Bleacher Report ranks top 10 NBA players following playoffs, Jokic still on top?

Now that the Finals are over, all of NBA media and social media want to rush to definitively order teams and players. Nobody is content to simply let the dust settle and savor the long season we all just witnessed. Instead, we need answers and we need breakdowns.

Bleacher Report was one of the first adapters to immediately pump out a new list for fans to consume. Senior NBA writer Andy Bailey put out an article titled, “How 2024 NBA Playoffs Have Shaped the League's Top 10 Player Rankings” and as you can likely guess, he ranked the top 10 players in the league after watching the regular season and playoffs develop.

Usually, these types of things are overreaction theater to a degree, so Nuggets fans were likely expecting to see something crazy. But Denver fans learned the hard way that reaching and winning the Finals can completely change narratives and perceptions - fair or not.

Nikola Jokic ranked #1 in NBA player rankings

So having that in mind, it was nice to see that the world has not gone mad, and Nikola Jokic retained the top spot as the #1 ranked player currently in the NBA. Sure, the Nuggets lost, but it’s hard to pin that on the Joker. He may not have had his best playoffs, but he played admirably and was overtasked and exhausted by the end. After watching the four+ season run he’s been on, dropping him from the top of the rankings would have been an insane overreaction.

But plenty of other players around the league made big moves up the rankings based on the results of these playoffs. The Finals run propelled Luka Doncic up to the #2 spot in the rankings; I’d still argue that Giannis Antetokounmpo is better (#3 in the rankings), but we haven’t seen a healthy playoff run from him in several years; the game is the game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander used his great season and solid playoffs to earn the #4 ranking, and Jayson Tatum, fresh off winning his first championship, came in at #5 in the rankings. Other risers based on these playoffs included Anthony Edwards (#9) and Jalen Brunson (#10). Both of those players were incredible in the postseason and carried their teams further than they should have gone.

The rest of the top 10 included Joel Embiid at #6, LeBron James at #7, and Stephen Curry at #8. I guess playoff performances didn’t factor into their rankings!