According to a poll of players and coaches, Kobe Bryant has the highest basketball IQ. Here's the top 5:
1. Kobe Bryant
2. Jason Kidd
3. Steve Nash
4. Chris Paul
5. LeBron James
2. Jason Kidd
3. Steve Nash
4. Chris Paul
5. LeBron James
Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Deron Williams also received votes.
Am I surprised Kobe was voted #1? No, because there's a lot of hero worship from the younger players. I've always chalked up Kobe's greatness to natural ability. Yes, I understand he's a scholar of the game, but to me, he's the type of player who relies on that god-given ability to make up for careless mental mistakes.
Kidd and Nash are very smart players who definitely belong on the list. But as Skeets points out, there's one glaring omission from the list - Tim Duncan. I would also think that KG deserves more votes than Melo.