The Great Debate: The NBA Rankings

Let the great debate begin.

In anticipation of the 2012-2013 NBA season, ESPN.com and the TrueHoop Network recently concluded its annual top 500 player ranking. A panel of 104 experts rated each athlete on a zero to 10 scale, in terms of the “current quality of each player,” and ranked them in numerical order based on their average rating.

As expected, some of the panelist rankings might surprise you. Some of their rankings are debatable while others are relatively spot-on. But, when ESPN revealed who they deem to be the top 10 players in the NBA this week –with LeBron James sitting at the summit of the list followed in order by Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Love, Dwayne Wade, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams– it sent shockwaves throughout the Internet and  Life + Times chimes in on the conversation and dishes our two cents on basketball’s most controversial list.

The Black Mamba Slips

Say what you want about Kobe Bryant’s age and his inconsistency in London this summer, but the 34-year-old veteran is still one of the best –if not one of the most feared– competitors in basketball. Although, the Black Mamba is up one spot from last season’s #7 rank, Kobe is still a top five player in the NBA. If his numbers had decreased over the past few seasons, ESPN would have every reason to place him where they did, but the five-time NBA champion averaged 27.9 points, 4.6 assists and 5.4 rebounds in his 16th season, coming a point shy of the leagues scoring title. To place Bryant’s newly acquired teammate Dwight Howard three spots ahead of him, when he hasn’t put on for the Lake Show yet, is premature. Kobe deserves more respect for his entire body of work.