Most Overrated Non-Superstar / Non-MVP Level Player of All Time

[McBubbles]

I'm curious to know who y'all think the most overrated non-superstar of all time is.

My pick is Rajon Rondo. He somehow manages to slide his way into conversations about the best passers of all time, or the highest BBIQ's of all time, or top 10 PG's of all time (I've seen him go as high as five) seemingly on account of a single championship that he was the distant 4th best player on and a 44 point playoff loss (where he only scored those points because he was intentionally left completely wide open, which should say something).
I've even heard people say that he outplayed Lebron in that 2012 series

What are your picks? Can be from any decade.

[Dr Positivity]

Maybe Worthy after benefitting from the Lakers spotlight. It wasn't that hard to be a 20ppg forward in the 80s.

[penbeast0]

Bill Bradley. Mediocre 3 who was a great scorer in college but couldn't get his own shot consistently in the pros, was not a good defender, an extremely poor rebounder in an era where that mattered more, though still a hard worker and decent passer. How is that a HOF player except that he was the #5 guy on the only Knicks teams that won titles?

[Colbinii]

Dominique Wilkins, Glen Rice, Isiah Thomas, Chris Webber, Amar'e Stoudemire

[penbeast0]

Dominique Wilkins, Glen Rice, Isiah Thomas, Chris Webber, Amar'e Stoudemire

I would say all of those players were considered "superstars" except maybe Rice and even there it's questionable. If Superstar means MVP, sure, then they are all reasonable choices although I'd put Iverson in that group and Maravich in a separate, even more overrated one.

[Cavsfansince84]

Bill Bradley. Mediocre 3 who was a great scorer in college but couldn't get his own shot consistently in the pros, was not a good defender, an extremely poor rebounder in an era where that mattered more, though still a hard worker and decent passer. How is that a HOF player except that he was the #5 guy on the only Knicks teams that won titles?

I can't help but think that part of what made him so overrated was him becoming a politician afterwards and being a Princeton guy. The media is into all of that. Same way they made a big deal out of Phil dabbling with Zen.

[penbeast0]

Bill Bradley. Mediocre 3 who was a great scorer in college but couldn't get his own shot consistently in the pros, was not a good defender, an extremely poor rebounder in an era where that mattered more, though still a hard worker and decent passer. How is that a HOF player except that he was the #5 guy on the only Knicks teams that won titles?

I can't help but think that part of what made him so overrated was him becoming a politician afterwards and being a Princeton guy. The media is into all of that. Same way they made a big deal out of Phil dabbling with Zen.

That and being a Rhodes scholar and an intelligent interview. The league was still trying to get away from the black ghetto perception so they pushed the story of players like Bradley; though Tom McMillen never really got the same attention maybe because Buffalo just isn't NYC.

[Cavsfansince84]

That and being a Rhodes scholar and an intelligent interview. The league was still trying to get away from the black ghetto perception so they pushed the story of players like Bradley; though Tom McMillen never really got the same attention maybe because Buffalo just isn't NYC.

Ya I am alluding to all of that. The media just had an infatuation with him.

[parsnips33]

I always liked the guy but Jamal Crawford?

[The Explorer]

Draymond Green.

For a guy who constantly gets praised for his high IQ, he has shown pretty dumb, low IQ behavior over his career, even jeopardizing his team on a title run. Poor overall scorer. Extremely inconsistent shooter. Not a great rebounder. Man defense nothing special. Bad teammate, poor leader.

[parsnips33]

removing post

[MacGill]

While he certainly had the tools, Lamar Odom to me fits this ticket. AlL I ever remember hearing is that...'if he ever puts it all together he will be'...And while it pains me to say it, Demar D also fits this bill. Fringe all-star on a underwhelming team. I get it, they had to use someone, but he wasn't on the level that they stated. Nothing against either of them.

[Cavsfansince84]

Draymond Green.

For a guy who constantly gets praised for his high IQ, he has shown pretty dumb, low IQ behavior over his career, even jeopardizing his team on a title run. Poor overall scorer. Extremely inconsistent shooter. Not a great rebounder. Man defense nothing special. Bad teammate, poor leader.

I think you can make a case for Draymond(as you did here). Also the question of how much he benefits playing next to the goat shooter. His antics have to be factored into who he is as a player.

[AEnigma]

Rondo is a good mention. Julius Randle made two all-NBA teams by virtue of playing in New York. Bruce Bowen was overrated in the sense he was a regular DPoY contender. Marcus Camby too, as an actual winner. Quite a few of the dynasty Celtics became retroactively overrated. Byron Scott was overrated by the fact he managed to be the lead scorer for the 1988 Lakers.

Draymond Green is the best postseason defender of the past decade; if anything he has been underrated by only receiving one DPoY.

[SportsGuru08]

Draymond Green.

For a guy who constantly gets praised for his high IQ, he has shown pretty dumb, low IQ behavior over his career, even jeopardizing his team on a title run. Poor overall scorer. Extremely inconsistent shooter. Not a great rebounder. Man defense nothing special. Bad teammate, poor leader.

Not to mention a triple-single machine. The way a certain Stan Base props him up, you'd think he was Hakeem Olajuwon. Put him on Detroit all those years and nobody knows who he is. Dude benefited from playing two generational shooters.

[SportsGuru08]

Dennis Rodman has become more than little overrated by a certain stan base. Yes he was a good rebounder and defender but he couldn't score 10 points in an empty gym.

What's funny is that this stan base will swear Rodman was old when the Bulls beat the Pistons in 1991 yet swear up and down that an even older Rodman made the Bulls a superteam.

[trex_8063]

Some nice mentions so far. But for me this conversation starts and ends with Pete Maravich.

Earl Monroe is another historically overrated player, imo.

[rrravenred]

Isiah Thomas comes to mind. Low-efficiency gunner who made his name being the public personality of a strong defensive ensemble team. Valuable offence generator without being a transcendent force. A "good ordinary" player who has been raised to the status of an immortal because NBA Mythmakers hate the idea of distributed glory.

(Not a superstar by the end of the 80s, early 80s you have a case)

[ardee]

While he certainly had the tools, Lamar Odom to me fits this ticket. AlL I ever remember hearing is that...'if he ever puts it all together he will be'...And while it pains me to say it, Demar D also fits this bill. Fringe all-star on a underwhelming team. I get it, they had to use someone, but he wasn't on the level that they stated. Nothing against either of them.

I've been agreeing with a lot of your posts lately but gotta split with you on this one chief.

Lamar DID put it together when he was the clear 3rd best guy on a team that made back to back to back Finals and won two chips. He wasn't giving you 20 every night but that wasn't his role. He basically walked so Draymond could run, what other 6'10 guy can average a double-double, be a great playmaker out of the high post, and defend all five positions depending on the situation?

He's only overrated if people think he was a second option or better, but no one thinks that. He was recognized as a 3rd option and filled that role perfectly.

[ardee]

Isiah Thomas comes to mind. Low-efficiency gunner who made his name being the public personality of a strong defensive ensemble team. Valuable offence generator without being a transcendent force. A "good ordinary" player who has been raised to the status of an immortal because NBA Mythmakers hate the idea of distributed glory.

(Not a superstar by the end of the 80s, early 80s you have a case)

Best post in this thread.

I think he's been mythologized moreso because the 80s was seen as the Magic-Bird decade and the upstart team that knocked both off needed a similar alpha dog figure to market.