Top 5 NBA Players for 2010
The offseason between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 NBA seasons has seen a lot of transfers between teams, but all the top players have stayed with their old teams. Here are some faces to watch in 2009-10, based on their brilliant performances in recent seasons.
#5 – Carmel Antonio. Carmelo Anthony, small forward for the Denver Nuggets, was recently voted one of the starters in the 2010 NBA All-Stars game in February. Partnering wonderfully with point guard Chauncey Billups, he has scored 19 points in a single quarter twice this season. In November, he scored 50-plus points in a game in which Billups scored 30, giving them the status of the third NBA duo to score 50-plus and 30-plus points in the same game.
#4 – Dwayne Wade. Wade is one of the support points of the Miami Heat team. He, like another great basketball player of this NBA era, is a shooting guard who can also play point guard. At 6-foot-4, he doesn’t let his size stop him, as he is now one of the fastest players in the NBA and possibly the hardest to guard. With an average of 6.7 assists per game, it shows that Wade’s game is more about the team than the individual.
#3 – Kobe Bryant. One of the legends of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant really needs no introduction. At 31 years and 151 days, he recently became the youngest player to reach 25,000 points in his career, quite an accomplishment for someone who is an efficient shooting guard. Kobe, one of the greatest scorers in the NBA, can create a shot from anywhere: three points out of twelve, and whatever.
#2 -Kevin Durant. Also a small forward – for the Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant is one of the fastest growing talents in the NBA. At just 22 years old, he is the backbone of the team, with a PPG and an RPG of 29.3 and 7.30 respectively. With only 2 years of professional basketball under his belt, Durant is worth watching for over a decade.
#1 – LeBron James. Also a small forward, LeBron James is the undisputed king of the 2010 basketball season. Playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, he has taken them to the top of the Eastern Conference Table. With a player rating of 95 on the NBA website and a nomination to the NBA All-Defensive Team in 2008-09, he is often compared to legends like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.
There you go. Five players to watch for in the 2010 season. With Shaquille O’Neal gone and Kobe Bryant injured, it seems unlikely the Lakers will make it through this NBA. The season is shaping up to be a real blast by the time April rolls around!
