2019 list of the '50 best NBA players in five years' from NBC Sports re-emerges and makes for fascinating reading

In 2019, the writers at CBS Sports tried to predict the future by forecasting the 50 best players in the NBA in five year's time.

Now, five years on, that list has re-emerged and it makes for very intriguing reading.

Not least because LeBron James – set to turn 40 midway through the 2024-25 season and coming fresh off having led Team USA to gold at the Paris Olympics – was tipped to be just the 40th-best player on the planet by this stage of his storied career.

The scribes who made that misplaced prophecy half a decade ago can be forgiven for having retrospectively wide of the mark given that James is mapping uncharted territory in the NBA – no superstar has been this good for this long.

No one would argue that the LA Lakers icon is still at his MVP peak, but he is much closer to being one of the 10 best players in the world, rather than merely the 40th.

And what makes James' low ranking even starker are some of the names listed ahead of him.

Lakers team-mate DeAngelo Russell was tipped to be the 28th-best player in the world in 2024, for example, while the likes of draft busts Marvin Bagley III (39th), James Wiseman (37th) and DeAndre Ayton (21st) were all placed higher than the four-time Finals MVP.

They also thought there would be 30 players better than 36-year-old Steph Curry. And Kevin Durant was named only one position higher than his then-Golden State Warriors teammate.

Steph Curry and LeBron James hit a celebration during France vs. USA. Image: Getty

One of the biggest surprise selections was Ben Simmons in the No.9 spot. The former Philadelphia 76ers point guard looked a star in the making five years ago. But injuries and off-court struggles for Australian who now plays for the Brooklyn Nets have seen his stock fall drastically.

Among the frontrunners to be the 2025 MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder made the list, but only as the 25th pick.

Not all of CBS Sports' predictions were wrong, however, as Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo all placed inside the top four.