NBA Superstar Rankings 2015: Postseason Stars Get Extra Time to Shine

Sorry, DeMarcus Cousins. Our apologies, Russell Westbrook. 

When healthy, those two have been mainstays in the superstar rankings, but they're no longer eligible for this countdown. It's tough to earn celestial status when you're sitting on your couch and eating potato chips rather than participating in the second season's action. 

Then again, Westbrook is probably training maniacally to avoid another lottery appearance. Or he may simply opt to pull a Kevin Durant and refuse to watch the proceedings. 

Obviously, a lot is going to change since the last edition of these rankings. The playoffs have begun, and there are more opportunities than ever to cement superstar status, as players such as Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler and Klay Thompson are already trying to do with standout showings in early games. 

As always, recent play matters a lot, though it's not going to completely trump the body of work from the 2014-15 season. In this case, that means the playoffs are going to be quite impactful for players who are elevating their status or losing some of their luster. We're looking at who's had the most impact while in the spotlight, based on an ever-changing combination of defensive dominance, offensive prowess and everything in between.

10. Klay Thompson (Previous Ranking: Other Notables)

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Team: Golden State Warriors

Position: SG

Age: 25

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 21.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.8 blocks, 20.8 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 23.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.0 blocks, 21.5 PER

Klay Thompson isn't suddenly going to struggle in the scoring column because the regular season is over and the playoffs have begun. Quite the opposite, if the first two games of the Golden State Warriors' series with the New Orleans Pelicans serve as any indication. 

In particular, Game 2 saw this 25-year-old 2-guard shine down the stretch, taking over in a tight affair as he drilled one contested jumper after another in front of a raucous Oracle Arena gathering. He scored 14 points in the final period of his 26-point showing, and the timing made that all the more impressive still. 

After Eric Gordon used an Omer Asik feed to cut into the NOLA deficit, the score stood at 81-79 in favor of the Dubs. That's when Thompson took over, beginning with a curling 11-foot jumper and then answering a Gordon triple with a deep two-pointer of his own on the very next possession. 

By the time Thompson had contributed a dozen of the Warriors' next 14 points, his team enjoyed an insurmountable nine-point advantage with just over 1:30 left on the clock. It was thanks to him that the Western Conference's No. 1 seed secured a 2-0 series lead, and that's just the latest gold star on his ever-growing resume. 

Honorable Mentions: LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, DeAndre Jordan, Damian Lillard, John Wall (especially John Wall)

9. Kawhi Leonard (Previous Ranking: No. 8)

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Team: San Antonio Spurs

Position: SF

Age: 23

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.3 steals, 0.8 blocks, 22.0 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 4.0 steals, 20.8 PER

This is a different situation for Kawhi Leonard. 

Last year, he was a lesser option on the team, only starting to come into his own in support of the San Antonio Spurs' longstanding Big Three. Yes, he won Finals MVP and justified the opinions of all those who had such high hopes for him, but it was still hard to call him a superstar. 

That's no longer true. Not after a second-half explosion on the offensive end has left Leonard entering his fourth venture into the playoffs as the proverbial man for the defending champions, as well as one of the tip-top two-way commodities in the league. 

As Grantland's Zach Lowe recently said during a Bill Don't Lie podcast appearance, the 23-year-old is beginning to look like a top-10 player. He's not wrong, and he's playing with remarkable amounts of confidence while finally getting Gregg Popovich to break some of the chains that shackle so many talents in the San Antonio system—for better, in most every case. 

That said, Leonard's first postseason game in 2015 wasn't a total success—and not just because San Antonio lost. He was quite good in some areas, knocking down seven of his 12 shots from the field and ripping the ball away from plenty of Los Angeles Clippers when they made the mistake of putting it on the floor in his vicinity. But turnovers of his own hurt his cause. 

Here's hoping that the next few contests between LAC and San Antonio result in more matchups between Leonard and Chris Paul, especially after the latter was so deadly in Game 1. 

8. Jimmy Butler (Previous Ranking: Other Notables)

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Team: Chicago Bulls

Position: SG

Age: 25

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 20.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocks, 21.3 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 28.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.5 blocks, 26.4 PER

Well, this is one way to validate a breakout season. 

Jimmy Butler was quite good during his first postseason game as a star, shredding the Milwaukee Bucks defense—a stingy unit that finished the year ranked No. 3 in defensive rating—for 25 points and six assists in his 35 minutes on the floor. 

But if Butler was quite good then, he was quite great two nights later. His line of 31 points, nine rebounds and a pair of dimes doesn't even begin to fully encapsulate how valuable he was to the Chicago Bulls, as he starred down the stretch, making one tough shot after another, and played all but two minutes of the contest. 

Entering the fourth quarter, Chicago was up 71-68, and the game certainly felt as if it could go either way, even with Derrick Rose starting to get back on track. But in the final 12 minutes, Butler himself scored as many points as the entire Bucks squad (14), sealing the deal and giving the series favorites a 2-0 advantage. 

As USA Today's Michael Singer wrote, he also swung the momentum firmly in the direction of the Windy City with a single play midway through the period: 

"

The first-time All-Star hit all three of his 3-pointers in the [fourth] quarter as well, but the game irreversibly turned with 7:07 left after Butler shook Khris Middleton and elevated over Zaza Pachulia for a momentum-swinging, two-handed jam.

"After he did that he was really feeling himself," quipped Joakim Noah, who hauled in 19 rebounds himself. "I think everyone was pumped up after that one."

"

The Bulls should be.

But they should be even more pumped up that Butler has taken this team by the throat and left no doubt he's capable of leading Chicago's charge. 

7. Kyrie Irving (Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention)

Mark Duncan/Associated Press

Team: Cleveland Cavaliers

Position: PG

Age: 23

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 21.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.3 blocks, 21.5 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 28.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.0 blocks, 27.7 PER

Apparently, Kyrie Irving doesn't need prior postseason experience in order to thrive on the sport's biggest stage.

He opened his playoff career with a 30-point outing against the Boston Celtics, draining a huge three-pointer before the second-quarter buzzer and continuing the onslaught in the next half. Then, he followed that up with another standout showing in Game 2, one filled with dazzling highlights and plenty of big buckets. 

He's doing more than inserting himself in the scoring column so frequently. He's putting up those points in remarkably efficient fashion, refusing to let the magnitude of his initial foray into postseason basketball hold him down. 

Lest we forget, Irving shot 47.9 percent from the field, 41.9 percent from beyond the arc and 90.5 percent from the charity stripe after the All-Star break. He was en fuego during that stretch run, and that hasn't changed in the slightest. 

Through two games against Boston, he's at 48.7 percent from the field, 47.1 percent on his downtown heaves and 83.3 percent on the freebies. 

6. Blake Griffin (Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention)

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Team: Los Angeles Clippers

Position: PF

Age: 26

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 21.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.5 blocks, 22.8 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 26.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 3.0 steals, 3.0 blocks, 30.7 PER

Blake Griffin was an absolute machine against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the first round's marquee series. Unstoppable on the glass and heavily, heavily involved in the offensive proceedings, Griffin did just about everything for the Los Angeles Clippers while submitting his fair share of highlights. 

Poor Aron Baynes. He was hopelessly outmatched against the uber-athletic power forward, and that resulted in three monstrous slams that helped swing the momentum further in LAC's direction. 

"[Griffin] dunks on anybody," Barnes said to reporters after the game, per Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears, and his statement would be even truer if the former Oklahoma Sooner had completed a vicious slam against Tim Duncan early in the proceedings. "But when you dunk on their center twice, it's pretty impressive."

If this is the Griffin we're going to see throughout the postseason—incredibly aggressive, smart on defense and refusing to settle for perimeter jumpers when he can instead attack the basket—the Clippers are going to be an awfully tough out. Sensational as he was during the 82-game campaign (when healthy, of course), he was that much better in Game 1 against the defending champions. 

Now, we have to wait and see if that's going to become a trend. 

5. LeBron James (Previous Ranking: No. 6)

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Team: Cleveland Cavaliers

Position: SF 

Age: 30

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 25.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.7 blocks, 25.9 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 25.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.5 blocks, 21.1 PER

Until the final quarter of Game 2, LeBron James played fairly passive basketball, only calling his own number in certain situations and essentially sleepwalking through some of the proceedings. That's not a knock on the four-time MVP but instead an acknowledgment that his first priority seemed to be getting his teammates going, as many of them were new to this type of high-pressure NBA basketball. 

Of course, James can still take over.

He proved that in small doses during the series-opening contest against the Boston Celtics, but it was especially true during his 15-point outburst in Tuesday night's follow-up affair. 

After beginning the final period of a close game—Cleveland entered the last 12 minutes boasting a mere seven-point lead—with a charge against Jae Crowder, James exploded. He finished the period with those 15 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), but he also recorded three rebounds and assisted Kyrie Irving on a kick-out triple. 

If James is going to throttle down, involve his teammates and conserve energy for the tougher matchups that will come later in the postseason run, that's fine. The Celtics clearly belong in the playoffs and are hanging tight with the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed, but it's also obvious that they're overmatched and operating with a severe talent deficit. 

So long as James gives us moments like he did on Tuesday night, we'll manage to forgive him. 

4. Chris Paul (Previous Ranking: No. 3)

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Team: Los Angeles Clippers

Position: PG

Age: 29

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 19.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.2 blocks, 26.0 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 32.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 36.7 PER

Want to take a guess how many players have put up 32 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in a playoff game while shooting at least 65 percent from the field? There aren't many. 

In fact, Chris Paul produced just the 14th such performance since 1985, joining the following standouts with his dominance over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1:

• Willie Anderson
• Charles Barkley (twice)
• Larry Bird
• Clyde Drexler
• Kevin Garnett
• Michael Jordan (twice)
• Hakeem Olajuwon 
• Scottie Pippen
• Rajon Rondo
• James Worthy (twice)

That's quite a list, and Paul certainly deserves to find himself among such postseason legends after putting on such a show against the defending champions. Even though he didn't get nearly as much MVP consideration as he deserved during the regular season, the point god completely controlled the proceedings on both ends of the court and was the single biggest reason that the Los Angeles Clippers protected their home floor and took a 1-0 series lead. 

Keep on overlooking Paul at your own peril. You'll only have yourself to blame when he makes you look bad.

3. James Harden (Previous Ranking: No. 1)

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Team: Houston Rockets

Position: SG

Age: 25

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 27.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.7 blocks, 26.7 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 24.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.0 steals, 22.4 PER

Game 1 was the James Harden show, as he led the Houston Rockets to victory over the Dallas Mavericks while posting game highs in both points (24) and assists (11). On Tuesday night, while helping his team to a 2-0 series lead, Harden scored just as often, but he took a backseat to a rejuvenated Dwight Howard and a thoroughly impressive version of Josh Smith. 

It's not a bad thing that the bearded shooting guard, while still impressive, wasn't the best player on the floor. If he needed to be, he would surely have filled that role, and it's much more positive that the Rockets began to prove they're not just a supporting cast for a one-man wrecking crew, as a certain member of the Dallas Mavericks organization is wont to believe. 

And nonetheless, Harden has remained excellent after his MVP-worthy regular season. 

Averaging 24 points and 8.5 dimes through his first two playoff appearances of the year is quite impressive, and it should help shed the reputation that he can't come through in important games. Plus, it's a great sign that he worked his way to the free-throw line on 17 occasions in Game 1, then 11 times more in Game 2. Even during the portion of the year that features more swallowed whistles, he's still more than adept at earning calls. 

Though he's all but guaranteed to finish either first or second in the competitive race for the sport's biggest individual award, Harden hasn't done enough on his own to hold down a top-two spot in these rankings. But again, that's probably a good thing for Houston's title hopes. 

2. Anthony Davis (Previous Ranking: No. 4)

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Team: New Orleans Pelicans

Position: PF/C

Age: 22

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals, 2.9 blocks, 30.8 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 30.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals, 3.0 blocks, 24.6 PER

Even though Anthony Davis submitted a sub-par performance through the first three quarters of his playoff debut, struggling with turnovers and failing to make much of an impact on the glass, he thoroughly redeemed himself in the fourth quarter. The superduperstar put the New Orleans Pelicans on his back, cliche as that may be, taking over on one possession after another as he dropped 20 of his 35 points in the final 12 minutes. 

As a result, he did so much more than help the Pellies claw back into the contest before ultimately settling for a Game 1 loss. He submitted one of the greatest lines in a postseason debut that the league has ever seen. 

Seriously. 

Though the databases only go back to 1985, Davis now has the No. 6 game score (24.9) in a playoff debut, trailing only Damian Lillard, David Robinson, Ben Wallace, Derrick Rose and Chris Paul. Not too shabby for a young man who submitted another great performance in Game 2, scoring with ease against Draymond Green in the early stretches before the Golden State Warriors put the clamps down on NOLA's one-man offense in the second half. 

Apparently, no stage is too big for this frontcourt stud. 

1. Stephen Curry (Previous Ranking: No. 2)

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Team: Golden State Warriors

Position: PG

Age: 27

2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 23.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.2 blocks, 28.0 PER

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 28.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.0 steals, 21.8 PER

Does Stephen Curry have individual numbers that beat out everyone else who's played in the postseason? Not exactly, even if he's still been remarkably good for the 2-0 Golden State Warriors. Putting a damper on the overall brilliance, he's uncharacteristically made just 31.8 percent of his three-point attempts while taking 11 per game, and turnovers have occasionally bitten him. 

He's still been phenomenal, of course, but it's his status as the most entertaining player on the sport's biggest stage that pushes him up into this top spot. It would've been easy for Curry to sit back and rest on his laurels after submitting a historic regular season and earning the No. 1 seed in a ridiculously tough Western Conference. 

Instead, he's thriving during the most important part of the year. He's dazzling crowds and leaving opponents unsure of what he's going to do next, submitting highlights left and right as he does enough for his team to overcome adversity whenever it's on the floor. 

Numbers alone don't make a superstar. In Curry's case, he has those gaudy statistics, but he also has so much more pushing him to the top of the heap as he steers Golden State's playoff push. 

Note: All stats, unless otherwise indicated, come from Basketball-Reference.com and are current heading into April 22's games.