NBA

NBA Reddit votes on Top 25 Current NBA Players

James Foglio Sports Editor

Updated27 Jul 2022

NBA Reddit users have voted on the top 25 current NBA players. Based on 667,000 votes so far, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the list. The Greek Freak’s score is 97. Ranking second, Warriors guard Stephen Curry received a 95 score.

The biggest surprise in the table below is LeBron James’ ranking. Fans have him as the seventh-best player in the NBA right now. His overall score is 92. On top of ranking behind Antetokounmpo and Curry, the four-time MVP also trails Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid.

Will one of these top players win MVP in 2023?

NBA Reddit Votes on Top 25 Current NBA Players

When this post first appeared on Reddit, Antetokounmpo and Curry were tied at the top with a 94 score. However, only 15,000 votes were casted. With a 92 score, LeBron was tied with Jokic for second place. Plus, Jimmy Butler ranked eighth overall on the list. NBA Reddit will update the table below after 1,000,000 votes have been casted.

Last Update at 667,000 votes

Rank	Player	Score
1st	Giannis Antetokounmpo	97
2nd	Stephen Curry	95
3rd	Luka Dončić	94
4th	Nikola Jokić	93
5th	Kevin Durant	93
6th	Joel Embiid	92
7th	LeBron James	92
8th	Jayson Tatum	88
9th	Kawhi Leonard	88
10th	Jimmy Butler	86
11th	Ja Morant	84
12th	Damian Lillard	83
13th	Paul George	82
14th	Devin Booker	81
15th	Trae Young	81
16th	Karl-Anthony Towns	80
17th	James Harden	78
18th	Anthony Davis	77
19th	Jaylen Brown	77
20th	DeMar DeRozan	76
21st	Rudy Gobert	75
22nd	Zach LaVine	74
23rd	Kyrie Irving	73
24th	Donovan Mitchell	73
25th	Zion Williamson	72

Brandon Ingram, Chris Paul, Anthony Edwards, Khris Middelton and Bam Adebayo completed the top 30 on Reddit. However, Jrue Holiday, Pascal Siakam, Bradley Beal, Deandre Ayton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fell short of a top-30 ranking.

While this is a solid list now based on the 667,000-vote update, at 15,000 votes, Butler, Kawhi Leonard and Jayson Tatum were once ranked ahead of Embiid. It goes to show that this is mostly just a popularity contest. Leonard hasn’t played since tearing his ACL in 2021.

Should Joel Embiid rank in the top 5?

Last season, Embiid averaged 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. He won his first scoring champion title. The six-year center is definitely a better player than Butler, Leonard and Tatum. When voting for current NBA players, recency bias is important.

For another notable observation, Russell Westbrook didn’t crack the top 30. Nonetheless, maybe it’s justified. The triple-double king averaged 18.5 points per game last season. It was the first time he failed to average 20 points per game since the 2009-10 season.

Fans were also disappointed in the Lakers last season. They had top-3 odds of winning the 2022 NBA championship, according to multiple sportsbooks. Though, the team couldn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament.