The ESPN 2023 rankings have lit a fire under some players. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane both have made their disapproval of the rankings known publicly. The ranks did have some snubs and were all in all controversial. The rankings saw established stars such as Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant take a back seat to the likes of Luka Doncic. Grizzlies Reporter Drew Hill shared his statement on social media.
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Another player that fell in the rankings was none other than Ja Morant. Ja reacted to multiple tweets as a way of showing his opinion on the matter. Jaren Jackson mocked ESPN for their ranks, eluding to the fact that LeBron James was ranked too low even though he made it into the top 10.
Jaren Jackson Jr. and teammates voice disgust for ESPN ratings
Jaren Jackson Jr. proved himself last year when the young star bagged himself the Defensive Player of The Year. ESPN didn’t seem too interested in all that, as they ranked 30 players in front of Jackson.
An account on Twitter by the name of Drew Hill would later report that Jackson didn’t have a specific reaction to the list. The Twitter user would go on to quote Jackson calling the rankings, “Clickbait rankings“.
Jaren Jackson Jr. said he has no reaction to ESPN’s rankings. He called it “clickbait rankings” and said they usually put LeBron James at No. 100.
— Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) October 11, 2023
Jackson would go on to justify his stance by pointing towards LeBron James’ rating. James, who has year after year carried his teams to the finals, was ranked 9th on the list. This was an unusual fall from his previous position which was 6th.
Jaren took shots at ESPN, reportedly saying, “They got LeBron James at no. 100.” Jacksons’ teammate Desmond Bane who was ranked 61st on the list had something to say. Desmond was quoted saying, “That don’t pay the bills“.
Desmond Bane on the rankings: “That don’t pay the bills.” https://t.co/98ZCCCuHAM
— Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) October 11, 2023
Ja Morant has unlimited fuel
Ja Morant has been having a tough time. The Grizzlies high flyer even recently got snubbed from ESPN’s top 10 ranks, despite leading Grizzlies to the playoffs for the last three years.
ESPN ranked Ja Morant as the 9th best player last season
They now have him ranked No. 35 for this season 🤯 pic.twitter.com/sWd9M6oLiB
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 11, 2023
Ja even responded to a tweet about his rankings with a laughing face emoji. Morant, who is currently out due to breach of league rules for a firearms case, will have to wait to prove the critics wrong. With many believing Morant to be the new face of the league, there is a need for more performance from him both on and off the court
