Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the NBA's Best Players on March 31, 2023

It's time for another look at how the NBA's players stack up according to catch-all metrics from around the internet!

Andy Bailey

Mar 31, 2023

∙ Paid

StatMuse @statmuse

MVP race this season: Giannis — 31/12/6 — 55.0 FG% Jokic — 25/12/10 — 63.3 FG% Embiid — 33/10/4 — 54.5 FG% Greatness.

Who has been the best player in the NBA this season?

A number of catch-all metrics from the around the internet endeavor to answer that question every year. And though many of the different adjusted plus-minuses attempt to measure the same thing (an individual player’s impact on the game when he’s on the floor), they have slightly different ways of getting there.

If you want to acknowledge the most accessible ones, you could say something like…

“Luka Dončić is second in Basketball Reference’s box plus/minus, third in Dunks and Threes’ estimated plus-minus, second in FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR, sixth in Basketball Index’s LEBRON and third in Basketball Reference’s game score per possession…”

…but that’s quite a mouthful.

For the last several seasons, I’ve been sharing something of a shorthand for the above. Instead of rattling off that list for any and all players one might want to discuss, I average every qualified player by the average of their ranks in those five stats (as well as their cumulative variants).

The results give credit to each of the metrics, throw a bone to basic numbers (through the use of game score) and reward players for availability (through the addition of the cumulative marks).

The lists produced by this exercise aren’t perfect, but none are. A strictly subjective ranking wouldn’t cut it either. This is at least a guide, though. And it can give you a pretty good idea of who’s been the best (or worst) in 2022-23.

Before diving in, here’s just a little hint. If you’re looking for a specific player (like, oh say, Ben Simmons), do the handy little “control (or command) plus F” trick on your keyboard and type in that player’s name.

Oh, and one more caveat. If Giannis Antetokounmpo looks lower than you thought he should be (totally warranted reaction to his current spot), bear in mind that cumulative numbers (think points, rather than points per game) are in play, and Giannis has missed several games. This early in the campaign, that makes a big difference.

So, with all of that behind us, feel free to scroll away.

If you’re looking for last week’s rankings, you can find them here.