The Ringer’s Top 100 NBA Player Rankings, hosted at nbarankings.theringer.com, aim to provide a dynamic, year-round evaluation of the NBA players making the most significant impact in the league. Updated regularly to reflect current performance, the rankings are a valuable resource for fans and analysts alike. However, the 2025 iteration of these rankings has sparked debate, particularly regarding the placement of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. While Giannis is undeniably a phenomenal physical talent, his high ranking—near the very top—raises questions about the methodology and criteria used, especially when his playoff impact is scrutinised.

1. Overemphasis on Regular-Season Performance

The Ringer’s rankings claim to reflect players “making the biggest impact on the league right now” (). However, the methodology appears to heavily favor regular-season statistics and accolades over playoff performance, which is arguably the true measure of a player’s impact in high-stakes scenarios. This is particularly evident in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s case. Giannis consistently posts gaudy regular-season numbers—averaging 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in the 2022-23 season, for example, while leading the Bucks to the best record in the NBA. His ability to dominate with sheer athleticism and force makes him a regular-season juggernaut, but the rankings fail to adequately weigh his postseason shortcomings.

In the 2025 playoffs, Giannis averaged an impressive 36 points in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers, but his impact was limited by Milwaukee’s blowout loss and the team’s overall lack of cohesion (). The Bucks have not won a playoff game in which Giannis has played since Game 5 of the 2022 playoffs, going 0-5 in such games (). This pattern of playoff under performance—whether due to injuries, coaching mismatches, or roster limitations—suggests that Giannis’s ranking should reflect these struggles more heavily. The Ringer’s list, by prioritising regular-season dominance, risks inflating the value of players like Giannis who excel in less consequential games but falter when the stakes are highest.

2. Giannis’s Playoff Limitations: A Case for a Lower Ranking

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s playoff resume is a mixed bag, and The Ringer’s high ranking of him—often in the top 5, alongside players like Nikola Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—overlooks critical weaknesses. While Giannis led the Bucks to a championship in 2021 with a historic 50-point performance in Game 6 of the Finals, his postseason success since then has been inconsistent. The Bucks have faced early-round exits in each of the last four postseasons (2022-2025), with injuries, poor roster construction, and tactical limitations playing significant roles.

a. Injury Concerns and Availability

Giannis has struggled with durability in recent playoffs. Since the 2021 championship, injuries to either himself or key teammates like Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard have derailed Milwaukee’s postseason aspirations (). In 2023, Giannis played in the Heat series but was hampered, and his team lost despite a 40-point, 20-rebound game (). In 2024, he missed significant playoff time, and in 2025, the Bucks’ Game 1 loss to the Pacers highlighted a lack of team support around him (). While injuries are not entirely within a player’s control, consistent absence or diminished performance in critical playoff moments should weigh heavily in rankings that claim to assess current impact.

b. Tactical Limitations

Giannis’s game, while dominant, has exploitable flaws in playoff settings. His lack of a reliable three-point shot (22.2% in 2024-25) and career-low 61.7% free-throw shooting make him vulnerable to defensive schemes that clog the paint and dare him to shoot (). Teams like the Miami Heat in 2023 and the Pacers in 2025 have capitalised on this, using physical defenders and zone schemes to neutralise his drives. The Ringer’s rankings do not seem to account for how these limitations reduce Giannis’ effectiveness in high-stakes games, where opponents can game-plan specifically to exploit his weaknesses.

c. Supporting Cast and Coaching Mismatches

The Ringer’s individual player rankings should consider how much of Giannis’ impact is diminished by his lack of ability to adapt to his playing environment. His high ranking feels like an endorsement of his individual stats rather than a holistic evaluation of his ability to elevate his team in the postseason. Which he obviously cannot do. Shouldn’t that be the most important thing in a team game?

d. Comparison to Peers

When compared to other top-tier players like Jokić, who led Denver to a championship in 2023 with a historically efficient offensive season (), or Gilgeous-Alexander, who has guided OKC to a dominant 2024-25 season (), Giannis’s playoff resume pales. Jokić’s versatility as a passer, shooter, and clutch performer makes him a more reliable playoff force, while Gilgeous-Alexander’s low turnover rate and ability to elevate teammates in big moments set him apart (). The Ringer’s failure to adjust Giannis’s ranking downward relative to these players suggests a bias toward his regular-season dominance and name recognition.

3. Lack of Transparency in Ranking Methodology

Another significant flaw in The Ringer’s rankings is the lack of clarity around how players are evaluated. The site describes the list as reflecting “the biggest impact on the league right now” but does not provide specific criteria, such as statistical weights, playoff performance, or qualitative factors like leadership or clutch play (). This opacity makes it difficult to understand why Giannis is ranked so highly despite his postseason struggles. For comparison, ESPN’s NBArank, which uses a panel of experts voting on player matchups, provides a clearer framework, even if it’s not perfect (). The Ringer’s rankings would benefit from a detailed explanation of how regular-season stats, playoff performance, and intangibles are balanced.

4. Overvaluing Star Power and Narrative

The Ringer’s rankings seem to lean heavily on star power and narrative, which may explain Giannis’s lofty placement. His transformation from a “gangly teenager to a modern-day Shaq” and his inspirational 2021 Finals run have cemented his status as a fan and media favorite (). However, this narrative-driven approach can overshadow objective analysis. Posts on X highlight skepticism about Giannis’s top-5 status, with users pointing out his poor shooting percentages (45/25% in some playoff series) and lack of playoff wins since 2022 (,). The Ringer’s rankings risk prioritizing Giannis’s brand and past achievements over his current playoff impact, which is inconsistent with the claim of evaluating “right now.”

5. Broader Issues with the Rankings

Beyond Giannis, The Ringer’s list has other issues that undermine its credibility:

• Inconsistent Updates: While the rankings are described as “year-round, around-the-clock,” updates seem sporadic, with some entries dated months apart (e.g., February 27, 2025, and April 15, 2025) (,). This raises questions about whether the rankings truly reflect current performance.
• Overranking Aging Stars: Players like Kevin Durant and LeBron James, ranked highly despite injury concerns and diminished playoff success, suggest a reliance on reputation rather than current output ().
• Underrating Emerging Talent: Young players like Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama, who are projected to dominate in the future, may be ranked lower than their current impact warrants due to a bias toward established names ().

Conclusion: Reassessing Giannis and The Ringer’s Approach

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a generational talent, but his high ranking in The Ringer’s Top 100 NBA Player Rankings is questionable given his recent playoff struggles. His injury history, tactical limitations, and reliance on a sub optimal supporting cast and coaching staff have hindered his postseason impact, yet the rankings do not seem to reflect these realities. Broader issues, such as the lack of transparent methodology, overemphasis on regular-season stats, and narrative-driven evaluations, further undermine the list’s credibility. To improve, The Ringer should clarify its criteria, give greater weight to playoff performance, and ensure rankings reflect current impact rather than past achievements or star power. Until then, Giannis’ placement near the top feels more like a nod to his regular-season dominance and fan appeal than a true measure of his league-wide impact.