NBA Power Rankings: Best Big Men
Life for an NBA big man sure ain't easy.
He spends the entire game in the trenches, banging and bruising on the block against other giants of the league.
And it seems no mater how well he's playing, he will lose out on the All-Star ballot to Yao Ming.
Here's a look at some of the best big men on the best teams, some of the best big men on the worst teams, some young guns and some old dogs still doing their thing.
Kevin Garnett
1 of 10
Kevin Garnett's scoring has decreased just about every year he has been in Boston, but that's okay.
Garnett is a perfect example of an older NBA big who has been able to change what he does on the court to fit the system of a winning team.
The numbers may not be spectacular, but you can be sure the Celts need KG on the court.
He's their defensive floor general.
He must be doing something right, because the Celtics still have a chance at a ring.
Tim Duncan
2 of 10
Another old dog doing his thing.
Duncan hasn't played more than 30 minutes this year, and the Spurs are having one of the best season's in the history of the league.
Duncan is a solid contributor around 14 points and nine rebounds per game, but for the most part, he's stepped down and let Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili do the scoring.
You get the feeling, though, that Duncan is just cruising through the regular season with little effort, waiting for the playoffs to show everyone the Duncan of old.
If so, just give the Spurs their rings now.
Kevin Love
3 of 10
It's too bad the 22-year-old Kevin Love plays in the black hole of Minnesota, where television cameras dare not venture, because he is having an MVP-like season.
He's averaging 21.4 points and 15.6 rebounds, racking up a mind blowing 47 double-doubles.
He's not the most athletic, but he's got a wide body that he knows how to use.
Beyond that, though, he's got some serious skills. He can work defenders on the block with some fantastic back-to-the-basket moves, then step out and consistently knock down the three.
Love should be considered for the most improved award, because he wont get the MVP, unfortunately.
Blake Griffin
4 of 10
I hesitated before I put Blake Griffin on this list for one reason: I'm not so sure he is really 6'10".
Regardless of height, though, when Griffin is not dunking on the entire league, he likes to play in the post.
Usually, he posts a bit higher then the low block and faces up once he gets the entry pass.
What makes him so dangerous down there is his quickness, and after he gets around the defender, he is so close to the basket he just has to jump, and he can do it faster than anybody, and his leaping ability and body control makes it easy to convert even the most erratic looking moves.
Griffin has the remaining Clipper fans and the Clippers themselves very excited.
With a great core group of young talent, maybe they'll make a playoff run next season.
Nene Hilario
5 of 10
Nene has turned himself into a major contributor for the Denver Nuggets.
His post moves look more fluid and not as rushed this year as they had in the pass. He has finally turned into a player who can create his own shot.
But more importantly, Nene is a spots guy. He knows where to be and when. An essential skill for any big man to have.
That's why he is leading the league in field goal percentage, shooting 64.8 percent from the field.
LaMarcus Aldridge
6 of 10
LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trailblazers is the perfect example of the new breed of NBA big men.
Aldridge is long and thin and his game is full of finesse, preferring the turn-around jump shot to the drop step.
At 25 years old, Aldridge is averaging 21.6 points per game, nearly a four-point improvement from last year, and 9.1 rebounds per game.
Already in the month of February, Aldridge has scored two 40-point games.
Maybe he's angry he missed the All-Star game.
Amare Stoudemire
7 of 10
Amare Stoudemire, nicknamed S.T.A.T, should be renamed The King Of New York.
The NBA's third-leading scorer at 26.2 per game, Stoudemire has brought life back to Madison Square Garden.
We all knew he could dunk and rebound and block shots, but this year, Stoudemire got a jump shot. Maybe he found it in the back of a taxi cab.
Regardless of where it came from, Stoudemire can knock down the open shot or take you off the dribble, making him the most dangerous big man in the high post.
Zach Randolph
8 of 10
Zach Randolph is putting up Kevin Love- or Blake Griffin-like numbers: 20.2 points and 13.2 rebounds per game.
Everybody always says that it's easy to score on a bad team.
Though the Memphis Grizzlies are not the best team, they certainly aren't the Cleveland Cavaliers, either.
Rebounding, however, as Charles Barkley pointed out on TNT a few weeks ago, is not something that happens by accident.
Randolph has 38 double-doubles this year, only five less then Griffin.
But more impressively, Randolph is grabbing almost five offensive rebounds a game.
Beast.
Dwight Howard
9 of 10
I didn't want to put Dwight Howard on this list because it's too obvious.
But mostly, I didn't want to have to admit I was wrong.
In an article I wrote a number of months ago, I said Howard does not have the ability to score big numbers.
This year, Howard's scoring 22.5 points per game, scoring 30-plus eight times.
But he has also had a six-point game and a nine-point game.
Just because I'm not impressed by so-called Superman, though, doesn't make him any easier to guard.
Al Jefferson
10 of 10
Watching Al Jefferson play is like watching a game of Jenga.
Just when you think he's gonna lose control and crumble, he finds a way to stay up and make a play.
He is averaging 17.2 points, nine rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for the 31-23 Utah Jazz.
Jefferson is long and strong, weighing 280 pounds, making him hard to move off the block.
His game is unconventional—some may even say ugly—but Jefferson gets results.
