Basketball Reference Blog

Top 5 NBA players of the 2021-2022 Season

Posted by Jonah Gardner on October 25, 2022

The 2021-22 season featured a number of astonishing individual performances, with a lot of NBA superstars operating at the peak of their powers. While Stephen Curry led the Warriors to another NBA championship and the Boston Celtics built a juggernaut around their stifling defense, one of the big stories of the regular season was how many players put up exceptional stat lines. Picking the top NBA players of 2021 is a challenge, so we’re using Box Plus/Minus to find out who were the top five by statistics.

Photo of Nikola Jokić

Nikola Jokić

Pronunciation: \ni-KOLA yo-kitch\

Nikola Jokić ▪ Twitter: JokicNikola15 ▪ Instagram: nikolajokicofficial

(Joker, Big Honey, Cookie Monster, Yoke, Big Tipper)

Position: Center ▪ Shoots: Right

6-11, 284lb (211cm, 128kg)

Born: February 19, 1995 (Age: 27-247d) in Sombor, Serbia rs

Draft: Denver Nuggets, 2nd round (11th pick, 41st overall), 2014 NBA Draft

NBA Debut: October 28, 2015

Experience: 7 years

15 15
+1
SUMMARY

2022-23

Career

G

3

530

PTS

24.0

19.7

TRB

10.7

10.4

AST

9.7

6.2

FG%

62.5

54.3

FG3%

50.0

34.6

FT%

86.4

83.0

eFG%

66.3

57.9

PER

28.0

27.1

WS

0.6

80.2

The back-to-back MVP, Jokic had a jaw-dropping statistical season in 2021-22. Clearly one of the best NBA players of 2021, Jokic led the league in Box Plus/Minus with a record-breaking 13.7. He also became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to average 13 rebounds and 7 assists per game.

Photo of Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid

Pronunciation: \jo-ELL em-BEAD\

Joel Hans Embiid ▪ Twitter: JoelEmbiid ▪ Instagram: joelmbiid

(JoJo, The Process, Do-a-180, Troel, The Phantom of the Process)

Position: Center ▪ Shoots: Right

7-0, 280lb (213cm, 127kg)

Born: March 16, 1994 (Age: 28-222d) in Yaounde, Cameroon cm

College: Kansas

High Schools: Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, The Rock School in Gainesville, Florida

Recruiting Rank: 2013 (16)

Draft: Philadelphia 76ers, 1st round (3rd pick, 3rd overall), 2014 NBA Draft

NBA Debut: October 26, 2016

Experience: 6 years

21 24
+1
SUMMARY

2022-23

Career

G

3

331

PTS

27.0

26.0

TRB

13.3

11.4

AST

3.7

3.3

FG%

45.3

48.9

FG3%

18.2

33.6

FT%

77.8

81.0

eFG%

46.9

52.3

PER

21.5

27.0

WS

0.1

43.7

In almost any other year, Joel Embiid’s season would have been more than enough to win an MVP award, but this year he came in second in the voting. Still, Embiid was clearly one of the top NBA players of 2021. He became the first big man to win the scoring title since Shaq and the first player since Michael Jordan to average 30 points per game and 1.5 blocks per game.

Photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Pronunciation: \YAHN-iss ah-dedo-KOON-bo\

Giannis Antetokounmpo ▪ Twitter: Giannis_An34 ▪ Instagram: Giannis_An34

(The Greek Freak, The Alphabet)

Position: Power Forward, Small Forward, Point Guard, and Shooting Guard ▪ Shoots: Right

6-11, 242lb (211cm, 109kg)

Born: December 6, 1994 (Age: 27-322d) in Athens, Greece gr

Relatives: Brothers Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Alex Antetokounmpo

Draft: Milwaukee Bucks, 1st round (15th pick, 15th overall), 2013 NBA Draft

NBA Debut: October 30, 2013

Experience: 9 years

34 34
+1
SUMMARY

2022-23

Career

G

2

658

PTS

32.5

21.9

TRB

12.5

9.4

AST

5.5

4.6

FG%

70.3

53.5

FG3%

50.0

28.9

FT%

55.6

71.7

eFG%

74.3

55.8

PER

39.5

24.6

WS

0.6

88.1

The Greek Freak celebrated his title with a season that reminded everyone why he is one of the top NBA players of 2021. Giannis ranked second in Box Plus/Minus, second in scoring, and ninth in defensive win shares. His 29.9 points per game were a career high and the most by a player also selected to the All-Defensive First Team since Kobe Bryant in 2007.

Photo of Luka Dončić

Luka Dončić

Pronunciation: \LOO-kuh DON-chitch\

Luka Dončić ▪ Twitter: luka7doncic ▪ Instagram: lukadoncic

(The Matador, El Matador, Cool Hand, The Don, Wonder Boy, El Niño Maravilla, Swaggy L, Luka Legend, Too Easy, Luka Magic)

Position: Point Guard and Shooting Guard ▪ Shoots: Right

6-7, 230lb (201cm, 104kg)

Born: February 28, 1999 (Age: 23-238d) in Ljubljana, Slovenia si

Draft: Atlanta Hawks, 1st round (3rd pick, 3rd overall), 2018 NBA Draft

NBA Debut: October 17, 2018

Experience: 4 years

77
SUMMARY

2022-23

Career

G

2

266

PTS

33.5

26.4

TRB

8.0

8.5

AST

8.0

8.0

FG%

47.8

45.7

FG3%

31.6

33.7

FT%

94.4

73.9

eFG%

54.3

52.8

PER

35.4

24.3

WS

0.6

29.6

Luka Dončić continued his meteoric rise, establishing himself as one of the top NBA players of 2021. He averaged 28.4 points per game, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.7 assists. Luka is the first player in NBA history to make three All-NBA first teams thru age-22.

Photo of LeBron James

LeBron James

LeBron Raymone James ▪ Twitter: KingJames ▪ Instagram: kingjames

(King James, LBJ, Chosen One, Bron-Bron, The Little Emperor, The Akron Hammer, L-Train)

Position: Small Forward, Power Forward, Point Guard, and Shooting Guard ▪ Shoots: Right

6-9, 250lb (206cm, 113kg)

Born: December 30, 1984 (Age: 37-298d) in Akron, Ohio us

High School: St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio

Recruiting Rank: 2003 (1)

Draft: Cleveland Cavaliers, 1st round (1st pick, 1st overall), 2003 NBA Draft

NBA Debut: October 29, 2003

Experience: 19 years

23 6 23 23 6
+4
SUMMARY

2022-23

Career

G

3

1369

PTS

27.3

27.1

TRB

11.0

7.5

AST

7.3

7.4

FG%

47.7

50.5

FG3%

25.9

34.6

FT%

76.5

73.4

eFG%

53.1

54.5

PER

23.3

27.3

WS

0.3

249.8

Despite being 37 years old, LeBron James had one of the best statistical seasons of his career, average 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. He became the oldest player to average 30 or more and even played a substantial amount of minutes at center for the first time in his career.

In a remarkable season, there are many other players who deserve to be mentioned among the top NBA players of 2021. The next five by Box Plus/Minus are:

FAQ’s

Who is the best player in the NBA 2021-2022?

Most experts think the best player was Nikola Jokic, who won the MVP award and led in most stats. However, many others thought Joel Embiid was the best player, thanks to leading the league in scoring while playing dominant defense at center.

Who is the best defensive player in the NBA 2021?

Marcus Smart won the Defensive Player of the Year award for 2021-22, while Jayson Tatum led the league in Defensive Win Shares.

Who is the best player in the world right now 2022?

The answer depends on how you define best. Contenders include Stephen Curry, who was just the best player on the team that won the title, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is generally considered the most dominant and physical player right now, Nikola Jokic, who has won back-to-back MVPs, and Joel Embiid, the scoring leader in 2021-22.

Join our Sports Reference Community

Of Statheads:

Subscribe to Stathead, the most powerful research tools in sports, and find any player, team, season, game, and any play. With over 80 different search tools for baseball, basketball, football, and hockey, you’ve got infinite answers at your finger tips.

With Our Email Newsletters:

Sign up for our newsletter and get curated stats, recaps, and more from the Basketball Reference to your inbox every morning. No commitment, unsubscribe at any time.

On Social Media:

Stay connected with Basketball Reference on social media! Bringing you stats, trivia, and more on all our channels daily.

Twitter – Instagram – Facebook – TikTok – YouTube – Reddit – LinkedIn

Follow the rest of the Sports Reference sites on social here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2022 at 4:38 pm and is filed under Top 10 Lists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.