Kobe Bryant no longer the top shooting guard in the league according to NBA general managers

Kobe Bryant has been ranked the second-best shooting guard in the NBA in an anonymous survey of all 30 general managers released by NBA.com. It’s the first time in 12 years that someone other than Kobe has been named the best shooting guard in the NBA.

Pay per head services suspect that Kobe Bryant’s “1225” Twitter avatar is a reference to ESPN rating the Lakers the 12th-best team in the Western Conference and Kobe the 25th-best player in the NBA.

A majority of the general managers (56.7%) picked James Harden as the top shooting guard in the NBA, followed by Kobe Bryant (20%). It’s the first time in 12 years that someone other than Kobe has been named the best shooting guard in the NBA.

The general managers did recognize Bryant, who is recovering from a torn Achilles’ tendon, as the league’s toughest player.

Predictably, the general managers picked the Heat (75.9%) to win a third consecutive title and LeBron James (69%) to win his third straight MVP award. The Clippers (89.7%) were predicted to win the Pacific Division, with the Warriors (10.3%) coming in second.

Chris Paul was picked the top point guard (70%), best passer (46.7%) and was rated as having the highest basketball IQ (33.3%).

Chauncey Billups (32.1%) of the Pistons was picked the active player who would make the best head coach someday. Chris Paul finished second with 17.9% of the vote.

Gregg Popovich was selected the league’s top coach (75.9%), with Doc Rivers (10.3%) coming in second.

Dwight Howard was picked as the league’s best center (65.5%) and interior defender (46.7%).