Haute 100 Update: LeBron James Ranked No. 1 Player in the NBA

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James has been named the best player on the ESPN NBA player rankings. A panel of 91 experts was called to weigh in on NBA players and rank them based on the “current quality of each player” with “King James” topping the list.

ESPN.com surveyed the panel of 91 and the experts came to the conclusion that James was indeed the best player in the NBA, followed in second by Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and fellow Heat superstar Dwyane Wade in third place.

The New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul took the fourth spot while the latest NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks took fifth.

The list surprised many people – and sparked some debate – as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant, despite his high scoring, did not even make the top five. Additionally, five-time champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers failed to make the top five cut as well.

Instead, Durant took the #6 spot, Bryant took #7, with the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose in 8^th, New Jersey Nets’ (soon to be the Brooklyn Nets) Deron Williams in 9^th, and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin finishing out the top ten in 10^th.

Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets. To see the entire Haute 100 Miami list, click here.