Mike D’Antoni responds to Kobe Bryant being ranked 2nd best in poll

League executives voted Kobe Bryant as the second-best shooting guard in the league, according to a survey of the team’s 30 general managers.

Let’s just say Lakers Coach Mike D’Antoni sees things differently.

“He’s probably the second-best with a torn Achilles,” he said.

Even though this is the first time in the poll’s 12-year history that Bryant wasn’t voted as the top player in the league at his position (Houston’s James Harden was voted the best shooting guard), D’Antoni said the slip has nothing to do with Bryant’s age.

“You know how good he played last year, my gosh, nobody plays better than him,” D’Antoni said of the 35-year-old superstar. “You never know what’s behind their thinking but I’m sure that those 30 execs would get him in a second.”

Bryant has recently appeared to use other slights as motivation.

He changed his Twitter avatar to “1225” after ESPN ranked the Lakers as 12th-best team in the Western Conference and Bryant the 25th-best player in the NBA.

Could this be just another slight to add to the bulletin board?

“You know what, I don’t think he went berserk because he’s motivated enough anyway,” D’Antoni said. “It does not matter. This guy is dedicated for Lakers fans, for himself, for us as a team.”

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