Fans from the NBA community are always of two minds. So when ESPN recently released its Top 74 basketball players of all-time, a Twitter war was inevitable. Especially when Kobe Bryant and his game credibility was on the line.

ESPN places Kobe Bryant 9th in ‘Top 74 Basketball Players of All Time’ list

ESPN recently released a list in parts. It includes the top 74 basketball players of all time, according to its NBA ranking expert panel.

Even though the rankings have sparked more criticism for ESPN than debate, it seems the sports media network wanted to spark controversy.

Ranking Kobe Bryant in the 9th place did not end up well for them. As if to salt the wounds, they did not even mention Kobe in their disclaimer cum introduction. What makes things worse is that it has LeBron James but not the Mamba.

“LeBron James or Michael Jordan? Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain? Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant? Old school or new school?

“These debates rage on endlessly in every corner of NBA fandom, and our experts have done their best to answer them, ranking the greatest players in the league’s 74-year history,” ESPN writes.

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NBA players and fans react to ESPN’s injustice towards Kobe Bryant

The community is not about to listen to any excuses. Especially the players and reporters.

Free Agent Nick Young played alongside Kobe Bryant from 2013 to 2017. The ranking absolutely enraged him. The 34-year-old shooting guard felt it was unfair that when talking Kobe was always in the top 3, but when it came to ranking, the list pushed him far down the ladder.

Skip Bayless, an American news reporter, revealed that he was appalled that

LeBron James was ranked ahead of Kobe. He also revealed that he would discuss how wrong the rankings are on the upcoming episode of his show, Undisputed.

Bayless sure kept his word. He went on to really grill LeBron and give various reasons why he didn’t deserve his ranking.

Free-agent Jamal Crawford, who last played for the Phoenix Suns, denied the authenticity of any list that did not have Bryant in the top 5.

New York Knicks centre Julius Randle agreed.

Bryan Crawford, producer of the WJTV and contributing writer for HoopMag, believed that ESPN has a vendetta against Kobe.

Fan Reactions

Further, fan pages were enraged too. The majority sided against ESPN. From tweets about how absurd the ranking is, to arresting ESPN, the fans wished it all.

Stay tuned for our very own EssentiallySports rankings of the Top 10 Basketball Players of All Time.