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Who in the is Jared Sullinger ????
We asked our ESPN panel of 93 NBA experts: For the current decade (Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2019), which player will be considered the greatest? Well, three guys are especially off to strong starts in 2010:
LeBron James won another MVP trophy and formed a super team in Miami that could go on to win several rings. Kevin Durant, still just 21, earned his first scoring le and led an up-and-coming Thunder team to its first playoff appearance. And Kobe Bryant helped the Lakers win yet another NBA championship while snagging Finals MVP honors along the way.
With LeBron just hitting his peak years, KD barely scratching the surface, and Kobe still at the top of his game, who will rule as the player of the decade is wide open for debate. And anything can happen from now until the end of 2019, with other candidates possibly emerging as well, including No. 1 draft pick John Wall, who received some early support in our poll.
So how do we see the decade unfolding? Here's how we voted:
2010-11 Forecast: Player of the Decade
RANK PLAYER VOTES
1
LeBron James
Small forward
Miami Heat
Age: 25
NBA seasons: 7
'09-10 stats: 29.7 ppg, 8.6 apg
50 Votes
2
Kevin Durant
Small forward
Okla. City Thunder
Age: 21
NBA seasons: 3
'09-10 stats: 30.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg
31Votes
3
Kobe Bryant
Shooting guard
L.A. Lakers
Age: 32
NBA seasons: 14
'09-10 stats: 27.0 ppg, 5.0 apg
3 Votes
4
John Wall
Point guard
Washington Wizards
Age: 19
NBA seasons: 0
College stats: 16.6 ppg, 6.5 apg
2 Votes
Also receiving votes: Blake Griffin (1), Dwight Howard (1), Brandon Jennings (1), Chris Paul (1), Derrick Rose (1), Jared Sullinger (1), Dwyane Wade (1)
Experts: Player of the Decade?
Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: LeBron James.
He produces at a level just about nobody ever has, and now he's on a path to right the one wrong of his biography -- the lack of NBA les. Once he has a few of those, it'll be nearly impossible to make the case people love making now -- that he's somehow doomed as a player.
J.A. Adande, ESPN.com: LeBron James.
He's already one up on the field in MVP trophies for this decade, and he'll win more with the Heat in addition to putting some championship jewelry on those infamously empty hands. He still has two birthdays to get to his 27th, the typical peak year for an NBA player. Just imagine if he develops a low-post game.
Kevin Arnovitz, TrueHoop: LeBron Raymone James.
He might not have endeared himself to the NBA's fan base this summer, but at age 25, he's in the prime of his career. Kevin Durant projects to have a spectacular decade, but James will continue to refine a game that's already close to complete.
Larry Coon, ESPN.com: Kevin Durant.
He's hitting his peak at just the right time, and will be going strong even after Kobe and LeBron fade. He's got the talent, he's got the drive, and he's got a team that's on the upswing.
John Hollinger, ESPN.com: Kevin Durant.
His prime years are almost perfectly aligned with the coming decade, which makes him a safer choice than LeBron James -- who will be 35 by the decade's end. He already opened the decade with the first of what are likely to be several scoring les, and with James splitting credit with his new Miami teammates, Durant is likely to win a few MVP trophies, too.
The only question, then, is the rings -- it's difficult to ordain Durant without a le. The guess is that somewhere along the line he'll get one.
Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com: Kevin Durant.
He can shoot and score as well as anyone in the league, he's only 21, his height (don't believe that listing of 6-foot-9 -- it's more like 6-11½) makes him a particularly tough player to defend, and his ego is not out of control. He'll probably win the scoring le six to eight times if he stays healthy, and he sounds as though he wants to spend his entire career in Oklahoma City, a small market where he's comfortable and happy. In many ways, he is the anti-LeBron.
Marc Stein, ESPN.com: Kobe Bryant.
If my Finals prediction is right, Kobe will have snagged the first two championships of the new decade. As long as Kobe and Pau Gasol can stay together, winning one or two more before Bryant's eventual retirement isn't hard to imagine no matter what kind of compe ion is out there. And four rings for the second successive decade would be a strong hand for No. 24 … especially if we end up losing the 2011-12 season to a lockout as some around the league fear.
Who in the is Jared Sullinger ????
No idea. Is he some stud that'll be in the league in 3 or 4 years?
I can't believe 3 people voted for Kobe. I know it's Kobe but the guy is 32 now.
Jared Sullinger could be a top 5 pick in 2011 or 2012. He plays PF.
i thought this was gonna be this decade.
10-19?! LOL
talk about ridiculous. but i do agree it with be lebron. he's in the midst of his prime atm
the is kobe doing in that discussion, bspn needs to get his balls out of their mouth...32 and has more mileage on his tires than luva has on his asshole, gtfo seriously.
also john wall? what has he done in the nba? might as well add ricky rubio in there while theyre at it.
second part..there is some logic to the John Wall pick. He's a rookie right now so he has a lot of bright years ahead of him. LeBron is already 25 (I say already because it seems like a year ago when he was 18 and he was the biggest thing coming into the league) which means that he'll be 34/35 by the end of the decade.
lol..crazy how Kobe being an old guy is even involved with this decade.
idk i tend to be more skeptical of unproven guys with 'tons' of potential (you probably remember darko being a pistons fan, he was supposed to revolutionize the big man position or whatever)
second part..there is some logic to the John Wall pick. He's a rookie right now so he has a lot of bright years ahead of him. LeBron is already 25 (I say already because it seems like a year ago when he was 18 and he was the biggest thing coming into the league) which means that he'll be 34/35 by the end of the decade.
i dont think wall will be that type of bust, but i also dont think he's on a different level than everyone else like say lebron was when he came into the league...he wasnt incredibly dominant in college, individually or in leading his team to a natl le despite having another lottery pick in cousins as a teammate. i dont see how he is significantly better or even better at all than derrick rose, theyll both be awesome PGs just not out of this world players like bron, wade, durant should be this decade or duncan, shaq, and kobe were this past decade.
I agree Lebron and Durant are in the debate for owning the next decade ... but wade? Even though I see why some say he is a better "player" than Lebron, and obviously he is more proven than Durant, but wade window as top player is probably only half the next decade ...and i think his decline will be much faster than Lebron's ...
Even though Wade is the more skilled all-around player ...Lebron's size and vision should allow him to become an effective power forward or a low post point forward as his athleticism diminishes ...
It SHOULD be Lebron's decade, but Durant also has some pretty amazing gifts (shooting touch and length) that should allow hime to be pretty dominant as well ...
Realistically, probably only James and Durant have a shot at it.
ESPN is just so Bryant and Lakers obsessed that you knew at least a few had to find a way to fit them into something they had no business being a part of.
Stein's argument is weak. Even if Bryant does what O'Neal did at the start of the last decade championship wise, he'll do it in less dominant fashion. Look at O'Neal, despite the championships at the start of the decade, because of his steep decline since the mid way point of the decade, when it came time to discuss the player of the last decade, he was, in many cases, not even in the discussion. So why would old man Bryant be? Despite him being stats obsessed and a conditioning freak, there's a good chance he won't even be playing the last four years of the decade and obviously the last few years he plays he'll begin to decline more than he already has.
Lame article, no one really going out on a limb.
In a decade it's entirely possible Lebron, John Wall, and Kevin Durant will have their careers cut short by injury or inability to compete at the next level. It's also possible there's someone on the bubble who will outshine all four and we don't know it yet.
The only one who we KNOW will be a "player of a decade" is Kobe Bryant - cause he's already the player of the decade for 2000-2010, along with Tim Duncan. They're clearly the best, most dominant two players of the past ten years.
Kobe will be too old to own this decade...I still think he grabs a couple les in it tho...
This is ridiculous. If you had tried to do this for the last decade around this time just taking point guards, Jason Kidd would be in the discussion, Steve Nash is nowhere near it. Chris Paul and Deron Williams aren't even in the league. Jay Williams would've gotten some votes. Do you see what I am saying?
League-wide, Carter would've been in the discussion, T-Mac wouldn't be in there, and he was for awhile. Most of the votes would've gone to Kobe and Duncan. While that may be the case today, go back to 2005. Tell me, honestly, did you think Kobe was the best player in the league that year? 2006? Was he a cut-above everyone else?
in 2006 he was out of this world...biggest MVP robbery of all time imo
there was no question who the best player was that year. Kobe was unconscious in 06
I dunno what the Kobe is doing in this discussion. He, like Duncan...only have 3-4 years tops to claim more les, and then its over. This decade will be dominated by LeBron and Durant...
Kobe? Too old right now, stats and skillwise are going to decrease dramatically in 2-3 years.
Kobe shouldn't even be part of discussion.
He skills wont go anyway anytime soon; his athleticism will. His is mid-range game is still the best around and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
I don't think Kobe cares so much about his stats anymore. He just want some rings by any means necessary and he is getting his share of them.
14 Seasons, 7 Finals, 5 rings and he is nowhere near done yet.
lol espn
lol kobe player of the 2010-2019 decade
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