Is Our Top 99 NBA Players Ranking Fair or Disrespectful to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers?
The Los Angeles Lakers land three names on the newly released B/R 99 player rankings, and each one tells a different story about where this team actually stands heading into the home stretch.
We polled our analysts and editors on their top 99 players based strictly on games played and impact on winning to this point. This is about now, not rings or résumés.
The Lakers check in with Luka Dončić at No. 3, LeBron James at No. 26, and Austin Reaves at No. 30. That is a top-tier engine, a still-productive but aging co-star and a rapidly ascending guard whose leap has changed the math of the roster.
On paper, that is enough to scare people as a bottom-seeded playoff team primed for an upset. Conversely, it also raises sharper questions about hierarchy and ceiling.
So the question is simple. Did we get this right, or did we buy into the purple-and-gold glow?
Austin Reaves
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Current B/R 99 Rank: 30
Preseason Rank: 56
Whew, we're getting uncomfortable off the rip.
Austin Reaves has been excellent when he has been able to play. Through 28 games in 2025–26, he is at 25.4 points, 6.0 assists, and 5.0 rebounds in 33.5 minutes, shooting 50.8 percent from the field. He is getting to the line 8.3 times a night and completing 86.7 percent. This is a real leap. He's taking 15.5 shots a game, finishing his twos at a high rate, and he's doing it as a creator.
He also fits next to stars in ways most third options struggle with. He can run the offense when one of the headliners sits. He can slide off-ball when Luka controls the possession and still stay dangerous. He cuts, relocates, attacks the second side, and punishes a defense that rotates late.
The Lakers need that kind of player almost as much as they need their big names, since it keeps the floor from tilting too hard in one direction.
When Reaves is going, he gets into the paint, forces help and really throws defenders off. But a top-30 ranking asks you to treat him like a top-30 player in the league, period. I can't do it.
Reaves has missed 26 games with calf issues and has been managed when he's played. Top 30 is supposed to mean you can count on the player every night and then count on him again when the postseason tightens everything. Right now, the availability piece is a real dent in his argument.
There is also the matchup question. Against elite athletes who beat him to spots and sit on his hip, the edges get thinner. The handle can get a little ambitious. His turnovers are at 3.4 a game this season. The kid just hasn't cleared that bar as the kind of primary threat this ranking suggests.
The Luka-and-Reaves minutes have been strong. But the trio isn't as smooth. Luka, LeBron and Reaves have shared the floor in only 10 of the first 54 games, and in their minutes together, the Lakers have been outscored. It's a small sample, but it's still the only sample we have. Talent does not automatically equal fit, and the Lakers are still trying to figure out what their best version looks like.
This is the tricky part. Reaves might be the most valuable non-Luka Laker because of how he fits the roster and how many problems he can solve. But rankings are supposed to hold up across multiple systems and pairings.
Having him at 30 still feels aggressive because it assumes health, minutes, and postseason rising are settled. They aren't.
Verdict: Disrespectful (to the rest of the rankings, not Reaves).
In other words, it's more than fair to Reaves himself. He's earned an 'A' when he plays. He has. But the case cannot yet be made that he's one of the 30 best players in the game. This is the league!
LeBron James
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Current B/R 99 Rank: 26
Preseason Rank: 8
Through 36 games in 2025–26, LeBron is averaging 22.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 7.1 assists in 33.3 minutes a night. He is shooting 50.2 percent from the field, 30.5 percent from three, and 74.6 percent from the line. The efficiency overall is solid. The three-point shooting is not. At this stage, that split matters more than the raw scoring.
There are still nights when he looks like the best processor in the arena. The cross-court skip that beats a rotation before it starts. The late clock bully drive. The defensive rotation that wipes out a mistake. In clutch time, he has delivered. The Lakers have won many tight games because he has steadied them late.
But this season has had major swings.
There was the early ramp-up. Then the vintage stretch where he looked capable of giving you 26 on elite efficiency whenever he decided to press the gas. Lately, the jumper has been unreliable. Under 31 percent from three is no small dip. The catch-and-shoot volume is modest for a team built around Luka's gravity. When the Lakers need spacing, that shot hasn't been there consistently.
The lineup data tells a layered story. In LeBron-only groups, without Luka or Reaves, the Lakers have been strong. He has anchored bench-heavy units and kept them afloat. Defensively, there are still too many possessions where he floats on the weak side or loses the glass. He has only two double-digit rebounding games this season. For someone still more athletic than his co-stars, that stands out.
If he is not clearly the second-best offensive engine on those units, then the defense and rebounding have to be sharper. Too often, they've been mid.
This season, he's been very good. Not an automatic top 10. Those days are gone. And most importantly, he is no longer the best player on his team.
Verdict: Fair
Mid-20s reflects the reality of someone who was at the top of these lists for decades. He can still win you a playoff game. He's still the ultimate floor-raiser. But the GOAT candidate is no longer carrying the regular season the way the top tier does.
Luka Dončić
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Current B/R 99 Rank: 3
Preseason Rank: 4
Luka Dončić's first full season in the City of Angels. So far, he's putting up 32.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.6 assists a night across 42 games, on 47.3 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from three, and 78.1 percent at the line.
The efficiency isn't just "good for the volume," it's elite at the volume: 55.4 eFG%, a 27.5 PER, and 5.9 win shares already. That's the statistical fingerprint of a top-tier engine for an offense that starts and ends with him.
There isn't a coverage that truly solves him. Switches let him hunt mismatches. Traps let him pass over the top of the defense. Drop invites the step-back three. If you try blitzing, it just turns the possession into a four-on-three, where he's still the one dictating. When the step-back is falling, he's the most terrifying shot-maker alive.
He opened the year as a demolition crew, ripping through defenses with that familiar rhythm of early shot-clock threes and bullying drives. Then came the December stretch, when turnovers spiked. It didn't erase his value, but it did introduce something Jokic and Shai haven't really had this year: a noticeable dip in his floor.
Since the "reset" point, he's looked like himself again. Mainly, the three-ball has stabilized (and in recent stretches, jumped up toward that near-40 percent territory), and the Lakers' half-court attack has him in his playmaking bag.
Even the advanced-play context backs it up. His self-created diet (pick-and-rolls, isos, post-ups) is still producing at a star-level rate—the kind of efficiency you usually only get when the defense is dealing with his magic.
So why not No. 1? Because Nikola Jokic (1) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) have been steadier from night to night. Luka's game invites more variance. When your diet includes a dozen step-backs, some nights you hit seven and some nights you hit three. That volatility is the gap between "clear MVP leader" and "third best player alive this season." To be fair, the ceilings are basically the same across all three.
If we're talking about one Game 7, everybody at their 99th percentile, Luka can absolutely be the best player on the floor. His ceiling is as high as anyone's because he combines heliocentric scoring with eyes-behind-his-head playmaking. He can beat your best plan, then beat the adjustment to it.
And that's why the ranking is fair: No. 3 reflects the total season, not peak fantasy. Jokic and Shai have earned the edge on consistency. Luka has earned the spot right behind them on production.
Verdict: Fair
No. 3 is accurate. Only Nico Harrison would rank him lower.
Final Verdict
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We mean no disrespect.
Los Angeles placing three names on the B/R 99 feels aligned with what this season has churned out. Luka at 3 reflects a player averaging 32.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.6 assists with a 27.5 PER, carrying one of the league's best half-court offenses. Clearly.
LeBron at 26 lands at the third option he has become: 22, 5.8, and 7.1 on 50.2 from the field, and near 60 true shooting at age 41 is still absurd in a vacuum. But this ain't no lifetime achievement list. The three-point clip at 30.5 counts. So does the lazy defensive engagement next to Luka and Austin. And the $53 million cap hit stings at his age. The mid-20s acknowledge the greatness and the slippage.
Reaves at 30 is where the word "overrated" is warranted. The two-man numbers with Luka are strong. The handle, the craft, and the foul drawing are all weapons. But 28 games played, defensive limitations against elite size, and the volatility when the whistle tightens are all part of the equation. Keep it a buck, listing him top 30 assumes broad context impact. While he's been excellent in this ecosystem, there hasn't been enough long-term impact this season.
The home stretch is the proving ground. Luka has to sustain his return to form and trim the turnover spikes. LeBron has to defend with force and hit enough spot-ups to unclog the floor. Reaves has to stay healthy and show he can scale in a playoff whistle environment.
Final Verdict: Fair
Luka belongs in the top tier with the potential to be higher. LeBron's slot reflects decline. Reaves may feel a touch aggressive, but even that's defensible. If the Lakers turn this into a real run, we can revisit it.
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