Halfway through the 2020s, we're unveiling our top 15 NBA players of the half-decade thus far. We already shared our All-Half-Decade third team. Today, we bring you the All-Half-Decade second team, comprised of players ranked sixth through 10th over the last five years.
As a reminder, we're sticking with positionless teams, in accordance with modern All-NBA squads. All stats and accolades are from the 2020-21 season through the 2024-25 campaign.
All-Half-Decade second team
Luka Doncic
2020-2025 stats: 30.3 PPG, 59.6% TS, 8.7 RPG, 8.6 APG, 1.8 Stl+Blk
4x All-NBA, 4x All-Star, 2024 WCF MVP, 2024 PPG leader
Doncic has been a top-five-caliber player for the majority of his career thanks to some generational offensive talents. He's a three-level scorer who moves at his own pace, carving up defenses while holding the ball and the game on a string. He can create and shoot from anywhere, he uses crafty footwork when operating inside the arc, and he's nearly impossible to keep off the free-throw line. His playmaking vision is somehow even more impressive.
That exquisite skill set and his breathtaking numbers put Doncic in line for an All-Half-Decade first-team selection. However, his defensive shortcomings and conditioning issues came to a head this year, when the Mavericks made the shocking decision to trade him just as he enters what should be his prime. That decision, and the way it was handled, was a bush-league mistake by Mavs general manager Nico Harrison, but that doesn't invalidate all of Harrison's concerns. The fact we had to have this conversation at all bumped Doncic from first team to second, with a worthy veteran taking his place among the top five (to be revealed tomorrow).
Jayson Tatum
2020-2025 stats: 27.5 PPG, 59% TS, 8.2 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.7 Stl+Blk
4x All-NBA, 5x All-Star, 2022 ECF MVP, 2023 ASG MVP
The devastating Achilles injury Tatum suffered during the 2025 playoffs was particularly jarring because the Celtics superstar had seemed inevitable up to that point. Tatum missed just 40 games total over the last five years, suiting up for 72-76 contests in each of the last four seasons. He's been the best player on the NBA's most consistent team of the decade, racking up four top-six MVP finishes and four All-NBA first-team selections for a Celtics club that won the 2024 championship, made two Finals appearances, and advanced to three straight East finals between 2022-24. Tatum had plenty of help as Boston masterfully built its championship squad, but his two-way excellence was the biggest driver of that success.
LeBron James
2020-2025 stats: 26.7 PPG, 60.8% TS, 7.8 RPG, 7.5 APG, 1.7 Stl+Blk
5x All-NBA, 5x All-Star
What's left to say about King James? LeBron's age 36-40 seasons look like prime years for most Hall of Famers. The NBA's all-time leading scorer continued to fill the basket and the stat sheet over the last five years while shooting the ball better than he had in a decade. James knocked down 39.3% of his 5.4 3-point attempts per game over the last two years, adding a reliable jumper to his almost flawless all-around game while suiting up for 70-plus contests in each of those two seasons.
He's not quite in the conversation for best player alive anymore - the defense has fallen off, and he didn't make an All-NBA first team in the five-year period we're examining - but James was easily still a top-10 player at a time in his life when most of the other greats were spending more time on the golf course than the court. And when he needs to dial it up, he still strikes fear in the heart of just about every opponent.
Kevin Durant
2020-2025 stats: 27.9 PPG, 64.5% TS, 6.7 RPG, 5.2 APG, 2.0 Stl+Blk
2x All-NBA, 5x All-Star
The timeframe in question covers the post-Achilles injury chapter of Durant's career, which also includes multiple knee injuries, lengthy absences, two trades, and a ton of locker-room turmoil. Yet KD still earned a place in the top 10. That goes to show how deadly the Slim Reaper remains.
Durant ranks fifth in per-game scoring over the last five years, a period that spans his age 32-36 seasons. The rest of the top six had age ranges from 21-25 and 26-30. His ability to shoot and create for himself at his size makes him a timeless scorer, as evidenced by the fact he shot roughly 58% inside the arc, 42% from deep, and 88% from the free-throw line in what was supposed to be the twilight of his career. And though he's only averaged about 55 games per season, Durant ranks second in minutes per game (36.2). Had it not been for one famous toe on the 3-point line in the spring of 2021, he also might've had another championship to show for this chapter.
Jimmy Butler
2020-2025 stats: 20.9 PPG, 62% TS, 5.8 RPG, 5.6 APG, 2.0 Stl+Blk
2x All-NBA, 1x All-Star, 1x All-Defense, 2023 ECF MVP, 2021 SPG leader
Butler's numbers are the least impressive of any selection on the 15-player All-Half-Decade team, but they don't capture his overall value - just like his inconsistent jumper and regular-season durability concerns couldn't knock him out of contention.
Few players in modern history have been able to turn it up for big games like Butler. His tireless two-way work consistently helps his teams become something far greater than the sum of their parts in the spring. The postseason may only comprise a quarter of the NBA schedule, but it's what separates the superstars from the mortals - the iconic from the forgettable. And perhaps no one deserves a playoff bump for the period in question like Butler, who ranks fourth in playoff VORP since 2020-21 (and 10th in the regular season).
He's not a top-10 player at the moment, but if you were trying to win a championship over the last five years, you can't tell me there are 10 players you would rather have had.
Check back for our All-Half-Decade first team Thursday!
Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead NBA reporter.
