Ranking the NBA's 20 Most Entertaining Players

Basketball is perhaps the most entertaining sport. Give me the NBA over the NFL. The action is more fluid and continuous, the athleticism and agility required is, on average, greater, and the highlights are more spectacular. 

So, when we're talking about the most entertaining players in the NBA, we're talking about some serious entertainment value. 

This is not a list of the best players in the league. There are certainly some players that would not be on this list if that were the focus.

These players make you grab the remote for the DVR and say, "I have to see that again." 

They defy the laws of physics and make SportsCenter's "Top 10" must-watch TV. 

These are the most entertaining players in the league. 

Honorable Mention: Brian Scalabrine

As a bonus, I have to include Brian "The White Mamba" Scalabrine. 

He is often mockingly brought up as one of the "G.O.A.T.," or as the best player in the league. If you write up a list of the like, some commenter will ask where the big redhead's presence is. 

He's not mockingly brought up here in any way. He's truly an entertaining aspect of the league. He makes the final minute of a blowout fascinating. What 12th man gets more chants or more cheers?

There's a genuine appreciation for the antithesis of everyone else on this list. Scalabrine is a man who, in spite of having a physique that is more reminiscent of a dock-worker than an NBA player, has had a long career. 

He makes us appreciate the Everyman like no other player in the league, and for that reason, he gets an honorable mention on this list. 

20. Paul George

Paul George is one of the up-and-coming players in the NBA. He is truly a fun player to watch. 

If water could play basketball, his name would be Paul George. With his length and fluidity of motion, he doesn't "break" so much as he "flows" to the rim. 

There are few in the NBA right now who are as graceful in their play as George is, and that's what makes him so entertaining and places him in our top 20. 

19. Gerald Green

Saying that Gerald Green has hops is about as controversial as saying that Shaquille O'Neal is big. I think he once even jumped over himself. 

If you need proof of how high up he can get, watch him blow out a candle in a cupcake on the rim during the 2008 dunk contest here. 

In fact, Kelly Dwyer (who has a very cool first name) suggests he might have a 48-inch vertical. 

That's worth spelling out: forty-eight inches. 

If you want a perfect illustration of what that looks like, check out the 2:13 mark of the video above. 

Or just watch the whole thing. 

18. James Harden

James Harden may have had a disappointing performance in the NBA Finals, but his beard was as awesome as ever. 

The beard, however, does not land him on the list. He's here because of his play. 

Harden's ability to score at the rim and from deep, along with his ability to get to the line and make teams pay for putting him there, is what makes him so exciting to watch. 

No player with more than 500 attempts last year had a better true shooting percentage. In fact, no one was even close to his .660. The next best after Harden was Steve Nash at .625. 

Harden's percentage is the best by any player NBA with at least 500 attempts since Mario Elie shot .662 in 1997. 

17. Andre Iguodala

Andre Iguodala might not be the most elite scorer in the game, but he's truly a playmaker in all kinds of ways. He's a passer, a rebounder, a defender and a scorer. 

Defensively, he's an out-and-out thief. Few are as effective as him at turning defense into offense. Get him in the open court and magic will happen. 

For whatever reason, he's often been denigrated for what he's not more than he has been appreciated for what he is. 

He might not score 30 points a game, but I can almost assure you that if you watch a game of his, you'll see at least one special play. 

16. Jeremy Lin

I imagine some will be mad about Jeremy Lin being on this list at all. 

Probably more will be mad that he's not higher on the list. 

It's impossible to get Jeremy Lin "right" because there are a plethora of very stubborn opinions everywhere on him, but that alone justifies his placement on the list. 

Remember this is not the "best" players, but most entertaining, and there's one thing about Linsanity that you can't argue with: It sure had us entertained. 

Does his being an undrafted, D-League, Asian-American player have something to do with all of that? Sure it does. 

But so does making some ridiculous plays, torching the Lakers and hitting a game-winning shot. 

Sure, he also had a colossal number of turnovers. There was the bad to go with the good, but Linsanity certainly didn't get boring. 

15. Manu Ginobili

Manu Ginobili is, without a doubt, one of the most fun, creative players to watch. 

You know how sometimes you watch a player and think, "He reminds me of So-and-So"?

Well, Ginobili doesn't remind you of anyone, and no one reminds you of him. He has such a unique style. 

In fact, while my Spanish is rusty, I believe that his name translated means, "Man, you are creative." 

And if it doesn't mean that, it should. 

14. Tony Parker

It's hard to believe that the San Antonio Spurs were considering trading Tony Parker earlier this year. 

He ended up fifth in the MVP voting. 

Parker has a truly special ability to maneuver with the ball inside the paint. Whether he's utilizing that ability to get to the rim or using it to find one of his teammates, he's well worth watching. 

Also worth noting is how well Parker uses the rim to protect his shots.

Only five players in the NBA had more layups than Parker last season. The extraordinary thing here though is that Parker did not have a single dunk, and only LeBron James and Marcin Gortat had more layups and a higher field-goal percentage inside three feet. 

That's because of Parker's understanding of where the rim is and how to use it to prevent his shot from being blocked. 

It also makes for some pretty spectacular plays. 

13. Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony is really an exciting player to watch, but without question, he's at his most exciting when the game is on the line. 

Since he's come into the league, Anthony has hit 29 shots to tie or take the lead with 24 seconds or fewer left on the clock. It's taken him just 54 attempts to do so. Seven of those shots were from three. That's an effective field-goal percentage of .604. 

Over that same time frame, Kobe Bryant, one of the best reputed "closers" in the league, has hit 28 shots. Bryant also has seven of those as three-point attempts. 

The difference is that he's taken 92 attempts, 38 more than Anthony. 

There are times when Anthony is a great player and makes some exciting plays. Sure, sometimes he can get a bit dull when he takes the ball in isolation, stands there faking seven or eight times and then pulling up and taking a jumper. 

That's why he's not higher on the list. 

When the game is on the line, though, he might be the most exciting player in the NBA. 

12. Rajon Rondo

There are those who want to argue that Rajon Rondo's high assist rate is merely a product of playing with three future Hall of Famers. 

I'm not going to argue that that doesn't help, but it's a complete disrespect to Rondo to suggest that's all there is to it. All you have to do to see that's not the case is to just watch him play. 

Rondo doesn't just break down defenses, he shamelessly pulverizes them. 

When Rondo is on the court, the team averages 25.3 assists per 36 minutes compared to 20.5 when he is off of it. A 25 percent bump in assists while he's on the court is pretty powerful evidence that he's not "merely" benefiting from playing with future Hall of Famers. 

They're benefiting from playing with him. 

His ability to create shots at the rim and smash defensive schemes to create shots for his teammates makes Rondo the most exciting player on the Celtics. 

11. Kevin Durant

Some people are probably going to be mad at the notion that Kevin Durant is "only" 11th here. 

Truth be told, I tried to put him higher, but it was hard to think of how to do it. 

He's a fantastic scorer, no question about it, and he does have an ability to put the ball on the floor. He just doesn't do it as often or as well as most of the guys ahead of him. 

He's also not much of a passer. It's hard to argue that. 

As a result, what you have in Durant is a truly beautiful jump-shooter who goes to the rim, but not with a great deal of consistency.

He has a fantastic true shooting percentage, gets to the line and punishes teams for putting him there. 

As a player, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, everything in the world is right with that, and Durant is arguably the second-best player in the league right now. 

That does not mean he's the second-most exciting though. Good and exciting can be very different things; just ask Tim Duncan. 

Durant's not Duncan, but he's not as exciting to watch as his three-time scoring champion pedigree might suggest. 

Camping out and nailing jump shots all day might make for winning games, but you don't keep watching a catch-and-shoot jumper all day long going, "Wow! Just wow! How did he do that?"

I'm not arguing that that's all there is to Durant, but you get a lot of that with Durant, and while he does have some exciting plays, they just aren't as abundant as they are for the players ahead of him. 

10. Steve Nash

Steve Nash is a truly spectacular player. How spectacular?

Last year, the five-man unit of Nash, along with Jared Dudley, Channing Frye, Marcin Gortat and Grant Hill, scored more points per 100 possessions than any unit with at least 300 minutes in the NBA. 

The next-best unit was the Oklahoma City Thunder with Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. 

That's just sick. 

And just to make things even sicker, when you swap in Shannon Brown for Dudley, Nash also captained the sixth-best scoring unit in the NBA. 

When you've got a team that has a 38-year-old point guard making a bunch of nobodies and role players a better scoring unit than a unit that has four players that were in the Olympic finals, you've got a ridiculously exciting point guard on your hands. 

It's a sad day in America for everyone outside of L.A. when he gets three future Hall of Famers to distribute the ball to. 

9. Chris Paul

If Chris Paul were a superhero, he would be Mighty Mouse. 

Sing the song: "Here I come to save the day! CP3 is on his way!"

Pound for pound, he might be the strongest, toughest guy in the league. 

He's also got some pretty good moves. 

He's able to penetrate and break down defenses, shoot, get to the rim and do pretty much anything else he wants. He's also one of the biggest thieves in the NBA. 

If you don't like watching Paul play, you just don't like basketball. 

8. Kobe Bryant

There was a time when Kobe Bryant would have made the top of this list, but age is catching up to him, whether his most ardent fans want to accept that or not. 

His effective field-goal percentage has declined in each of his last four seasons. While his scoring has still been there, it's been less efficient. 

Bryant still is all kinds of exciting though, even if he is getting older. He still has the ability to get to the rim, just not with the same frequency. He's also becoming increasingly more creative in tight situations. 

In short, if the ball is in Bryant's hands, there is always a chance you're about to see something exciting. 

7. Dwight Howard

Most of the players on this list are players who have the ball in their hands a lot. I imagine some people will complain that that's a "bias," but really, this is about the most exciting players. Most of the excitement comes from the guy with the ball in his hands. 

One exception to that rule is Dwight Howard, who is at his most exciting when the ball is coming out of the other guy's hands.

Howard remains the best defensive player in the NBA, even if sportswriters were mad at him this year and gave the award to Tyson Chandler.

The only player with a lower defensive rating and at least 5,000 minutes played in the NBA since Howard came into the league is Tim Duncan, and Duncan has just had a little bit more defensive help. 

What makes Howard's performance so amazing is that he's been pretty much the only defensive force on his team. Howard patrols the paint like no one else in the league, and his shot-blocking is truly a wondrous thing to behold. 

6. Dwyane Wade

Dwyane Wade, aka "Flash," might not have the same flash as he used to, but he's still a pretty electric player. 

He's just found more ways to be exciting though. 

Having LeBron James with him certainly doesn't hurt. 

What makes Wade one of the league's most exciting players is his ability to damage a team in so many ways. He's the best shot-blocking guard ever. He's a ridiculous passer. 

And, oh yeah, he's still able to explode to the rim like nobody's business. 

If Wade is on the court, there's a good chance something exciting is about to happen. 

5. Ricky Rubio

For a player that entered the league with ever-decreasing expectations, Ricky Rubio rocked the NBA world from the moment he stepped on the court. 

Immediately, the Timberwolves became must-watch TV and the channel everyone was watching on League Pass. 

With Rubio, it's not merely a matter of what he can do, it's what he can make everyone else do. Often it's not even a flashy pass that sets things up, but the moves that precede it.  

It's a subtle fake or just dribbling the ball to one side of the court to set up a defense where he wants it to be. 

Rubio is a chess-master, and he is always six or seven moves ahead of everyone else.

When you see Derrick Williams going up for the vicious-nasty dunk, you initially think that's the great play. Then you go back to the beginning and see how Rubio's subtle moves set everyone on the court where he wanted them to be to set up the play. 

What makes Rubio so exciting is as much about what's between his ears as it is anything else. 

4. Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook is so fast he can play himself in one-on-one. 

Russell Westbrook is so fast he has to slow down to sneeze. 

Russell Westbrook is so fast he doesn't need a treadmill, he just uses the rotation of the earth to jog in place. 

Russell Westbrook is so fast he watches himself play...live.

Russell Westbrook is so fast he jogs instead of taking the team flight—it's faster that way.

Russell Westbrook is so fast he already saved the world from a nuclear war, you just don't know about it. 

And that's why Russell Westbrook is this high. His speed and athleticism means if you blink, you might miss a dunk—or two. 

3. Blake Griffin

There are some who complain that Griffin is "just a dunker." Um... so?

I suppose that they think what he should do is, instead of repeatedly abusing the rim and whomever is unfortunate enough to be standing between him and it, take about five or six steps back and attempt lower-percentage shots?

I truly don't care that 387 of his 561 field goals came at the rim.  

Nor am I all that worried about the fact that fact that 192 of those shots were dunks. 

What that tells me is that there were 192 "oh-no-he-didn't-do-that" plays last year. That's a lot of dunks. In fact, that's almost one-third more than anyone else in the league. 

Anyone who gripes about Griffin would stop griping the day he came to their team. 

2. Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose is so fast he can keep up with Russell Westbrook. 

But he does it with more moves. 

Rose has an amazing ability to move through traffic that hasn't been seen since the early days of Michael Jordan. 

Rose can beat every single member of the opposing defense, get to the rim and deliver an unbelievable floater. You really have to watch much of what he does in slow motion to see everything he does. 

He also has the ability to close games. Over the last two seasons, Rose is 8-of-17 with an effective field-goal percentage of .558 in last-shot situations. Only Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant have more, and only Anthony has a higher effective field-goal percentage. 

Rose is not only becoming one of the most entertaining players in the league, but he's becoming one of the most clutch as well. 

1. LeBron James

It's impossible to justify putting anyone other than LeBron James at the top of this list. 

He possesses an impossible assortment of physical characteristics, for starters. There simply should be something against the laws of nature that allow a player that big to be that fast and agile. 

James is just too big to be able to jump over people. Don't tell John Lucas III that though. 

And it's not just his size and athleticism that make him such a great player. He's got the handles and the vision of a point guard, too. 

His basketball IQ is not only the most underrated aspect of his game, it may very well be the most underrated aspect of any player's game in the league right now. 

He may very well have the highest basketball intellect in the game, but he's seldom, if ever appreciated for it. 

The biggest "weakness" in his game is his three-point shooting, and he "only" shot .362 from deep last year. 

James game is so complete on both ends of the ball that he may be the best player in the game at any position but center, and he'd be a top-five center in the game if he were a center. 

Whether you love him or hate him, you sure should be watching LeBron James play while you can. There may never be another chance to see an athlete like him in our lifetime.