Sentiment · 2026-27

Player sentiment

How fans and media talk about players and teams. The two are shown side by side, never merged into one number.

Data as of Oct 6, 2026Headlines· Oct 61,543 headlinesFans· Oct 631,071 fan postsCurated· Aug 22prototype values, not measured

A language model rates the tone of headlines, fan posts and comments toward the players they name. Team scores and fan posts from before the model still use a word list, so read those as rough.

Sources and method

Headlines· Oct 6Media lanes. 1,543 NBA headlines from 23 publishers, Jul 24 to Oct 6. A player needs 3 headlines in the last 7 days to get a score. A language model rates each headline as positive, neutral or negative toward each player it names. Checked against 127 labeled headlines, it matched the label about 7 times in 10 and never rated one the opposite way. Players named only in the summary, and team scores, still use a word list. 72% of this week's player mentions have a model rating.
Fans· Oct 6Fan lanes. 31,071 fan posts: 1,329 headlines from 30 team fan blogs, 1,919 social posts and 27,823 video comments, Jun 25 to Oct 6. A player or team needs 5 posts in the last 7 days to get a score. Comments under the same video share weight, so 100 comments on one video count for less than 100 posts spread across many places. Fan blog headlines get the same model rating as news headlines. Social posts and video comments that name a player are rated by the same model when they are collected, up to a nightly limit. Checked against 143 labeled fan posts, it matched the label about 3 times in 4 and rated 2 the opposite way. The word list matched about half and rated 18 the opposite way. Older posts, posts past the nightly limit and team scores keep the word list. 18% of this week's player mentions in posts and comments have a model rating.
Curated· Aug 22Hand-written prototype values dated Aug 22, 2026. They show how the board works and are not measurements.

How often the tone rating matches a hand labelSame as the labelOne step offOpposite side

News headlines 63 headlines

Language model

71% match0 opposite.

Word list

52% match2 opposite.

Social posts 72 posts

Language model

76% match0 opposite.

Word list

44% match6 opposite.

Video comments 71 comments

Language model

72% match2 opposite.

Word list

54% match12 opposite.

A coding agent labeled each one positive, neutral or negative toward one named player, not a human panel. One step off means a neutral rating where the label picked a side, or the reverse. The headline set leaves out the half used to tune the word list.

Fan and media tone are kept separate from performance metrics and Movement Center evidence. The privacy page lists what is kept from each source.

Players

266 players for 2026-27. 264 have at least one measured lane. Filtering topic scoring.

How this works

Trend compares the last 7 days of headline tone with the 7 days before. It stays blank until both weeks have enough headlines. DRBL/100 is last season's.


LeBron James	PHI	54%Fans	53%Headlines	−3	98	+0.2
Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIA	54%Fans	69%Headlines	—	60	+1.9
Luka Doncic	LAL	56%Fans	60%Headlines	−10	57	+1.1
Jalen Duren	DET	55%Fans	80%Headlines	+64	51	+2.0
Karl-Anthony Towns	NYK	53%Fans	38%Headlines	−7	46	+0.3
Stephen Curry	GSW	60%Fans	58%Headlines	−4	43	+1.2
Jaylen Brown	PHI	61%Fans	65%Headlines	+35	33	-0.1
Austin Reaves	LAL	57%Fans	55%Headlines	−26	29	+0.4
Joel Embiid	PHI	56%Fans	53%Headlines	−18	26	+0.2
Ariel Hukporti	PHI	52%Fans	9%Headlines	—	24	-0.7
Victor Wembanyama	SAS	57%Fans	52%Headlines	—	20	+1.7
Draymond Green	GSW	46%Fans	43%Headlines	−24	19	-1.7
Walker Kessler	LAL	62%Fans	52%Headlines	—	18	—
Brandon Boston Jr.	CHI	57%Fans	62%Headlines	—	17	—
Bronny James	LAL	54%Fans	66%Headlines	−1	17	-0.9
Kawhi Leonard	TOR	51%Fans	44%Headlines	+3	16	+2.4
Dalton Knecht	LAL	61%Fans	22%Headlines	—	15	+0.1
Jimmy Butler III	GSW	51%Fans	52%Headlines	−8	15	+1.6
Ben Simmons	SAC	53%Fans	56%Headlines	+17	14	—
Tyrese Maxey	PHI	60%Fans	70%Headlines	—	14	+1.3
Anthony Edwards	MIN	63%Fans	55%Headlines	—	13	+1.4
Jordan Hawkins	MEM	55%Fans	38%Headlines	—	13	-1.1
Kevin Durant	HOU	56%Fans	49%Headlines	—	12	+1.2
Josh Hart	NYK	53%Fans	50%Headlines	—	11	+0.0
LaMelo Ball	MIN	59%Fans	85%Headlines	—	11	-0.0
Brandin Podziemski	GSW	56%Fans	85%Headlines	—	10	+0.1
Bub Carrington	WAS	48%Fans	35%Headlines	—	10	-1.5
Cooper Flagg	DAL	67%Fans	76%Headlines	−5	10	+0.3
Jayson Tatum	BOS	60%Fans	83%Headlines	—	10	-0.3
Klay Thompson	MIA	66%Fans	78%Headlines	—	10	+0.1
Nikola Jokic	DEN	64%Fans	63%Headlines	−9	10	+1.4
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	OKC	55%Fans	55%Headlines	—	10	+2.8
Ja Morant	POR	65%Fans	56%Headlines	—	9	-1.2
Matisse Thybulle	LAL	67%Fans	57%Headlines	—	9	+1.5
Darius Garland	LAC	57%Fans	53%Headlines	—	8	-0.3
Keshon Gilbert	ATL	—	50%Headlines	—	8	—
Tobias Harris	SAS	54%Fans	14%Headlines	—	8	+0.8
4432173	—	69%Fans	56%Headlines	+4	7	—
Adou Thiero	LAL	64%Fans	81%Headlines	—	7	—
Rui Hachimura	LAC	65%Fans	76%Headlines	—	7	+0.3
VJ Edgecombe	PHI	61%Fans	88%Headlines	—	7	0.0
Ziaire Williams	LAL	71%Fans	88%Headlines	—	7	+0.9
Bam Adebayo	MIA	58%Fans	67%Headlines	—	6	+0.0
Buddy Hield	CHI	62%Fans	70%Headlines	+7	6	-0.2
Damian Lillard	POR	56%Fans	52%Headlines	—	6	—
Khaman Maluach	PHX	71%Fans	74%Headlines	—	6	-0.3
Kyrie Irving	DAL	64%Fans	63%Headlines	—	6	—
Nikola Jovic	MIA	69%Fans	50%Headlines	—	6	-1.7
OG Anunoby	NYK	58%Fans	73%Headlines	—	6	+1.0
Tyler Herro	MIL	53%Fans	18%Headlines	—	6	+0.7
De'Anthony Melton	GSW	59%Fans	80%Headlines	—	5	+0.1
DeMar DeRozan	DEN	57%Fans	71%Headlines	—	5	+0.2
Donovan Mitchell	CLE	52%Fans	84%Headlines	—	5	+1.4
Jalen Brunson	NYK	59%Fans	53%Headlines	−39	5	+0.6
Trae Young	WAS	56%Fans	30%Headlines	—	5	-0.2
Amen Thompson	HOU	60%Fans	61%Headlines	—	4	+0.4
Bobby Portis	MIA	63%Fans	75%Headlines	—	4	+0.5
Collin Sexton	LAL	59%Fans	31%Headlines	—	4	+0.7
Dean Wade	PHI	57%Fans	88%Headlines	——	4	+0.5
Jamal Shead	TOR	75%Fans	100%Headlines	—	4	-0.7
John Collins	DET	56%Fans	25%Headlines	—	4	+0.6
Julius Randle	BKN	54%Fans	73%Headlines	—	4	-0.0
Kyle Kuzma	MIL	51%Fans	5%Headlines	—	4	-0.5
Miles McBride	NYK	43%Fans	50%Headlines	—	4	+1.1
RJ Barrett	TOR	60%Fans	26%Headlines	—	4	+0.2
Ryan Nembhard	DEN	86%Fans	72%Headlines	—	4	-1.6
Scottie Barnes	TOR	45%Fans	71%Headlines	—	4	+0.0
Zion Williamson	NOP	51%Fans	25%Headlines	—	4	+1.3
Devin Booker	PHX	55%Fans	84%Headlines	—	3	-0.0
Dylan Harper	SAS	58%Fans	16%Headlines	—	3	+0.3
Jake LaRavia	LAL	59%Fans	67%Headlines	—	3	-0.3
James Harden	CLE	55%Fans	56%Headlines	—	3	+0.0
Jarred Vanderbilt	LAL	47%Fans	45%Headlines	—	3	-0.7
Jaylon Tyson	CLE	55%Fans	46%Headlines	—	3	+0.3
Kel'el Ware	MIL	73%Fans	64%Headlines	—	3	+0.8
Matas Buzelis	CHI	66%Fans	59%Headlines	—	3	-0.0
Myles Turner	MIL	55%Fans	84%Headlines	—	3	+0.0
Naz Reid	CHA	75%Fans	61%Headlines	—	3	+0.2
Payton Pritchard	BOS	68%Fans	67%Headlines	—	3	+0.7
Rudy Gobert	MIN	53%Fans	88%Headlines	—	3	+0.5
Tim Hardaway Jr.	MIA	55%Fans	67%Headlines	—	3	+0.8
Tyrese Haliburton	IND	56%Fans	80%Headlines	−11	3	—
Aaron Gordon	DEN	71%Fans	—	——	—	+0.8
Ace Bailey	UTA	60%Fans	—	——	—	-0.8
Adem Bona	PHI	62%Fans	—	——	—	-0.5
Alex Sarr	WAS	66%Fans	—	——	—	-0.3
Alperen Sengun	HOU	65%Fans	61%Curated	——	—	-0.4
Andre Drummond	NYK	61%Fans	—	——	—	-0.4
Anfernee Simons	PHI	56%Fans	—	——	—	+0.0
Antonio Reeves	MIN	64%Fans	—	——	—	—
Ausar Thompson	DET	64%Fans	—	——	—	+0.3
Blake Hinson	UTA	68%Fans	—	——	—	+1.6
Blake Wesley	LAC	56%Fans	—	——	—	-0.8
Brandon Ingram	LAC	45%Fans	—	——	—	-0.0
Brook Lopez	LAC	69%Fans	—	——	—	-0.3
Cade Cunningham	DET	61%Fans	54%Curated	——	—	+0.1
Caleb Love	PHI	69%Fans	—	——	—	-0.7
Cedric Coward	MEM	69%Fans	—	——	—	+0.1
Charles Bassey	GSW	75%Fans	—	——	—	—
Chet Holmgren	OKC	51%Fans	56%Curated	——	—	+1.1
Chris Manon	LAL	72%Fans	—	——	—	—
Christian Braun	DEN	65%Fans	—	——	—	+0.1
Collin Gillespie	PHX	51%Fans	—	——	—	+0.3
Corey Kispert	ATL	67%Fans	—	——	—	-0.1
Daniel Gafford	DAL	77%Fans	—	——	—	+1.1
Daniss Jenkins	DET	70%Fans	—	——	—	-0.4
DaRon Holmes II	DEN	56%Fans	—	——	—	—
Davion Mitchell	MIA	51%Fans	—	——	—	-0.4
Devin Vassell	SAS	69%Fans	—	——	—	+0.5
Dominick Barlow	PHI	48%Fans	—	——	—	-0.1
Duncan Robinson	DET	53%Fans	—	——	—	+0.7
Dylan Cardwell	SAC	65%Fans	—	——	—	+0.5
Dyson Daniels	ATL	60%Fans	—	——	—	-0.1
Gary Payton II	GSW	69%Fans	—	——	—	+0.8
Gary Trent Jr.	MIL	50%Fans	—	——	—	-0.5
Isaiah Stewart	MEM	59%Fans	—	——	—	+0.3
Ivica Zubac	IND	68%Fans	—	——	—	-0.2
Jabari Walker	PHI	71%Fans	—	——	—	-0.1
Jaden McDaniels	MIN	67%Fans	—	——	—	+0.3
Jaime Jaquez Jr.	MIL	63%Fans	—	——	—	-0.5
Jakob Poeltl	TOR	57%Fans	—	——	—	+0.5
Jalen Green	PHX	54%Fans	—	——	—	-0.5
Jalen Suggs	ORL	70%Fans	—	——	—	-0.1
Jamal Murray	DEN	55%Fans	—	——	—	+0.7
James Wiseman	NYK	67%Fans	—	——	—	—
Jaren Jackson Jr.	UTA	33%Curated	41%Curated	——	—	+0.7
Javon Small	MEM	60%Fans	—	——	—	+0.4
Jaylen Clark	MIN	53%Fans	—	——	—	+0.3
Jeremiah Fears	NOP	70%Fans	—	——	—	-0.7
Joan Beringer	MIN	61%Fans	—	——	—	+0.2
Jonathan Kuminga	MIN	68%Fans	—	——	—	-0.3
Jordan Poole	NOP	52%Fans	—	——	—	-0.8
Josh Giddey	CHI	62%Fans	—	——	—	-1.0
Jrue Holiday	POR	61%Fans	—	——	—	+0.4
Justin Edwards	PHI	60%Fans	—	——	—	+0.2
Kevin Huerter	DET	36%Fans	—	——	—	-0.2
Kevin Porter Jr.	MIL	57%Fans	—	——	—	-0.0
Kevon Looney	LAL	63%Fans	—	——	—	-0.3
Khris Middleton	WAS	65%Fans	—	——	—	-1.1
Lauri Markkanen	UTA	56%Fans	—	——	—	+1.8
Luke Kennard	PHX	44%Fans	—	——	—	+0.9
Marcus Smart	HOU	68%Fans	—	——	—	-0.3
Marvin Bagley III	DEN	63%Fans	—	——	—	+0.8
Miles Bridges	PHX	57%Fans	—	——	—	+0.2
Mitchell Robinson	BOS	62%Fans	—	——	—	+0.9
Neemias Queta	BOS	64%Fans	—	——	—	+1.2
Nickeil Alexander-Walker	ATL	63%Fans	—	——	—	+0.8
Ousmane Dieng	MIL	59%Fans	—	——	—	-1.6
Pacome Dadiet	NYK	30%Fans	—	——	—	—
Paolo Banchero	ORL	60%Fans	63%Curated	——	—	-0.4
Pascal Siakam	IND	61%Fans	41%Curated	——	—	+0.4
Pelle Larsson	MIA	65%Fans	—	——	—	-0.2
Quentin Grimes	LAL	67%Fans	—	——	—	-0.3
Rasheer Fleming	PHX	52%Fans	—	——	—	+0.1
Rayan Rupert	PHI	53%Fans	—	——	—	-0.9
RayJ Dennis	ATL	59%Fans	—	——	—	—
Ryan Rollins	MIL	55%Fans	—	——	—	+0.2
Sandro Mamukelashvili	LAL	62%Fans	—	——	—	+1.1
Scotty Pippen Jr.	MEM	64%Fans	—	——	—	—
Taurean Prince	DET	65%Fans	—	——	—	+0.1
Terrence Shannon Jr.	MIN	52%Fans	—	——	—	-0.4
Tre Johnson	WAS	56%Fans	—	——	—	-0.9
Ty Jerome	MEM	85%Fans	—	——	—	+0.6
Tyler Kolek	NYK	62%Fans	—	——	—	-0.5
Tyus Jones	DEN	91%Fans	—	——	—	-0.8
Will Riley	WAS	61%Fans	—	——	—	-0.3
Yves Missi	NOP	83%Fans	—	——	—	-0.5
Zaccharie Risacher	DAL	65%Fans	—	——	—	-0.2

Showing 168 of 266 players. Trend is in percentage points on the 0–100% scale.