By Jeremy Brunner

So what's the deal? Who is the best basketball player in the world? Some folks will automatically give you Kobe or LeBron, but I have always gone with different names like Manu Ginobili or Pau Gasol. Why you ask, well these guys perform well against the best competition every night in the NBA, then they really step up their game at the only truly international competitions. The Olympics are a traveshamockery. But they are also the greatest assembly of basketball talent anywhere. And as you know by getting lectured to by crusty white sportswriters for years, these foreign teams play a team game unlike anything played by the Americans.

So Argentina beat the Americans in the 2004 games, I liked Manu as the best player in the world. Then Spain won the World Championships in '06, so I liked Gasol, even though I had a soft spot for Jorge Garbajosa.

I have perfected my system at long last and I'm ready to unleash my ratings. Okay, its not perfect. This system is based on success both in the NBA and international competition. So Kobe Bryant is nowhere to be found. Problem? Perhaps. But the system goes back five years, and Kobe has no high finishes in international comps, and no trips out of the first round of the NBA Playoffs in that time period.

10. Andres Nocioni

9. Pau Gasol

8. Shawn Marion

7. Amare Stoudamire

6. Dirk Nowitski

5. Tony Parker

4. Dwyane Wade

3. LeBron James

2. Tim Duncan

1. Manu Ginobili

There you go. Now all debates on the topic have been settled. Of course, soon I will be able to factor in the '08 Playoffs and the '08 Olympics, and then you just might see Kobe.

Agree/Disagree? Post below.