Paul Pierce (seen here without his trademark wheelchair), may be getting old, but he still made L-Man’s top-10 active players. By Keith Allison, via Wikimedia Commons

LeBron James recently was awarded his fourth MVP award in five years which is an astonishing accomplishment, only have being done by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Michael Jordan (5), Bill Russell (5), and Wilt Chamberlain (4).  Not too bad of company I’d say for LeBron to be in but this got me thinking, who are the top ten NBA players currently in the league? Many people have disagreed about this fact and now I am here to put my input in about the debate. I am basing my order not only on statistics but also mental aspect, hustle, and winning. So here is in my opinion, the top ten current NBA players in order:

1. LeBron James: I can’t even argue this; the man is a freak of nature on the basketball court. This is the easiest placement of the players on my list so I won’t take too long on it. Career Stats: 27.6 PPG, 6.9 APG, 7.3 RPG
2. Kobe Bryant: A lot of people would have placed Kevin Durant here instead of Kobe but I am a person of resumes not just the “now” part of this. Kobe is still the best closer in the NBA defying basketball odds and opponents over and over again. At 34 years old, he can still put up the same of not better numbers than the younger players, which is incredible. Many people overlook the Mamba, but not me. Career Stats: 25.5 PPG, 4.8 APG, 5.3 RPG
3. Kevin Durant: Once Kobe retires then Durant will move up into the number two spot at least on my list but until then he is third which isn’t that bad at all. Durant is a unique talent with his length and shooting ability and I believe he will go down as one of the greatest scorers this league has ever seen. Durant said he was tired of being second all the time, well Kevin you aren’t second…you are third. Career Stats: 26.6 PPG, 3.1 APG, 6.8 RPG
4. Chris Paul: The best point guard in the NBA lands in the fourth spot on my list and I think he fits perfectly here. The way Paul can run the floor, pass and shoot is incredible. Almost like Kobe, Paul is a killer. By that, I mean he is clutch and will end you in a game. Paul is of my favorite players in the game and a great leader on the court. Career Stats: 18.6 PPG, 9.8 APG, 4.4 RPG
5. Dirk Nowitzki: This one might be a bit of a surprise to some as Carmelo or Russell Westbrook are neither in this spot but as I said, I base this off of resumes and every aspect of the game and Dirk has it all. He has won MVP awards, a championship and hits huge shots in huge moments. I don’t care about the age factor, he still is one of the most versatile big men to ever play this game and is still highly productive. The “German Moses” is about a year removed from many people agreeing with me, but I don’t care. He is the fifth best player in the NBA. Career Stats: 22.6 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 0.9 BPG

   //www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU6UHBYJOUw

6. Carmelo Anthony: Carmelo is a tough one to cover because he has so many skill sets but lacks the mental aspect of the game. To me the mental aspect of the game is just as important as the skills part. He is a superstar, no doubt about it, but he needs to learn how to act like one. If he can do that, he could be in the top-5. He can flat-out score the basketball and in my opinion the best scorer in the game at the moment but until he finds his mental toughness he won’t get any higher than here. Career Stats: 25.0 PPG, 3.1 APG, 6.4 RPG
7. Russell Westbrook: Now here is a player that is great at getting people out of their seats, he can shoot, he can dunk, he even plays defense. And what a scary thought that two of the top ten NBA players play on the same team (Thunder) and both are under 25 years of age. Westbrook has a lot of talent and with experience with continue to grow as a player and leader. He might just want to get the ball to Durant for a few more shots during a game. Career Stats: 19.9 PPG, 6.9 APG, 4.8 RPG
8. Tim Duncan: Four championships. That is all I have to say about Duncan, who I believe will go down as the greatest power forward to ever play the game. Career Stats: 20.2 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 2.2 BPG
9. Paul Pierce: The Truth. Well, the truth is that Pierce is still a top ten player even with his age and it is sad that he may be done soon. Even as a Laker fan, I admire Paul Pierce and his game. He has a knack for silencing the crowd on the road and hitting clutch shots. He grew up near the Forum in Inglewood and with the exception of the wheelchair incident, he’s been a pretty tough player throughout his career. Although he had to beat the Lakers to do so, I am glad that he won one title. Career Stats: 21.8 PPG, 3.9 APG, 6.0 RPG
10. Dwight Howard: Much like the Thunder, the Lakers have two of the top 10 NBA players on their roster (for now) and hopefully it stays that way. Howard may not be the offensive beast that Shaq was but he can flat out play defense and is a force at the rim. Many players could deserve to be number ten, but I gave the nod to Howard because of the defense aspect. Defense does win championships and maybe one day Howard will be holding up the trophy he is coveting. Career Stats: 18.3 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 2.2 BPG

While people may disagree with me, at least we can agree to disagree. Obviously this list will change yearly with players retiring, age and just the progression on younger players but for now this is in my list of the top ten current NBA players. What do you think? Leave your comments below.

Durant has been brilliant, averaging 32.0 points in the series on 68.5% shooting. Last night the oft’ quiet star, played with an abandon necessary to drive his team to victory. A dunk late in the first quarter with his team down nine, swung the momentum back in the Thunder’s favor.

Durant’s teammates have been the same. Last night Jeff Harden continued his maturation into  the Thunder’s third option offensively,contributing 23 points and is now averaging 17.5 points per game in the series, 13.2 in the postseason.  Eric Maynor chipped in 13,  and the bench as a whole scored 50.

But where was Russel Westbrook?

The intangibles rest in Westbrook’s physique and explosive speed. The twenty two year old former UCLA Bruin, has garnered praise all year for his quick maturation into a perennial point guard. His feisty fear-none mentality, and lengthy 6’5 size, have placed his name among the elite point guards with Derick Rose, Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, and Steve Nash.

So where was he?

Benched late in the third quarter after another ridiculous turnover, Westbrook blabbed the rest of the game while his Thunder went +7 without him. His backup Eric Maynor, a four year starter at Virginia Commonwealth, played poised and far beyond Westbrook’s years: swinging the ball, running Scott Brooks half-court set schemes, and solid defense.

Maynor did what he had to do to win a ballgame. Things are not pretty in the postseason with the slowness of half-court basketball and the physicality of the defensive sets. It seems Westbrook has not figured this out yet. As great as he has been all season and as explosive here in the postseason (23.6 pts, 6.7 ast, 5.4 reb), the natural shoot first–pass second two guard, is better fit as a scorer for now.

Maynor clearly benefited from four years of college basketball, including three straight years in the March tournament. The twentieth pick in the 2008 draft, Maynor has a comfortability at the point guard position–something Westbrook, a one and done collegiate athlete is lacking.

In a closeout game against Denver in the first round, Westbrook shot 30 times to Durant’s 18 and the Thunder lost. Game four of a three overtime round two loss to the Grizzlies, Westbrook shot 33 times to Durant’s 20, and in a game six collapse, Westbrook took 22 to Durant’s 14.

The pattern is simple, get Durant the ball. Westbrook is better fit as the Robin to Durant’s Batman, but is aloof to this reality. It will be a interesting postseason for both OKC and Westbrook to see how their relationship either builds or begins to fragment.

And if fragmented, there is always Chris Paul (hmmmmm….).

Flat and arid terrain scape around the city like fat fingers. Slow moving tractors trek into the outskirts of the city dropping bundles of fresh squash and broccoli at the feet of produce distributors. Children run through sprinklers that sparkle like crystal embers under the lurid sun.

Oklahoma is everything you imagine living in the celebrity state of California. Everything. The simple lifestyle and the Christian-oriented family backbone are the hearts of the city. Something foreign to our “holly-weird” culture.

When the dust bowl occurred in the 1920’s and 30’s, “Okies” set out to California for reprieve from their starvation and suffering. It was like Mother Nature decided to cut the throat of the land’s mineral blood flow, and once drained completely,  she left the land like a barren womb cold with decay and rigamortis.

Things did not get easier when the people moved on. Californians saw the “Okie” as an unworthy worker—a lower citizen than the African American because they were both white and poor. The “Okies” suffered because of these judgments and were forced to settle  in run-down compounds where they gathered food like hobos and begged for pennies from passerby’s.

On April 19th, 1995,  Oklahoma City experienced a major set-back when Timothy McVeigh decided to blow up the federal building in the name of political rebellion, killing 168 people. Once again, death ate away at the state’s soul like the slobbering anger of a wild dog. Like gold in the teeth of its panhandler, the people were pressed and tested.

 How could this happen here? Why here? Were the questions asked by the common Oklahoman after the event. I remember watching the video tape run over and over on the static-lined TV screen. It was like one of those chilling horror flicks when the TV cuts out and all one can do is wait for the encroachment of something evil. When the bomb thundered on the TV screen, it shook your bones, and your heart skipped a beat for a moment.

Thank God something else is thundering now.

The city is experiencing a revival. Nearly seventeen years since McVeigh strapped four bombs at the base of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, things are beginning to look up. No its not because the city’s agriculture is booming. Rather, it’s the Thundering taking place on the hardwood.

Known as the toughest place to play, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Ford Center underscores the NBA with a true providence. A town without much to do has been reveling in their local NBA team since last year’s breakout season in which the Thunder, as the eight seed, nearly knocked off the Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The word is nearly. The series finished in six games, with L.A. doing what L.A. does, winning. But when a city goes through what Oklahoma City has, a moral victory and underachievement for the season is much more powerful than just another win. For the first time in seventeen years the city has sensed a bit of hope, watching their small-town kids nearly upset the all-mighty Zeus.

Pau may have tipped in a winning bucket, but the Thunder inspired a nation.

Before the beginning of the season, team USA’s MVP, Kevin Durant, tweeted to all of his local fans and asked them to text him about everyday things. The slender, spidery armed forward was true to his word, returning numerous fans’ texts about everything from the NFL, to College Football, to favorite movies and food. According to this fan, Durant not only returned his text, but they also then communicated for twenty minutes. I am amazed at the inter-connectivity between a professional NBA player and his fans. It is inspiring to say the least.

Durant has continued his growth into a perennial superstar. He has humbly put the organization on his shoulders, and by signing a five year extension before the beginning of last season, Durant, unlike so many superstars, has made it very clear that he is willing to stick with the organization that believed in him first. At week’s end, Durant is once again the league’s leading scorer, and is again doing it with incredible efficiency.

This old fashioned unity does not come from the top down. Clay Bennet, majority owner of the Thunder never reached out to the city of Seattle when the Thunder were the Supersonics. He is still quietly going about his business collecting a hefty sum of money, based upon his team’s 352 million dollar value, which includes a 6% increase in revenue this season.

Where’s the love?

This nation’s history has taught us one thing – that movements rarely start from the top. In fact, usually movements look to tear down the kings who are unkindly sitting on their thrones. So what gives? As expected, you can subtract Bennet from the feel-good equation in Oklahoma City. It is clear that the marriage between a depressed city and the loyalty of the players has developed this immutable bond. The organic nature of the city’s love for their quiet-natured team has been like a farmer plowing and plowing at fallow soil until baby shoots rear from the tilled dirt.

And as of now the Thunder are a title contender, first in the Northeast division at 44-23. Unlike last season, the expectation now is that the Thunder will ascend the underdog status into a true leading role. With the emergence of players like James Harden and Serge Ibaka, the Thunder have built a solid future, one like a young olive tree birthing better fruit as it ages.

The players’ professionalism and poise should not be taken for granted. These young kids are REALLY just kids. The calm Durant is a true jester in the locker room, known for his hilarious pranks at the most unexpected moments. Check out the funny hip hop video by Hard Knocks TV featuring Durant.

No matter what happens, the Thunder are eternal victors. They have picked up the pieces of a city’s broken heart and put it back together. As they continue their growth into basketball superstars and heroes, my prayers go out to the people of Oklahoma City who for the first time in a long time have found something to cheer about.

Everything in the world of history is a mystical equation. And every equation has a variable. We are trained to solve the variable X-factor through basic deduction, arithmetic, and logic. Take away the numeric value to its right or left and divide the sum total by X. The answered NOW breathes in life, becoming more and more tangible, as the ability to solve the paradigm reveals itself.

Like a spring flower, our answered world grows in its vibrancy.

Life’s dominoes begin to fall one by one, aligning into our new normal. All interpretation becomes a reflection of what Quantum Physicists call a mirrored image–our new normals interpretation of current circumstance: time and space. But according to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, time is boundless and void of the boundary points of mathematics: X, Y and Z.

So where are we and why? We don’t really know.

This is where imagination becomes crucial and comes into play. Our emporium of memories are the elements that drive us into Einstein’s boundless dream-like state. The world tips, lilts, rocks, and the fathomable presence of NOW is lost in the surreal.

So we float.

Everything became surreal in the NBA after last summer’s shopping spree, and I believe we are in the most confusing shift between superpowers. In the midst of this all, the media has sounded like quaking tabloid writers spewing asinine hot topics.

Were not the Spurs too physical and too potent for the defending champion Lakers? Not if a 99-83 blowout at the hands of the Lakers two nights ago has anything to say about it.

So what NOW?

We know that we are top heavy with teams like the Bulls, Mavs, Thunder, Heat, Magic, and Knicks.

The Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs are still the elite of the elite. But what does that mean in an upside-down environment? It means I would abstain from betting the house, boat, or wife in Las Vegas.

A blockbuster trade involving Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to the Knicks made things, shall we say, interesting. All of a sudden the Knicks have become a serious contender; a team that could knock off an over confident one, two, or three.

Even smaller trades can shift time’s mirrored world. When the Celtics rid themselves of Kendrick Perkins in a deal to Oklahoma City for an underachieving swing in Jeff Green, questions arose. Are the Celtics tough enough NOW? A team who had lived on its brutal team defense now has to rely upon a thirty-eight year old Shaquille O’Neal to anchor them defensively.

Most critics believe Perkins will act as the cog defensively that will help the Thunder deal with Western bigs like Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Tim Duncan, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Yet can we really have faith in a team relying upon two teenagers in the world of stardom? It has yet to be seen if Kevin Durant or Russel Westbrook can hit the big shot.

Who really knows? Still twenty games away from the most talked about postseason in recent history, die-hard fans are feeling more insecure and unsure than ever before.

…

Security is a gift, and boy do I miss it.

It was mortgaged last Summer when the NBA’s star faces tip-toed elsewhere like dancing ballerinas, creating what scholar Malcolm Gladwell calls a tipping point: A tipping point is the moment when an idea created by either a large corporal entity or an individual, spreads to the masses. It’s a non-discriminatory personality that can be better understood by humanities need for evolution because everything “new” at some point becomes old and stagnant. Humanity tires of the old.

I guess the NBA God was sick of Lakers vs. Celtics, and so he decided to blow our minds and flip us off in the process.

If LeBron James had stayed a Cleveland Cavalier, it is fair to say much of this shift would not have happened. Whether you like the guy or you don’t, LeBron James is a very powerful athlete on and off the court. He is the association’s fault-line star, with the power to change the league.

On the court, the 6’8, two-hundred-sixty pound point-forward is athletically in a world of his own. His developed jump-shot has made him nearly impossible to guard. Blend in his power-forward like strength, his explosive speed, forty inch vertical, and you have a machine that cannot be stopped.

Well, you do; just ask him to deliver in the clutch…

LeBron is a fan favorite. He is the highest paid player off the court with various endorsement deals. He interviews well, which is something lacking in today’s athlete, giving him a like-ability that is a key component to a tipping point. This is what Malcolm Gladwell refers to as stickiness in his book The Tipping Point, making the evolution taking place as painless as possible. There is no tipping point without the stickiness (like-ability) of an emerging idea.

Does not a fad proceed what was at one point stylistically original?

****

It is hard to believe Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did not know about LeBron’s desire to complete the ‘trifecta’ in South Beach. Wade and LeBron have been close friends since splashing on the scene together in 2003. And I don’t know about you, but my friends and I talk. Also, considering LeBron had a more than a productive situation in Cleveland, it would be hard to believe he went into the South Beach Experiment without knowing first that Wade and Bosh would join forces with him there.

Whether or not Wade is the better of the two (he is), he played second fiddle to LeBron in last season’s free agent fray. For most of the 09-10 season, Wade had hinted he would like to go back home to Chicago, joining a potent squad with the talent that has now become Derick Rose. His situation was average in Miami, and at twenty-eight, Wade with a lot of miles on his smaller 6’5 frame, was in need of making a decision that would alter his hall of fame career forever.

Chicago made an offer right away. Bosh had already made it known that he would leave Toronto.  Who would blame the guy?  He also made it known he would be comfortable as a secondary role alongside either LeBron or Wade. Spending seven years in the wasteland of Toronto, the lengthy perimeter-oriented forward had learned life the hard way in the NBA, that he was nothing but a second rate star.

Now he is nothing but a Horace Grant. Ouch.

Just because Bosh and Wade co-mingled their visits with Chicago together, does not mean they were intending to couple on the same team. I think it is fair to say that the league was awaiting LeBron’s decision before big names like Wade, Bosh, Amare, and Boozer landed elsewhere. If you notice the trend, every time LeBron visited one of his top picks–New York, Jersey, Miami, or Chicago; Wade and Bosh setup meetings a couple days afterward. It was almost as if they were gauging LeBron’s visits. It’s like a high-roller shop-around for a lap dance at a club. His first pick decides she wants to ride his richer, better looking friend, so he goes after her slightly less attractive twin.

The South Beach Experiment was the biggest heist in league history, a three headed Godzilla in the making, one that has ended up in lack of the “balls” needed to win big games. As of today the Heat are 1-9 against the top five teams in the NBA. And yet somehow it was LeBron who not only altered careers forever but changed our perception of the league with a trend as cheesy as an eighties horror flick.

“Attack of the Sporting Threesomes!” coming to a theater near you.

Everything from this point on fell into place. LeBron to Wade to Bosh to Amare to Boozer.

Amare signing with the New York Knicks for max dollars before the LeBron signing was like the Knicks dangling a piece of raw beef in front of a starving dog. The Knicks wanted LeBron and had made that known all along. So signing a dynamic piece like Amare gave them the thundering bargaining chip they needed when wooing the King.

Woo all you want. According to Andy Stevens on fansmanship.com, when you are wooing the King, you are wooing a “kingdom of clutch bricks.” Over the last week LeBron has wilted under the pressure. His Heat blew a twenty four point lead to the Orlando Magic, and lost numerous close games in which LeBron, like a pizza delivery boy in training, was unable to deliver on time.

It is interesting that Chicago never really made headlines when it came to signing LeBron. Though they were one of LeBron’s top choices, they courted Wade and Bosh as a duo. It makes me wonder if LeBron made it clear early on that he did not want to play with the Bulls. If so, the Bulls were trying to dismantle a powerful menage a twa. A triage that would be impossible to beat.

Uncertain and in need of a scoring big man, the Bulls did the smart thing, ditching the sweepstakes by signing Carlos Boozer; a guy who had toyed with the idea of signing in Miami with Wade early on. Boozer has solidified the Bulls, a group of team players who have the gel, firepower, and defense to terr Miami and many other elites a new one. They are the victors in this all, losing out on Bron, Wade, and Bosh, but as of today, with a core of Rose, Boozer, Noah, and Deng, are 3-0 against the Miami “Meat”.

Had LeBron stayed in Cleveland, I believe either Amare or Bosh would of paired with him there. This would have made the Cavs a bigger threat in the postseason and kept them at the top of the Eastern Conference food chain. Wade would of signed alone in Chicago, becoming the face of a fresh franchise. Bosh or Amare sign with the Knicks for top dollars. Boozer stays in the Western Conference and signs with his third choice, the Thunder.

Boozer in Oklahoma City voids the trade for Perkins because the Thunder as a small market team would be unable to take on his large contract extension. Therefore he stays in Boston, making our lives a lot easier because the Celtics are still, well, the tough-nosed Celtics.

…

Humanity relies on our greater purpose. We purport to have control over our circumstances, but life would say otherwise. Natural disasters, life decisions: good or bad, death, commerce, and history, creates a difficult and unsolvable equation. In the world of sports, things are the same. One player, just ONE, has the power to gamble away everything we knew or know. So let it take you, and dangle upside down. The dizzying merry-go-round of the world will, like a magician, continue to fool you.

Just because LeBron James has the power to shake the entire league, does not mean he is worthy of mention in the talk of all-time greats. Weren’t the Backstreet Boys a mentionable name in music in the late nineties? In and of the same, as of now LeBron, like Dominique Wilkins or Vince Carter, is a living highlight reel. Nothing more. His significance as a player took a nose-dive when he cowered as the face of a franchise and jumped ship to be a fellow juggler in a circus parade.

And as of now he can only juggle one, losing.