“Too high” – NBA fans disapprove of Jayson Tatum’s ranking in ESPN’s Top 10 list

NBA: Preseason-Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors - Source: Imagn


NBA fans disapprove Jayson Tatum’s ranking in ESPN’s Top 10 list (Credit: Imagn)

Over the past week, ESPN released its ranking of the top 100 NBA players. Fans are again in a stir over one star who cracked the top five.

Nikola Jokic came in at No. 1 fresh off winning his third MVP. Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jayson Tatum occupied the next four spots.

Even though he was the best player on a team that won the NBA championship, Fans were displeased to see Tatum ranked so high. Some even went as far as to say he isn’t the best player on the Boston Celtics.

“Tatum” over Bron I LAUGHED,” a fan tweeted.

Most NBA fans were stunned to see Tatum ranked over some of the game’s top stars. Others jabbed at those arguing that the Celtics forward should be higher than he is.

“Jayson Tatum is not a top 5 player in the league,” one fan tweeted.

“Why does the Tatum top 3 narrative continue? I thought we were past that,” another fan tweeted.

“Idk how many times we gotta do this, Tatum isn’t even the best player on his own team,” one fan tweeted.

Tatum continues to solidify himself as one of the top forwards in basketball as he enters his prime. He averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists for the Celtics last season.

What NBA stars did Jayson Tatum beat out on ESPN’s top 100 list?

To determine if Jayson Tatum is ranked too high, one must look at who is behind him on the rankings. Looking at the top 10, there are some players a case could be made for.

The first player behind Tatum is Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry. He played in as many games as the Celtics forward, and their production was about the same. Seeing that the Warriors failed to make the playoffs, Tatum does deserve a slight edge over Curry.

At No. 7 is LeBron James of the LA Lakers. His scoring (25.7 ppg) was slightly lower than Tatum’s, but he rebounded just as well and dished out three more assists a night. LeBron also led his team to the playoffs, though it was eliminated in the first round.

His case isn’t ironclad, but LeBron might be one NBA star who could be debated with Tatum for his spot in the top five.

As far as the rest of the top ten goes, one NBA superstar with a strong case to be ahead of Tatum is Joel Embiid. Even though the Philadelphia 76ers big man was injured for most of last season, he is still one of the game’s most dominant forces.

Before getting injured, many agreed that Embiid was well on his way to a second-straight MVP. Given he’s almost unguardable when on the floor, the All-Star center was in the debate for a top-five spot.

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