The Top 10 NBA Players of 2005

Here are the top 10 NBA players of 2005 according to ESPN. These rankings are based on a player’s average total points, assists, rebounds, and steals per game.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant (/ˈkoʊbi/ KOH-bee; born August 23, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA team and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks fourth on both the league’s all-time regular season scoring and all-time postseason scoring lists. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Bryant is the first guard in NBA history to play at least 20 seasons.

Bryant entered the NBA directly from High School and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Throughout his career, he received numerous accolades, including the Oscar Robertson Trophy, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and Fielding H. Yost Award winner.

Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal, nicknamed Shaq, is a retired professional American basketball player who is widely considered one of the greatest players in NBA history He is known for his physical strength, size, and ability to score points and rebound. Throughout his career, O’Neal has played for six teams. He won four NBA Championships three with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Miami Heat

LeBron James

Lebron James is widely considered to be the best basketball player in the world and was one of the top 10 NBA players of 2005. A physical specimen, James has a rare combination of size, speed, power, and athleticism that makes him almost impossible to guard. He is also a very skilled passer and rebounder for his position. In his first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers James led his team to the NBA Finals

Kevin Garnett

Although he was passed over for Rookie of the Year honors, Kevin Garnett made an instant impact in his first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves revitalizing a franchise that had finishing at the bottom of the standings for eight consecutive seasons. The 6’11” forward/center averaged 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 80.8 percent from the Free Throw Line en route to being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

In his second season, Garnett took his game to another level, averaging 18.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 52.5 percent from the field and 75.0 percent from the free throw line He was named an All-Star for the first time in his career and earned All-NBA Second Team honors at the end of the season.

Garnett would go on to have a stellar career with the Timberwolves, making 10 straight All-Star teams and earning All-NBA honors nine times (First Team three times, Second Team six times). He was also named Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and helped lead Minnesota to eight straight playoff appearances from 1997 to 2004 (though they never advanced past the Western Conference Finals). In 2007, he was traded to the Boston Celtics where he won an NBA Championship in 2008 before being traded again to the Brooklyn Nets in 2013.

Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs was the first player selected in the 1997 NBA draft He is a two-Ime Nba Most Valuable Player and led his team to four NBA championships Duncan is a ten-time NBA All-Star and nine-time All-NBA selection. He is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Carmelo Anthony

No matter how much Carmelo Anthony achievies in his career, he will always be remembered as the player who was drafted behind Lebron James in the 2003 NBA Draft That doesn’t take away from the fact that Anthony is one of the best players in the league, however.

He was born in Sylmar, California, and played his college ball at Syracuse. As a freshman, he helped lead the Orangemen to their first ever National Championship He then declared for the NBA Draft and was selected with the third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets

Anthony has been an All-Star ten times, and has won both an Olympic gold medal and an NBA Championship He is currently considered to be one of the top ten players in the league.

Dwyane Wade

Dwyane Wade was one of the NBA’s Top Players in 2005. He was named to the All-NBA First Team and the All-Star game and he helped lead the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals Wade averaged 27.2 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game during the regular season and he upped his averages to 34.7 points, 7.5 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game in the playoffs.

Allen Iverson

In 2005, Allen Iverson was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player He led the league in scoring with an average of 30.7 points per game and helped his team, the Philadelphia 76ers, to reach the NBA Finals Iverson was also named to the All-NBA First Team and the All-Star team that year.

Steve Nash

Steve Nash is a Canadian Professional Basketball player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted as the 15th overall pick by the Phoenix Suns in the 1996 NBA draft He played for the Suns from 1996 to 1998, and then for the Dallas Mavericks from 1998 to 2004. He returned to Phoenix in 2004 and was traded to the Lakers in 2012.

A eight-time NBA All-Star Nash has been honoured as one of the top players in the league multiple times. He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2005 and 2006, and he is a five-time member of the All-NBA team Nash has also been voted into eight straight All-Star Games, making him one of only two players (the other being Kobe Bryant) to do so since Nash entered the league in 1996. Nash has won three NBA assists titles, and he is currently ranked third all-time in assists per game behind only John Stockton and Magic Johnson

Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An alumnus of Röntgen Gymnasium and the DJK Würzburg Basketball Club Nowitzki was chosen as the ninth pick in the 1998 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and traded to Dallas in exchange for Robert Traylor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time. Listed at 7 feet 0 inches (2.13 m), he is one of only four players ever to play 20 NBA seasons