The 75 greatest players in NBA history, ranked by Player Efficiency Rating (PER)

28.    Kobe Bryant-22.90

Many Los Angeles Lakers fans, and Kobe Bryant fans in general, are probably revolted at him being only 28th on this list. However, this is based on PER and while he put up fantastic numbers over his iconic 20-year NBA career, he wasn't quite as efficient of a scorer as other players from his era on his list.

His 55% career true shooting was only average or slightly above-average for that 20-year span, with Kobe opting to take tough contested twos, which weighed down his shooting percentage. Had he shot closer to Paul Pierce's 56.8 TS%, Kobe would have easily cracked the top-25 and possibly the top-20.

Of course, Kobe is streets ahead of Pierce and many of the players that are ahead of him in terms of PER. His career averages of 25 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists prove that he was as productive or more productive than just about any player in league history.

And while he had the reputation of being a ball hog and did have a 31.2 usage rate, he only averaged 3 turnovers per game for his career. That is relatively low, showing that he took care of the ball and with nearly a combined 30 points and assists per game, he was clearly often the Lakers best option.