Which player has the highest approval rating?
The Deal
In the same way that political leaders are measured by the general population’s public opinion, we’re gonna judge the NBA. For brevity’s sake we’ll look at the players who earned All-NBA honors from the past year.
Factors for consideration: history of winning (since they’re all All-NBA dudes, we know they’re good, but winning goes far in the public eye so long as you ignore Bill Belichick), accessibility (can ya get to know the guy a bit off the court through interviews and social media or are they overly enigmatic), what sorts of micro and macro moments have shaped their career and persona (micro -- Kawhi’s serial-killer laugh; macro -- Kawhi’s quadruple-bouncing, series-winning buzzer-beater over Embiid), where does the guy fall on the spectrum of dirtbag to great teammate/respectable dude?
15. Kyrie Irving
Irving has been a sensation since he was in college. He pulled off one of the best viral vids with Uncle Drew. He’s had the best sneakers on the market for 5 years. He’s a Dumbledore-Gandalf-level wizard handling the ball. He hit an absolutely cold-blooded, Finals-winning three over Steph to defeat the 73-9 Warriors. And he’s dead-last on this list.
The accessibility factor kinda cuts against Kyrie. He’s an honest basketball genius on the court and probably a very smart dude in general. But the unprompted and relentless flat-earth, moon-landing-was-fake, dinosaurs-never-existed conspiracy theory monologues are a tough look. That could be played off though and maybe even viewed as an endearing, goofy quality about him. But when coupled with the passive-aggressive interviews, throwing guys under the bus, eurostepping past blame and elevating himself above his teammates, it all compounds to earn him the last slot.
14. Rudy Gobert
He’s a bit of a tough dude to get to know. Gobert is excellent at what he does. The goal-protecting, rim-running role that he plays, though, isn’t one of glamour. Tucked away in Utah, he doesn’t get the same shine and platform that DeAndre Jordan did in LA playing within a similar archetype.
13. James Harden
My personal bias is leaking in heavily here, but that’s basically what this whole thought-experiment is anyway. He’s a near-perfect offensive guard in today’s NBA (or really any era). In theory, as a smart, strong and athletic 6’5” guard, his defensive floor should be a bit better than average. The reality is that YouTube is littered with 9 years of montages of him getting backcut into oblivion and calling out teammates for his mistakes and giving minimal effort. To be fair, he tried a bit more this season and has developed into a solid post-defender.
He hasn’t been able to get it done in the playoffs and has consistently looked gassed come the late rounds. He’s gone on record about how much winning the MVP means to him and even ran ads last year trying to convince people to vote for him over Giannis. If he dialed back 10% in the regular season and played the long-game, he may well have won a title by now.
For a top-flight player in a big market, I feel like we don’t really know much about him as an individual other that he’s got a banner hanging in a strip club ‘cause he visits so often.
12. Kevin Durant
His career arc follows pretty closely to Lebron’s. Amatuer phenom, high draft pick who enjoys immediate success, can’t get over the hump with his original team, leaves for a bigger market to play with stars, wins titles. LeBron salvaged his Decision debacle and has earned the respect and admiration of nearly everyone not named Skip Bayless. KD, even after beating LeBron in two straight Finals, is struggling to make up ground.
He seems so affected by the opinions of media and fans. It often feels like his he’s patterning his choices after other All-Stars or in an attempt to either appease or contradict his critics. When Michael Scott ponders aloud “would I rather be feared or loved?” he answers both. KD answers loved.
A #12 ranking has quite a bit of recency bias. I will forever love OKC KD. He gave us a perfect MVP speech in 2014. And this summer, when he put his body on the line to try and swing the series for GS, he paid a steep cost for it.
11. Blake Griffin
Save for all the whining of Lob City and that time he punched his trainer/friend, Blake’s been a fun dude since he’s been in the league. He dunked basically everything for 6 years. After the Clippers pledged their love for him in the summer of 2017 and promptly traded him half a season later, he’s adapted really well. Despite being exiled to basketball purgato--ahem, Detroit, he’s made the most of it and had a career year last season.
Save for all the whining of Lob City and that time he punched his trainer/friend, Blake’s been a fun dude since he’s been in the league. He dunked basically everything for 6 years. After the Clippers pledged their love for him in the summer of 2017 and promptly traded him half a season later, he’s adapted really well. Despite being exiled to basketball purgato--ahem, Detroit, he’s made the most of it and had a career year last season.
10. Paul George
When you create a player in 2K, 9 times out of 10 you end up making a dude like PG. Extra tall for his position, super athletic, can yam with the best of em but also shoot the lights out and the guy is a perennial DPOY candidate. He’s just flat out cool. He pushed LeBron two straight years in the ECF though he led an overmatched Pacers squad. Anytime an athlete sustains an injury playing for his/her country’s name, they win hearts. The whole pro-basketball industry was cheering him on as he rehabbed from his broken leg and regained superstar status.
I hate how he strong-armed his way out of OKC and to LA. It’s maddening that this has become commonplace, but he’s hardly the first to do it.
9. Nikola Jokic
He’s basically a dancing bear with the passing skills of Magic Johnson. He used to drink 3 liters of Coke a day so he’s firmly on the right side of history on the Coke/Pepsi debate. I can’t wait to see his platform grow and get to know him more.
8. Joel Embiid
The crown of the-most-likeable-NBA-villain sits firmly atop JoJo’s dome. His ongoing bit about renting various types of real estate within the mind’s of Dre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside and the like is perfectly crafted and executed. A lot of dudes in the league talk, but Embiid is one of the few that can back it up consistently.
Players who cry after losing in the playoffs automatically vault up 10-15% in approval rating. So when Kawhi Leonard Mortal-Kombat-style ripped out Embiid’s beating heart in the Eastern Semis and Joel was left weeping inconsolably, that meant a lot.
7. Kemba Walker
He’s a small dude that makes big shots. There’s always so much hype surrounding NYC point guards and nearly all of ‘em in the past 15 years have flopped. Kemba is one of the few to make good on the legend.
Playing for MJ--and wanting to stay for a third contract--earns him carte blanche in the Carolinas for life.
6. Russell Westbrook
For all of Russ’ tunnel-vision and lack of much needed self-restraint at times, he’s very winsome. On any random night in January, when the game is out of reach, he plays as though they’re down three in the Semifinals. He stayed when KD left and even though they weren’t going to win anything, he poured his soul into his last three seasons in Oklahoma. He once absorbed a literal dent in his face, and stayed in the game. When Michael Scott pondered aloud “would I rather be feared or loved?” he answer both. Russ answers feared.
He’s the fit king of the NBA and he’s got an adorable family that seems really down to earth.
5. Kawhi Leonard
The Klaw is the biggest mover in this group from the past season. Pre-Toronto Leonard was a killer-robot playing for the mech empire of San Antonio. We knew he was an all-time defender and could run an offense and was the only dude still rocking cornrows until the league came back around to ‘em this last year.
*Incredibly magical basketball season ensues, concluding with Raptors championship*
Notable Kawhi moments from 2018-19: a) laughs maniacally at media day, dubs self “fun guy” b) leaves Jordan brand for the New Balance 🤷🏻♂️ c) sinks a quadruple-bouncing, series-winning buzzer-beater over Embiid d) hobbles through the final two series while ripping the hearts out of the Bucks and Warriors e) bookends the season with another psycho laugh at Toronto’s parade.
4. Dame Lillard
Clearly I’ve got a thing for guards loyal to the soil. Every year we count Portland out and every year they win 50+ and make it to the second round. It all starts with Dame (and Stotts). He’s cold-blooded. He sunk Houston in 2014 with a series-ending buzzer beater. And then again this past season--with all-world defender Paul George on him--he slipped on his John Wick mask and ended the Thunder with another series-winning 3 and gave us this perfect meme.
The watch celebration is equal parts low-key and cool, a perfect dynamic for Dame.
3. LeBron James
Nobody in the NBA has had higher expectations placed on him at a young age and succeeded in fulfilling and surpassing them than Lebron. Argue until you’re blue in the face, he’s a top-2 dude of all-time and his consistency from his rookie season in ‘04 into his 2018-19 campaign is unrivaled.
Cameras have followed him like a shadow since he was 15 and worst thing we can say about him is that we didn’t like the way he told us he was gonna work in Miami instead of Cleveland. He’s in his kids’ lives, has been with the same woman since high school, he’s a great locker room guy and built a stinking school in his hometown.
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo
I can’t cull the lengthy list of stories and fun tidbits about Giannis into this newsletter (which is clearly way too long, 5 points to Gryffindor if you made it this far). So here’s one that I think captures him and his transition into the League well.
November 2013, his rookie year. It’s a stupid -20 degrees outside and Giannis takes a cab to the bank. He wires money back home to his family. All his money. All, in the sense that when he leaves the bank and needs to take a cab to the stadium for the day’s game, he realizes that he can’t pay for it ‘cause he just sent his money to Greece, all. So he starts running to the BMO Harris Center. He’s been running for a mile when a random mom pulls over and offers him a ride. He then wedges his 7’ frame into her Honda Fit and cruises to the game.
It’s a perfect Giannis story. He puts his family first all the time, not even thinking about himself. He does what it takes to make himself a better player and contribute to the Bucks.
Plus he’s a hybrid of young-Shaq, a gazelle and a pterodactyl.
1. Steph Curry
He’s got it all going for him. Comes from a basketball family. 3x champ. 2x MVP. Recognized by everyone as the greatest shooter of all-time and he’s barely halfway through his career. Could have gone pro in another sport. His family is endearing. He perfectly balances the matching-footy-pajama-familyman dork-vibe with the basketball-Liam-Neeson-assassin reputation.
Say what ya want about how his shooting ruined basketball and Warriors juggernaut killed competitive balance, Steph’s the champ once more.