There's a lot of young, tremendous talent in the NBA, and it's no small task to rank all of the players that fit into that category. Nikola Jokic and Zach LaVine recently departed from the group, but that only makes the responsibility of putting every other candidate in order marginally easier. Because as soon as those players graduate and turn 26, a new wave of names featuring LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton comes in and immediately demands our consideration, whether or not any players in that new crop ultimately make the cut.
So, when attempting to rank the 25 best players under 25 in the NBA, ESPN's Bobby Marks had some work to do. No matter how good his list was, there was always going to be some contention from the rabid fan bases around the association — just think about the fact that we'll never have an actual answer to the Michael Jordan-LeBron James GOAT debate for as long as we live.
However, there are some guys that we can almost unanimously agree upon in terms of their positioning near the top of the list. Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, Zion Williamson... these are no-brainer top-ten names. And to many, Jayson Tatum is, too. However, for Marks, this wasn't the case when he settled upon his personal ranking of No. 13 for Tatum.
About two weeks later, though, Marks says he regrets that decision. He joined the "Audacy NBA Show" to discuss his reasoning, his regret and the relentless fans who didn't exactly love the list.
"We put together that list that went basically off the charts a week ago, that 25-under-25 list that we got crucified [for] internally, let's say, by other people within the mothership of ESPN, and that's a story for another day," Marks said, referring to a certain colleague that didn't take too kindly to his own outlet's list.
"You know, Jayson Tatum does not get his due, and I had Jayson Tatum on there lower than he should have been," Marks said. "When I look back on it, it was a total mistake, because I did not put into the equation the COVID factor... I knew he had COVID and he struggled and he's admitted struggle during that thing.
"A year ago, I had Tatum No. 2 in the 25-under-25 prospects. This year, at 12 (according to NESN, he was at No. 13). I got crucified — you know Boston people — to the point where I had to turn my direct messages off because there was, like, death threats."
Uhh... that seems to be taking just a tad too far. Marks had some less vicious (and perhaps unknowing) critics as well.
"I'm watching the game on Saturday night, Golden State game, and I got my 12-year-old sitting next to me," Marks said. "And he says to me, 'Daddy... I don't think Jayson Tatum is appreciated enough,' and I said to him, 'You know what, I think you're right, I don't think we do appreciate Jayson Tatum.' "
Father knows best... sometimes. But in this case, a little reality check from the son can't hurt. Listen to the full episode with Marks below!
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