Westbrook at #5

S.I. chooses Westbrook as the #5 player in the NBA

As the NBA season gets closer, talking heads around the league will start listing their top players headed into the new campaign. This is an exercise that takes place every year, and every single year….people get viscerally upset about the list. Welcome to the Internet.

So the list in question this season belongs to Sports Illustrated. While I’ve long been a fan of the folks over at SI, I’m expecting Thunder fans to take exception with the way the selections broke down. Don’t get me wrong — having a Top 5 NBA player on your roster is always a good thing. But can we ever really be happy with anything but number 1?

Probably not.

Anyway, here are the rankings:

So, yeah. LeBron is the best player in the league. That’s a point I am absolutely unwilling to argue. Regardless of how much I hate it, it’s even understandable to select Kevin Durant at number two. If he still lived in Bricktown, I would emphatically agree and let’s face it — from an all-around skills standpoint, he’s nauseatingly gifted. I’ll never forgive you, Kev.

But here’s where things start to get a little shaky for me. Steph Curry at number three. Chris Paul at number four. Followed by Russell Westbrook at number five.

Steph is the back-to-back MVP, so I can’t offer up a ton of resistance to where he’s at. I would take Russell Westbrook as my point guard 10 times out of 10, but having Steph above him on this list is expected. Whatever.

But Chris Paul? I do take some exception here. Not because Chris Paul isn’t one of the greatest point guards of all-time, because he is. But at this point in his career — 31-years-old, entering his 12th season in the league — can he really be placed above Russell Westbrook here? No way, man. No way.

Again — this is no way a knock against Chris Paul’s career, because he’s been absolutely incredible for a long time. But these lists are put together under the idea that we’re ranking the best players for next season. I’m not buying the idea that Chris Paul will be better than Russell Westbrook. I’m not exactly sure anyone will be better than Russell Westbrook next season. I’m expecting historic, other-worldly production. I fully expect a serious run for MVP.

But allow me to jump off my soap box and again mention how incredible it is to have a Top-5 guy here in Oklahoma City. It was cool when we had two, but I’ll be the first to admit that situation was easy to take for granted. Every list like this one will have Russell Westbrook near the top, and I appreciate that.

Can the season just start already?