I always felt that Rick Barry was the most underrated player of all time. He averaged around 35ppg one year; he won MVP (along with a championship) once in the 70s; he was a terrific shooter, passer, and rebounder. And he had the 90% career freethrow shooting percentage. He was very unpopular around the league and even with his own teammates, and I think that hurt his legacy. He might have won more MVPs too, but because players voted for MVP back then and he was so unpopular, he only won it once. A lot of people describe him as "Bird before Bird," and I think that's accurate. If he had the benefit of the 3-point shot, he might have averaged 30ppg for his career.
i havent payed much attention to the old ages of basketball but theres plenty of guys who are underated.... but i can give this years most underated player.... Theo Ratliff.....who expected him to do so much for his team? leads the league in blocks after seasons of injuries... but i couldnt honestly give a all time most underated player
Domonique ( I think I miss spelled his name ) Wilkins and Clyde Drextler. They are SO underated. Aside for their spectacular dunks, they were two nasty players.
No doubt it was Nique, not make the 50 greatest players says it all right there. He was a scoring machine, we all know he never won a championship, but Barkley didn't either or Malone and Stockton. I was thinking if there was a thread like this before, I just remember the overrated thread.
I'd have to say a guy like Adrian Dantley, Dantley is as good as Dominique, he just didn't have all the high flying dunks. Dantley averaged over 24 ppg, he averaged over 30 ppg in 4 seasons. His .540 shooting % is the best by a non-center for a career. Dantley is someone who I think deserves a spot in Springfield, but more important a jersey in the Delta Center rafters. Another guy who is underated was Nate Thurmond, while he was playing in the 60's and 70's he was over-shadowed by Russell, Chamberlain, and Abdul-Jabbar. Thurmond was great for the Warriors, one of the reasons the Warriors traded Chamberlain was to make room for Thurmond who was actually averaging over 10 rebounds coming off the bench behind Wilt. Nate finished his career with a 15 ppg and 15 rpg. And also note worthy, he was the first guy to ever get a quadruple-double. Also I would have to say guys like Jerry Sloan, Bernard King, Austin Carr, Tom Chambers, Lenny Wilkens, Alex English, Maurice Cheeks, I could name on and on.
I dont think Scottie Pippen get enuff credit for his part of the Bulls championship run. It was debatable that Scottie was a top 5 ALL-AROUND player during the mid/late 90's in the bulls glory years. But most people just remember him as MJ sidekick. Nique not making the top 50 players of all-time was kinda of crazy. But Bernard King got disrespected not making the list as well.
Wilkins and Drexler I3? Are you guys blind, they aren't under rated. Being known as the "human highlight reel" isn't under-rated. I ate lunch next to Rick Barry a few weeks ago. He lives here in the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. His son plays for the Nuggets so he's always in town. I didn't believe it until I overheard him talking business on the cell.
Bob McAdoo- he won MVP and a couple of titles; very unheard of Mark Maddog Madsen- rebounds, hustles, very unappreciated (joke!)
Bernard King is one of the most underrated IMO.He didn't even make the 50 greatest players list.He was a great shooter and scorer.He scored 30+ ppg in his career once.He has a career average of 50% field goal percentage.But he wasn't just a great shooter.He was a good rebounder too.Not alot of players can do that in these days.A lot of players are underrated.
I tell you...Dominiue wilkins is NOT underated....Nor does he DESERVE to even be MENTIONED in the top 50 greattest players..He was a choker.A flop in the crunch..Never was clutch...Relied on athletisicm no way was he underated..Overated if you ask me!
I don't know about all-time, but currently I would have to say Doug Christie. Whenever people talk about Sacramento they mention Peja, Bibby, Divac, Webber, Miller etc. Very rarely would you hear Christie's name being mentioned. He is an amazing defender. His career average in steals is almost 2 per game and he's great at shutting down the shooting guards. He's also a decent scorer and a good passer. More credit is owed to Christie for Sacramento's success.
Kevin Ollie is underrated, so are Boozer but not the most underrated players in the league, can't really say who's, but I know he's underrated
I would have to agree with Adrian Dantley on that one. I'm too young to have seen him play, but I've just heard about his style of play from my dad who saw him at ND.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">I dont think Scottie Pippen get enuff credit for his part of the Bulls championship run. It was debatable that Scottie was a top 5 ALL-AROUND player during the mid/late 90's in the bulls glory years. But most people just remember him as MJ sidekick. Nique not making the top 50 players of all-time was kinda of crazy. But Bernard King got disrespected not making the list as well.</div> hmm, i always thought IMO that he is one of the greatest top 5 all-around players of all time, not just the 90s.
