Kobe Bryant was ranked by ESPN as the 40th-best player in the NBA, but the Los Angeles Lakers superstar said that he is not bothered by the ranking at all.

Bryant played down the talks about being ranked No. 40, mocking the media members who contributed to the yearly rankings, while also insisting that he will not bother to use it as a motivation in the upcoming 2014-15 NBA season.

"I've known for a long time they're a bunch of idiots," Bryant said of ESPN media members via Los Angeles Daily News on Friday. "I tend to use things as motivation that tend to be in the realm of reality."

Bryant also blasted ESPN last year when he was named as the 25th-best player in the league, calling the ranking "silly" and "laughable" because he doesn't know how the media members ranked the players.

The 36-year-old superstar, who will be entering his 19th season in league, dropped 15 spots this year after coming off a disappointing year with the Lakers.

Bryant sustained a left knee fracture last season just in his sixth game coming off a long recovery from an Achilles tendon surgery. In six games, Bryant average 13.8 points to go along with 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.

The 16-time All-Star, who will be playing in what could be his final two years in a Lakers uniform, said that he is only concerned about being healthy and winning next season and not about what his critics are saying about him.

"All jokes aside, it really doesn't bother me too much. I'm going to do what I do regardless," Bryant said. "I'm going to do what I do regardless. If I wind up proving people wrong in the process, that'll just wind up being collateral damage."

Lakers coach Byron Scott also reacted to Bryant's rankings, saying that he is convinced that his superstar should have been ranked higher based from what he is seeing from the 18-year veteran in practice.

"I've got a different opinion of him," Scott said via ESPN Los Angeles. "I think everybody in the league respects the hell out of him. There's no doubt about that. I just look at it and I kind of smirk. Like I said, I see him every day practicing. I see how hard he works and I see how where he's coming from to this particular point after the injury, and I know he's going to get stronger. I think he'll have the last laugh."

For the latest sports news, follow Latin Post Sports on Twitter.

FOR MORE NBA UPDATES, TRADE AND FREE AGENCY NEWS, CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VISIT LATIN POST.COM'S SPORTS PAGE.

Related