Where do you draw the line for "star"?

[GeorgeMarcus]

Who are some of the worst players you consider stars and the best players you don't? Now or ever

I'm more interested in what other people think, but for me Jrue Holiday comes to mind as one of the best non-stars in the league

[NinjaBro]

Jrue Holiday is definitely a star wtf.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Jrue Holiday is definitely a star wtf.

Well that's what I'm asking- where do you draw the line?

[jlokine]

whether or not they make the all-star team? that would be a start... then there's the conversation of who was snubbed. it would be debatable those snubbed players are "stars", just outside of all-star team. that would be the line, i presume?

[Suprasc1]

Caruso is a star overall player

[Lalouie]

a star is someone people talk about.

i don't think advanced metrics come into play here, at which point we would start diddling about specifics when the question posed is generic in nature. in the case of movies, a star carries the film - he has a responsibility to lead. good movie, bad movie, good "actor" bad "actor", it doesn't matter. good or bad doesn't define a star. that's an assessment of quality.

so a star in basketball has to be a leader of the team. and i'd leave it at that. whoever is leading the team,,,that's the star. after you round up that group, you parse it however you want. good star, stat stuffer stars , mega stars, all stars, overrated underrated, non winners,

lebron, ad
westbrook, harden,,,
curry, klay, dray
zion, ingram, lonzo
ja
luka, porzingis

it's the first names that come to mind. if you have to think about it,,,it ain't him. in other words, the smell test

[LakersLegacy]

Only 5 superstars in the league at any time. It's kind of like Highlander. To become one you have to overtake another.

24 all-stars. But only 16 or so are really deserved.

[Optms]

For me, its simple. A star requires the numbers along with an All-Star selection. The All-star selection is needed because you aren't a "Star" in any walk of life if the general public doesn't recognize you as one. If a player can't even get the recognition to be voted in by the masses, they aren't a star.

I think young players can be trending towards stardom but quality players like Jrue Holiday can never be stars because they've never put up All-star numbers let alone been to an All-star game. Also too old. He's had his day. Players like this are below star level.

[lars_rosenberg]

A definition could be "a player that on free agency would be offered the max salary". It obviously subjective, but it draws some sort of line that does not depend on skewed metrics like All star selections which depends a lot on the context, such as the team and the conference.

Superstars on the other hand are players that are consistently (i.e multiple times over the years) selected as All-NBA first or second team.

[crossroads]

Jrue Holiday is definitely a star wtf.

He's a really good player, but he's also only made one all-star game. Now I know he arguably could/should have made a couple more but it's absolutely reasonable for someone to not consider a player that hasn't made an all-star team in 8 years a "star"

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[bran muffin]

Who are some of the worst players you consider stars and the best players you don't? Now or ever

I'm more interested in what other people think, but for me Jrue Holiday comes to mind as one of the best non-stars in the league

In a league with parity, each of the 30 teams would be built around one of the 30 best players. So a "franchise player" would by definition be a Top 30 player.

A "star" can be less than a franchise player because presumably the second best player (i.e. Robin) of each team would still qualify as a star. So I would call a Top 60 player a star.

[Koreandoo]

Stars for me:
East: Giannis, Siakam, Lowry, Walker, Tatum, Butler, Simmons, Embiid, Beal, Young [Dipo,Wall, Griffin, Irving, Durant healthy]
West: Lebron, Davis, George, Kawhi, Jokic, Gobert, Mitchell, Paul, Westbrook, Harden, Doncic,Lillard, Booker, Towns [Curry , Thompson healthy]

Close: Middleton, Adebayo, Vucevic, Porzingis, Zion, Morant, Green, Holiday, SGA, Gallinari, deRozan, Brogdon

I think the lower end for me is a group of Lowry, Young and Booker. Lowry has the most impact right know but lacks a bit of stats if we compare him to other stars while the other two have monster stats but they are a bit one dimensional right now so they would be my „last stars“.

I would separate the close ones ins some categories like
With more games and confirmation of their stats and impact save star: Zion, Adebayo and Morant

Star player if they up their game: Porzingis, Brown, SGA, Brogdon

Probably never enter the „Star“ Status for me but always borderline: Vucevic, Middleton, Gallinari and Holiday

Old Stars on decline: Green and deRozan

I definitely see my first category as sure fire stars next year if they won’t get injured. I don’t see that many people dropping from my star level only Griffin and Wall if they can’t come back properly from their injuries.

IMO the word star is way overused especially in the media. People calling players like Derrick Favors stars even tho they are solid Nba Starters. I mean if we compare them to all baller it‘s big time impressive being one of the 450 and they are all stars compared to them. But if we compare these 450 players I only see 30-40 stars, players being able to carry a offense or defense.

[Anticon]

Stars are guys that can take over and win a second round playoff game.

[The_Hater]

Jrue Holiday is definitely a star wtf.

You’re clearly missing the point of the thread here....

[Lunartic]

Holiday has been getting overrated lately, he's only averaged 20ppg once in his career, is inefficient and has declined as a defender. I'm one of his biggest fans but he's not a star, he's a highly capable guard, like a more complete Spencer Dinwiddie or non-horrible Mike Conley.

[leolozon]

It's always going to be debatable, even more considering the fact that I don't even think we are using the term correctly. A "star" is something that shines in the sky, yet in sport we use it to mean talent instead of what it is : something that is "luminous" and brings attention to itself. When it comes to movies, being a star isn't really about talent but about how many people want to pay to see you. You could make the argument that Tacko Fall is a bigger star than Middleton or Jrue Holiday.

That being said, with the way we use it in sport... I usually start with the all-STAR game as it's the most logical argument on the subject. It's factually a game with ALL the STARS, at least that's the point of view of the NBA and it's their product.

If you want to be picky, I guess you could argue that the NBA sometimes gets it wrong or give a nod to players on good teams (Korver) when it shouldn't have anything to do with being a star. Plus the East is weaker than the West, but I still think we should stick to 24-25 guys (probably including the injured players who should have been in).

[azcatz11]

Jrue is def not a star. OP is trying to gauge how popularity is incorporated also into this (at least I think he is)

[Curmudgeon]

A star is a player who has been annointed by the NBA's star maker machinery. Some (but not all) of the annointed players are actually good at basketball.

[dacrusha]

To me a star is a player who is a consistent game changer who can, offensively or defensively, enter the game, impact it and single handedly win it for his team.

Consistently, not once every 10 games like a lot of non-stars and one-trick ponies provide.

Stars thrive in the moment.

[DCRYsing89]

First I should clarify, stars to me are guys that can give your team a chance to win by themselves, no matter what factors are against em.

The best role players have star level impact when optimised.

Jrue I think is a star, but the lowest possible tier for a star. Alongside guys like Gasol And Zach Lavine .
A guy like Buddy Hield, or even John Collins are the pillars of non-stars for me.

As it is, I always try to find the most “average” lineup possible and insert them to it and think where it would go to analyse a player...
Say ... Ish-Lamb-O’Neal-Morris-Baynes
You put Gasol on that team, and they could be pushing to win games still...
With John Collins they ain’t gonna be winning much...

For a AllStar I would expect them to be able to take that team to the playoffs...
For a superstar I would expect them to be able to take any team in the league currently to the playoffs...