Indiana Basketball: Isiah Thomas ranked 31 best NBA player

Isiah Thomas came in as the 31st beast NBA player ever according to a list put out by ESPN this week.

Without live sports and in the wake of the Last Dance, ESPN has decided to put out a list of the top 74 NBA players of all time.

Today they released the top 10 and to no one surprise, LeBron James and Michael Jordan were the top two with the late Kobe Bryant showing up at number 9. The top ten could be argued, but most would agree with the players listed, just not the order.

A big topic lately has been how good Isiah Thomas was and if he was kept off the Dream Team by Michael Jordan. He has been made out to be the villain but that shouldn’t detract from what he did on the court during his time in the NBA.

Jordan may not have liked him, but has said that he thought he was one of the best point guards ever in the game.

According to ESPN, though, he may be even a little lower than that. They had him listed as the 31st best player ever in the NBA and that on the surface is quite an accomplishment. But should he have been higher?

Directly in front of Thomas were three point guards. Steve Nash at 30, Allen Iverson at 29, and John Stockton at 28. Iverson was the only player to average more points per game and Stockton wast he only one to average more assists. Thomas was second of the four in both of those categories.

Thomas also won two NBA championships, while the other three didn’t win any. Stockton did make two finals but lost to Jordan and the Bulls in both. Iverson made one and lost to Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers.

Nash did win two straight NBA MVP’s but never made a final despite playing on some really good teams.

Yes, they are all bunched together, but Thomas has every right to be ranked ahead of each of them.

Thomas is also ranked behind current players in Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and the aforementioned James. It is hard to rank current players when their career isn’t complete, but they thought these five players were worthy of being inside the top 30.

No one can argue James being number two, but the other three you could have an argument that Thomas could be ahead of them. Curry has done a lot and won a lot of championships, but Leonard just has one to his name, and while great hasn’t proved it completely yet.

The same could be said about Antetokounmpo. Great player and may end up being one of the best, but it would seem he needs to show more over an extended period of time.

Thomas could make an argument to be over him and Leonard and I don’t think it would be a bad one.

Overall being ranked 31 is impressive but when you dive deeper could Thomas be higher? Probably and could this be another example of him being underrated? Thomas doesn’t have the best reputation right now, but that shouldn’t take away what he did on the court.