Is your favorite NBA team or player in my five?

by Dillon Cooper

There are many teams that have proven worthy of making my top five; their record reflects their great play so far this season. First, a look at my top five teams so far in the NBA:

5. San Antonio Spurs (34-15)
The San Antonio Spurs make my top five because of one good reason, experience. They know what do down the stretch in ball games and their line-up has great efficiency and have great chemistry together. With the play of Power Forward Tim Duncan, Small Forward defensive specialist Bruce Bowen, Shooting Guard Manu Ginobili, and Point Guard Tony Parker, which between the four they have won four NBA championships in the last eight seasons, they will be a great tetrarchy in the West. San Antonio, as they sit right now, is sitting in a pretty sturdy spot at second place only behind the great Los Angeles Lakers. The Spurs can not afford to lose focus now as their division is very stacked and with only a three and a half game advantage over the newly charged New Orleans Hornets and the banged up Houston Rockets, who are sure to rise again through all of the injuries and be one of the West’s best teams, again. The gray-bearded San Antonio Spurs are going on one of their toughest parts of their schedule and if they come up with big wins they will be a force to be reckoned with come April.

4. Orlando Magic (38-12)
The Orlando Magic is a team that is very young and inexperienced, thus making t
he playoff the last couple of tries. They are a front-runner in the Eastern conference which just last year was a laughingstock of the league, compared to the David vs. Goliath look when you compared the West vs. the East. Nevertheless the Magic are on the right track, making a big splash in the first part of their 20th season in the National Basketball Association. The Magic are 28-0 when PG Jameer Nelson makes 44 percent of his shots or better, they're 4-9 when he shoots worse than 44 percent, and they're 4-1 when he doesn't play. Talk about a barometer! They’ll put that last statistic to the test…..because Jameer Nelson is possibly out for the remainder of the season with torn right labrum, in the same shoulder that he has had problems with before. This will be a big blow to the Magic organization.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (39-10)
The Cavs are numero tres on my top five only because of their poor play against teams in their own division. They are a weak 1-6 versus the top six teams in the East. This stat really caught my eye, but their league-leading 23-0 home record also stood out. LeBron James just but up a hefty 52 points in the Garden versus the New York Knickerbockers and was the first player sense Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain to record a triple double while scoring 50 plus (he also had ten rebounds and eleven assists). The adding of superstar, PG difference-maker Mo Williams, was a big advantage for Cleveland and I definitely have the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference final playing against the Boston Celtics.

Boston Celtics (42-11)
Despite having an early skid after a game against the Lakers on Christmas Day which Celtic fans want to forget as soon as possible, they seem to be back on the right path in a huge way, even though they lost at home to the top three teams in the west they are still leading the way and setting the pace for the league at a solid 41-10. Despite being swept by the Lakers in the two games series this year, I still think that Boston is a big favorite to repeat as NBA champions. As long as the Celtics stay healthy they should be all right, but I still do think they will have to make a move before the trade deadline just to get some more depth in their bench. Leon Powe and second year Glen “Big Baby” Davis have really stepped up their game from last season and this will be a major factor in the coming months.

1. Los Angeles Lakers (41-9)
The Los Angeles Lakers are a team that is just isolated from all other competitors in the west. The Lakers, who are probably in the weakest division in the West (they lead 2nd place Phoenix by eleven and a half games) and if the season were to end today they would seal the number one seed easily, without any question. They lead the Spurs by five and a half games for the top spot in the West and with Kobe Bryant being Kobe Bryant, and playing like the reigning MVP should, he’s certain to lead his team to another finals appearance, hopefully.


The season is at its midpoint and the All Star break is just a week away in the Valley of The Sun and if these teams continue their winning ways, and they most likely will, then they will be a major threat to any team that crosses paths with them. In just four months a chapter will be written in the NBA and there will be new kings that will rule this league and stand at the top of the podium with smiles and they will say that they are the best team in the world!

It is really hard to just isolate and pick the top five players in the NBA. You could go on and on about top five players in their respective position, division, conference, or just define them as a one of the greatest players to even lay a finger on an orange sphere that we call a basketball. All in all it was very hard just to pick the top five, current, players in the NBA but here goes nothing…

5. F- Danny Granger & Kevin Durant
Now I know Danny Granger isn’t the most classic household name but he will be as his stats prove it. Arguably the most under-recognized player in the game today, he is putting up big numbers. Averaging a cool 25.5 points per contest, he is really putting the Pacers on his back like a pack mule. Not only is he ranked fifth in scoring but he is averaging just a sliver under 40% from the three-point arc and a little over 88% from the free throw stripe. This is all stats, and we all know stats are irrelevant, but Granger does back them up very well, this being only his fourth year out New Mexico.
Kevin Durant’s numbers are very similar to Danny Granger’s. They are averaging the same amount of points but Durant is shooting better from the floor. The numbers are very impressive for the twenty year old, this only being his second year out of the University of Texas. Durant is really tearing the competition up and is showing the disappointed Portland Trailblazers that he, not Greg Oden, should have been the number one pick two years ago!

4. G- Chris Paul
Chris Paul is my number four guy because of his ability to shoot and his unselfish behavior on the basketball court when dishing the rock when it needs to be distributed. Paul, who is averaging a double-double a game in points and assists, is arguably the most talented and the overall greatest point guard in the league. Coming out of college we all knew this kid was going to be a good player but if anyone had predicted that he would be a star that is portrayed today I would say that person would have to be Nostradamus. Chris Paul is averaging 21.5 ppg and 11 assists per game, too. Earlier this season he set the NBA record for the most consecutive games having a steal and that tally was 109 straight games.

3. G- Dwayne Wade
Dwayne Wade is the Heat and that is why he is my number three. He isn’t totally the Heat, but he doesn’t really have that many contributors due to injuries. Wade’s only help is Shawn Marion, who was picked up with a trade last year from the Suns for big man Shaquille O’Neal, and Michael Beasley, drafted 2nd overall last summer. Wade is averaging 24.7 points per game and an even seven assists and despite being injury prone the last few years, he has remained healthy and always has a big role on the team night in and night out!

2. F- LeBron James
The King of Cleveland is my number two player in the NBA because he is just a total game-changer. LeBron is definitely in the running for this year’s MVP and every night, after the games are played, we compare LeBron’s stats to Kobe’s stats (more on him next). LeBron does have Kobe beat in one important category and that is scoring. He is the averaging a league best 28.5 ppg, 7.5 rebounds per game, and seven assists per game. LeBron’s Cavs this year are the best team James has ever been a part of. With LeBron only having one year left on his contract before he has a chance to opt out, and with rumors speculating that LeBron will go to the New York Knicks, the Cavaliers better get the most out of him while they still have him.

1. G- Kobe Bryant
Think about it: if you are down by one with three ticks on the clock, who are you going to give the privilege of taking the last, game-winning shot? The only person that I would really feel comfortable with is Kobe Bryant. The reigning MVP of the league should, in my opinion, bring home that trophy again. His numbers are very good; not off the charts, but who can guard him? If you lay off of him he’ll shoot it in your face, and if you guard him tightly, he’ll just drive around you, and if you double up on him he’ll pass to the open man. Even if he does drive, he will attract almost any and every player to stop him from getting to the rack and scoring a deuce. In my mind he is the player of the year and of the decade for basketball… maybe even the world!