US media lists the strongest players in all 21st century, with 7 active players on the list, James dominating the list

With the continuous development of the sport of basketball, after the NBA entered the 21st century, we have also witnessed an era of blooming flowers, especially in the 2000s. McGrady, Anthony and others who shined during this period, now looking back, they are not even considered the best group of stars. From this we can see how high the quality of the stars at that time was. Later, although the quality of the stars has declined, the stronger the stars like Butler, Mitchell, Murray, etc., who have also brought shocking performances to fans in the playoffs.

, and recently, the US media also listed the strongest players in each year of the 21st century, including O'Neal (2000-2002), Garnett (2003), Duncan (2004, 2005), and Kobe (2006-2008). We will not mention whether there is any controversy in the year when these stars are on the list. Next, we mainly introduce the active players who appear on this list. Let’s take a look at who and the years in which they are on the list!

7. Alexander (2025)

The strongest star in the NBA in the past year is undoubtedly Alexander. He averaged 32.7 points, 5 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1 block per game in the regular season, with a shooting percentage of 51.9% and a three-point shooting percentage of 37.5%. Under his leadership, the Thunder is also the best record in the league with 67 wins, and this also broke the team's team history record. In the end, while Alexander was elected as the scoring leader and was selected for the first team, he also successfully won the regular season MVP.

In the playoffs, Alexander still averaged 29.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks, and shot a 46.2% shooting percentage. Although the Thunder won the championship in the end was even more tortuous than expected, the luck was that the result was good. As the leading star of the Thunder, Alexander also won the FMVP without any suspense. He has become the first player in the league to win the scoring champion + MVP + FMVP in a single season since O'Neal. Therefore, he deserves to be on the list.

6.Leonard (2019)

Leonard, who entered the league in 2011, was obviously just a younger brother in the Spurs at the beginning. Even though he won the final FMVP when the team won the championship in 2014, no one thought that he was the leader of that team at that time. However, as GDP grows older, Leonard gradually takes over the banner of his predecessors. Since 2016, he has gradually become a star and has a higher position in the league.

Leonard, who played for the Raptors in the 2018-2019 season, although he was only selected for the All-A-Second Team, he had a historical performance with a big explosion in the playoffs. At that time, Leonard averaged 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. After leading the team to win the championship, he also successfully won his second FMVP. Because of his performance in the playoffs this year, some fans at that time believed that Leonard, who was at the peak of his 27-year-old Leonard, was going to take over the league.

5. Curry (2016)

The Warriors last won the championship in 2022. Curry also won the only FMVP in his career, but obviously in the opinion of this media, Curry is still not the strongest star in the league this season, and this conclusion has also caused considerable controversy. In the end, the US media believed that Curry was the real number one player in the league in the 2015-2016 season. That season he led the team to a 73-win record in the history of the regular season. He also made a phenomenal performance, averaging 30.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game in the regular season. He scored 402 three-pointers in a single season and set a new historical record. Therefore, he became the only unanimous MVP in history.

But it is a pity that Curry and the Warriors are only one step away from becoming the Gods this season. They were once ahead of their opponents 3-1 in the finals, but were eventually reversed. Otherwise, they would probably have to confirm the position of the strongest team in history. If they really win that championship, Curry's historical status might be improved.

4. Durant (2014)

Durant, who entered the league in 2007, quickly realized his talent. He won the regular season scoring champion three times in the first five years of his career, and also led the team to win the Western Conference championship in the 2012 playoffs. Durant, who was only 23 years old at the time, was able to efficiently score 30+ per game against the top three Heat in the finals.

Later in the 2013-2014 season, Durant was still evolving. This year, he averaged 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, and shot 50.3% from the field. This was not only the season with the highest average score in his career, but also the only time he averaged 30+5+5 per game, so he eventually won the MVP.

3. Antetokounmpo (2020, 2021)

Antetokounmpo, who officially rose from the 2018-2019 season, also won the MVP this year, but perhaps because he lost to Leonard head-on in the playoffs, he was not named the strongest player of that year. In the 2019-2020 season, Antetokounmpo not only won the MVP, but also was elected DPOY, but this time he still failed to win the championship and was eliminated in the second round.

Compared to 2020, Antetokounmpo was named the strongest player in the 2020-2021 season. Although he failed to win the MVP this season, he finally led the team to win the championship and also played many representative works in the playoffs.. Especially in the finals, Antetokounmpo averaged 35.2 points and 13.2 rebounds per game, and his shooting percentage was as high as 61.8%. In the last game, he ended the series with a 50+10 game.

2. Jokic (2022-2024)

Jokic appeared in the 2020 playoffs for the first time. Under his leadership, the Nuggets returned to the Western Conference Finals after 11 years. Although they failed to go further, the outside world has already seen that they are a team with a promising future this year. However, due to injury, the Nuggets failed to reach the Western Conference Finals for two consecutive years. However, Jokic, who led the single-core team, also took the opportunity to usher in an outbreak and won MVP continuously. His performance in the playoffs in the past two seasons was even more impeccable. In the 2021-2022 playoffs, which was named the strongest player, he averaged 31 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 1 block per game.

The Nuggets finally remained healthy in the 2022-2023 season, and the final result did prove that they are unstoppable. In the 2023 playoffs, Jokic averaged 30 points, 13.5 rebounds, 9.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1 block, and was elected as the last FMVP. Jokic won another MVP in the 2023-2024 season, but unfortunately the team failed to defend the title in the playoffs and stopped in the second round, but this year he was obviously still better than other players.

1. James (2009-2013, 2015, 2017, 2018)

Finally, it was James. He entered the league in 2003 and quickly adapted to the NBA. In the second year of his career, he was selected for the Best Team, and in the third year, he was directly selected for the Best Team. He led the team to win the first division championship in team history when he was only 22 years old. Later, since 2009, James officially moved to the position of No. 1 player in the league. He won MVP for two consecutive years, and later joined the Heat, he even performed continuously in MVP+FMVP.

In 2014, James returned to the Cavaliers, where he continued his dominant personal performance. Under his leadership, the Cavaliers went from a bad team to a champion team that reached the finals for four consecutive years and successfully won the cup in 2016. By the end of 2018, although James was 33 years old this season, he was selected as the second in the first team + MVP in the regular season. In addition, he averaged 34 points, 9.1 rebounds, 9 assists, 1.4 steals and 1 block in the playoffs, and he was undoubtedly the best player in the league.