National Basketball Association

DeMar DeRozan and 5 other NBA players who hate opinions

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Whether it be rankings or ratings, these NBA players let us know how they really feel

If you ask the purest of sports purists, professional athletes are measured by wins and championships. Secondary to that, players are measured by individual statistics and awards. And of tertiary importance, they are measured by arbitrary lists compiled by an incessant sports media community.

Shocking to nobody, sometimes athletes express differences of opinion with their placement (or non-placement) on said lists. And instead of relying on just local beat reporters to prompt those opinions from players, we also have social media, namely Twitter, as a forum for instantaneous, knee-jerk reactions.

Raptors All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan is the most recent example, as the newly re-signed vet took to Twitter on Thursday (Sept. 15) to express displeasure with his spot (46) on Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 NBA players of 2017.

DeRozan may have a legit beef, being ranked behind several non-All-Stars (Steven Adams comes to mind) and players who are legitimately past their prime (Dwight Howard, Andre Iguodala). The two-time All-Star is one of the best shooting guards in the league but is criticized for his long-range shooting and poor defense.

Still, haters gonna hate. Here are five other instances when NBA players were not all too pleased with a subjective list ranking or, better yet, a computer geek, data-driven video game rating.

Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

5. Rudy Gay

Rudy Gay profiles as a player that doesn’t get a ton of respect. Some of that has to do with teams giving up on him, as he has played for three different franchises during his 10-year NBA career. It also has to do with Gay never really living up to his true potential as an all-around talent, which has resulted in zero All-Star game appearances.

Nonetheless, Gay has made steady improvements over his career, which may be why he scoffed at ranking 70th on ESPN’s 2015 NBA Player Rankings (#NBArank) in 2015, after appearing at 51 the prior season. The 19-spot drop came despite Gay averaging career highs in points and assists during the 2014-15 regular reason.

While upset with the ranking, at least Gay killed it with his response on Twitter. (Any time you can refer to Smokey from Friday is a win for the entire internet.)

70? pic.twitter.com/3YCY7oo75B

— Rudy Gay (@RudyGay8) October 12, 2015

Was the ranking justified: In a word, no. Gay is talented enough that he should rank ahead of glorified role players like DeMarre Carroll and Andrew Bogut, but the stink of the Kings is simply too hard to rub off when list season comes around. For a team with so much supposed talent (i.e., DeMarcus Cousins), one would think they’d start winning more games.

Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

4. Isaiah Thomas

DeRozan wasn’t the only player upset about his 2016 Sports Illustrated ranking. Celtics All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas ranked just one spot ahead at 45 on this year’s list, a good 43-spot boost from last season, but it simply wasn’t enough for the diminutive scoring machine.

For the second time in two years, Thomas took to Twitter and called the rankings a “JOKE.”

Last season he compared Sports Illustrated’s list to those “political rankings” that would come out in high school, whatever that means. Vague analogies aside, Thomas made his first All-Star team last season and led the Celtics into the playoffs on the strength of ranking 11th in the league in scoring (22.2 ppg).

Was the ranking justified: Kind of, yes. Granted, Thomas doesn’t play the “humble card” due to his height and being a second round draft pick. He believes he is more than just a good story and a true star in this league, and probably should have ranked ahead of guys like Nicholas Batum and Serge Ibaka. In the end, though, a 43-spot jump in the rankings is nothing to sneeze at.

Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

3. Pau Gasol

Ok, time for some video game rating debate! It is becoming a big talking point in the conversation of players arguing over how they are perceived. What is more important: Their real-life persona or their virtual persona?

There are honestly more examples of players complaining about their NBA2k (the preferred NBA simulation) rating than their placement on a handful of top lists. One of the greatest cases is the battle of the Gasol brothers in NBA 2K17.

Older brother Pau, who is the cover boy for the game in Spain, notched just one point lower than younger brother Marc, with ratings of 84 and 85, respectively. While Pau said playing second fiddle has “lowered my moral a bit,” he was proud to still sport a solid rating at the age of 36. (38-year-old Dirk Nowitzki is also an 84 this year.)

¡Estamos orgullosos de anunciar a Pau Gasol como atleta de portada de #NBA2K17 en España!#NoEsSoloUnJuego pic.twitter.com/pIfJn5X56k

— 2K España (@2KEspana) August 5, 2016

Next: Mr. Brightside

Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

2. Hassan Whiteside

There are several honorable mentions in the realm of players bitter over their NBA2K ratings. Andrew Wiggins was not feeling his 82 rating and tweeted that he rather play Call of Duty anyway. Knicks teammates Kristaps Porzingis and Brandon Jennings tweeted their thoughts, while Lakers rookie Ivica Zubac is concerned whether he is even in the game this year. (Answer: he is.)

Still the king of NBA2K rating shading is Hassan Whiteside. Due to his highly irregular emergence as an NBA star – playing sparingly for the Kings in his first two seasons, before emerging as a force for the Heat in 2014 following some D-League and international stints – Whiteside has really had to earn his rating.

Being as low as 49 in NBA2K12, Whiteside was a 59 in NBA2k15, which came out just prior to his breakout 2014-15 season. After a monster triple-double in January of 2015, Whiteside said he was simply trying to get his NBA2K rating up.

And that he did. Whiteside was awarded with an in-season jump from 59 to 77, unprecedented stuff in the history of video game rating tinkering. The following season he was boosted up to 81, and he is now an 85 in NBA2K17. My, how far Hassan has come.

Was the rating justified: No, but of no fault of the brain trust at 2K Sports. No one had any idea Whiteside would come out of nowhere to become one of the league’s premier big men, so the in-season bump was all the justification needed.

Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

1. Kobe Bryant

Ok internet, set your cringe triggering to 10.

No player invites more all-out quarreling than Kobe Bryant, whether it’s over his placement among the all-time greats or his year-to-year value as an NBA superstar. The conversation hit DEFCON 1 when ESPN had the audacity to rank the Black Mamba No. 93 on its 2015 yearly list.

Now Kobe didn’t necessarily criticize ESPN for the 2015 list, but he did have a very Kobe response if you are physically capable or reading between the lines.

“I don’t need to defend that [ranking]. Nobody does, really,” Bryant said. “Please don’t ask me about silly stuff like that.”

Of course, when Kobe was asked about his ESPN ranking of 40th in 2014, he responded by calling the company “a bunch of idiots.” So if it wasn’t clear in 2015, it was abundantly clear the previous year what Kobe thought about his declining status on annual lists.

Was the ranking justified: In both cases, 2014 and 2015, probably yes? Kobe became an efficiency nightmare in his final two years, shooting well below 40 percent from the field in both seasons. Injuries and rest also cut out 63 games in those last two years. Still Kobe is Kobe and if he gets honorary All-Star placement, then why not honorary arbitrary list placement? The people want to know.