Kent Bazemore has ‘499’ on inside of his shoe to remind him of ESPN ranking
Last summer, ESPN ranked NBA players from No. 500 to No. 1 based on ratings from 104 experts who work for various websites, publications and other media outlets. Unsurprisingly, they came up with LeBron James at No. 1. The bottom of the list included a number of players the average fan has probably never heard of.
One of those players is Kent Bazemore, who played in 61 games for the Golden State Warriors last year and averaged 2.0 points in 4.4 minutes per game. The 24-year-old forward is still trying to make a name for himself, which is why ESPN’s “experts” ranked him No. 499 on their list of 500 names. As Bazemore showed during the Summer League (via @cjzero), he had “499” stitched on the inside of his sneaker as motivation.
Ball Don’t Lie pointed out that the NBA has only 450 available roster spots, so Bazemore was probably offended that ESPN ranked him lower than some players who aren’t even in the league. He is averaging 18.4 points per game in the Summer League, so the youngster is getting an opportunity to showcase his skills. If he becomes more of a contributor next season, the Warriors can thank ESPN.
