I have it like this:

1. Steph Curry
2. Kawhi Leonard
3. LeBron James
4. Kevin Durant
5. Anthony Davis
6. Russell Westbrook

This is the first time in 5+ years I think you can safely say it's no longer LeBron. I couldn't really decide on the 4th and 5th spots, so I just made a top 6. The top three should probably be in a separate tier of their own. Who ya got?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Sammy Baugh deserves a spot.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

I haven't paid a lot of attention to Anthony Davis this year. Has he dropped off? Wasn't he considered a top 3 player in the league last year?

I don't think you can put Lebron below 2 just yet.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Horrible thread.

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I can. I don't mean this in a condescending way, just one game, but did you see last Thursdays game between them and the Spurs? He couldn't get past Kawhi. He doesn't have the athleticism any longer. Kawhi can outplay him every time face to face now. And he's getting better and LeBron is clearly on the decline(although he's obviously still really damn good). Advanced stats favor Kawhi over Lebron. IMO, the eye test does too, although I haven't seen as many games from each this year as I'd like. I think you can make a case LeBron is still better, but you can't just dismiss the argument.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Are we assuming Joakim comes back at full-strength?

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Just like Gerald Ford.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

No doubt Lebron is slowing down and Kawhi is on the rise. I just don't think his offensive game is quite where it has to be to be put above Lebron yet. That is not a knock on Kawhi at all, he is really good right now.

My top 5 right now would be

Curry
Lebron
Durant
Kawhi
Davis

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Curry might be the 3rd best overall player on his team.

That take's so hot it can melt steel beams. Love me some Draymond Green, but I disagree.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

James
Durant
Curry
Davis
Westbrook
Harden

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Harden?

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Why is Anthony Davis on the list? He is about to miss the playoffs for the third year out of four and only made it because of a tie breaker and Durant injury last yr. There is enough talent in New Orleans to make the playoffs if he is really that good. Their record this yr is 13-27

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Because the Media makes the stars

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

So we judge how good an individual player is by how the team plays?

I don't think that is really fair to Davis?

I don't think there is as much talent there as you think.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I hate to invoke the name but that has always been the argument for Carmelo bashers. chronic loser who only puts up numbers on a losing team. They conveniently ignore that he has made every team that he has ever been on better. Made the playoffs first nine yrs of his career, yet that doesn't stop the detractors. Davis should be held to a similar standard if we are going to talk about best in the league. Should be able to get his team to the playoffs at least.

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Anthony Davis is 22.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Apparently you must have forgot that Melo was 19 when he entered the league. Save your laughter. First nine years made the playoffs! First nine years! Save your laughter until you actually have something to laugh about.

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I agree with RFDC's take on LBJ vs Kawhi. Though they have around the same PER ranking on ESPN (LBJ ahead by less than a point), LBJ's skills I think make him more of a problem for opposing defenses than Kawhi. Kawhi is the better defender at this point, but when he's forced to turn it on LBJ can be a very effective defender. Just ask the ghost of Derrick Rose. I don't see many SA games, so not too sure about this, but Kawhi seems to be a Luol Deng on steroids. That's not meant to denigrate him in anyway, or suggest he's not an All NBA talent, etc. Just trying to summarize his game by using a model. From what I remember he could dribble drive a bit, but it's not like his ability to penetrate is on par with folks like LBJ or KD. Perhaps that has changed recently, not sure. LBJ is more like Magic, of course, so there's a dynamism that's still there with James that you don't have (yet) with Kawhi, and again that's not a knock. I'd probably rank Kawhi ahead of Curry just because of Kawhi's defensive prowess, but in the end I think Davis will be the perennial number one player in the league just because of his versatility on both ends of the floor.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Kawhi Leonard's game is Luol like but he has a little more off the dribble and is a better one on one defender than Deng. Also a better rebounder than Deng and 3 point shooter. Its like he does a little bit better than Deng in every area but he is not lights out better in any particular area.

As far as Anthony Davis I believe that he may be better suited as a #2 guy on a championship team. Strange as it sounds his teams underperform. This is his 4th season and they will probably finish 20-25 games under .500.

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Just stop.

Carmelo has played 14 seasons. Davis is in number 4. No one was bashing Carmelo for lack of playoff success in year 4 either.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I agree w/ Rick here. It's probably too early to raise questions on Davis' lack of post-season success. With Carmelo I think in general the argument came up after 2-3 years of early knockouts, plus then he engineered a trade to NY to chase glory with what he thought would be a better team but none of that ever materialized, so naturally you begin to look at him differently.

I think a different set of questions should be asked about the NO team, mainly around the coach: what were they thinking? I was never impressed with the Gentry hire; he's only been to the playoffs twice in 13 seasons as a HC, and is under .500 overall. That the Pelicans look like a mess is more of a reflection on Gentry than it is Davis to me, just like the teams early in MJ, LBJ, and KD's careers needed tinkering at the personnel and coaching levels before they started to enjoy success.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

I knew that was the point he was making. I bet he brings up things he debated with his wife 20 years ago or things that happened between he and his siblings 45 years ago. Never met someone who has to be right about everything.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Based on those FG%, long time guy probably thinks Curry, Lebron and Griffin would be better players if they took a lot more shots. 50% FG% isn't good...it means you're not creating enough shots. Need to start driving wildly to the basket and chucking some 18 foot skyhooks.

Jimmy Butler only has 16.2 FGA per game. His 22.4 PPG and 45.1% FG% just aren't good enough to have him surpass the great Melo until he gets those FGA past 20!

Start chucking Jimmy! Maybe if you didn't play so much damn good defense you'd have the energy to throw up some fade-away 28 footers.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Now you have met him. Just be consistent is all. Brick is spinning and you are co- signing as usual

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I didn't say anything about Carmelo when he was 22. In fact, I was a big fan.

Then, the rest of his career happened...

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Its hard to have playoff success when you are not even making the playoffs. That's not the argument I am making and something tells me you know it. The spin has begun. Anthony has been characterized as a loser and you have been the ring leader of it. He made the playoffs the first 9 years of his career. Davis has only made the playoffs once and that was rather dubious, yet you have excuses at the ready. Not surprising.

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I didn't judge Carmelo or Davis after 4 years. Discussion over.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The trajectory for Davis may be worst though. There has to be something at work here for why his teams lose. Look at the records of his teams since he has been in the league. If he is that good they should have improved by now. There is some talent in N.O.

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