Sports Illustrated ranks Kobe Bryant #24 in NBA

As if he needed more motivation, Kobe Bryant has found more fuel for his fire. Sports Illustrated ranked the top 100 players in the league, and Bryant was revealed in today’s 30-21 unveiling, coming in at #24.

Their summary on him:

"If … If … If. That’s the first and last word when it comes to Bryant, who is coming back from an Achilles injury that ended his 2012-13 season a week before the playoffs and a knee injury that cut his 2013-14 season short after just six nondescript games."

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While last year it felt like disrespect to rank Bryant so low, this year it feels more accurate. Unfortunately, the other three ahead of him in the top 25 – Derrick Rose, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving – have a good case to be ranked above Bryant.

Only Rose has question marks, especially considering he’s missed more games in the last two years than Bryant, but his performance in the FIBA World Cup has given Bulls fans reason for encouragement.

We’ll have to look at the rest of the top 20 to see if there are any erroneous inclusions over Bryant. However, until he proves he can come back to a level near what he was two seasons ago, he’ll have the question marks.

What do you think? Is this a fair ranking of Bryant? Let us know down below!

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