ESPN Insider Request, NBA's most overrated players [Archive] - Message Board Basketball Forum

Smook A.

10-24-2014, 08:30 PM

Here ya go.

Amin Elhassan: This list is so long. The problem with saying who's the "most overrated" is I'm making an assumption that these are the players whom people hold in the highest regard. So, it might or might not be correct. But I do think there is a culture of deification around Kobe Bryant from fans, and even some younger players.

I'll give you an example: Keith Olbermann was talking about Derek Jeter and said there's a generation of fans -- basically everyone under the age of 35 or so -- this is all they know. When you think about the Yankees winning, you think of Jeter, and they don't know about anyone who came before the early '80s, in the '70s and all the great Yankees of yesteryear. So, I think Bryant, by virtue of being around so long and being a great player throughout his career, that kind of residual affection has lasted way beyond his "expiration date" as a player. And the Los Angeles Lakers? A big reason they are where they are today is because they've never been able to transition Kobe from "this is about me" to "this is about the next generation."

Look at Tim Duncan; that's what sets him apart. He understood at some point that "if I'm going to continue to be the best player of this team, we are limiting the potential of this team. This has to be Tony Parker's team, and I have to be his sidekick." Kobe has never come to grips with that. So when Dwight Howard leaves via free agency, instead of saying "Wow, we're really in trouble in the next couple of years," the Lakers said "good riddance Howard, our savior, our Superman [Kobe] will take us home." I can't think of another player in the league besides Bryant who has that kind of fanatical love and devotion and this belief that he can overcome anything.

Tom Penn: And he does have the highest contract in the league the next two years, the No. 1 contract. As you factor that in.

George Karl: Can we give the most overrated player in the league to last year's NBA draft? I saw those guys play this summer, and I didn't see any superstars or All-Stars ...

(laughter)

Chad Ford: I think when we're talking about overrated, we're just talking about general perception of fans, perhaps. I think we overrate offense a bit with players who can't play defense.

So I think James Harden is a little overrated. I don't think he makes an effort on the defensive end, and I think basketball is played on both ends of the court. And I'll put Kyrie Irving in that group; Irving ranked 35th among point guards in real plus-minus last season. Thirty-fifth. The only point guard who was worse than Kyrie Irving last season was Jose Calderon. And I think if we're talking about the Cavs being a championship-contender team, their point guard is going to have to play some defense. Obviously those are two dynamic offensive players, and when you look at their PER scores and other metrics, they look great, and we know they can put the ball in the basket.

But I'm not ready to anoint Harden or Irving as superstars until they make a passable effort on the defensive end. They don't have to be superstars defensively, but I don't even think there's a passable effort with those two players at the moment.

Penn: For me, it's Harden's teammate, Howard. I get it: He's a prolific defensive player, great individual performer, one of the best centers in the game and his talent is undeniable. But the sequence of behavior and decisions, going back to the first chance to opt out in Orlando then opt back in, then the drama that went with it, the trip to the Lakers, the exit from the Lakers, etc. We're talking perennial first-team All-NBA player, but can you really win with him? Can you really win it all with him as your leader? It's a really big question. He has step up and say, "I want to be the go-to guy down the stretch." But he has a complete inability to shoot free throws or convert from the block. Compare that to a guy like Joakim Noah, who's a completely different player but who's slowly evolved in substance and championship-caliber "oomph" -- he's just got it, right? Noah had it going back to college at Florida. So I think Howard is the one who's got a lot to prove this season.

Karl: Piggybacking off that, in my opinion, the most overrated position in the game of basketball today is the center position. It's also one of the most overpaid positions. Executives have constantly had this mystique that you win championships because of big men. And the big man, over the past five to 10 years, his importance his disintegrated. And the teams who play big guys -- like Howard or Greg Monroe or Tyson Chandler or even if you want to throw in Chris Bosh -- you struggle a little bit trying to find the big man's importance. Even when you're successful, you struggle to figure out, "Is he as important as we pay him to be?" And so I think the most overrated position in the NBA is center, and it's overpaid.

Penn: Who would you say the most overrated center is?

Karl: I mean, you can name them: Howard would be on that list, but, c'mon, you could put a lot of the guys on that list. That list could be like 15 guys. Roy Hibbert. Monroe. It's just a tough position for coaches, I think it's a tough position for executives and I think right now the agents are kicking [butt] and making a lot of money on what happened 10 years ago -- not what's happening in the game of basketball.

Roy Hibbert
Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesRoy Hibbert has had an up-and-down NBA career.

Elhassan: The one thing I'll push back on is the importance of the big man as a defensive anchor. I think a good defensive big man can have a much larger impact than a good defensive wing. He can subsidize poor defenders on his roster. So I think that's why defensive bigs like Chandler, Hibbert, and, even though I think his impact is overstated, Noah -- that's what makes them special, and even Howard as well. It makes them special that they can cover some of the shortcomings of their teammates. But guys like Monroe, I agree with you. He's probably going to get paid a pretty penny next summer because he's 6-foot-11 and scores around 18 PPG. And I'm not particularly sure why that matters.

Karl: You are correct about the defensive center. But all the good defensive centers want to become good offensive centers. They don't want to stay defensive centers; the only guy who wants to stay a defensive center is Noah. I mean, Hibbert, where'd he go? He was a great defensive player two years ago. Where'd he go last year? Howard can be the most dominating defensive center in the game, but is he? The answer is no.

Penn: Kevin, who do the numbers say is the most overrated?

Kevin Pelton: Well, the guy I'm going to single out -- though it's no fault of his own -- is Rajon Rondo. He's coming off the torn ACL he suffered two seasons ago, came back midway through last season and was only a slightly above-average player, statistically, after he got back on the court. And I think there are legitimate questions about whether he lost a bit of athleticism following that surgery. Is he going to be the same player because of the fact that he was so dependent on that athleticism to be such a force at both ends of the court?

Obviously, he's not doing it because of his shooting ability; he shot more 3s last season but made just 29 percent of them. He was a really inefficient scorer, much more so than in seasons past. Now, maybe this season he'll be healthier and back to the same Rondo we knew as an All-Star. But until we see that, it's a little dangerous for people to assume he's going to be that kind of player, especially if they project him as a max-type guy for next summer's free agency.

Penn: How much do you think circumstance plays into that? Because the longer he's there and not traded, and not into it, I can't imagine him performing at a high level.

Pelton: Right, there are some statistics to back up the whole national TV Rondo thing, that he plays his best when the spotlight is the brightest. There was not a lot of spotlight last season in Boston and won't be this season, either.

What the poop man. Howard is not overrated. **** these front office dudes. I'm starting to hate ESPN more and more everyday.