The Game | Willy Wilson's top 5 NBA players of 2023

Well, it's the calm before the storm of the NBA Finals and since we're at the home stretch of the season, we're bringing in coach Willie Wilson to give us his top five players in the league. And this is in the league overall, coach. That's right. Not just the NBA Finals, right? No, this is just this is the whole league. Obviously, we got a whole lot of recency buys here, but that's how we are wired. So I'm ready to shoot. And speaking of recency buys, I have to just give props for the meantime to the hairdresser of coach Willie Wilson who has allowed him to come on here looking like a K-pop idol. Oh my gosh, you're getting a lot of buys here today. So let's go focus first on your number five pick of the top five NBA stars here. And at number five, you picked the reigning MVP. At number five, Joel Embiid, your choice here. You saw the reigning MVP's regular season numbers, but then you go ahead and take a look at his playoff numbers. And I go by the creed, you're only as good as your last game. And as we saw, Joel Embiid, he hobbled through that last game or that last playoff stretch. So therefore, I put him at number five. And you know, Joel Embiid and the Sixers, obviously a disappointing season given the fact that they were eliminated the way that they were. But you talk about recency buys, you're only as good as your last game. Jason Tatum, hurt for his last game in the playoffs. He's your number fourth. He's your fourth, rather, best player in the NBA today. Why Jason Tatum in particular, even if they did lose in the game seven? Well, I got to look at the body of work that he did in the entire playoffs, not just that last game. Obviously, we know that on the very first play of the game, he injures his ankle. So therefore, he has to carry the team only on one good ankle. Yeah. But remember, he had that big 51 point game. He willed his team to that game seven win against, you know, the MVP. So just for the simple fact that he had the whole body of work, ended the regular season on the first team, all NBA team. I think he is very deserving of a top five finish at number four. You know, Jason Tatum, a lot of people are wondering, what if you didn't turn that ankle in the very first play of game number seven? It might have been different, but then history is history. It's interesting that, just a quick spoiler here, no Miami Heat stars in the top five of Coach Willie Wilson's picks. And at number three here, we have another player who was eliminated a bit earlier, but you placed him a bit higher than Jason Tatum. We have from the Golden State Warriors, Steph Curry. And a lot of people, I think when they see what he's done throughout his career, definitely top five amongst the current players. But this season, why is he in your top three? Well, again, I talk about body of work. Look at what he did in that first round versus the Sacramento Kings. We talk about that historic game seven, the first 50 point game seven in NBA playoff history until it was beat by number four, Jason Tatum. But we talk about the previous season, finals MVP. Maybe we could have got a little bit more of that magic from him in these playoffs, if not for, you know, maybe a not 100% Klay Thompson, maybe the third member of the Splash Bros, The Pool, who you like to call them, decided not to show up in that second round. But still, Steph did everything in his power to carry his team. It just wasn't enough. And you know, it feels like there are moments when we sometimes forget that Steph Curry's as good as the way he actually is. Is he in your mind still a guy that we kind of overlook sometimes as a guy who's highly impactful over, I'm guessing, the LeBrons, the Giannis's, the Embiid's? Is he still a bit underrated as a superstar in the league? Well, I don't feel that he is underrated at all. I mean, he's still considered the greatest shooter ever on this planet. And that in and of itself, right there, just says how, you know, he is perceived in today's fandoms. Possibly even a top three point guard of all time. Now we're gonna focus on the guy that, I'm gonna guess, really destroys all recency bias argument or recency bias reasons that anyone could give. Because your number two guy is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was eliminated famously in the first round by the Miami Heat. So given that, that he was eliminated in the first round, why is he still in your top two? Okay, well, look at the top three finish in the MVP voting. And then go ahead and take a look at the numbers that he had during the regular season. I know the numbers dipped. But then again, he went against that mind-boggling defense of the Miami Heat and their genius head coach and Eric Sposer, who had the perfect game plan for him. It just so happened that the co-stars around him did not, you know, they didn't help him in a way wherein they are gonna free him up for those drives. All Miami had to do against the Milwaukee Bucks in that first round was just, we're gonna pack the paint, we're gonna force you into tough shots, we're gonna force you to kick it out, which he did. It just so happens that his were shooting blanks in that series. And you know, Giannis also missed a bit of time due to the injury in that series in particular. You take a look at what Giannis is, do you feel that it's a bigger argument for him that the Bucks were that bad without him on the floor? Oh yeah, that just right there makes my point that without the former MVP, the former, you know, the NBA champion, they don't really have a direction. So I think that is something that they're gonna have to figure out moving forward. Do we have somebody on this roster that can carry us in the event that Giannis is out? Okay, so on this show, we always say, or we encourage all of our analysts, all of our friends here to fly their flags, tell us who they are fans of. So in this list of the top five players for Coach Willie Wilson, we asked him for his honorable mention. And yet, the diehard Laker fan that is Coach Willie Wilson has not picked a Laker in even the top six of his all NBA, all those NBA players out there, the top list right now. Who is your honorable mention? Well, my honorable mention right now at this point, all recency bias involved would have to be Jimmy Butler. Okay. Again, Jimmy Butler with everything that he's done in these playoffs, not to mention what he's done in the regular season, he still made that second team All-NBA. But what pushed him up into my honorable mention and on the cusp of making it into my top five is his performance in these playoffs. He doesn't get that nickname Jimmy Buckets for nothing. You know, Jimmy Buckets is Jimmy Butler. There's just so many ways to put it. And all the Boston fans know it in particular. So the number one pick, the top one player in your mind, I think it's no surprise to anyone. It's the Joker, Nikola Jokic, who could bring the first ever championship to the Mile High City to Denver. Why is he number one? For all the obvious reasons, but I want to hear you say it. Well, you know, when I was here the last time and we talked about my top five moments and what did I name for Jokic, I named this whole entire playoff run as a top moment in and of itself. He's averaging almost a 30-point triple-double, which is virtually unheard of in these playoffs. He puts the team on his back. Whatever you need, he can do it. Get a bucket inside, mid-range with that awkward step back. Contested three-point shots off of one leg, you name it. There is nothing that he cannot do. Well, the Sombor shuffle is going to be in full flow. Coach, well, you really appreciate all the time and I cannot wait to see if any of our predictions are going to be right for the upcoming finals. And it's going to be interesting considering that Denver, should they win the championship, would be the first Western Conference team outside the state of California and Texas to win since 1979. So let's see history could be made. Coach Willie, thank you very much. Thank you.