Marcus Smart: Better NBA player than Kobe Bryant?

Celtics fans will love this one.  Today, ESPN.com released No. 81-90 of its #NBArank feature.  Boston's second-year point guard Marcus Smart checked in at No. 85:


Yesterday, Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant was given the 93rd spot in the rankings.  Considering the 37-year-old Bryant has played just 41 games in two seasons and shot 37 percent from the floor last year, it's not at all surprising ESPN's panel voted Smart better than him.

If you flipped the two of them and put Kobe on the 2015-16 Celtics instead of Smart, would it make Boston worse?  Almost definitely, unless Bryant miraculously decided to embrace defense in his old age and become a playmaker rather than a scorer.

I'm not sure adding Smart would do much to help the Lakers though--after Bryant, they don't have a single player ranked in the top 92 of ESPN's ratings.  Smart is No. 2 on the Celtics, with Isaiah Thomas still to come.



Follow Mark Vandeusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan
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