Ranking the NBA's Biggest Ankle Bullies

Great ball-handling is equal parts creativity, skill and cruelty.

You've got to adapt to the defender on a microscopic scale, adjust your attack to capitalize on the slightest lean or misstep, and you've got to have an extensive array of dribbling options at the ready. Practice helps fine-tune a dribbler's arsenal, but the best crossovers and one-on-one moves are more art than science.

Ideologically, there is no place for mercy in an ankle-breaker's makeup. The dribbler has to crave the opportunity to embarrass a foe.

There's ample room for personal preference in a non-statistical category like this, so strict criteria don't really apply. We're not calculating crossover efficiency or counting milliseconds between eyebrow fakes and inside-out left-hand dribbles. Instead, we're looking at players as total ball-handling packages. What moves do they have and how devastating are they in executing them?

Basically, which ankle assassin piles up his kills in the most aesthetically pleasing and effective way?

There are lots of ways to take down defenders with a live dribble. These guys are the true specialists.

Honorable Mentions

Chris Paul, Houston Rockets

Consider this a lifetime achievement award.

Paul doesn't have quite the same burst he once did, and that makes it easy to forget just how brutally he assaulted opponents' ankles in his younger years. Just a few reminders here and here. He's hardly washed as a crossover artist yet, as this filthy move from last season shows. But he's not what he used to be.

He's still the hardest guy to leave off the official list.

C.J. McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers

McCollum is perhaps the best subtle ankle-breaker in the league, as the threat of his jumper (that'll be a theme for almost everyone on this list) forces opponents to lean forward in hopes of contesting in time. The Blazers guard isn't lightning quick, but his incredible body control and odd combination of hesitation, shoulder fakes and sneaky reach-baiting make him a nightmare to stay in front of.

He spun Dirk Nowitzki around last year without even trying.

James Harden, Houston Rockets

This may seem like an unfair omission from the top five, but Harden isn't a conventional cross-you-up ball-handler. He really just wants to get his shoulder past you (at which point you're doomed) and will settle for bringing his hands up into your forearms even if he doesn't. Sure, he'll go around defenders once in a while. But what makes him so hard to guard is less about lateral quickness and more about unmatched guile and strength.

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

More of an angry, "collapse your sternum by driving right into you" or "I don't care where you are, I'm jumping over you" attacker, Westbrook isn't known as a particularly slick ball-handler. But he did this to the Phoenix Suns last year, so you'd better believe he's getting a mention.

Special Big Guy Division: Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers

Grant Hill with a couple of extra inches, folks. That's what we've got with Simmons, an unfathomably shifty guard masquerading as a 6'10" power forward. This guy gets to his spots in the lane at will, despite scaring absolutely no one with his jumper.

Special Injured Big Guy Division: Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks

They don't make many players with Parker's combination of bulk and sheer open-court zip. He changes direction at full speed and can send defenders toppling with crossovers in either direction. Here's hoping he makes it back from his second torn ACL with nasty handle intact.

5. John Wall, Washington Wizards

Straight-line speed only Westbrook (and perhaps rookie De'Aaron Fox) can match makes John Wall's crossovers especially deadly. He leverages that end-to-end velocity by attacking defenders in transition, ruthlessly forcing them onto their heels and changing direction at full tilt.

He'll embarrass you with a behind-the-back on a dead sprint.

I'm not sure if it technically counts as ankle-bullying, but Wall will also just pick the ball up and take it around his back at full speed. I think we can at agree this is at least sort of mean.

Perhaps best of all, Wall's ball-handling isn't necessarily designed to embarrass defenders for his own benefit. Because while most of the guys on this list are looking to shake coverage and get buckets, Wall's eyes are always scanning, always processing. He dimes up teammates after shedding opponents as often as he finishes the play himself.

If you're an opportunistic cutter, Wall's crossover is your friend.

4. Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets

The step-back jumper is Kemba Walker's weapon of choice, and it probably qualifies as the mass-destruction variety.

He's been using it forever. Remember the 2011 Big East tournament?

Walker leverages his low center of gravity and intimidating off-the-dribble shooting (he even extended his pull-up deadliness to three-point range last year) to get opponents off balance. And when he's got you leaning to your left, you're especially cooked.

A great ball-handling move is nothing without a counter, and Walker has plenty. Perhaps the most unfair is a step-back hesitation dribble that reliably fools defenders into leaping out at him...at which point he darts past them into the lane. It's hard to blame the guys that bite on it, as nobody wants to join the long step-back victim list.

Bonus: Walker offers bulk discounts, happily pairing right-to-left wizardry with cruel head-and-shoulder fakes if two defenders want a piece of him in the same sequence.

3. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Nobody inspires more perimeter fear than Stephen Curry, and that's what makes him one of the nastiest ball-handlers around. Unconventional pregame warmups and next-generation neurological training telepathically connect the ball to his hands, which also helps.

It's worth noting, though, that Steph lacks the pure lateral quickness of everyone else on this list. His shimmy falls short. But when you can bury threes from the logo, all of your attacking moves suddenly become quicker. Defenders have more space to contend with, and they know they'll get an earful if they permit the greatest three-point shooter in history to get one off. So they crowd. They lean in. They set themselves up to fail.

Curry famously got Chris Paul a couple of years ago.

And I'm not sure what to even call this, but he pretty much Globetrottered the entire Los Angeles Clippers team on this one.

Rudy Gobert was no match either.

Sometimes, he just exhausts his defender by beating him several times in several directions, pulling the ball back as if unsatisfied with the victory. It's almost like he gets bored and only takes the layup after he's tied some poor sap in six or seven knots.

Walker's step-back augments his handle, but Curry's historic death-from-distance jumper makes his even better.

2. Jamal Crawford, Minnesota Timberwolves

Maybe this feels too high for a 37-year-old. Maybe you're not convinced Jamal Crawford belongs here.

But the guy's nickname is JCrossover. It's right there in his Twitter handle...and it's wholly earned. He's been sending guys to the floor since standard definition was the norm.

Crawford doesn't have Wall's burst, Walker's tight pull-back or Curry's long-range reputation, but he has a wider array of moves than anyone we've hit so far. For every mistimed defensive reach or subtle slip in attention, Crawford has a way to embarrass a defender.

Left to right, right to left, a nasty hesitation move and an oddly languid behind-the-back move that always catches opponents off guard—Crawford's got them all.

He shook Wes Matthews about four different times on one play in 2013.

Just last year, he tore the Utah Jazz apart with roughly 75 behind-the-back moves, highlighted by a two-for-one special on Joe Johnson.

He put Kevin Durant in a blender during the 2017 preseason, for crying out loud.

Crawford is a legend. He's going to be sending guys to the deck when he's 50.

1. Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics

Kyrie Irving is the most creative ball-handler in the NBA. 

Gifted with the deepest bag of tricks in the league, Irving's handle is uniquely terrifying because he doesn't have a go-to move. He reads the defender and reacts, and once he's in control of the exchange—forcing an ill-timed step this way or a desperate lunge that way—it's over. He'll spin left or right, hesitate, step back like Walker and either bury a jumper or put you back in the spin cycle for another go-round.

His change of pace is cruel, his versatility as a finisher—off either foot, with either hand, from any angle—removes the usual rules. You can't force him anywhere because he's happy to blow by you in whichever direction you choose. There's no one spot he's trying to get to...other than around the defender.

Trying to stay in front of him in isolation must be a lot like damming a stream with your bare hands. You can cut off some portion of the flow, but it won't stop coming, and you can't account for it trickling through in several places at once. It's a losing battle, one that only ends mercifully if Irving deigns to bail you out with a jumper.

Even then, it can get ugly.

Irving is in total control and has an absolute killer's mentality. Best of all, his inextinguishable confidence prompts him to seek out ankle-breaking opportunities more than most. This is a guy who was sure he could take Kobe Bryant one-on-one before ever playing an NBA game.