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Twitter engineers are fearing for the technical integrity of the social media platform once again, with NBA fans from every corner going at it following ESPN's release of its top 100 rankings ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season. Arguably the most controversial part of the rankings is Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins being placed a notch higher than Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving.
Andrew Wiggins is ranked no. 32 overall, while Kyrie Irving is at no. 33. Kyrie Irving supporters have taken their frustrations to Twitter over the perceived low ranking of the Nets star, with Andrew Wiggins being the main target of their collective frustration. They simply couldn't seem to wrap their minds around the idea of Wiggins topping Irving on the list.
https://twitter.com/CookedByT/status/1572365979975585798
Team accomplishments have nothing to do with who’s better individually. If you switched Kyrie & Wiggins the Warriors would’ve swept every team easily
— Brandon (@Bugz216) September 21, 2022
Jesus…even ESPN has Middleton and Wiggins over Kyrie lmao. Everything about ESPN ranking players is a joke.
— Romen Richardson (@romenrue_13) September 21, 2022
The fact some Warriors fans think Andrew Wiggins is better than Kyrie Irving is hilarious.
— Brooklyn Netcast (@BrooklynNetcast) September 20, 2022
Andrew Wiggins supporters, meanwhile, are quick to shield the Warriors' star from the stray bullets he's been getting from angry Kyrie Irving fans.
Andrew Wiggins was the 2nd best player on a team that won a championship … he beat the Celtics
Kyrie was the 2nd best player on a team that got swept in the first round . They lost to the Celtics
Andrew Wiggins plays games
Kyrie goes to birthday parties https://t.co/2A0CnEnmSk
— 27 (@27woorld) September 20, 2022
https://twitter.com/big_business_/status/1572395892354985984
I think it's more like – I'd rather have Wiggins on this Warriors team than Kyrie.
This list probably took into account off-court drama/game accessibility/reliability.
Kyrie still comfortably Top 15-20 if he has a normal and healthy season. https://t.co/nVNhe6qDsA
— Manu 🙏🏽😴 (@manu_1323) September 21, 2022
Anyone who watched Andrew Wiggins against the Celtics compared to Kyrie Irving against the Celtics in the playoffs they’d all say Andrew Wiggins was a much bigger threat to Boston https://t.co/4xyxdzaasg
— Green Machine (@Greenmachine17_) September 20, 2022
Both Andrew Wiggins and Kyrie Irving have strong cases of their own against the other, but perhaps ESPN felt that it should value more the former's heavier playing time in the 2021-22 NBA season. Wiggins has become a revelation for the Warriors, playing and fitting excellently alongside Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson while helping the Warriors win the NBA championship. Irving, on the other hand, is clearly a talented player with proven capabilities, but he played just 29 games last season. The rankings would have looked much different had Irving played more than 50 games in the 2021-22 NBA campaign and/or the Warriors failed to win the NBA title.
In any case, ESPN's top 100 rankings have just offered even more interesting subplots for the NBA in the coming season.
