© Troy Wayrynen | 2018 Feb 14
Professional sports are a what have you done for me lately business.
If you want an example of that, check out the latest ESPN rankings of the top 100 players in the NBA, that has Damian Lillard (7th overall) ahead of Stephen Curry (8th overall).
There may be some recency bias going on here, based on the fact that Lillard was named the MVP of the bubble and Curry missed nearly the entire season with a broken hand. In fact, it’s Curry’s injury according to ESPN that knocks him below Lillard heading into the season. Via ESPN:
This is the lowest Curry has ranked since breaking out as a star in the 2013 postseason. The issue is availability, as a broken bone in Curry’s right hand limited him to five games last season and he missed a combined 44 games the previous two campaigns. If he can stay healthy, we’ll find out the floor for a Curry-led offense lacking a second plus scorer after Klay Thompson’s Achilles injury ended his season before it began. Without Thompson and Kevin Durant, the Warriors will be more dependent on Curry for shot creation than ever before.
Neither Lillard nor Curry are actually the top rated point guards on the list, that distinction goes to Luka Doncic, fresh off a playoff series in which he averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists.
Doncic is certainly the next big thing, and Lillard appears to be peaking, it’s on Curry to prove that he’s still at the level of a two-time MVP winner this season if he wants to climb back up this list in 2021.
Here’s the top 10:
1. LeBron James
2. Anthony Davis
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo
4. Luka Doncic
5. Kawhi Leonard
6. Kevin Durant
7. Damian Lillard
8. Stephen Curry
9. James Harden
10. Nikola Jokic