Any human is said to be physically strongest or in its peak when they hit their prime, it is believed or some scientific studies claimed that at age 25 to 30 our muscles is at its strongest stage and our bone masses is at densest. An elite marathoner have its best stamina at age 28, which he can efficiently complete a race. A NBA star player is no different it is said that most of them can handle the lengthy season much easier when they are in their prime years. Now we're going to break down some of them in this list with no particular order.
Anthony Davis
The Brow or A.D. just turned 25 last march and recorded his best performance so far last season and improved almost in every statistical category of his game. He put up transcended numbers for his position dropping 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds per game, which is much better than Karl Malone's and Tim Duncan's MVP seasons, two of arguably the best power forwards to ever lace up in the NBA court. A.D. is acknowledged by some analyst to have the chance to replace Lebron as the best player in the planet as early as this coming season.
Tim Duncan is recognized as the best ever to play the four position not only in his generation but the history of the league. But with how Davis' career is blosomming now it's not pretty hard to imagine that Timmy if not willing, might be forced to go down just a step below A.D. when ranking the best in their position. Although some might argue that current NBA players right now are just the result of how the game evolved to a different level but still Davis is a far more skilled than Mr. Fundamentals ever was.
AD is a better perimeter player with deeper range, defensively he is also a beast who can guard almost every position literally. Not to mention better free throw maker and The Brow can also handle the ball like a guard. If he can sustain his career long enough and even improved his monstrous game than now then its not almost a dream for Davis not only to be acknowledged as the best power forward but might be in the same breath just like Kareem, Kobe, Lebron and even MJ.
Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving arguably the best handle that we've ever witnessed in the history of the NBA, the former first pick of the 2011 NBA draft lives up to the expectations. Kyrie leads the young Celtics team back to its glory, taking up the leader's role and making the team a title contender once more. Just turned 26 last March, Kyrie legitimately entered his prime a cold blooded assassin with ice in his veins specially when it matters most. Even though he hasn't put up the best season so far, he is almost a 90 50 40 caliber player last season which only a few are in the club right now. Injuries has been his consistent concerns even before the NBA, hopefully he could sustain the cruel length of 82 games and be able to play in the playoffs which he wasn't able to this last season.
History is meant to repeat itself, remember the Kobe-Shaq break after the upset loss to the Pistons, then this could be similar in some way. Kyrie's heroic game 7 shot last 2016 that helped the Cavs took the championship from the defending champs Golden State is somehow forgotten by most of the Cleveland fans or rather overshadowed by Lebron's greatness. And with an overwhelming defeat against the warriors last 2017 in the NBA finals stage, its not hard to predict that their relationship would not last any longer. This lead to Kyrie trying to prove himself to win a title without the presence of Lebron and a chance of getting a better opportunity to improve his game.
Although he has a better chance of winning this year, a lot of young celtics guns improved massively and with their emerging young stars of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum there could not be enough ball for Kyrie. Along with the improved Terry Rozier and return of Gordon Hayward from the injury the celtics are pretty stacked right now. But at least I expect Kyrie more or less to be me a member of the rare 90-50-40 club.
Victor Oladipo
Victor Oladipo, the combo guard that got drafted by the Orlando Magic with the second pick last 2013. Many had thought that the former high lottery pick just like the others that Oladipo might not reach this type of game given that its already his fifth year in the league. But a great opportunity opened for the athletic two-guard, with the Paul George trade last summer the position of the new leader of the young Pacers team found Oladipo. He racks up pretty solid number finishing 23 points combined with 5 rebounds and 4 dimes, because of the great lift in scoring average his defense is overshadowed a little bit. He is an underrated defender to the point that he leads the league in steals per game last season and its not that much of a highlight.
If you plot Oladipo's career his trajectory is constantly increasing in the right way, if you didn't noticed according to some advance metrics his effective field goal percentage is improving each season. And leading the playoffs against The King is a result of that, even though it resulted in a loss it is by far the hardest and closest game 7 last playoffs in the east James snatched. If Oladipo can continue his work ethic and even maximize his potential then its no brainer that he could again get a spot from the all-star line up and even belonged to a All NBA team.
Since Gary Payton winning the defensive player award more than 20 years ago, we haven't seen a guard winning it after him so that means its pretty rare. If Oladipo somehow managed to get a hand on this then his defense capability will be validated at last. As the primary focus of Pacers offense this upcoming season we might witness an even breakout career for him with all the tools he has it's not that of a big deal for him.
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