Kobe Bryant: I Don’t Need to Defend ‘Silly’ Ranking

Early in the second half of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 105-97 preseason loss to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, a fan shouted from the stands at longtime star guard Kobe Bryant: “You ain’t no 93!”

Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and the third all-time leading scorer in NBA history, laughed when asked whether he’d heard such comments from fans defending him (about ESPN’s NBA rank on him).

“Yeah, I heard a couple of them,” he said with a smile after scoring 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting in nearly 22 minutes. “I don’t need to defend that [ranking]. Nobody does, really.”Pressed on what he thought of the ranking, Bryant said, “Please don’t ask me about silly stuff like that.”

Source: Baxter Holmes of ESPN