The ESNY panel votes on the five best players in the NBA ahead of this year’s All-Star Game. Honorable mentions are up first.

Let’s get this right out of the way: Elite Sports NY talks NBA in great deference to our friends at SLAM Magazine. But we do know our basketball — very well, thank you — and have some things to get off our chest before this year’s NBA All-Star Game.

We’ve convened a 17-writer ESNY panel to vote on and make arguments for the five best players in the league today. The task for each writer was straightforward, but not so simple: sift through the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Isaiah Thomas and more, and pick just five.

Who’s number one, who got snubbed and where is Zaza Pachulia?! We’re here for every last argument. But first things first, we reveal our honorable mentions. These two players received votes from our panel but fell short of cracking the top five.

 NEXT: Second honorable mention 

Nov 20, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) reacts after being fouled by the Toronto Raptors during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Kings won 102-99. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

DeMarcus Cousins, F-C

  • 27.8 PPG (6)
  • 10.6 RPG (11)
  • 4.8 AST (35)
  • 1.3 BLK (19)
  • 28.7 EFF (7)

The Sacramento Kings’ big man is as unstable as he is talented, and that’s a good thing. Sort of. “Boogie” never makes for a dull moment. He can get you 50 points and 10 boards, lose his mind on a reporter post-game and slap Joel Embiid‘s behind excessively — sometimes all in the same night.

Cousins has finished every season top-10 in technical fouls since he entered the league in 2010. He’s already been T’ed up 17 times this season. He was suspended one game after his 16th tech, per league rules and will be suspended one game for every other tech he picks up the rest of the year.

Sacramento’s dilemma is he’s also, most times, the best player on the court. He’s 10th in the league with 32 double-doubles and tied for fifth with two triple-doubles. He’s averaging more assists (4.8) than Derrick Rose (4.5), a point guard.

Cousins’ self-control will always be called into question, but never his game. He’s having the best season of his career (did you see the numbers!?) and it wouldn’t be hard to make the argument he belongs in the top-five.

 NEXT: Top honorable mention 

January 6, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) dribbles the basketball against Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Grizzlies defeated the Warriors 128-119. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Stephen Curry, G

  • 24.7 PPG (11)
  • 6.4 AST (12)
  • 220 3PM (1)
  • 91.6 FT % (1)
  • 24.6 EFF (14)

Nope, Stephen Curry did not crack ESNY’s top five and it wasn’t an oversight. With one huge off-season addition, Curry went from the NBA’s reigning back-to-back MVP to the second-best player on the Golden State Warriors.

With one basketball to shoot, the Splash Brothers have had to make room for Kevin Durant. Klay Thompson‘s game hasn’t suffered; it’s Steph who’s been forced to sacrifice and, often, defer to KD.

His points (30.1 last season, 24.7 this year), rebounds (5.4 to 4.3), field-goal percentage (50.4 to 47.6) and three-point percentage (45.4 to 41.9) are all noticeably down.

Now the good news: he’s still Stephen Curry. He still leads the league in three-point field goals made, and he’s way out in front – his 220 treys are 38 more than runner-up James Harden‘s 182. He leads the league in free-throw percentage as well and ranks third among guards in player efficiency metrics.

After the record-breaking season, Curry and the Golden State Warriors had in 2016, they were bound to come back down to earth some this year. Granted, that probably means about 65 wins instead of 73. They’re still prohibitive championship favorites.

He likely won’t reach 400 triples again. He’s on pace to hit about 330, which would be the second-best single season total of all time, destroying his own previous mark of 286.

Elite Sports NY’s 2016-2017 top five NBA players over the first half of the season will be revealed later today.

 NEXT: Knicks interest in Kevin Love shows rebuilding reluctancy