Welcome back to our NBA Star Power Index -- a weekly gauge of the players who are most controlling the buzz around the league. Reminder: Inclusion on this list isn't necessarily a good thing. It simply means that you're capturing the NBA world's attention. Also, this is not a ranking. The players listed are in no particular order as it pertains to the buzz they're generating. This column will run every week for the rest of the season. 

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LeBron James
LAL • SF • #23
PPG26.3
APG8.7
SPG1.6
3P/G1.686
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You can't be serious with the Cavs right now. I mean, playing possum through the regular season is one thing, but this is getting embarrassing. Cleveland was up 21 on the Magic on Tuesday, and eventually lost by 18. In basically one half they were on the wrong side of a 38-point swing. Against the Magic. If this team makes the NBA Finals, the entire Eastern Conference ought to be relegated to the G League. 

After the game, LeBron was asked if he would consider waiving his no-trade clause to escape this dumpster fire, and he had this to say:

I owe it to my teammates to finish out ... this season. 

Yeah, he gone. 

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Blake Griffin
BOS • PF • #91
PPG22.4
RPG8.1
BPG.3
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The Pistons are 3-0 with Griffin in uniform with a really impressive 20-point win over Portland on Monday, and if you've watched even little bit of any of those games, the energy he's brought to that team is obvious. It's been a long time since Detroit has had a guy who can single-handedly collapse defenses and draw consistent double-teams, which Griffin is doing. They're putting him at the top a lot and just letting him go downhill either off a pick and roll or isolation. This game-sealing three he found Ish Smith for against Miami shows the attention he's drawing and the way he's been looking to use that to get everyone involved. 

That is one of the 18 assists Griffin has so far in Detroit entering Wednesday, and there is no surer way to ingratiate yourself with a new team than to get into a giving mood. 

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Andre Drummond
CHI • C • #3
PPG15.0
RPG15.4
BPG1.5
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As long as we're talking Pistons, let's give some much-deserved love to Drummond, who was rewarded with an All-Star slot after Kevin Love went down with a broken hand but should've been on the team all along. Drummond's past three games: 54 points, 52 rebounds, eight blocks and eight steals. Is it any wonder he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week? 

With Griffin now initiating offense and serving in the pick and roll more often, Drummond is free to roam near the basket where he belongs. Detroit fans could get used to seeing this connection:

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Russell Westbrook
LAC • PG
PPG25.4
APG10.3
SPG2.0
3P/G1.333
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The Thunder snapped a four-game skid by putting a 20-point beating on the Warriors on Tuesday night, and Westbrook was a monster with 34 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, and even that line doesn't do justice to the stress he was putting on the Golden State defense. Dude was so amped to put Kevin Durant six feet into the ground when he saw the lane open up that his feet came completely out from under him:

I think I speak for everyone on Earth when I say I would've given anything for Russ to go up for that dunk on K.D. He was either going to break the rim or Durant was going to come up with the block of a lifetime. Russ, of course, had the petal on the floor all game, scoring 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the first quarter alone, including this hammer. 

To close out the game, Draymond Green was tossed, and Russ waved goodbye to him from the bench. He has venom in his heart for every opponent, but especially the Warriors. Watching him trying to remove their collective soul with his bare hands this season, and typically succeeding, has been a gift to the world. 

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Paul George
LAC • SF • #13
PPG21.7
APG3.0
SPG2.2
3P/G3.137
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It is absolutely unfair to keep calling George the Robin to Westbrook's Batman. Both these dudes are superheroes, and now that George has figured out how to play with superstar swagger while still allowing Russ to control the ball for the most part is what makes this OKC team really dangerous. Plus, he's right there with Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler as the three best two-way players in the league. George had six steals against Golden State on Tuesday.

Oh, and he also had 38 points on 6 of 11 from three. His tight handle and pull-up game off the dribble is poetry. 

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Kristaps Porzingis
BOS • PF • #8
PPG22.9
RPG6.7
BPG2.4
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The rash of major injuries hitting NBA stars continued on Tuesday as Porzingis tore his left ACL after dunking on Giannis Antetouknmpo. 

Porzingis will obviously miss the rest of the season and probably won't be ready for the start of next season, though a timetable for his return will become clear after surgery. Either way, what a blow for the Knicks, who just can't seem to catch a break. Not that we should feel terribly sorry for them; they've made most of their own bad luck. But this is a gut shot. If any good could come out of this, perhaps it's that the Knicks season can officially get flushed rather than just circling the drain and maybe they end up with a top-3 draft pick. 

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Giannis Antetokounmpo
MIL • PF • #34
PPG28.0
RPG10.4
BPG1.3
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Giannis was not in favor of the Bucks firing Jason Kidd, but he's certainly not going to complain about the way his squad has been playing under interim coach Joe Prunty, who has the Bucks playing a more simplified style on both ends -- which is to say less trapping and frantic play on the defensive side, and more "give it to Giannis with shooters around him and let him go to work" on the offensive side. The Bucks are 7-1 since Kidd was let go. 

Indeed, Giannis' isolation possessions are up significantly under Prunty, because pretty simply, there isn't a player in the league who can stop Giannis one on one. Look at the game-winner Giannis put on the Nets, spinning from the free-throw line and still getting all the way to the rim:

You just can't defend that kind of length. You have to bring help. As a result, guys like Khris Middleton, Jabari Parker and Eric Bledsoe are going to get a ton of open looks. Plus, if all else fails, Giannis can always just leap tall buildings. 

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James Harden
LAC • SG • #1
PPG31.2
APG9.1
SPG1.8
3P/G4.023
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Barring something completely unforeseen over the final few months of the season, Harden, who was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the wakening ending Feb. 4 after putting up that ridiculous 60-point triple-double, is going to win the MVP, and it's going to be well deserved. He's been the best player in the league all season, period, and this just in: He hasn't been too shabby for his career, either, as he joined the 15,000-point club on Tuesday -- when he hung 36 on the Nets. 

Question: When everyone talks about who has the best handles in the league, why doesn't anyone ever talk about Harden along with Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry? Harden's handles are mesmerizing. Chris Paul, too, for that matter. Let's get this figured out. Those dudes got the ball on a string. 

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Joel Embiid
PHI • C • #21
PPG23.6
RPG11.0
BPG1.8
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The Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl on Sunday, and Joel Embiid, who is fast becoming Philly's favorite son (well, other than Nick Foles), was right in the middle of it all. 

On the court, Embiid makes all the difference for Philly, which is 24-17 with him playing and 2-8 without him. Embiid put up 27 points and 12 boards on Tuesday as the Sixers ended the Wizards' five-game win streak, then after he lobbied for Ben Simmons to be Porzingis' injury replacement on the All-Star team. These two together make Philly a dangerous team to face in the first round if it can find a way to get into the playoffs.