Elite Sports NY’s 17-writer panel votes on the top five players in the NBA over the first-half of the 2016-2017 season.

Stephen Curry and DeMarcus Cousins found themselves outside of ESNY’s 2017 top five NBA players at the All-Star break, which should give you an idea of just how onerous coming up with such a list actually is. Now, we reveal the five players our panel did vote as the league’s best ahead of this year’s NBA All-Star game.

To restate the mission, our 17-writer panel was tasked with sorting through the NBA’s cream of the crop — think guys like Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan, Anthony Davis, LeBron James & friends — and listing the very best from one through five.

Players are ranked in order of total votes received, with 1st-place votes serving as the tiebreaker in the event players shared an even number of votes. Total votes follow the player’s name (1st-place votes are in parentheses).

5. Kawhi Leonard; 10 (0)

• 25.9 PPG (8)
• 1.8 STL (7)
• 89.9 FT % (6)
• 39.5 3P % (31)
• 25.7 EFF (10)

“He’s the best two-way player in our game. He’s somewhat what Scottie Pippen was, but he has no Michael Jordan. He is Michael Jordan for the San Antonio Spurs.” 

– Jason Terry on Leonard, News 4 San Antonio

Those were the words of veteran and former NBA champion Jason Terry, a guy who doesn’t throw compliments around too loosely. Kawhi Leonard has earned all of the praise heaped on him, and then some.

In Leonard, the San Antonio Spurs have found themselves a wing version of Tim Duncan: a multi-faceted superstar with an anti-superstar personality, who’s fully committed to Gregg Popovich’s system.

Leonard’s offensive game has grown every season and he’s always been an elite defender, capable of guarding 1-3, and sometimes even the four. Between him and LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio is in good hands post-Duncan, and will carry on well after Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are gone.

4. Kevin Durant; 12 (0)

• 25.8 PPG (9)
• 53.9 FG % (11)
• 1.7 BLK (10)
• 8.3 REB (22)
• 30.8 EFF (4)

The name on the front of the jersey has changed, but Kevin Durant is the same old baller. The Golden State Warriors went 73-9 last season, the finest regular season any NBA team has ever had. Durant makes them even better.

The Warriors are runaway favorites to take the ‘ship this year, according to Vegas Insider, which should come as no surprise to any NBA observer. What has been interesting to watch is the dynamic between KD and Stephen Curry.

Each has sacrificed some individually, but Durant looks to have become the guy much the same way LeBron James did when he teamed up with Dwyane Wade in Miami seven years ago. The duos aren’t comparable in terms of playing styles, but both were and are legit tier-1 superstars teaming up at the height of the powers.

That Heat team went to four straight Finals and won two championships. The ceiling for the Durant/Curry-led Warriors’ might be even higher than that.

3. Russell Westbrook; 12 (1)

• 31.1 PPG (1)
• 10.5 REB (12)
• 10.1 AST (3)
• 497 FTM (2)
• 32.6 EFF (2)

Russell Westbrook is averaging a triple-double at the All-Star break. There isn’t too much more than that which needs to be said. Westbrook is literally everything the Oklahoma City Thunder have since Kevin Durant merked off to the Bay.

Russ has posted 26 triple-doubles through 57 games this year. He’s five away from matching Wilt Chamberlain for the second-most in a single-season in league history, and 15 short of tying Oscar Robertson‘s record of 41.

Robertson, of course, is the only NBA player to have averaged a triple-double over an entire season. Russ has a real shot at becoming the second, and OKC will need all of it to stay in playoff contention.

2. James Harden; 13 (2)

• 29.2 PPG (3)
• 11.3 AST (1)
• 543 FTM (1)
• 186 3PM (2)
• 32.6 EFF (1)

James Harden is having the best season of his young career and by light years. To take it a step further, in a year where Russell Westbrook is averaging a triple-double, Harden’s also having one of the finest individual seasons in NBA history.

The Beard isn’t too far off averaging a triple-double himself, and he’s doing it for the third-best team in the Western Conference. The Houston Rockets are 40-18 at the All-Star break (they won 41 games all of 2015-16).

Harden does it all for the Rockets – he’s even playing defense this year. They don’t make anyone think they’ve got a legitimate shot at knocking off the Golden State Warriors (because no one in the West does), but outside of the San Antonio Spurs it’s the match-up you want to see. That’s almost solely because of Harden.

1. LeBron James, 17 (14)

• 25.9 PPG (8)
• 37.5 MPG (2)
• 8.8 AST (4)
• 53.9 FG % (12)
• 29.7 EFF (5)

The King still reigns over “The Land” 14 full seasons since entering the league. LeBron James has undeniably put the work in and, whether you like it or not, is going down in basketball history right next to Michael Jordan

James has been to the NBA Finals six consecutive seasons and counting. That streak spans two different teams and an evolving cast of supporting characters around him. Bron hasn’t won them all, but leading the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors, the best regular season team in league history, took his legend to new heights.

Then there’s this: he’s still at the height of his powers. Some players score more points, others drop more dimes or grab more boards than ‘Bron does, but the eye test speaks volumes: on a nightly basis, LeBron James is still the best and most important player on the floor.