in response to espn rank

 I don’t think its outrageous that Steph is rated higher than Paul- he’s much younger and has already had much more postseason success, and has just as much oppurtunity as Paul to dominate this season. Kobe has been injured for the better part of 3 years, theres no way you rate him high anymore, the most critical ability a player can have is availability as they say. It isn’t a lifetime achievement list, its a rating for this coming season. 

 I don’t think its outrageous that Steph is rated higher than Paul- he’s much younger and has already had much more postseason success, and has just as much oppurtunity as Paul to dominate this season. Kobe has been injured for the better part of 3 years, theres no way you rate him high anymore, the most critical ability a player can have is availability as they say. It isn’t a lifetime achievement list, its a rating for this coming season. 

I’ll take Curry over Chris Paul.

I’ll take Curry over Chris Paul.

 When Kobe is healthy and playing within a team concept, he is definitely better than the 93rd best player in the NBA, even at this stage of his career. The problem is that this is a rating system based on projected value this season. Based on the past few seasons, its hard to genuinely predict Kobe will remain healthy and productive for an entire season. I am a huge Kobe fan and I hope he outplays this ranking, but ultimately I can’t really say I have a major problem with it at this point.

Gay at 70 seems kind of ridiculously low. I know he has kind of a bad rap as a selfish player and underachiever, but when you look at his production over the past few seasons (albeit on mostly bad teams) I think it’s pretty hard to say there are 69 players in the league who will be better this season. I think he’s kind of one of those guys who has been considered overrated for so long that’s hes actually somewhat underrated. If he played on a better team I think he would be much more appreciated.

 When Kobe is healthy and playing within a team concept, he is definitely better than the 93rd best player in the NBA, even at this stage of his career. The problem is that this is a rating system based on projected value this season. Based on the past few seasons, its hard to genuinely predict Kobe will remain healthy and productive for an entire season. I am a huge Kobe fan and I hope he outplays this ranking, but ultimately I can’t really say I have a major problem with it at this point.

Gay at 70 seems kind of ridiculously low. I know he has kind of a bad rap as a selfish player and underachiever, but when you look at his production over the past few seasons (albeit on mostly bad teams) I think it’s pretty hard to say there are 69 players in the league who will be better this season. I think he’s kind of one of those guys who has been considered overrated for so long that’s hes actually somewhat underrated. If he played on a better team I think he would be much more appreciated.

 Draymond Green being 19th is one of the biggest issues I have with this year’s rankings.  He’s really good but come on he’s not top 20.  

 Draymond Green being 19th is one of the biggest issues I have with this year’s rankings.  He’s really good but come on he’s not top 20.  

 Kobe and Dr. J are so underrated. They should both be top 5.

Sure, they’re both geriatric, but come on! We’re talking about Kobe and Dr. J!!!

When Kobe and Dr. J are healthy, only LeBron is better.

Dr J probably signs with the Nets for old times sake, if he can get healthy this year.

 Kobe and Dr. J are so underrated. They should both be top 5.

Sure, they’re both geriatric, but come on! We’re talking about Kobe and Dr. J!!!

When Kobe and Dr. J are healthy, only LeBron is better.

Dr J probably signs with the Nets for old times sake, if he can get healthy this year.

 Kobe saw Janis Joplin and the Doors in person, back before his hearing aids made the noise of live concerts unbearable.

 Kobe saw Janis Joplin and the Doors in person, back before his hearing aids made the noise of live concerts unbearable.

 & the top 25 lists are pretty much the same… As far as former Super Stars, they are always dropping & younger guys are always moving up… The list is really just content to create some interest & give people talking points which creates traffic for the site…

 & it’s all in good fun… This is what guys do – we furiously debate who the top 5 or top 10 are All Time until we foam at the mouth over a guy being #3 or #6 on a list in a conversation… & that’s the whole point, the content makes us emotional b/c we all have our favorites & that keeps coming back to the sites… What is Really interesting is going back 5 or 10 or 15 years ago & looking up who the Top 10 in the MVP voting was…

 For example, 5 years ago Lebron finished #1 over Durant at #2 but #3 through 10 where (in order) Kobe, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo, Dirk, Steve Nash & Deron Williams rounded out the Top 10 in O-10’… If you jump back 10 years from there Allen Iverson finished #1 followed by Timmy Duncan, Shaq Diesel, Chris Webber, Kevin Garnette, Tracy McGrady, Karl Malone, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant & Vince Carter & Ray Allen rounded it out by tieing for 10th place… just 5 years earlier Iverson, Garnette, Kobe, Duncan & Webber were just entering the League… 5 or 6 years from now all the guys Drafted from 2010 thru 2015 will be jostling for position at the Top… It goes by fast & it’s so exciting to think about what Legends will be made in the coming years…

When I was younger I would always debate old heads & it would make me crazy that they Always believed the Older legends were better & I’m sure I made them crazy… Now that I’m a bit older, I have a bit more perspective & value different attributes more & others less… So I wouldn’t get too upset about it, just enjoy the chance to talk about the Sport that we are passionate about & I have definitely benefitted from listening more to the opinions of others as I have gotten older… (that’s not directed at you, just speaking for myself)… After a good back & forth w/ some of the guys on this site, I have actually changed my mind on some topics…

 & the top 25 lists are pretty much the same… As far as former Super Stars, they are always dropping & younger guys are always moving up… The list is really just content to create some interest & give people talking points which creates traffic for the site…

 & it’s all in good fun… This is what guys do – we furiously debate who the top 5 or top 10 are All Time until we foam at the mouth over a guy being #3 or #6 on a list in a conversation… & that’s the whole point, the content makes us emotional b/c we all have our favorites & that keeps coming back to the sites… What is Really interesting is going back 5 or 10 or 15 years ago & looking up who the Top 10 in the MVP voting was…

 For example, 5 years ago Lebron finished #1 over Durant at #2 but #3 through 10 where (in order) Kobe, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo, Dirk, Steve Nash & Deron Williams rounded out the Top 10 in O-10’… If you jump back 10 years from there Allen Iverson finished #1 followed by Timmy Duncan, Shaq Diesel, Chris Webber, Kevin Garnette, Tracy McGrady, Karl Malone, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant & Vince Carter & Ray Allen rounded it out by tieing for 10th place… just 5 years earlier Iverson, Garnette, Kobe, Duncan & Webber were just entering the League… 5 or 6 years from now all the guys Drafted from 2010 thru 2015 will be jostling for position at the Top… It goes by fast & it’s so exciting to think about what Legends will be made in the coming years…

When I was younger I would always debate old heads & it would make me crazy that they Always believed the Older legends were better & I’m sure I made them crazy… Now that I’m a bit older, I have a bit more perspective & value different attributes more & others less… So I wouldn’t get too upset about it, just enjoy the chance to talk about the Sport that we are passionate about & I have definitely benefitted from listening more to the opinions of others as I have gotten older… (that’s not directed at you, just speaking for myself)… After a good back & forth w/ some of the guys on this site, I have actually changed my mind on some topics…

Kawhi Leonard being ranked 8th was a disaster…He’s never even been an all-star, yet he’s top 10? Yeah right.

More like 18th best 

Kawhi Leonard being ranked 8th was a disaster…He’s never even been an all-star, yet he’s top 10? Yeah right.

More like 18th best 

Espn is trash, really. It’s all about making noise and nothing else anymore.

i don’t care anymore about what they say. I see that there is a lot of advanced metrics in todays NBA and all that stuff but and that this ranking has nothing to do with what a player like Kobe has done before and all that but like I already said it’s all about making noise and to make up stories where are no stories with ‘their sources’. If you really want to read good anylyses and stories go somewhere else. 

And by the way what does a ranking like this mean in the end? 

Same with the GM survey the league has every year. They are asking the same GMs who half of them don’t get their own teams going who is going to be good this year. This lists don’t mean nothing at all.

Espn is trash, really. It’s all about making noise and nothing else anymore.

i don’t care anymore about what they say. I see that there is a lot of advanced metrics in todays NBA and all that stuff but and that this ranking has nothing to do with what a player like Kobe has done before and all that but like I already said it’s all about making noise and to make up stories where are no stories with ‘their sources’. If you really want to read good anylyses and stories go somewhere else. 

And by the way what does a ranking like this mean in the end? 

Same with the GM survey the league has every year. They are asking the same GMs who half of them don’t get their own teams going who is going to be good this year. This lists don’t mean nothing at all.

Apparently winning a championship somehow adds fantasy value, which is absurd. Draymond Green is way overrated, and so is Klay Thompson. I forgot about my fantasy draft last night and missed the first couple of picks, it autopicked Klay Thompson for me at pick 13. Klay is NOT and never will be top 13 player in the league, he’d be lucky to be top 30. Blake Griffin was taken at the 14th slot behind my autopick, a superior player both in reality and fantasy.

On top of that there were at least 30 legit starters & role players that were not even ranked at all, they were down at the bottom in the 400-500s and had no 2016 predictions. Dafuq ESPN?

Apparently winning a championship somehow adds fantasy value, which is absurd. Draymond Green is way overrated, and so is Klay Thompson. I forgot about my fantasy draft last night and missed the first couple of picks, it autopicked Klay Thompson for me at pick 13. Klay is NOT and never will be top 13 player in the league, he’d be lucky to be top 30. Blake Griffin was taken at the 14th slot behind my autopick, a superior player both in reality and fantasy.

On top of that there were at least 30 legit starters & role players that were not even ranked at all, they were down at the bottom in the 400-500s and had no 2016 predictions. Dafuq ESPN?

When you comparing 2 players for a spot.   For example, "Anthony Davis is better than LeBron"  How?  He played in his first NBA playoffs and got swept.   Against a team that LeBron was close to beating without any legit help. 

Then you have to see what a player does with little to no help compared to other players with the same or more.   IMO Russell Westbrook is the best PG in the NBA right now.  The ability to have so many consecutive triple doubles in an iso offense and consistently doubled teamed?  Wow…   Curry was able to get shut down in some of the Finals games and his teammates picked up the slack.   CP3 doesn’t get enough flack for the Clippers failures.   Westbrook without KD didn’t have a second option to rely on and STILL almost made it to the playoffs in the west. 

So, the rankings is all about the individual.  So, how can we have so many teammates above other players that have no help?  How is Draymond Green, Klay, and Steph all above Melo?   Can any of these players carry a dysfunctional team to the playoffs in the East by themselves?   So, how are they better? By a LONG SHOT?

ESPN is a joke and do things for clicks. 

When you comparing 2 players for a spot.   For example, "Anthony Davis is better than LeBron"  How?  He played in his first NBA playoffs and got swept.   Against a team that LeBron was close to beating without any legit help. 

Then you have to see what a player does with little to no help compared to other players with the same or more.   IMO Russell Westbrook is the best PG in the NBA right now.  The ability to have so many consecutive triple doubles in an iso offense and consistently doubled teamed?  Wow…   Curry was able to get shut down in some of the Finals games and his teammates picked up the slack.   CP3 doesn’t get enough flack for the Clippers failures.   Westbrook without KD didn’t have a second option to rely on and STILL almost made it to the playoffs in the west. 

So, the rankings is all about the individual.  So, how can we have so many teammates above other players that have no help?  How is Draymond Green, Klay, and Steph all above Melo?   Can any of these players carry a dysfunctional team to the playoffs in the East by themselves?   So, how are they better? By a LONG SHOT?

ESPN is a joke and do things for clicks.