Matt Barnes recently named Giannis Antetokounmpo and 4 other superstars as his pick for the top 5 current NBA players.
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To be frank, it is near impossible to curate the idealistic top 5 current players list. The league today is as talented as ever, with numerous players having a real shot at winning the MVP honors. The likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and LeBron James are only in the top-most tier. However, the likes of Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Jayson Tatum have what it takes to be the best player in the association.
Recently, Matt Barnes appeared on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” and revealed his list of the top 5 players in the league. Giving it a lot of thought, the former NBA Champ named the likes of the Greek Freak, KD, Steph, LBJ, and JoJo as the top 5 players in order.
“Giannis, KD, Steph, Embiid. Oh shoot! Let me back up. I forgot, yeah, hold on. Giannis, KD, Steph, LeBron, and Embiid,” Barnes said.
The former 14-year NBA veteran further explained why he had King James as low as 4th on his list.
“LeBron is only slid down that just because he’s older. Not his body of work. Still the best player in the world. Excuse me, one of the greatest players to ever play the game.”
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Matt Barnes names Giannis Antetokounmpo as the best player in the world
Sharpe then asked the 42-year-old to disclose the name of the player who he thought was the best in the world. Without any hesitation, the former UCLA Bruin stated that the title belonged to one of the two – Giannis or Durant.
However, the former 6-foot-7 forward reasoned the Milwaukee Bucks as his pick for the same.
“Giannis is incredible. Giannis is the one superstar, you see Shannon, that every single year he comes back better on a different aspect.”
Majorly crediting Antetokounmpo for being the better defender, Barnes gave the 2-time MVP the edge over the Brooklyn Nets icon.
“I mean, to me, it’s between KD and Giannis. And the only reason why I give Giannis the edge is because of the defensive side of the game. I mean if you look at KD’s efficiency and how amazing he’s on the offensive end, Giannis may not be as efficient but he’s still putting up monster numbers on the offensive end. But then also he’s a defensive monster too. So KD is someone, I think his defense gets overlooked because he is out there blocking shots and guarding people. I just think Giannis is a better defender, so I have to give Giannis that nod, and Giannis is younger too, right.”
Matt Barnes snubs Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic
Barnes shouldn’t be criticized for his top 5 list. However, not naming the back-to-back reigning MVP and the favorite to win the 2023 MVP – Luka Doncic, is shocking, to say the least.
In Matt’s defense, he wasn’t too happy leaving the two European superstars off his list.
“I leave Luka off. I’m leaving the 2-time MVP (Nikola Jokic) off the list.”
According to ESPN’s latest top 100 rankings, The Joker and Doncic are the #2 and #3 players in the NBA entering the upcoming season, respectively.
As we said initially, there are just way too many talented megastars in today’s league who are all justified to be the top 5 players. And to be fair, Barnes doesn’t have a bad list selecting a few future Hall-Of-Famers on his list.
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