put out a list and leave Lebron off the Top 5 so we can spend 2 weeks talking about how we shouldn't have left Lebron off the Top 5.
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Never looked at it that way lol.
Well said sir
Nah bruh, lebron is the Goat but he ainât top 5 no more at this stage of his career. Young bloods have passed him and are doing way more. ESPN got this right!
@@2019_NBA_CHAMPS shut up. They have better teams too.
Even if he isn't in the top 5, its still VERY impressive that at this stage in his career he is still in the top 10. I don't think that is something to be overlooked.
Is he top 10? I don't think he's capable of doing what jimmy did against boston at this point of his career or what tatum did. Definitely not what jokic, Luka, embid, KD, Steph, or giannis are doing.
I think under the right circumstances he can play like a top 5 player but you would need to compensate for his deficiencies. Which is mainly stamina related.
they por him at 6 as putting him top 5 should have been outright laughable and would have shown their LeJammies to everyone
I mean they put him above kawhi, who's going to win finals mvp this year average 35+ ppg in the playoffs, so you've got that
Well heâs still playing at an high level thatâs all that matters
@@matthewmcdaniel1915
On half the court, which is half the job
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@@Christopher._M year 17 won a title and finals mvps. And that was 2.5 years ago. U only saying that because he missed the playoffs for his 4th time in his career
so we're just gonna ignore the dude just averaged 30ppg, 7 assist 8 rebounds shooting over 50% FG?
Honestly LeBron being just outside the top 5 isn't to crazy especially when the top 5 is this talented
Itâs not about talent is just about age/availability
@@lavarball5097 embiid?
@@turbografxx yea embiid is injured when you need him most
Exactly, they acting like itâs a bunch of bums ahead of him
@@Ex-OTIC I wouldnât put Embiid or Jokic over bron. Embiid canât make it past the 2nd round and Jokic lost in the 1st round. MVPS mean nothing if you ainât really taking yo team deep in the playoffs.
Malika: "This is the first time that LeBron has been ranked outside of the top 10"
RJ: "Top 5 you mean"
Itâs funny cause they actually did rank Bron outside the top 5 the summer after the 2011 finals. So Malika wasnât wrong but she wasnât right either lol
@@nickjones5495 she said top 10 not top 5 so she's absolutely wrong
@@agentcodybanx8909 u know what he meant man; stop being slow
@@jude3180 the mfer said she was right and wrong at the same time when she was only wrong? What's there to misinterpret?
@@jude3180 this
Jalen: "Did y'all see Kawhi thighs the other day" đđđ
Me when he said that: "Ayo, PAUSE"
Kawhi at 12 is crazy too
It's nice that they're giving Giannis some respect in his #1 position
Jalen Rose spittin. Kawhi was mad disrespected
Even though he's not in the top 5 is still incredible going into his 20th season
I'm not LJ fan at all. However, there's no doubt in my mind he's still a top 5 player, especially when healthy. His play last year was unprecedented.
So Bron ended second in ppg last season and he is not top 5? This is just hilarious.
Where did his team end upđ
Bcuz if thatâs the case whereâs Bradley Beal been n ur top 10 the last 4 yesrs
@@Tawknmysht cause he donât got 8 rebounds and seven assists per game shooting over 50%
@@anthonytorres3000 Lebron was a negative on defense last year
@@BenjaminFranklinFF1706 better defensive stats than luka and curry.
@@elk1615 yeah better defense but can't even make even in play in đ€Ł and besides curry isn't a bad defender in fact he's above average he locked up tatum and big al horford a couple of times and especially won a chip đ€·
Every year they find a new way to disrespect LeBron.
He would be watching, last year he coasted coz of injuries, this year he will be good but problem is lakers don't have a good roster.
Get off Lebron nuts đ€Ąđ€Ąđ€Ąđ€Ąđ€Ą
You do realize that he missed the PLAY-IN last season.
RIGHT A MAN THAT PLAYED WITH 12 ALL STARS TO WIN 4 RINGS HAS DONE IT ALL AND STEPH STILL TIE HIM IN RINGS ALSO DRAYMOND IGUDELOA, AND KLAY...LEBRON OVERRATED IF YOU ASK ME
@Lucas Walker RIGHT LOL
They just tryna motivate & punish Bron for bringing Westbrook on & making the Lakers look bad last season
KD and Ja being ranked behind Tatum is the real crime.
Kd is 2nd best ja top 11
There's no reason for ja to be ahead of Tatum
not saying tatum better than KD at all. but he jt swept kd. let the man get his 5 mins of fameđ
One playoff series where his team was better and now heâs better than KD? Lol
@@BenjaminFranklinFF1706 lol
The hates from RJ on Lebron. đđ when Lebron is the reason Rj has a chip blows me always.
Youâre spot on man. Itâs honestly embarrassing on his part.
Anytime someone state their opinion about LeBron you guys consider it as hate. đđđ
@@stephonaugustin1384 I could see how you think that and maybe that is it subconsciously but I genuinely feel he has had a shift in the way he talks about Lebron. In the end Iâm just some dude who wishes he could be a bench warmer for the Kings.
Bron and RJ are pretty close, don't think he hates him at all.
@@christophercaskey6934 40 year old MJ dropped 40 on RJ lol
LeBron James is the best player in the NBA, put some respect on his name!!!!
LeBron in his prime is better than every player on this list, but LeBron is no longer in his prime and the list is for this season. 6th is still incredibly amazing for a 37 year old in their 19th season.
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LeHomo
RIGHT A MAN THAT PLAYED WITH 12 ALL STARS TO WIN 4 RINGS HAS DONE IT ALL AND STEPH STILL TIE HIM IN RINGS ALSO DRAYMOND IGUDELOA, AND KLAY ...LEBRON OVERRATED
@@tmzteaspill6005 did those 12 allstars play on the same team? He played on 3 different teams.
Curry has 3 allstars in his starting lineup right now.
LeBron has an injured player and washed up Westbrick.
I think the problem is once u start getting to the top 10, many people arent really qualified to judge anymore
Right. Like thereâs no way Ja and Devin Booker are top 10 players it doesnât make any sense
I still put him #1 tbh because heâs still the best player in the playoffs. He has always cakewalked through the regular season
What's the criteria
U must also consider the things that are not mesured by stats like leadership chemistry etc.
Going into year 20 and itâs still a debate if Bron top 5? Thatâs pretty crazy
Bron's body is starting to give a little, but the basketball intelligence alone makes it so he cannot be disregarded.
Agreed on Kawhi, BTW. Dude is in the elite top group.
Is imposible to find 2 best players better players than bron when playoff start Giannis lebron and then everybody else!!
We haven't seen kawhi Leonard play in 2 years and he wasn't better than LeBron when he played
Lazy Khawi?
Khawai is not that elite because his team have been was great without him againts Utah and he was trash againt rhe nuggets and always hurts and he play with 59 raptors team and 60 plus spurs team plus and thay played he was not the best players on the floor
@@ShakataelBebesito 2 championships. 2 finals MVPs
As a James Harden fan, him at 11 is fair. Hopefully he can get back into that top 5 spot, I would probably have KD ahead of Lebron at this point, if we are going to hold KD accountable for getting swept we gotta hold Bron accountable for not even making the playoffs
Harden shouldn't be ranked anywhere close to the top 10
@@markeithjackson6895 tell me youâre a James Harden hater without telling me youâre a James Harden hater.
@@Youngguy2024 James harden over kawhi is blasphemy
Jalen rose said JT hasn't passed KD and Kawhi just yet. True. But who in this list has passed LeBron? If that's his argument, LeBron should be number 1.
The kawhi disrespect is crazy đ
How though the dude hasn't played for 1 or 2 season lets say. They gave him a generous rank because you cant just put a player that high when they haven't played in a while it doesn't make sense.
Ainât no way. Ainât no way Bron 6 he frfr top 3. Ainât nobody doing what heâs doing thatâs just Factss. The man bout to be 38 yet still playing like heâs young. He just averaged 30, 30!!! At his age. I get the team needed to be better but Ad missed half the season and Russ tried but needs to be better as well but far as ranking tho nahh Bron is top 3 and thatâs just what it is you feel me
Dang Zach Lowe playing the Penguin in the next Batman movie?
Plays no defense. Only scores, has led the lakers to the lottery twice in 4 years and without bubble only got to first round.
Steph Curry is not great defensively but he's a top five player and most people's eyes Come on man. Stop with the BS. Not everybody can be an elite two-way player
last 3 years stephs got a chip then haven't even made the playoffs basically same resume as lebron. last 3 years KD has one 1 playoff series win. last 3 years luka has won 2 playoff series. no one realistically thinks denver or philly will win a title never did in the past and it aint changing now. bron's still top 5. And at 37 years old he's still a better defender than Steph & Luka lol.
@@jon954 this rank is for one year.. it aint last 3 years..
@@beefpho
Kobe and MJ didnât save all their energy for scoring when they got old.
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I detect no lies...
They have been overhyping Tatum since he stepped foot in the league
he played like 50 som games and i think they took availability heavily into consideration
But embiid gets hurt a lot
I don't get it man he literally just came of a 30 point per game season and now people are saying he's not top 5? bunch of casuals man I swear
Kawhi needs to actually play tho
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He just got cleared for 5 on 5. Heâll be ramped up by opening night.
Sounds like Lakers went deep into the playoffs last year or am I missing something...
Love that they're giving respect to Giannis in this video as well, as should be. Definitely my #1 player đ
Kd at 8 is crazy
There is no way that you leave Joel embiid outside of the top six
But no final appearance Luka is above Tatum?
He sure does! 8 can't belive they did that! Legoat is top 5
Durant just got swept
So ESPN Don't wanna talk about the Actual top 5 listđ First Take didn't show or talk about any of the dudes in the top 5 eitherđđđ
My top 5: Giannis, Kd, Bron, Steph, Kawhi (healthy). But right now Jokic in now order
Steph, even after winning everything winnable still not respected, it's insane!!
He has a loaded team. Give LBJ that same team... This list are always wrong anyway.
@@jude3180 exactly
The NBA had so many injuries last playoff season that he Warriors were extremely lucky to get the chip. If JA wasn't hurt they may not have beat Memphis. Middleton out for the Bucks, Devin Booker was not 100%. Denver was missing their 2nd and 3rd best players. To make a long story short , Steph is not top 5, LeBron and KD are better than Steph,
@@jude3180 absolutely right.
@@jude3180 give bron that team thatâs a chip now put curry in Lakers see what happens
Real talk no one that in front of him on that list can't stop Bron from scoring one on one but I put money on Bron to stop them one on one when he wants too. To say otherwise means either you're a hater or you clearly don't watch Bron close enough to know when he wants to at this age. The proof is out there.
@ Freeman Lowe, agree with you 100%!!!đ„đ„đ„
Plz tlk about something else
My guy, Kawhi, didn't rank top 10 and he won a ring more recently than KD. I can put KD, Kawhi, Steph, Giannis, and Luka in front of LeBron. Andor is so boring. Anbore. đŽđ€
Kawhi has been out for 2 season you cant rank him above the players today who actually played. Let say if lebron was out for 5 years would you still sit there at say he is a top 10 player use your sense dude you can't put a player tha high when they haven't played for a while.
i dont understand why u put kawahi in the list, make no sense to me , without to hate
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
2. LeBron James
3. Stephen Curry
4. Kevin Durant
5. Nikola JokiÄ
(I didn't rank Kawhi because he didn't play at all last season. But if he comes back playing like a superstar, he is definitely top 5 over JokiÄ.)
Why lebron at 2?? Over the passed 2 seasons lebron has been nowhere near 2nd best
The confusion in this ranking is that the people who agree with it, agree with it judged on last season and the people who don't agree with it judge it on the quality of that player. Look at it like football/soccer, you have Messi who is not even nominated for best 30 players but he is the record holder of 7x best player in the world. I think this list is accurate and judging by last year I agree with it. You can't say Messis qualities are not better then some of those 30 players but judging on last season he doesn't deserve to be in it. Same like LeBron and KD
I think this even more crazier that Devin Booker and Ja are in the top 10
Was gonna say it was crazy but the top 5 all made the playoffs and all except 1 got out the first round.
I got Luka, KD, Steph Giannis & Embiid ahead of Bron in no paticular order
So you rather have luka and embiid take you to the finals before lebron
@@dtxhuncho7364 current Luka and Embiid you could definitely argue might be better than current Bron
Knock it off
@@dtxhuncho7364 Absolutely. Lebron couldn't even take his team to the play in lol
@@SparklingHarmony Bro when are we going to stop this solo act with players? It's a team game
Ok well based off there being 16 teams that went to the playoffs and I'm sure they didnt get there with all mediocre players (they had stars) on their teams and Lebron being an allstar player on a bad team that didnt make it to the playoffs I would say being top 10 player is a plus
rankings based off performance of this past season. some of yall living in the past. 6 is plenty high.
Just so you know, these rankings are based off of what they expect this upcoming season to look like. Not based off of the previous one.
Kawhi is gonna have to show everybody what's what just like he did coming off injury in 2019 when he led the Raptors to the title
I got lebron in the top five because who's to say these guys are gonna be able to do what he is doing when they get to his age. He is 37 and still one of the top players in the league. Put him on a good team and you'll think they can win a championship.
Based on playoff performance alone. Not tye reg season. giannis lebron steph kawhi and jimmy butler are the top 5 players in the nba heading into next season with luka right there behind them.
Is he though? If itâs based off âquality and quantityâ then we canât doubt his quality, but he missed about 25% of games last season which is to be expected at his age. Therefore not having him in the top 5 isnât a bad take. For me Giannis, Luka and Steph have to be in the top 3, then it comes down to whether you think Jokic will still carry Denver the way he did even when Murray and Porter Jr are back, if KD can bounce back from a horrible post-season and if Embiid can match last seasons performances.
They got the first 2 right I don't give af who's after
Kareem, MJ, Russell, Wilt, Magic, Bird, Olajuwon, LeBron, Duncan, Kobe, Shaq
At this point the made the list like this just so they have something to debate about
Kawhi and Pg are so underrated my god
Kawhi only cuz he didnt play
Kawhi will be top 5 again by the end of the season don't worry
@@colep.8330 for sure and AD is in their too he needs to stop being injured and play more hard. Because I donât think Joel, jokic, jayson Tatum, luka better than AD. They putting these new players in rankings they donât belong yet.
To be honest, even in his 20th season next season, they'll be expecting him to carry the Lakers and who ever did that in his 20th season? And him not in the top 5? lol He averaged 30ppg last season too..
ESPN put out a Ranking without the opinion of their actual staff it seems cause they are all disowning the list.
The real question is how does booker make the top 10? lol
Ikr
If Brian says itâs true, then believe the exact opposite for the real results
Jalen been hating on Bron for years so Iâm not surprised
What else would JT need to do to be better than the guys he's ahead of on this list? Like seriously: SWEPT KD himself in the playoffs (This past playoffs too btw), has made 2x all-nba teams, and is a 3 time all-star. Who has accomplished more since KD went to Brooklyn? KD or Tatum.
Iâm trying to figure out the same exact thing. Bro got more playoff wins than embiid and Luka combined.
Kawhi is not playing. How can he stay in top 5? This is every year ranking ai belive and not an all time ranking for all active players.
"Where's Kahwi?"
Injured last year
how is Tatum over KD
Rankings will differ on what you are looking at. For a complete season (including playoffs) I would say Lebron is actually ranked higher than I would. For a playoffs 6 seems about right, for a series he would be top 5.
They talk about Lebron everyday man but I know when he retires weâll wish we had someone this good to talk about everyday
Will someone tell jalen how ridiculous he looks by dying his hair lolâŠ
They have Tatum ahead of kd? They have mordant ahead of book? Terrible list
My question is who gave Jalen an mvp vote and what year was this?
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Jaylen a real one
Who controls the game best
i wonder how quick these fools would get down on their knees to lebron if they had the chance, lebum didnt even make the playin, like did they not see all of last year?
Where is Joel Embiid who almost carried a team with a broken face and hand into the conference finals? ...not that this company is full of slouches...so I realize this is tough with very limited space. Also, I think KD should be higher, but we'll see how the chemistry goes this year in Brooklyn. I think that will be a huge factor for him.
Tier 1 (could be the best player on a championship team through an entire regular season and playoff)
Giannis, Steph, Jokic, Luka
Tier 2 (can be the best player on a championship team but may need someone to co-carry through the year)
Embiid, LeBron,KD, Tatum, Kawhi
Maybe Ja. Anybody else would need to take a significant leap.
And btw of course if the player has decent help, no individual player in history could replace Luka, LeBron or Jokic and take those teams they had last year to a title unless they got a bunch of luck.
Jokic never showed that are u crazy đ€Ł canât be the best player on a championship team even when murray and porter were there still a 2nd or 3rd round exit heâs not that guy pal.
@@austinrinehart4871 kinda doubt you watch much Jokic but he's clearly a level ahead of where he was 2 years ago the last time he had a decent crew in the playoffs , and even then Lakers had the better team . And anyways he's only overachieved given the talent around him the last 4 years that he's been an All-NBA player. If you don't see it, I can't help you because all of the numbers playoff and regular season clearly point to Jokic being special.
currently he's no longer NOT 5, DUH
i like CBS player ranking better!
Kd should be higher
The media disrespect on kawhi and kd is unbelievable smfh
who he arguing with?
How quickly they forget
Tatum swept KDâŠâŠ
So Kawhi over LeBron and he ainât did nothing recently?? I thought it was about updating your resume đ€đ€đđ
Typical ESPN creating bait material so they can criticize a made-up list by ESPN đ€Łđ€Ł
Dude misses the playoffs one time and people really gonna change rules to not name him a top fiveđ€Ł
They haters fr none of those better than bron rn except giannis or curry, they got ja over bron
Her: " if you put 100 people in a room they will ALL have a different top 5"
Me overthinking: "you LITERALLY cannot make 100 different variations of a 5 person list"
Me knowing basic math: "With 300 players to choose from, you can make a few more than 100 variations...."
To be in a 7 game series you have to... Make the playoffs
Isn't this list based off of last season? Kawhi didn't play
He might be the first Top-10 player to miss the playoffs in his Top-10 year.
Ja Morant and Devin Booker over Kawhi? How?
Lebronz career accolades don't apply to where his game is todayđ. Lebron averaged 17/5/05 before the game outcome was determined. Lebron got his numbers on 2nd and 3rd team backups.
Woebegone defense without an actual shot. Reputation looms large...a broken ankle from being a 6th man.
Ngl kd at 8 sound crazy
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