The Internet Reacts to Kobe Bryant Being Ranked 93rd-Best Player in NBA by ESPN

There are 30 basketball teams in the NBA.

Each team can have as many as 13 guys dressed and 15 under contract.

Utilizing some highly scientific, journalism school-level math I picked up a while back, I can calculate that there are a lot of dudes in the Association—around 450 or so, depending on how many NBA D-Leaguers the Knicks sign into existence this season.

Of this 450, ESPN ranked Kobe Bryant No. 93 in its annual NBA player ranking.

This puts Bryant in the top quarter of all NBA players, which is pretty good! All things considered!

But as with all Kobe things, there can be no middle ground. You either think he's an insufferable egoist approaching athletic senility, or you think he's the last surviving Spartan at Thermopylae. 

As such, it is hallowed basketball tradition for both sides of this coin to don Twitter armor and mock one another whenever the Black Mamba's greatness is questioned—and ESPN's arbitrary ranking provided more than enough impetus for a throwdown on Wednesday.

Let's start with the Kobe jokes. There were some pretty good ones:

There were also some surprisingly good Kobe defenses:

"

#NBArank really thinks there are 92 players in the league better than Kobe Bryant ???? I need to see credentials ASAP

— Julian Norfleet (@Jfleet23) October 7, 2015"

Honestly, I don't really care either way. I'm just glad Kobe is still around basketball—specifically in the vicinity of Nick Young. They were meant for each other.

Ah...the finest odd couple.

Dan is on Twitter. He'll mourn Kobe leaving the NBA for so many reasons.