Lakers: Ranking LeBron James and the 10 best players in the NBA

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 08: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena on February 08, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 08: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena on February 08, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers did not make the playoffs and LeBron James did not win the scoring title. While his team may have had one of the most disappointing seasons of all time, there is still no denying that LeBron James is one of the best players in the NBA at 37 years old.

However, unlike in the past, James is no longer the best player on the planet. For most of his career, LeBron has been the best in the league and it has not even been close. Nowadays, you could rank him in several different spots in the top 10.

We decided to rank the 10 best NBA players in the league based on performance in recent years as well as overall ceiling. Simply put, these are the 10 best players in the league that we would pick if we needed to find someone to win us just one basketball game in a do-or-die setting.

Ranking LeBron James among the 10 best NBA players:

10. Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns

This might seem a bit high for Chris Paul as his stats are not that incredible but anyone that follows the NBA closely knows just how smart Paul is and how important he is to playing winning basketball. Everywhere Paul has gone the team has gotten better and he elevated the Phoenix Suns into the best regular-season team in the league this season.

Guys like Kawhi Leonard or Paul George have higher ceilings and would kick Paul off of this list but Kawhi hasn’t played in a year and George is rather hit and miss. You know exactly what you are going to get out of Paul, who is going to go down as one of the greatest point guards of all time.

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