Los Angeles Lakers: NBA Rank Once Again Disrespects Kobe Bryant

On Wednesday afternoon, basketball Twitter and daily ESPN shows reacted strongly to the latest revelation from ESPN’s NBA Rank.  The controversial list is only in the Top 20 with releasing their finished product, but the most shocking placement of the entire 500 player list came at No. 25.  That’s right, the five-time champion Kobe Bryant has been ranked No. 25 by the panel of voters from ESPN.

Dropping Bryant a tad bit because of the Achilles uncertainty was one thing, but the NBA Rank has gone too far. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com

What exactly is NBA Rank, you ask?

A panel comprised of 215 members (all specializing in the NBA) are asked to rank each player in the NBA on a scale of 1-10, based on the terms of “How well the player will perform in the upcoming season.”  Each rating is then averaged and a player receives an overall rating.  In this case, Kobe Bryant’s average score was a 7.78, placing him 25th.

The confusion mainly comes from people thinking the panel specifically picked Bryant to be 25th.  That is not how it works.  His average score gave him the ranking, which is STILL absurd and sickening to even write about.

Any basketball fan that is aware of the sport’s history knows how troublesome a torn Achilles tendon is for a player on the professional level.  All-time greats and even current players have experienced the same injury, and the comeback result hasn’t been one bit appealing.  A phenomenal point guard of the ’80s and ’90s, Isiah Thomas, suffered a torn Achilles and was never able to come back to his original form.  He was forced into retirement a month earlier than expected and the Pistons’ run was closed.  Today’s NBA also features veterans that went through this in the past.  Chauncey Billups, regarded as one of the better guards of the modern era, tore his Achilles in February 2012.  His next season with the Clippers, he wasn’t nearly as productive and only played in 22 games.  Elton Brand, who suffered the injury in the 2007-08 season, returned and nearly got back to the same level at which he left, but his best offensive production was still prior to the Achilles tear.

The underlying point here is that people (and voters) are using the injuries of past talents and their comeback success as a measuring stick for Kobe Bryant.  That is not the way to go in this situation.  Bryant is entering his 18th season in the league, already far ahead of the amount of time Michael Jordan put into his professional career.  He continues to make the viewers’ jaws drop by the performances he puts up after accumulating 45,347 regular season minutes.  That doesn’t even include the lengthy playoff journeys or the Olympic runs with Team USA.

Out of all the reasoning analysts try to make for having skepticism about Bryant, there is one indispensable factor in Bryant’s case when it comes to this injury.  When you discuss Isiah Thomas’ injury and how it ended his career, you have to take into account the time periods.  Since 1994, the advancement of medical procedures, surgeries, treatments and knowledge have all escalated profoundly.  In modern sports, we are truly seeing star athletes come back from SERIOUS, career-threatening injuries and perform better than ever.  Whether it be multiple neck procedures (Peyton Manning) or ACL surgery and treatment (Adrian Peterson and Derrick Rose), the manner in which you return rests solely on your rehab techniques and most importantly, determination.   Why can’t the case be the same for an Achilles tendon tear?

For those that aren’t aware, Bryant doesn’t go on family vacations during rehab without his personal trainer alongside him.  He is on record of comparing this injury and the comeback attempt to a “marathon” and not a “full sprint.”  Taking the extra precautions and having the best care available to him around-the-clock is something many athletes may not have done when going through this.  The fact that Bryant flew to Germany to receive knee treatment shows us that he has moved his focus to getting his entire body ready for the year.

Why?  Maybe because his Achilles is feeling completely fine.  And without pain, are we just going to assume he lost all of his incredible skills with the ball during those six months?  The voters must have.

Why does all this matter?

It proves that we need to stop doubting what he can do.  Because each year, he does something that no other player in history has been able to do.  Last season, at age 34, Bryant averaged 27.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.  He became the only person in NBA history to average that amount of points in their 17th season.  For those lovers of field goal percentage, Bryant’s 46.3 percent was his highest since the 2008-09 season, in which he won his fourth championship.  He didn’t take a step back at all last season, but instead proved why veterans should never be overlooked.  The notion that he is becoming “too old” to produce efficiently in the league is going further out the window each year.  This is why the Achilles rehab and return can’t be looked at in the same nature when discussing Bryant’s projected performance in 2013-14.

The 25th overall ranking could only be understandable if he had revealed to the media that he was experiencing any type of setback in his rehab process this offseason.

But, that wasn’t the case at all.

After returning home from getting a special PRP knee treatment in Germany, Bryant told the media at practice last week that he was at “100 percent.”  Yes, it does sound crazy and unbelievable.  He added that he felt “no soreness or tightness” in his repaired Achilles and that he has been given the green light to intensify his workouts to a basketball level, instead of just running at a slower pace on the treadmill.  Therefore, he doesn’t have any fear that he’s going to experience any pain when he gets back out on the floor.

It’s apparent that the voters used a generality of the comeback from an Achilles tear when rating him on a scale of 1-10.  That’s the only logical explanation for placing Roy Hibbert, Joakim Noah, John Wall and Chris Bosh ahead of the two-time Finals MVP.  Nobody is sure as to how Bryant will return.  Will he be able to have the explosiveness to be among the top five scorers along with Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant?  Or will he look similar to Dwyane Wade last season and average in the 20 to 22 points per game range and only have specific shining moments throughout the year?  It’s impossible to forecast, but it goes without saying that you take the high road when it comes to veterans that have worked so hard to earn what they have.

NEWS FLASH

Bryant is only 676 points shy of surpassing Michael Jordan’s 32,292 career points.  This achievement will be Bryant’s sometime this winter and will move him into third all-time in points scored.  If he returns and puts up the same numbers we are accustomed to seeing, there is no doubt he begins to make his case for reaching Jordan’s plateau of greatness.

Wait, I already placed him No. 2 in NBA History due to his competitive edge.  Does that mean he surpasses Chicago’s hero?

The NBA Rank also counted Bryant out last season, labeling him as the sixth-best player due to the aging factor.  Well, lets look at how Bryant responded on the court:

• Last season, Bryant’s win shares statistic (the estimated number of wins contributed by a player) reached 10.9, his highest since the 2008-09 season.
• 38.6 minutes per game in the heat of a playoff chase was what Bryant was called upon to do, something Michael Jordan himself called “ludicrous” at his age.
• Bryant also tied for first in most 40-point games with the scoring champion, Carmelo Anthony.

Kobe Bryant’s place among the all-time greats won’t be affected by this ridiculous NBA Rank, that’s for sure.  His efforts last season with his team being injury-plagued the entire year and not having a true chance to click with Mike D’Antoni‘s system intact, Bryant played better in those circumstances than anyone in the league could have.

Defensively, he let younger guards know that he was on a mission.  Kyrie Irving and Brandon Jennings experienced huge troubles with Bryant hounding them.

Until he retires, Kobe Bryant will only continue to amaze us every year. Photo Credit: (Flickr.com)

If you want to project his production for the 2013-14 season (which begins on Oct. 29), you take into account the competitive drive Bryant has even when the conditions are at its worst.  Anyone that has studied his game or grasped his attitude in the recent years should know that if Bryant didn’t feel like he could come back and put on a show with the best of them (Anthony. Durant, LeBron James, etc.), then he wouldn’t have made the effort and went through the long process of Achilles rehab.  That isn’t the case, and he is ready to respond.

Great job, ESPN NBA Forecast crew.

You’ve fed a monster more motivation than he needed.