Damian Lillard recently appeared on the Club 520 podcast and at one point during the show, he was asked to name his favorite players in the NBA today. Lillard obliged and his list was an interesting one, as he left off the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
"Anthony Edwards, I think everyone super high on him right now but I like him because his energy and his swag is authentic and he got the game to go with it," Lillard said. "So, I'mma go Anthony Edwards, I'mma go Ja Morant. He got into some trouble so I think people kind of turned off to him a little bit but... I know what I am looking at.
"I'mma go Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, Luka (Doncic), (Nikola Jokic), and Giannis (Antetokounmpo)," Lillard continued. "That's my five right now."
As Lillard pointed out, everyone is high on Anthony Edwards right now. He excelled in the 2024 NBA Playoffs for the Minnesota Timberwolves , averaging 27.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game.
Edwards took the Timberwolves all the way to the Western Conference Finals and followed that up by winning his first Olympic gold medal with Team USA. The 23-year-old's stock is at an all-time high at the moment.
Ja Morant was the second name he mentioned and if we put aside all the off-the-court issues, there is no denying he is incredibly fun to watch. The 25-year-old missed much of last season due to a 25-game suspension and a right shoulder surgery, and I expect him to shine on the court in 2024-25.
Lillard then named Luka Doncic , who led the Dallas Mavericks past Edwards and the Timberwolves to get to the NBA Finals last season. Doncic's style of play doesn't seem exciting to many but he gets the job done on the court. The Slovenian averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game last season to win the scoring title and also finished third in MVP voting.
Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic was the fourth selection and he might well be my favorite player to watch in the NBA today. Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game for the Denver Nuggets last season to win his third MVP. I believe he is the best player in the NBA today.
Last but not least is Lillard's teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis averaged 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game for the Milwaukee Bucks last season. The 29-year-old finished fourth in MVP voting and along with Jokic and Doncic, would round out my list of the three best players in the NBA.
It would have been quite interesting, had Lillard left Antetokounmpo off his top five here. The reason why I say that is he had done something along those lines earlier this year. Lillard surprisingly left Giannis off his starting five of active players , going with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Bam Adebayo, and himself.
Now, even if Lillard had left out Giannis, it wouldn't be an indicator that there was something wrong there. It would just have been a bit unusual for someone to keep leaving out their co-star, but he didn't do that here.
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