Kevin Durant Responds to ESPN Ranking Him As Eighth Best In The NBA
Before last season, NBA MVP Kevin Durant said in an interview that he was “tired of being second” behind LeBron James. Well, for now he doesn’t have to worry about being second, at least according to ESPN.
Nearly two weeks ago Durant suffered a fracture in his right foot that will cause him to miss between six and eight weeks of NBA action, if not longer. Because of the injury, ESPN decided to drop Durant, who was ranked second, six spots in their 2014-2015 NBA player rankings.
If healthy, Kevin Durant would have been #NBArank No. 2, with a near-perfect rating of 9.94. http://t.co/CKsDq5kMpl
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 24, 2014
ESPN’s NBA player rankings has caused quite a bit of controversy, especially among the players. Kobe Bryant called ESPN “a bunch of idiots” for his low ranking.
While Durant didn’t lash-out as hard as Bryant did, he did post a tweet in response to the ESPN ranking saying “My selfie game been on point and my jumper ain’t never goin nowhere, it’s here for life. I’m shooting both at the moment.” Durant later deleted the tweet.
ESPN explained Durant’s ranking.
“When it comes to title chances, MVP races and #NBArank, injuries hurt. That’s what KD and his fans are finding out for the first time in his career after his October 16 surgery for a Jones fracture in his right foot. Instead of shooting jumpers, he’s shooting selfies.”
In September, before Durant’s injury, ESPN predicted the upcoming season’s performance for each individual player on a 10-point scale. Durant received a score of 9.94 out of 10, and ranked second in the NBA behind LeBron James. Post-injury, Durant’s score has dropped to a 8.84 out of 10.
ESPN.com’s Michael Wallace gave Durant a score of 9 out of 10 post injury. He explained his score.
“Before this foot injury, Durant rivaled LeBron as the only player in the league who probably deserved a perfect rating without much debate. But expectations must be adjusted, albeit slightly, because Durant will need time to literally regain his dominant footing. Michael Jordan missed 64 games his second season to a broken foot. He got back to being MJ quickly, but it wasn’t overnight. Expect Durant to follow a similar course.”
FiveThirtyEight.com’s Neil Paine gave Durant a 6 out of 10. His score is explained below.
“Durant rated as 9 for me before his injury (LeBron James was the only 10 I gave out), and that was under the assumption he’d play something like 80 games and 3,000 minutes. Now, ESPN’s fantasy projections call for him to play only 50 games and about 1,900 minutes. In terms of “Real Plus-Minus Wins Above Replacement,” that means he’ll generate only about 60 percent of the value he would have had he played the full season. If the replacement level for #NBArank is a rating somewhere between 2 and 3, and Durant is losing 40 percent of his value above that level, it drops him to 6.”
So far ESPN has released their player rankings through number 6, and as of right now Kevin Durant is ranked behind Kevin Love and Stephen Curry.
[Image via USA Today, quotes via ESPN.com]
