Preferences in point guards are kind of like pizza toppings. Everyone has their favorite for very distinct reasons, but one continues to reign over the rest.
I guess that makes Steph Curry pepperoni—statistically America’s favorite topping and undoubtedly the GOAT of pizza additions—for our purposes here since we crowned the Golden State Warriors floor general the best point guard in the NBA yet again. As we began to debate our point guard rankings for the 2020-21 NBA season, Curry was an easy choice and I don’t think I spoiled anything by revealing he’s No. 1. His 2020-21 campaign was nothing short of brilliant and arguably worthy of him winning a third MVP. The real fun, of course, comes in deciding where the rest of today’s top point guards slot in behind him. And who, precisely, qualifies as a point guard in today’s increasingly position-less NBA.
We did this last year in August before the playoffs in the bubble began and a few days before the 2021 postseason tips off across the Association it was time for an update. You’ll undoubtedly agree with where we slotted some guys compared to others while vehemently disagreeing with others. Some fans may even absurdly think a worthy candidate was snubbed (like Kyrie Irving who we decided to classify as a shooting guard, as the Nets did upon acquiring James Harden, even though Irving played 93 percent of his minutes at point guard this season thanks to all the games Harden missed) or dropped from last year’s rankings because we low-key hate that player or the team he plays on. I promise you it ain’t that serious.
But before you dig into the rankings I encourage you to read this annual disclaimer: LeBron James is not on here. Despite the fact that I continue to advocate heavily for The King to officially be classified as a point guard for our purposes, my colleagues disagree. Why? While James unofficially officially morphed into a point guard upon joining the Lakers (he played 73 percent of his minutes there this season) and intermittently served as such in Miami and Cleveland, a segment of NBA fans will tell you he’s really a small forward, or a point-forward, or something entirely else. Sorry Lakers fans and LeBron stans.