Who is the Best Player in the NBA? Quarterfinals #1 and #2

1/22/2009 | Posted by Scott Lunn

It's an often asked question these days. Who is the Best Player in the NBA right now? Here at D & S Sports Report, we're going to attempt to answer the question, tournament style. Devin and I will take who we view as the Top 8 players in the league and face them off against one another to see who reigns supreme. Today, we bring you the first 2 quarterfinal matchups. LeBron James will be taking on Dirk Nowitzki, and Chris Paul is head to head with Dwight Howard.

Quarterfinal #1: LeBron James vs. Dirk Nowitzki

LeBron James has had to live up to more hype than perhaps any athlete on the planet, and thus far has done an admirable job in doing so. Since being drafted by Cleveland at the age of 18 in 2003, James has been responsible for single handedly carrying his team on his back. For his career, he is averaging 27.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game. It's not just offense for James though as he also averages just under 2 steals per game. His accomplishments include 4 all star game apperances (MVP twice), All NBA 2nd Team twice, All NBA 1st Team twice, and All Rookie First Team. He also lead his team to an NBA Finals appearance in 2007.

James has improved virtually every year of his career thus far and is currently the leading candidate for MVP this season, as he once again has his Cleveland Cavaliers near the top of the standings. Teams have already begun to make moves anticipating his free agent status in 2010, and at just 24 years old, his best years are still ahead of him.

Dirk Nowitzki was the 8th overall pick in the 1998 draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, but was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks, where he has spent his entire career. The German born forward is best known for his remarkable shooting ability considering his size at 7'0". HIs career numbers include 22.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. He is currently 5th in the NBA this season with 26 ppg and has not scored below 23.6 per game in the last 5 seasons. Dirk has made the all star team 7 times, been named to 8 All NBA teams, and was the league MVP in the 2007 season. In 2006, he took the Mavericks to the NBA finals, but was beaten by the Miami Heat in 6 games.

Nowitzki is widely recognized as perhaps the best International player to play in the NBA. He has been the cornerstone of the Dallas franchise for many years now, but after repeated postseason flameouts, their is talk of him leaving town in the near future. At 30 years old, he still has some valuable years left in him, and his numbers are still amongst the best of his career.

Winner: LeBron James

James simply has too much upside to be ignored. He's already among the elite in the NBA and is still so young, that his potential is almost frightening to think about. Dirk has been a very good player, but simply hasn't been able to get it done when it counts the most, and his time to do so is starting to run out.

Quarterfinal #2: Chris Paul vs. Dwight Howard

Now in his 4th season out of Wake Forest, Chris Paul has been redefining the point guard position since entering the NBA. His numbers improved each of his first three years and he continues to be a statistical machine. For his career, he is averaging 18.7 points, 9.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and an amazing 2.4 steals per game. Paul has made all of his teammates in New Orleans better players with his incredible ability to distribute the ball, but he's not afraid to do it himself when the situation calls for it either. He's already established himself as one of the best clutch shooters around, and his defense speaks for itself. The 2006 Rookie of the Year also earned himself honors in 2008 by being named to the All Star team, the NBA All Defensive Team, and the NBA First Team.

Paul currently leads the league in assists (11.0) and steals (2.7) per game this season and has been mentioned by many as a potential MVP candidate, an award which he placed 2nd in voting to last season behind Kobe Bryant. At just 23 years old, the future is very bright indeed for both him and the Hornets. He lead the team to their first postseason in 5 years last season, where they advanced to the 2nd round before losing to the Spurs in 7 games.

Dwight Howard was drafted first overall straight out of high school by the Orlando Magic in 2004. His play has gotten increasingly better with each passing season and he has become one of the most dominant big men in the NBA. He's averaging 16.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game for his career, but is putting up better numbers in all categories this season. In addition to his 20.2 points a night, he leads the league in rebounding at 14.1 per game, as well as blocks with an astounding 3.2 per game. Howard has become a virtual walking double double, having accomplished the feat 31 times so far this season, also good for best in the league. Howard has been an All Star each of the last two seasons and won the Slam Dunk contest at last year's festivities. He was named to the NBA 3rd Team in 2007 and both the NBA 1st Team and All Defensive 2nd Team in 2008.

Howard has restored the Orlando Magic to prominance in the Eastern Conference where they are currently tied for 1st place. Last season he took them to a division title as well as the 2nd round of the playoffs where they were defeated by the Detroit Pistons in 5 games. Like Paul, Howard is just 23 years old and steadily improving.

Winner: Chris Paul

This is a very close contest with both guys still extremely young and constantly getting better. Both will be forces for years to come in the NBA, but Paul gets the nod at this point for having more overall success as well as finding so many ways to lead his team. His stat line is just a bit better and more diverse than Howard's, but ultimately it's his team's success that makes him the better player right now.
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