Words by Jen Brister:

Up until a couple of years ago I think it would be fair to say that I knew absolutely nothing about basketball, other than the existence of Michael Jordan. Fast forward 24 months and my twin 10 year old sons have become obsessed with it. They play EVERY SINGLE day, like it's a job, and I am now grilled daily on the stats of players that I didn't know existed 30 seconds earlier. So, in the spirit of looking like I've learned something, here are my top 5 players in the NBA right now.

LeBron James

If you haven't heard of LBJ then there's absolutely nothing wrong with you, I didn't know who he was prior to the basketball frenzy that infected my home. All you need to know is that he is considered the best basketball player of all time having recently achieved the highest points of any player in NBA history, there are loads of other stats he's best at but who has time for that? He also starred in Space Jam 2 which as we know is cinematic gold, that's not me saying that, that's my sons. Again.

Steph Curry

Is point guard for the Golden State Warriors and one of the most successful players in the NBA. My boys like him because like them he's quite small. This might be why he became the best 3 point shooter in the NBA. Please don't make me explain how the points work to you, I don't have the bandwidth for it.

Luka Doncic

AKA Luka Magic is a Slovenian point/shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks and one of my sons' favourite players. This might be because he is considered one of the best players in the NBA, or it might be because he shares my son's name. We'll never truly know.* He is also the first player in NBA history to record a 20 rebound triple-double. No idea what that is either.

*Of course it's cause they share a name!

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Is a Greek Nigerian basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks. He's on the list because my children made me watch a movie about his life on Disney Plus. He has had the most incredible journey to make it to the NBA, despite being born in Greece his Nigerian parents did not have permanent residency there so he was officially stateless for the first 18 years of his life before being granted citizenship in 2013. He is considered one of the greatest power forwards of all time as well as one of the greatest players of all time. Did I get that last bit from Wikipedia? Of course I did.

Jason Tatum

Last but by no means least we have Jason Tatum. He is a small/power forward for the Boston Celtics and can currently be seen in the Netflix documentary Starting 5 which follows the careers of 5 NBA players through the 2023/24 season. He is a five time NBA All star and led the Celtics to victory at the NBA finals this year. But he's also on the list cause he has a lovely face and he's nice to his Mum.