NEWS » e he liked Miami coach Jim Larrana

For the sixth season in a row, ESPN.com is ranking the top players in the NBA. Who will be the best player this season?To get the final ranking, we asked our expert panel to vote on pairs of players.LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. Russell Westbrook vs. Kevin Durant. Damian Lillard vs. Chris Paul.We asked, Which player will be better in 2016-17? To decide, voters had to consider both the quality and the quantity of each players contributions to his teams ability to win games.Well roll out the rest of our top 200 players over the next week. If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. You also can follow along @ESPNNBA and on Facebook.On to the list ...40. Dwyane WadeBulls | SG?| @DwyaneWadeLast years rank: 462016-17 projected RPM: -1.81Insider profile:?Wades 2015-16 outstripped all expectations. Perhaps the most surprising number was his 74 games played, a far cry from what was expected, given his age and chronic knee issues. Wade re-emerged as Miamis most ball-dominant player last season and finished the season by uncorking repeated clutch heroics in the playoffs to bury the Charlotte Hornets and keep things close against the Toronto Raptors. Some of the shake that has made Wade perhaps the best pick-and-roll shooting guard in history remains, and he is able to get shots off against all but the best wing defenders. In recent years, Wade has added a post game to take advantage of smaller players, and his pump fake continues to bedevil overeager defenders.?Read more ?#NBArank 31-4031: Carmelo Anthony32: Hassan Whiteside33: Kristaps Porzingis34: Gordon Hayward35: Marc Gasol36: Steven Adams37: Rudy Gobert38: Kemba Walker39: Derrick Favors40: Dwyane WadeKenny Clark Super Bowl Jersey . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Kyler Fackrell Super Bowl Jersey . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Marquez-Valdes-Scantling-Packers-Jersey/ . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Aaron Jones Super Bowl Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Billy Turner Super Bowl Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries.LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- JaQuan Newton had 20 points and Anthony Lawrence added 18 as Miami beat Stanford 67-53 in the opening round Thursday of the AdvoCare Invitational.Bruce Brown chipped in 10 points for the Hurricanes (4-0).Stanford (4-1) got 15 points from Dorian Pickens, while Reid Travis had 11. Pickens has scored in double figures in nine of his last 10 games, dating to last season.Lawrence scored all of his points during the second half after being limited to five scoreless minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.I think they were just giving me the ball in the right moments, Lawrence said. My teammates were penetrating, kicking it to me. Once I hit the first one, I felt like I was on fire.Newton helped pick up the slack in the opening 20 minutes by scoring 12.Brown had a couple layups during Miamis 18-4 run over the final eight minutes of the game.The Hurricanes shot 62.5 percent (15 for 24) in the second half.I think our team does have a great deal of character and resiliency, Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. Were going to find that out. We have to get back to who we are. I thought the first half we did some nice things. Then the second half there were some breakdowns.Stanford, which lead by nine early on, took a 27-23 advantage at halftime.It wasnt frustrating at all in the first half, Newton said. It was more, weve just got to play better, play harder. We knew on the offensive end we werent playing as good as were capable of. We decided to keep iit going on the defensive end.dddddddddddd We kept doing that, and that led to our offense.BIG PICTUREStanford: The Cardinal were bidding to have their first 5-0 start since 2011-12.Miami: The Hurricanes announced before the game that junior guard Rashad Muhammad will no longer be part of the program for failure to meet team expectations. After sitting out last season following his transfer from San Jose State, Muhammad was suspended for the first three games this season for violation of team rules. He was looked at as a player that could help after the departure of last seasons leading scorers, Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez.DJ DOWNERMiami freshman guard DJ Vasiljevic was held to three points after averaging 11.7 in his first three games. He made visits to Miami and Stanford and chose the Hurricanes because he liked Miami coach Jim Larranaga and the weather.NUMBERS GAMETravis has 10 rebounds as Stanford outrebounded Miami 34-30. ... Stanford had 18 turnovers that resulted in 20 Miami points. ... The Cardinal scored four points on the 11 Miami turnovers.UP NEXTStanford: The Cardinal will play Indiana State, which lost 73-71 to No. 21 Iowa State Thursday, in Fridays consolation round.Miami: The Hurricanes, who got votes in this weeks AP Top-25 poll, get a chance to impress the voters with a semifinal matchup Friday against Iowa State. ' ' '