A look back at the NBA player rankings

Braedan Ritter examines the rankings of four players and decides how they really stack up

(AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

With SLAM Magazine recently finishing their ranking of the Top 50 players in the NBA, it’s time to dive in and take a look at some of the most talked about rankings from the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions.

ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and SLAM rankings taken into account

Blake Griffin: (10^th in ESPN, 14^th in SI, 14^th in SLAM) Blake Griffin wowed fans with huge dunks last season. Griffin is a top five player when it comes to excitement level, just ask Timofey Mozgov.  He is an amazing rebounder, grabbing 12.1 per game, good enough for fourth in the league. But Griffin needs to work on his defense (a theme on this list) and develop a more rounded offensive game. When he does, he could be nearly unstoppable. This is scary when you take into account this was Griffin’s first full NBA season after missing the 2009-2010 campaign with a broken kneecap. Better rank: 13^th

Carmelo Anthony: (12^th in ESPN, 20^th in SI and 9^th in SLAM) Anthony looks fine in the “per game” statistics, but his other statistics aren’t so forgiving. Melo recorded an atrocious 114.2 defensive rating when he was on the floor last year. The Knicks defensive rating improved by nearly four points, to 110.4, when Anthony was on the bench. Your best player should not be such a liability on one end of the floor. At the same time, Anthony recorded a 115.4 offensive rating, so the Knicks are still outscoring their opponent when he is on the floor. You also have to take into account that Melo is also one of the most clutch players in the league. Nonetheless, Anthony shouldn’t be ranked in the top 10 until he starts at least pretending to play defense. Better rank: 14^th

Amare Stoudemire: (13th in ESPN, 19^th in SI, 11^th in SLAM) I could just use ditto marks and refer you to Melo’s paragraph, but that would be cheating. Amare is one of the best offensive players in the league and is killer in the pick-and-roll/pop game. But he doesn’t play good defense either, although he tries a lot harder on that end than Anthony. This effort shows, with Amare’s defensive rating coming in at 108. Both Anthony and Stoudemire’s numbers are a little inflated because the Knicks as a team don’t care about defense; but, if their two star players showed dedication on that side of the ball, these numbers could be lowered. Amare is ranked this high despite his defense shortcomings, which shows how scary his offensive game truly is. Better rank: 16^th

Kobe Bryant: (7^th in ESPN, 5^th in SI and 3^rd in SLAM) This decision probably created the most aftermath on the internet, because of the drones of Kobe lovers across the nation. Lakers fans think Kobe should be number one, but they are very wrong. It seems like SLAM’s ranking is even a little high, considering Kobe’s age at this point in his career (33, 15 NBA seasons). He is still a great player, but these rankings aren’t lifetime achievement awards, they’re who do you want on your team now. And right now, for a full season, it wouldn’t be Kobe Bryant. If I had to win just one game I may choose Bryant—actually I’d choose LeBron James for the first 44 minutes and Kobe to finish the game out—but with Kobe ranked ahead of players like Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul something just seems out of place. Better rank: 7^th