Who was the most overrated player in NBA History

[Shanemansj13]

Why would Pippen be overrated? He never declared himself to be a superstar player. In fact he's stated multiple times that he owes pretty much all of his success to MJ.

You dont have to he a superstar to be overrated.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Well I'm having a tough time following. Are we saying the most overrated player, or one that didn't live up to the hype. While it can be the same, I think those are two separate categories.

Most overrated player: Allen Iverson.

I say this being a huge Iverson fan too. But he got a lot more love than he deserved because of his flashy play. But in the grand scheme of things, he was a highly inefficient player. He was a small guard who was a high volume shooter. People reference his lack of supporting cast, but if I knock Westbrook for being inefficient with a minimal supporting cast, I have to be at least consistent here and say the same about Iverson. He wasn't great defensively and gambled way too much. His steals numbers were always good, but he left himself out of position a lot of times because of his gambling.

Didn't live up to hype: OJ Mayo

Could have gone any of number of directions here, but I'm going with Mayo here. I didn't want to list complete busts because those are too easy. I also didn't want to list a player who was hampered by injury. I wanted to have a player who had a decent length career, but just never excelled to what he was projected to be. Mayo fits that for me. He was the top high school prospect in the country. He was a top collegiate player too and just kind of derailed his own career to an extent. He was decent, but no where near his selection spot at #3, when Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love were drafted immediately after him. (If you look back that 2008 draft was actually pretty deep for quality players).

You know who AI sounds like....RW

 

[Shanemansj13]

Russell has such a high defensive PER rating it almost laps the guy in second place.
No player or coach who watched, played or coached for or against Russell would call him overrated.
The Celtics failed to win The NBA championship 2 times in Russell's 13 seasons, he was injured both years.
He also won titles in both his jr and sr seasons at The University Of San Francisco, the only titles in their history.
So he won 13 titles total, every year he was relatively healthy over a 15 season period.
Not that he didn't win injured either, he was hobbled when he brought The Celtics back to beat L.A. late in his career.

When you play with 6 HOF'rs and play in an 8-team league it will make you look damn good. Vastly overrated, no doubt about it

 

[BallsOfFurry]

When you play with 6 HOF'rs and play in an 8-team league it will make you look damn good. Vastly overrated, no doubt about it

Nonsense. Russell willed The Celtics to a title at 35 without those HOFers, who likely wouldn't have been HOFers without him. He beat a Lakers team with 3 top 20 all time players.
Russell would be my choice to start a franchise with.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

Moses Malone has to be up near the top of the list.

Wow, have some of you kept up with The NBA for more than a few years ?
MM was un-guardable in the low post and the best rebounder in the league.

 

[Wamu]

When you play with 6 HOF'rs and play in an 8-team league it will make you look damn good. Vastly overrated, no doubt about it

His 11 rings say otherwise.

 

[trojanfan12]

When you play with 6 HOF'rs and play in an 8-team league it will make you look damn good. Vastly overrated, no doubt about it

Overrated? No, not now that he is no longer in the GOAT conversation.

A product of the era he played in? Definitely.

Russell would have been good in any era. There's no question he was talented and would be, at the least, a very good player in any era. However, there is no way he puts up the numbers he did or wins as many championships in any era since.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

Overrated? No, not now that he is no longer in the GOAT conversation.

A product of the era he played in? Definitely.

Russell would have been good in any era. There's no question he was talented and would be, at the least, a very good player in any era. However, there is no way he puts up the numbers he did or wins as many championships in any era since.

His 2 college titles prove what a winner he was. Boston had never won a title before he came aboard and The University Of San Francisco never did before him and hasn't since.
I don't know how many titles he'd win in today's game, I don't know how many HRs Ruth would hit in today's game either.

 

[Clayton]

In recent years it HAS to be Dwight Howard. Yes he took Orlando to the finals one year, but that was the Eastern Conference when the conference had absolutely zero teams.

His finals trip was based on two factors if I remember correctly:

1) KG getting hurt
2) Magic getting ridiculous 3pt shooting from guys who faded after that run

Howard is pretty universally mocked after he left the Lakers. I think he is properly rated.

If we are putting Howard in this conversation then we need to start looking at other people like Melo.

 

[trojanfan12]

His 2 college titles prove what a winner he was. Boston had never won a title before he came aboard and The University Of San Francisco never did before him and hasn't since.
I don't know how many titles he'd win in today's game, I don't know how many HRs Ruth would hit in today's game either.

His college titles were in the same era as his NBA titles. His numbers are a product of the era he played in. There's no way he duplicates those in any era since that one.

That's not to say that he wouldn't still be very good to great in any era since. After all, he'd still have the same advances in training, nutrition, etc. but the overall talent in the league has grown in every era since.

In a way, it's like comparing MLB greats before and after Jackie Robinson. The great players from pre-Jackie Robinson would still be very good to great players, but the added talent in every era since then, would likely cause their numbers to come down a bit.

 

[Clayton]

I don't know how many titles he'd win in today's game, I don't know how many HRs Ruth would hit in today's game either.

Its really difficult to make those comparisons. Obvious Russell would have to change his game up completely in today's game to be dominant but I tend to believe that the greats from the past would adapt to the current climate and even alter the current climate. It would just look different from how they did it in the past.

Greats from the past simply didnt have to try as hard on the court but probably had a variety of other issues off the court/field. Life was different.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

His college titles were in the same era as his NBA titles. His numbers are a product of the era he played in. There's no way he duplicates those in any era since that one.

That's not to say that he wouldn't still be very good to great in any era since. After all, he'd still have the same advances in training, nutrition, etc. but the overall talent in the league has grown in every era since.

In a way, it's like comparing MLB greats before and after Jackie Robinson. The great players from pre-Jackie Robinson would still be very good to great players, but the added talent in every era since then, would likely cause their numbers to come down a bit.

Russell would be great today or any other era. He was 6'11'' with a 7'5'' wingspan, he was extremely quick, fast, agile and smart. He is still the only player in history to be able to consistently control blocked shots, he used amazing timing, presence of mind and dexterity to tap the ball to a teammate, to himself or even down court to start a fast break. He has Gretzky like separation between himself and the 2nd place player in defensive rating.
He's still the player I would choose to start a team with.

 

[SJ76]

Pippen's overrated? 8 time all NBA defense first teamer. Only 4 guys have more.


Game 5 - 1991 Finals

Sorry @trojanfan12

 

[BallsOfFurry]

Its really difficult to make those comparisons. Obvious Russell would have to change his game up completely in today's game to be dominant but I tend to believe that the greats from the past would adapt to the current climate and even alter the current climate. It would just look different from how they did it in the past.

Greats from the past simply didnt have to try as hard on the court but probably had a variety of other issues off the court/field. Life was different.

Why would Russell have to change his game up ? watch highlights, he played an all court fast break game.

 

[SJ76]

AI might have been the baddest bball player ever under 6' next to Isiah Thomas. Led the league 4 times in scoring. He was a machine and had no fear taking the ball to rim while getting hammered in an era that wasn't soft like today.

 

[trojanfan12]

Russell would be great today or any other era. He was 6'11'' with a 7'5'' wingspan, he was extremely quick, fast, agile and smart. He is still the only player in history to be able to consistently control blocked shots, he used amazing timing, presence of mind and dexterity to tap the ball to a teammate, to himself or even down court to start a fast break. He has Gretzky like separation between himself and the 2nd place player in defensive rating.
He's still the player I would choose to start a team with.

A.) He was 6'9" and would be a power forward in any subsequent era, not a center.

and

B.) You are clearly incapable of understanding the difference in the level of talent between his era and subsequent eras.

 

[Clayton]

Why would Russell have to change his game up ? watch highlights, he played an all court fast break game.

I'm starting to think you're an alt for Bill Simmons. I feel like you've quoted him word for word on this thread.

For starters, he'd have to put on some weight or else he'd be call Bill Russoft or something like that. He'd have to get his FT% up or else he'd be a hack a Bill target on days he gets cold. Might need to work on his shooting a small bit, too.

I think he'd be fine. He wouldn't be the first player I'd build a team with or anything but he could definitely be a dominant player.

 

[trojanfan12]

Pippen's overrated? 8 time all NBA defense first teamer. Only 4 guys have more.


Game 5 - 1991 Finals

Sorry @trojanfan12

I said Pippen is overrated?

 

[SJ76]

I said Pippen is overrated?

No I apologized for Pippen's game 5 in 1991 or at least bringing it up.

 

[trojanfan12]

No I was apologized for Pippen's game 5 in 1991 or at least bringing it up.

Oh yeah....THAT. lol