Stephen Curry Named Top Player in this ESPN NBA Survey Question

Tim Bontemps just released his NBA offseason survey, and as always, fans are given a peek into the minds of important people around the NBA. Every year, Bontemps polls a group of coaches, scouts, and executives to ask them their opinions and predictions for the upcoming NBA season.

As always, one of the questions that is asked is, “Who is the best American player right now?” While for many years the obvious answer was LeBron James or Stephen Curry, both of those superstars are starting to age out of their prime. However, that didn’t stop Curry from being heavily featured in the voting results. The results were as follows:

“Who is the best American player right now?”

Stephen Curry: 11

Anthony Edwards: 8

Donovan Mitchell: 1

Before Tatum's injury, this question wouldn't have been on the survey at all, given the Boston Celtics superstar wing was coming off First Team All-NBA honors for a fourth consecutive season and won the NBA title a year ago. But with Tatum out of the mix, the honor instead was given to Curry, despite him being 37 years old and entering his 17th NBA season.

"He's still the guy who scares me most," an Eastern Conference scout said of Curry.”

While Tatum certainly would have been in the conversation, it’s not for sure that everyone considered him better than Curry. The Ringer’s Top 100 NBA Players list has Curry as number five and Tatum at 10. Despite his age, Curry has continued to defy everyone and is playing some of the best basketball of his career.

Watch out for Anthony Edwards as well. He and the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Warriors (with an injured Curry) in the second round of the playoffs last year. The Timberwolves and Edwards seem to be continually improving and will be a dangerous team again next season.

For now, though, Curry is still on top, just like he has been for the last decade-plus.