RealGM

This one should be interesting....hopefully.

You might want to put criteria on the word "underrated" or you will get people saying that their GOAT candidate is underrated either generally or on this board because other people don't think they are the GOAT. Maybe, 5 years in the league and never made a All-NBA team or even never made an All-Star team.

Allen Iverson
Kyrie Irving
Michael Jordan
Kevin Love
Chris Bosh

Let's see the """analysts""" of this board try to beat this team.

/s

As long as you don't somewhat define "underrated"... nearly every team is valid, I feel.

Not too bad to just give a line-up of players that fit your personal criteria of being underrated, could get some interesting perspectives. My mind goes out to guys who were amazing players but who are generally overlooked in positional GOAT debates due to them being on the fringes of the discussion. Though they're not really rated lower than they should be, they're just too often forgotten.

PG: Kevin Johnson, Terry Porter
SG: Sidney Moncrief, Bill Sharman
SF: Sam Jones, James Worthy
PF: Shawn Kemp, Dolph Schayes
C: Bob Lanier, Alonzo Mourning

John Stockton
Ray Allen
Andrei Kirilenko
Chris Bosh
Moses Malone or Nate Thurmond

LeBron James
Michael Jordan
Kevin Durant
Kevin Garnett
Tim Duncan

I guess I'll use All-NBA selections as my litmus test of whether I think they're underrated. Only retired players and to make it interesting I'll do a career and prime team (with no overlap) and assume a modernish 1990-present setting:

Career
C - Dikembe Mutombo: 1 second, 2 thirds
F - Kevin McHale: 1 first
F - Paul Pierce: 1 second, 3 thirds
G - Reggie Miller: 3 thirds
G - Chauncey Billups: 1 second, 2 thirds

Total (14): 1 first, 3 seconds, 10 thirds

Prime
C - Alonzo Mourning: 1 first, 1 second
F - Chris Bosh: 1 second
F - Dennis Rodman: 2 thirds
G - Manu Ginobili: 2 thirds
G - Deron Williams: 2 seconds

Total (9): 1 first, 4 seconds, 4 thirds

[Some other guys who had peculiarly low All-NBA selections of 2 or less despite good to great longevity: Ray Allen, Adrian Dantley, Marc Gasol, James Worthy, Detlef Schrempf, Shawn Marion, Vince Carter (figured Bill Walton would kinda be cheating)]

Interesting to think that of current NBA cores (max 3 players), the Lakers have substantially more All-NBA selections (28) than both of my above teams combined lol. Nets have 14, Warriors and Suns have 12, Sixers and Clippers 11 (if you don't count Wall). Of these current cores, all have more first team nods than both of my teams combined, from a low of 4 (Clips and Warriors) to a high of 19 for the Lakers

BenoUdrihFTL wrote:I guess I'll use All-NBA selections as my litmus test to whether I think they're underrated. Only retired players and to make it interesting I'll do a career and prime team (with no overlap) and assume a modernish 1990-present setting:

Career
C - Dikembe Mutombo: 1 second, 2 thirds
F - Kevin McHale: 1 first
F - Paul Pierce: 1 second, 3 thirds
G - Reggie Miller: 3 thirds
G - Chauncey Billups: 1 second, 2 thirds

Total (14): 1 first, 3 seconds, 10 thirds

Prime
C - Alonzo Mourning: 1 first, 1 second
F - Chris Bosh: 1 second
F - Dennis Rodman: 2 thirds
G - Manu Ginobili: 2 thirds
G - Deron Williams: 2 seconds

Total (9): 1 first, 4 seconds, 4 thirds

[Some other guys who had peculiarly low All-NBA selections of 2 or less despite good to great longevity: Ray Allen, Adrian Dantley, Marc Gasol, James Worthy, Detlef Schrempf, Shawn Marion, Vince Carter (figured Bill Walton would kinda be cheating)]

Interesting to think that of current NBA cores (max 3 players), the Lakers have substantially more All-NBA selections (28) than both of my above teams combined lol. Nets have 14, Warriors and Suns have 12, Sixers and Clippers 11 (if you don't count Wall). Of these current cores, all have more first team nods than both of my teams combined, from a low of 4 (Clips and Warriors) to a high of 19 for the Lakers

I assume LeBron himself has more all-nba teams than either of your teams, lol

Jaivl wrote:Allen Iverson
Kyrie Irving
Michael Jordan
Kevin Love
Chris Bosh

Let's see the """analysts""" of this board try to beat this team.

/s

As long as you don't somewhat define "underrated"... nearly every team is valid, I feel.

This post would tell me that you are a LBJ fan even if I didn't know.

Dutchball97 wrote:Not too bad to just give a line-up of players that fit your personal criteria of being underrated, could get some interesting perspectives. My mind goes out to guys who were amazing players but who are generally overlooked in positional GOAT debates due to them being on the fringes of the discussion. Though they're not really rated lower than they should be, they're just too often forgotten.

PG: Kevin Johnson, Terry Porter
SG: Sidney Moncrief, Bill Sharman
SF: Sam Jones, James Worthy
PF: Shawn Kemp, Dolph Schayes
C: Bob Lanier, Alonzo Mourning

Glad to see Schayes and Lanier here. Overall very reasonable choices.

Worthy isn't really that underrated by most fans, as he's well known part of the Showtime Lakers dynasty. I'd go with someone lesser known at 3, someone like Cliff Hagan or Bob Dandridge.

Gooner wrote:

Jaivl wrote:Allen Iverson
Kyrie Irving
Michael Jordan
Kevin Love
Chris Bosh

Let's see the """analysts""" of this board try to beat this team.

/s

As long as you don't somewhat define "underrated"... nearly every team is valid, I feel.

This post would tell me that you are a LBJ fan even if I didn't know.

You should learn what's sarcasm is.

70sFan wrote:

Gooner wrote:

Jaivl wrote:Allen Iverson
Kyrie Irving
Michael Jordan
Kevin Love
Chris Bosh

Let's see the """analysts""" of this board try to beat this team.

/s

As long as you don't somewhat define "underrated"... nearly every team is valid, I feel.

This post would tell me that you are a LBJ fan even if I didn't know.

You should learn what's sarcasm is.

I never said it wasn't. But his angle is obvious.

Gooner wrote:

70sFan wrote:

Gooner wrote:
This post would tell me that you are a LBJ fan even if I didn't know.

You should learn what's sarcasm is.

I never said it wasn't. But his angle is obvious.

You should understand that not everybody who doesn't support your view on Jordan vs LeBron discussion is an LBJ fan. What's obvious is that you don't pay attention to Jaivl's posts unrelated to that topic, if you really think he's James stan.

Believe me, it's healthy to focus on different things sometimes. I've been called a James stan quite a few times in my posting history by Jordan backers, which is ridiculous, given that James is probably my least favorite player in my top 10 (only Shaq can compete with that).

70sFan wrote:

Dutchball97 wrote:Not too bad to just give a line-up of players that fit your personal criteria of being underrated, could get some interesting perspectives. My mind goes out to guys who were amazing players but who are generally overlooked in positional GOAT debates due to them being on the fringes of the discussion. Though they're not really rated lower than they should be, they're just too often forgotten.

PG: Kevin Johnson, Terry Porter
SG: Sidney Moncrief, Bill Sharman
SF: Sam Jones, James Worthy
PF: Shawn Kemp, Dolph Schayes
C: Bob Lanier, Alonzo Mourning

Glad to see Schayes and Lanier here. Overall very reasonable choices.

Worthy isn't really that underrated by most fans, as he's well known part of the Showtime Lakers dynasty. I'd go with someone lesser known at 3, someone like Cliff Hagan or Bob Dandridge.

Thanks, yeah I had the most doubts about Worthy's inclusion here as well. I thought about Paul Arizin but I was a bit hesitant to throw too many 50s/60s guys in there who were probably rated higher in the past but are mostly forgotten now due to it being so long ago. On the other hand I also have two 90s PGs so I could've done two 50s/60s guys at one position as well tbf.

Dutchball97 wrote:

70sFan wrote:

Dutchball97 wrote:Not too bad to just give a line-up of players that fit your personal criteria of being underrated, could get some interesting perspectives. My mind goes out to guys who were amazing players but who are generally overlooked in positional GOAT debates due to them being on the fringes of the discussion. Though they're not really rated lower than they should be, they're just too often forgotten.

PG: Kevin Johnson, Terry Porter
SG: Sidney Moncrief, Bill Sharman
SF: Sam Jones, James Worthy
PF: Shawn Kemp, Dolph Schayes
C: Bob Lanier, Alonzo Mourning

Glad to see Schayes and Lanier here. Overall very reasonable choices.

Worthy isn't really that underrated by most fans, as he's well known part of the Showtime Lakers dynasty. I'd go with someone lesser known at 3, someone like Cliff Hagan or Bob Dandridge.

Thanks, yeah I had the most doubts about Worthy's inclusion here as well. I thought about Paul Arizin but I was a bit hesitant to throw too many 50s/60s guys in there who were probably rated higher in the past but are mostly forgotten now due to it being so long ago. On the other hand I also have two 90s PGs so I could've done two 50s/60s guys at one position as well tbf.

Arizin is also an excellent choice, but Paul was fairly rated in his era - meanwhile Hagan was rarely mentioned among the best players in the league even during his prime. A lot of people thought/think that Tom Heinsohn or Jerry Lucas are better players than him, which is insane when you actually think about it.

Another thing is that 90% of 1970s stars are underrated. Most people don't care about that era.

70sFan wrote:

Gooner wrote:

70sFan wrote:You should learn what's sarcasm is.

I never said it wasn't. But his angle is obvious.

You should understand that not everybody who doesn't support your view on Jordan vs LeBron discussion is an LBJ fan. What's obvious is that you don't pay attention to Jaivl's posts unrelated to that topic, if you really think he's James stan.

Believe me, it's healthy to focus on different things sometimes. I've been called a James stan quite a few times in my posting history by Jordan backers, which is ridiculous, given that James is probably my least favorite player in my top 10 (only Shaq can compete with that).

I didn't say that there is anything wrong with being LBJ fan. It's personal choice.

Gooner wrote:

70sFan wrote:

Gooner wrote:
I never said it wasn't. But his angle is obvious.

You should understand that not everybody who doesn't support your view on Jordan vs LeBron discussion is an LBJ fan. What's obvious is that you don't pay attention to Jaivl's posts unrelated to that topic, if you really think he's James stan.

Believe me, it's healthy to focus on different things sometimes. I've been called a James stan quite a few times in my posting history by Jordan backers, which is ridiculous, given that James is probably my least favorite player in my top 10 (only Shaq can compete with that).

I didn't say that there is anything wrong with being LBJ fan. It's personal choice.

As far as I know, Jaivl isn't a LeBron fan though. I could be wrong of course.

70sFan wrote:

Gooner wrote:

70sFan wrote:You should learn what's sarcasm is.

I never said it wasn't. But his angle is obvious.

You should understand that not everybody who doesn't support your view on Jordan vs LeBron discussion is an LBJ fan. What's obvious is that you don't pay attention to Jaivl's posts unrelated to that topic, if you really think he's James stan.

Believe me, it's healthy to focus on different things sometimes. I've been called a James stan quite a few times in my posting history by Jordan backers, which is ridiculous, given that James is probably my least favorite player in my top 10 (only Shaq can compete with that).

It's insane how often that stuff happens. I'm not really a fan of either MJ or LeBron because of their arrogance and hyperfocus on their legacy so I don't really care who is seen as better but it's easy to be grouped into the "MJ stan camp" for valuing MJ's career over LeBron's or in your case vice versa. Worst case of this has to be with Duncan though when I got called a Duncan stan in a Duncan vs Kobe thread and a Duncan hater in a thread about Duncan's GOAT case that were going on around the same time.

This morning I replied to a guy on the general board who was saying that any LeBron fan should have LeBron over MJ because otherwise you're a poser. Any player you like has to be the best and anyone you think is the best should be your favorite, can't really get any further from even attempting any kind of objective analysis that way.

Dutchball97 wrote:

70sFan wrote:

Gooner wrote:
I never said it wasn't. But his angle is obvious.

You should understand that not everybody who doesn't support your view on Jordan vs LeBron discussion is an LBJ fan. What's obvious is that you don't pay attention to Jaivl's posts unrelated to that topic, if you really think he's James stan.

Believe me, it's healthy to focus on different things sometimes. I've been called a James stan quite a few times in my posting history by Jordan backers, which is ridiculous, given that James is probably my least favorite player in my top 10 (only Shaq can compete with that).

It's insane how often that stuff happens. I'm not really a fan of either MJ or LeBron because of their arrogance and hyperfocus on their legacy so I don't really care who is seen as better but it's easy to be grouped into the "MJ stan camp" for valuing MJ's career over LeBron's or in your case vice versa. Worst case of this has to be with Duncan though when I got called a Duncan stan in a Duncan vs Kobe thread and a Duncan hater in a thread about Duncan's GOAT case that were going on around the same time.

This morning I replied to a guy on the general board who was saying that any LeBron fan should have LeBron over MJ because otherwise you're a poser. Any player you like has to be the best and anyone you think is the best should be your favorite, can't really get any further from even attempting any kind of objective analysis that way.

Jordan doesn't focus on his legacy.

Gooner wrote:

Dutchball97 wrote:

70sFan wrote:You should understand that not everybody who doesn't support your view on Jordan vs LeBron discussion is an LBJ fan. What's obvious is that you don't pay attention to Jaivl's posts unrelated to that topic, if you really think he's James stan.

Believe me, it's healthy to focus on different things sometimes. I've been called a James stan quite a few times in my posting history by Jordan backers, which is ridiculous, given that James is probably my least favorite player in my top 10 (only Shaq can compete with that).

It's insane how often that stuff happens. I'm not really a fan of either MJ or LeBron because of their arrogance and hyperfocus on their legacy so I don't really care who is seen as better but it's easy to be grouped into the "MJ stan camp" for valuing MJ's career over LeBron's or in your case vice versa. Worst case of this has to be with Duncan though when I got called a Duncan stan in a Duncan vs Kobe thread and a Duncan hater in a thread about Duncan's GOAT case that were going on around the same time.

This morning I replied to a guy on the general board who was saying that any LeBron fan should have LeBron over MJ because otherwise you're a poser. Any player you like has to be the best and anyone you think is the best should be your favorite, can't really get any further from even attempting any kind of objective analysis that way.

Jordan doesn't focus on his legacy.

Not as much as LeBron as that isn't humanly possible but you can't act like MJ never cared about how he was perceived compared to others.