Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant on Friday changed his Twitter profile photo to "1225" and speculations are abound as to the reason behind the sudden avatar change.
But as Brett Pollakoff of NBC Sports.com speculates, the avatar change was fueled by the recent ESPN ranking of all players in the league where Bryant, one of the greatest players of all-time, was dropped to a shocking 25th spot after placing 12 in last year's list.
ESPN's ranking of Bryant was met with criticisms from many fans around the world, who argued that the list disrespected Kobe's game. Those who criticized the list were quick to point out that other emerging stars like John Wall, Joakim Noah and Roy Hibbert were placed ahead of Kobe. While it must be stressed that almost all sports websites and networks come up with their own lists of NBA players, ESPN's ranking still holds value around the league and players like Kobe Bryant take it seriously when they feel disrespected in the rankings.
ESPN has also been not kind to Kobe's team after a group of ESPN experts predicted that the Lakers will finish out of the Western Conference playoffs likely due to the uncertainty of Kobe's health and the ages of other key players like Pau Gasol and Steve Nash.
But the ultra-competitive Bryant will surely use the low rankings as a motivation for him to come back strong and lead the Lakers deep into the playoffs. This is why Pollakoff speculates that the avatar change is Bryant's way of motivating himself to make liars out of so-called experts.
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