NBA player tiers 2026: LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant slide to Tier 2

You have made it to the All-Star stratum of our 2026 Player Tiers. A few All-Stars appeared in Tier 3, but none who have been All-Star selections in the last three seasons. Tier 2 is larger this year, but it still rounds out the top 30 players in the NBA.As much as the best players dictate championships, it’s a team game. It’s hard to have one star carry a team of role players to a title, even very good ones. Talent needs to be stacked. It’s not practical, though not impossible, to get multiple Tier 1 players together, and it is hard to be a contender without at least one Tier 2 player.Advertisement