DeMar DeRozan and 5 other NBA players who hate opinions

Whether it be rankings or ratings, these NBA players let us know how they really feel

If you ask the purest of sports purists, professional athletes are measured by wins and championships. Secondary to that, players are measured by individual statistics and awards. And of tertiary importance, they are measured by arbitrary lists compiled by an incessant sports media community.

Shocking to nobody, sometimes athletes express differences of opinion with their placement (or non-placement) on said lists. And instead of relying on just local beat reporters to prompt those opinions from players, we also have social media, namely Twitter, as a forum for instantaneous, knee-jerk reactions.

Raptors All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan is the most recent example, as the newly re-signed vet took to Twitter on Thursday (Sept. 15) to express displeasure with his spot (46) on Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 NBA players of 2017.

(For those who don’t know what FOH means, DeMar is telling Sports Illustrated to get out of here, and he is not asking kindly. DeRozan followed with another tweet, where he simply wrote #ProveEm…)

DeRozan may have a legit beef, being ranked behind several non-All-Stars (Steven Adams comes to mind) and players who are legitimately past their prime (Dwight Howard, Andre Iguodala). The two-time All-Star is one of the best shooting guards in the league but is criticized for his long-range shooting and poor defense.

Still, haters gonna hate. Here are five other instances when NBA players were not all too pleased with a subjective list ranking or, better yet, a computer geek, data-driven video game rating.

5. Rudy Gay

Rudy Gay profiles as a player that doesn’t get a ton of respect. Some of that has to do with teams giving up on him, as he has played for three different franchises during his 10-year NBA career. It also has to do with Gay never really living up to his true potential as an all-around talent, which has resulted in zero All-Star game appearances.

Nonetheless, Gay has made steady improvements over his career, which may be why he scoffed at ranking 70^th on ESPN’s 2015 NBA Player Rankings (#NBArank) in 2015, after appearing at 51 the prior season. The 19-spot drop came despite Gay averaging career highs in points and assists during the 2014-15 regular reason.

While upset with the ranking, at least Gay killed it with his response on Twitter. (Any time you can refer to Smokey from Friday is a win for the entire internet.)

Was the ranking justified: In a word, no. Gay is talented enough that he should rank ahead of glorified role players like DeMarre Carroll and Andrew Bogut, but the stink of the Kings is simply too hard to rub off when list season comes around. For a team with so much supposed talent (i.e., DeMarcus Cousins), one would think they’d start winning more games.

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