Espo: For Suns #NBARank Is Meaningless

Suns guard Devin Booker posed the best question I’ve seen all week.

“We still care about rankings nowadays?? I thought that was high school?”

The last few days in NBA circles have been dominated by talk and passionate debate about ESPN and Sports Illustrated’s different NBA top 100 rankings. But, to Booker’s point, why?

Sure, it’s September and we’re still two weeks away from any meaningful news but should we really care at all about random rankings generated by two companies with the sole purpose of stirring up controversy to generate pageviews? ESPN created a ranking that was obviously flawed. A piece of content they knew would stir irrational anger from fans starved for something to talk about. They then proceeded to debate said list on each show that had two or more talking heads and ripped it to shreds. Coincidence? I think not.

ESPN knew exactly what they were doing and fans, players and even media not on their payroll took the bait.

The last seemingly frivolous ranking that actually meant something was the one Mark Zuckerberg created based on coed’s looks at Harvard and that is only because it turned into Facebook. ESPN and SI’s rankings won’t have any impact other than to waste time.

In an attempt to make light of the absurdity of the entire exercise, at least I think it was to make light of it, the Trail Blazer’s CJ McCollum and the Suns Jared Dudley said they want to start an NBA journalist ranking. I for one, embrace this idea the way Chandler Bing embraced sarcasm.

In this business people take themselves far too seriously. I’ll be the first to make fun of myself and my opinions. You’re reading because you want some entertainment or you’re a glutton for punishment. Nothing more and nothing less. Too many in the business forget that and think somehow they’re the end all be all. That they’re important simply for sharing an opinion. We’re not. If we were, we’d be working in NBA front offices running teams or coaching. Not typing on a keyboard.

That’s what makes Dudley and McCallum’s idea so great. The great part about the internet is that athletes can cut out the middleman — us, the media — and go directly to fans. They can produce their own content and share their unfiltered message. They can own their own brand rather than relying on others to do it.

A players’ ranking of the journalists that cover them and their ability to “make up sources” would show the true ridiculousness of these rankings and internet fodder. It would also take some egos down a notch in the process as well.

Simply put, these athletes are regular guys trying to do their best in a very public profession. Who cares where they rank on a list?

Aren’t we past this high school crap already?