Top 5 NBA Players Ahead of 2022/23 Season, Including Steph Curry and Joel Embiid With LeBron James Absent

• ESPN has released its annual top 5 NBA players list ahead of the new season, which starts next month
• Four of the players on the list are from Cameroon, Serbia, Greece and Slovenia and contains players with a combined six MVP wins
• Despite a phenomenal 2021/22 season, LA Lakers star LeBron James is missing from the list

The new National Basketball Association (NBA) season kicks off next month and heated debates are happening on who is the best player in the league.

Stephen Curry should be the obvious choice, given he won the NBA title last season and a Finals MVP trophy, but Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic all make compelling cases.

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According to ESPN, Curry's incredible ending to last season wasn't enough to see him sit on the throne.

Four of the top five consist of foreign players from Cameroon, Greece, Serbia and Slovenia.

Top 5 NBA players ahead of the 2022/23 season

5. Stephen Curry

34-year-old Curry won the Finals MVP in last year's NBA finals, finally winning an individual trophy missing from his cabinet. The NBA title was his fourth with Golden State Warriors and if he wins a fifth this coming season, his status will eclipse some greats.

4. Joel Embiid

Embiid was second in MVP voting in the last two seasons. He averaged 30.6 points last year, pipping LeBron James to the scoring. This season, the pressure will be a lot as the Philadelphia 76ers attempt to win the NBA for the first time since 1983.

3. Luka Doncic

With perennial All-NBA and All-Star selections, 23-year-old Doncic has proven that he is a superstar in the league. The Slovenian led Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals last season and should repeat that with a better supporting cast this season.

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2. Nikola Jokic

Two straight MVP titles is enough to put Jokic at the top, but his first round exit in the playoffs last season hinders that. However, the Denver Nuggets have significantly strengthened the team therefore, he should go deep into the playoffs.

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo

The dominant Greek is a two-time MVP, an NBA champion, a Finals MVP and he proved again last season with the Milwaukee Bucks why he is at the top.

Celtics coach Ime Udoka suspended for the entire 2022/23 season

Sports Brief earlier reported on Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka getting suspended by the NBA for the entire 2022/23 season after he had a relationship with a member of the Celtics staff.

They found Udoka to have violated the code of conduct, meaning he cannot run it back with his team, which reached the NBA finals last season.