For the sixth season in a row, ESPN.com is ranking the top players in the NBA. Who will be the best player this season?
To get the final ranking, we asked our expert panel to vote on pairs of players.
LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. Russell Westbrook vs. Kevin Durant. Damian Lillard vs. Chris Paul.
We asked, "Which player will be better in 2016-17?" To decide, voters had to consider both the quality and the quantity of each player's contributions to his team's ability to win games.
If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. You also can follow along @ESPNNBA and on Facebook.
On to the list ...
2. Stephen Curry
Warriors | PG | @StephenCurry30
Last year's rank: 4
2016-17 projected RPM: 8.60
Insider profile: By taking his 3-point output from historic to off-the-charts, Curry managed to dramatically increase both his usage (from 28.9 percent of the Warriors' plays to 32.6 percent, the NBA's second-highest mark) and his true shooting percentage (from .638 to .669, tops in the league) -- defying the typical tradeoff between usage and efficiency. Curry's reward for his role in Golden State's 73-9 regular season was becoming the first player in league history to unanimously win MVP. Read more »
#NBArank 1-5
