The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. It comprises 30 teams and is one of the major professional sports leagues in Canada and the United States. The ranking in NBA keeps on fluctuating based on the player’s performance in recent matches. To get the final ranking prediction for NBA, ESPN asked the expert panel to vote for the pairs of players such as Luka vs. Jayson, LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant, and the list goes on.
The expert panel voted based on which player will be better in 2022-2023, and voters had to predict what they expected from each player during the games. Well, you must have your favorites but let’s see the verdict of the ESPN experts. If you have missed the games, you can watch them on Kayo Sports, an online Australian sports streaming service that allows you to manage your favorite sports in your comfort.
So, according to the sports experts’ voting, the following are the top 5 players of the NBA in 2022-2023
#1 Giannis Antetokounmpo
As Antetokounmpo enters the recent season of the NBA, his list of accolades already recognized him as one of the most celebrated winners in league history. So now the question is how he will add to that list. Can he win the title of NBA MVP for the third time?
The Bucks will be among the favorites to win another NBA league, but can Antetokounmpo win another finals MVP? Each season the expectations become higher, but given the history, Antetokounmpo usually secures a way to exceed the expectations.
In the past year, Antetokounmpo claim of being the best player in the world has only strengthened and cemented due to his reliable dominance and pure consistency. Seemingly no other player in the NBA league can match his impact and persistence on both ends of the floor.
After every offseason, Antetokounmpo rebounds with a new skill in his performance arsenal. Over the years, he has fortified his vision as a passer, has become an unstoppable attack player, and has improved as an outside jumper that astonishes the defenses every time.
#2 Nikola Jokic
Despite the outstanding performance of Jokic, with 13.2 rebounds, 31.0 points, and 5.8 assists, the Nuggets were no match for Golden State in the initial round. But with Michael Porter and Jamal Murrey, Denver hopes to be back in the competition.
Jokic got better with every season. He just became the 13th player in the history of the NBA to consecutively win MVP awards with a historic campaign. He is among the first to average 25 points, 7 assists, and 13 rebounds. Jokic defeated Embiid in the race to become MVP by recording the highest PER in a season in all-time NBA history.
#3 Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic spent his offseason starring for the Slovenian national Basketball team; he will report to the training camp in game shape for the first time in past years. Doncic is one of the fiercest NBA’s dominant forces.
At 23, he has proved beyond a doubt that he is an incredible and top-tier superstar, a perennial all-NBA selection, and an incredible MVP candidate. He was the lone All-star on the Dallas team that went to the West finals, where he cemented the status of a promising MVP candidate last season.
Although he had a calf strain that benched him for the first three games of the first NBA round, Doncic led Dallas in points, assists, and rebounds during the playoffs. He’s the best offensive weapon in the NBA league, a threat to his competition to win scoring and assists titles, who picks defenses with a perfect blend of power, skill, and grit.
#4 Joel Embiid
After two straight second-place finishes behind Jokic in MVP voting, Embiid has become a fan’s favorite to claim the award of Team Anchor for one of the best teams in the NBA. He was a dominant player last season with an average of 30.6 points per game and led the league by scoring this much for the first time in his sports career.
Embiid set the benchmark in NBA by winning the scoring title of 33.8 points per game in the fewest minutes. Moreover, he has become this phenomenal player who is offensively capable of scoring at all three levels and has been titled one of the NBA’s most imposing rim protectors.
Due to one after another bad injury, during Philadelphia’s playoff in the spring, he had to rest during the season. Although when Embiid is available and healthy again, there might not be a more ruthless player in the NBA. After triumphantly playing a career-high of 68 games in the last season, he is persevering as both a healthy regular playoff and season leader this year. If he successfully does this, nothing will stop him.
#5. Stephen Curry
Stephen successfully led the Warriors to their fourth triumphant win in six years before earning the title of elusive accolade. According to ESPN sources, Curry is physically fit and eager to pick up where he left off. Curry has maintained the same position he had at the start of the last season. He has an average of 25.5 points per game.
Curry was an early contender for MVP, but he could not play in the last month of the regular season due to an ankle injury. In his absence, his teammates kept the team afloat to secure the West’s No. 3 seed. Moreover, due to the increase in the MVP contenders, he is in the same spot in the ESPN rankings.
The NBA season 2022-2023 will be exhilarating because every top player is persevering to lead their teams to more titles and earn themselves the title of MVP. So let us stay tuned to what is going to come. Watch the recent sports events related to NBA on Kayo Sports outside Australia or anywhere you wish.