The King reigns supreme.
With the start of the 2017-18 season around the corner, Sports Illustrated's NBA vertical, The Crossover, has been counting down its top 100 players in the league. On Thursday, the site unveiled its top 10, with Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James ranking No. 1 for the fifth consecutive year.
Writes SI.com's Ben Golliver:
James (26.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 8.7 APG) maintains the No. 1 spot on this list for the fifth straight year because he continues to consistently reach heights that no other current player—and virtually no other player from any era—can touch. Even after 14 seasons and 12 playoff runs, his peak play tops any of his contemporaries’ peaks, and he’s proven in each of the past three years that he can sustain that transcendent level of dominance throughout an entire postseason run and against superior opponents whose game plans are specifically geared toward exhausting him.
For the fifth consecutive year, Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant finished as the runner-up to James on SI.com's top 100 list, which was created by Golliver and Rob Mahoney. The entire top 10 ranked as follows:
- LeBron James, F, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Kevin Durant, F, Golden State Warriors
- Stephen Curry, G, Golden State Warriors
- Kawhi Leonard, F, San Antonio Spurs
- James Harden, G, Houston Rockets
- Russell Westbrook, G, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Chris Paul, G, Houston Rockets
- Anthony Davis, F, New Orleans Pelicans
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Milwaukee Bucks
- Draymond Green, F, Golden State Warriors
Other Cavs to crack the top 100 this year include forward Kevin Love (26), guard Isaiah Thomas (40), forward Jae Crowder (44) and center Tristan Thompson (52). Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, who Cleveland traded in exchange for Thomas, Crowder, center Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first-round pick this summer, came in at No. 21.
You can view The Crossover's entire top 100 rankings here.
