Taking a Look at the Eastern Conference’s Five Best Players

Sep 28, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward

(23) during Cleveland Cavaliers media day at Cleveland Clinic Courts. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James

There was never really a doubt about this. You can pull out any statistic you want to, but there’s no convincing me LeBron James isn’t the best player in the Eastern Conference, or in the entire NBA for that matter. No one else raises his teammates–and himself–to anywhere as high a level as LeBron does.

I’ve made this argument in the past to show LeBron’s greatness, so I’ll just leave a few paragraphs here from this article I wrote about NBA greatness in general to make my case for LeBron James’ spot on this list:

"Using the Kobe/Jordan over LeBron analysis as an example really shows how overrated scoring, rings and dramatic moments are as a barometer of greatness in the NBA. Let’s list the advantages LeBron has so far in his career over both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant: LeBron has a better true shooting percentage, better three-point percentage, better two-point percentage, more assists per 100 possessions, more rebounds per 100 possessions and gives up the least points among the three per 100 possessions. He’s tied with Jordan in blocks per 100 possessions and scores just 3.5 points less than MJ–and 0.9 more points than Kobe–per 100 possessions. So much for not being a scorer, then."

So yeah. He’s a more efficient scorer, better passer, better rebounder and better defender than the greatest player in league history. I love some of these other great Eastern Conference players, but if we’re being real I take LeBron first and foremost every day of the week.

He and his Cleveland Cavaliers are sure to be a tough opponent for the Bucks every time they meet–but maybe things will be a bit easier if LeBron is taking a vacation when the Cavs and Bucks are slated to play.

Next: A Rival Moves Into The Top Two