The LIST - The Definitive Best Players in the NBA

[Xixak]

If you aren't putting Harden in your Top 10, just don't make a Top 10.

He proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that he is a legitimate star in this league. He took a team otherwise contending for the #1 pick to the playoffs in the Western Conference. That's a real man right there.

You will never win with Carmelo...ever. If he is your star on your team you simply will never win. For that fact alone, he will never be in my top 10. He's a good player, very talented. But he's not a winning player. It is why Dwight Howard gets knocked down...he WAS a winning, foundation player, but the past three years extinguished that notion. It is why I can't give a token rub to DeMarcus Cousins, who, as insanely talented as he is, isn't a foundation player yet and with his attitude, may never be. It is also why I give Roy Hibbert a bit of a bump...he's a guy you go into the playoffs with and he's instantly a difference maker. He's not as talented as say a LaMarcus Aldridge, and he's as good as Brook Lopez, just in a different way...but when you get to the playoffs, he's a rock and over the course of seven games, a difference maker.

Also all things equal, the big always gets the bump over the guard...thats why you should always have Duncan over Parker.

Harden is 12th on my list for a few reasons.

- He plays absolutely no defense
- He shot 39% in the playoffs
- His numbers are inflated because Houston plays at the fastest pace in the league.

I don't understand your Carmelo argument. You'll never win with Harden as the best player on your team either, he's a 2nd tier star not a superstar. Melo has actually at least taken his team to the WCF before as the main guy and lost in 6 to the champs. Why the hell would Dwight be knocked for this? He played hurt the past two years, and also mired in trade talks and drama. He's still a superstar and one of the top 5 players in the NBA.

EDIT: Also, Harden didn't make the Rockets that much more of a winning team. Even though KMart missed 26 games the Rockets won 34/66 games last year (42 wins in 82 game season) and 43 games the year before. They only won 45 this year, and Parsons improved a lot as well.

Disagree on Duncan over Parker. Parker scores the ball at a higher rate and more efficiently, and the Spurs run their offense through his penetration now not Duncan's post game. This isn't 2006.

That being said TD should've won DPOY last year.