1) Giannis Antetokounmpo By winning a title and the Finals MVP award in 2021, Antetokounmpo climbed to the apex of the NBA.
2) Kevin Durant After facing off against Giannis when James Harden and Kyrie Irving were injured, Durant made a strong case for being the best player in the world at the end of the 2021 season.
3) Stephen Curry After putting up the best defence in basketball for six straight games, he won his first Finals MVP title.
4) Nikola Jokic Jokic raised his game in 2021-22 to win a second-straight MVP award.
5) Joel Embiid One could argue that Embiid ought to have won the MVP award the past two seasons.
6) Jayson Tatum Tatum made significant progress in 2022, guiding the Celtics over Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jimmy Butler to advance the team to its first Finals appearance in 12 years.
7) LeBron James LeBron James is strangely low on the list of NBA players, but his injuries have kept him out for extended periods in each of the past two seasons.
8) Kawhi Leonard Leonard might be a top-five player in the world if he stays healthy.
9) Ja Morant He received the Most Improved Player award, came in seventh in the MVP voting, and guided the Grizzlies to the NBA's second-best regular-season record.
10) Devin Booker Booker helped the Suns to the Finals in 2021 and was named to the first team of the NBA in 2022. He is currently regarded as the league's finest shooting guard.