ESPN recently released five more players in their quest to rank nearly all NBA players. And somehow, Los Angeles Lakers G Kobe Bryant was ranked 40th.
Bryant, who possesses five championship rings and an MVP award, wasn’t very happy about it. And that’s understandable, after seeing Goran Dragic, Klay Thompson, Andre Drummond and Andre Igoudala all ranked ahead of him.
So Kobe weighed in about it. And he called out the ESPN Forecast panelists, saying ESPN’s employees are “a bunch of idiots.”
Kobe Bryant on being No. 40 in ESPN’s #NBARank: “I’ve for a long time they’re a bunch of idiots.”
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) October 17, 2014
More Kobe on ESPN rank: “I tend to use things as motivation that tend to be in realm of reality.”
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) October 17, 2014
KB: “And if I wind up proving a lot of people wrong in the process, that will just wind up being collateral damage.”
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) October 17, 2014
Bryant looked a bit better than the league’s “40th best” player in Thursday night’s preseason game against the Jazz. The Lakers got blown out, 119-86, but Kobe turned in an efficient performance. He scored 27 points on 23 field goal attempts, and looks to be returning to form after recovering from a knee injury which caused him to miss all but six games last season.
ESPN attempted to explain the rationale behind their ranking on SportsCenter, saying “Bryant’s health [was] a major factor in the dip in his player ranking.”
Bryant was ranked 25th heading into last season.
[Twitter: @BaxterHolmes]