Top 5 NBA players of the 2010s
From the Heatles to the star-studded Warriors to the underdog champion Mavericks, the 2010s featured plenty of memorable NBA teams and moments. And throughout those years, a few select players were consistently in the spotlight.
Based on their overall impacts on the league, their statistical accomplishments, and their accolades earned along the way, these are the top five players of the past decade.
5. James Harden
• 2017-18 NBA MVP • 2011-12 Sixth Man of the Year • 5x All-NBA first team • 3x NBA scoring leader • Averaging 24.9 points, 6.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds since start of 2009-10 season
As the lone player on this list without a championship, Harden earns the fifth spot thanks to nearly unprecedented offensive prowess.
Remarkably, the Beard accumulated 23 games with 50 or more points during the 2010s. To put that in context, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, and Russell Westbrook produced the same amount combined. And since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, Harden trails only LeBron James in total points scored.
Above all, Harden will be remembered as the poster boy of an era that began to emphasize scoring efficiency through shot selection; he leads the league in both free-throw and 3-point attempts by a wide margin since 2009-10. Harden also drastically increased his isolation frequency in 2017-18, and 18 of his 50-point games took place following that stylistic change.
4. Kawhi Leonard
• 2x NBA champion • 2x Finals MVP • 2x Defensive Player of the Year • 2x All-NBA first team • 3x All-Defensive first team • Averaging 18.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists since start of 2011-12 season
Leonard owns one of the most impressive resumes of the past decade, and his work since 2014 has been especially brilliant.
First, he put the clamps on James in the 2014 Finals while averaging 17.8 points on 61% shooting en route to being named series MVP. That effort played a significant role in the fall of the Miami Heat dynasty, as James rejoined the Cleveland Cavaliers after missing out on a three-peat.
Then, after two All-Star seasons and a dispute with the San Antonio Spurs over the handling of his mysterious quad injury, Leonard was dealt to the Toronto Raptors in July 2018. That trade is widely regarded as one of the best high-risk, high-reward transactions in league history, and it paid off in the form of Toronto's first championship and the fall of another dynasty (Golden State) at the hands of Leonard. In the process, Leonard won his second Finals MVP, becoming the first player in history to earn the award in both conferences.
Additionally, Leonard and James are the only players on this list who were named to both an All-NBA team and an All-Defensive team in the 2010s.
3. Stephen Curry
• 3x NBA champion • 2x NBA MVP (1st unanimous MVP in league history) • 3x All-NBA first team • 1x NBA scoring leader • Averaging 23.5 points, 6.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds since start of 2009-10 season
Curry leads the league with 2,492 3-pointers made since the start of 2009-10 and racked up that huge total while converting an incredible 43.5% of his attempts.
Along the way, he helped usher in a 3-point explosion across the league. Teams averaged 18.1 3-point attempts in Curry's 2009-10 rookie campaign; this season, that number has nearly doubled to 33.7.
Curry's unprecedented efficiency on a high volume of long-range attempts allowed Golden State to adopt a floor-spacing offense that took the league by storm. As other teams caught on, the back-to-the-basket, inside-out style that had dominated previous decades became a thing of the past.
Curry's playing style didn't just help revolutionize the modern NBA offense - it also spearheaded the Warriors dynasty. Golden State reached five consecutive Finals from 2015-19 - winning three titles - in a run of dominance that hadn't been seen since the 1960s Boston Celtics.
2. Kevin Durant
• 2x NBA Champion • 2x Finals MVP • 2013-14 NBA MVP • 6x All-NBA first team • 4x NBA scoring leader • Averaging 28 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists since start of 2009-10 season
A towering forward with offensive abilities that are typically reserved for guards, Durant narrowly edged Harden as the most dominant scorer of the 2010s. Before sitting out this season due to injury, he averaged a decade-best 28 points per game, won four scoring titles, and produced the third-highest PER over that span, trailing only James and Anthony Davis.
Durant really separated himself with increased production in the biggest games. He averaged 29.1 points across 139 playoff contests in the 2010s and reached another level with the Warriors, scoring 29.6 points per game during three straight Finals runs.
Those individual numbers greatly contributed to team success. Golden State won back-to-back titles with Durant on board and might have completed the three-peat if he didn't miss most of the 2019 Finals due to injury.
1. LeBron James
• 3x NBA Champion • 3x Finals MVP • 3x NBA MVP • 9x All-NBA first team • Averaging 26.9 PPG, 7.7 assists, 7.7 rebounds since start of 2009-10 season
Given that James is firmly entrenched in the "greatest player of all time" conversation, it shouldn't be any surprise that he reigns supreme as the best player of the 2010s. Quite simply, his fingerprints were all over the decade.
In regular seasons, LeBron won more MVPs, played more minutes, scored more points, and generated more win shares than anyone else in the 2010s. He also dished out the third-most assists and ranked within the top 10 in steals, rebounds, and free throws made.
On top of all that, LeBron appeared in 179 playoff games during the decade, which equates to more than two full regular seasons. Unsurprisingly, he led the 2010s with 38.6 playoff win shares. That number nearly doubles Durant's second-ranked total during the same span.
James captured three championships, winning back-to-back titles with the Heat before snapping Cleveland's 52-year championship drought in 2016. Those Cavs also became the first team to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win The Finals - an act that sparked memes galore at Golden State's expense.
Making eight straight Finals is arguably LeBron's most impressive feat. He became only the fifth player in history to do so - joining four members of the 1960s Celtics - and he's the only player to make eight straight trips while suiting up for multiple teams.
As one of the greatest players to ever lace them up, LeBron was clearly the best of the 2010s.
(Statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference and NBA.com)