Who’s reputation took a bigger hit

[Dan Z]

I don't know how people could pick Westbrook. He was put in a situation that was never going to work out and at least he played.

Simmons didn't play all year and came off as someone who is only in it for the money.

Kyrie had his distractions with the vaccine stuff, didn't go far with the team when he did play and has talked about signing an extension and "running the team" with KD, Sean and Joe.

LeBron is 37 years old and didn't have the best team around him. He also put up good numbers. Sure, he would've liked to make the playoffs but overall his season isn't as bad as the other players on this list.

[MrGoat]

You're not even seeing Simmons threads anymore. He's below everybody on this list, even Westbrook and Kyrie, until and if he actually steps on the court again

[HotelVitale]

Wow really hard question.

I think I'd go Harden. He was an MVP level player by expectation going into this season and that's why the Nets were the championship favorites at the start of the year (hard to remember that far back but it's true).

KD had a tough series but had an amazing one against MIL last year and great regular season.

Harden though... looks like he might actually be done as a superstar and might just be an all-star level player now which is massive.

Harden looks like he might not even be all star level. He's fallen off a cliff quickly. But we'll see how he looks against miami.

I know I'm a Sixers fan, but you gotta tell me why 21/7/11 on 60%+ TS, while orchestrating a very very good offense, equals 'falling off a cliff' and 'not even AS level'? He also for some reason keeps getting flak for the TOR series, in which he posted 19/7/10 on 58% TS against a top defense, and again commanded an elite offense.

Not even trying to say he's awesome, and I get that he looks bad finishing on some plays here and there and that could get worse in time. But it's obvious that he's still a pretty damn good player.

[KnicksGadfly]

All the Lebron jock-riders voting KD in this poll

bruh, the Lebron-KD rivalry is dead

[KodiakBear]

As for the playoffs Durant. He played bad and his team got swept. I didnt even think that could happen. As for the season as a whole simmons by far. What he did this season was awful. The guy flat out refused to play basketball. Nobody should respect him. He should be viewed as a pariah by all basketball fans

[the_process]

Write in candidate, and the winner of this poll in a landslide:

Raptors fans.

[HumbleRen]

Where's Trae

[KodiakBear]

Where's Trae

Played poorly but is very young and did lead his team to a conference finals last year. His reputation is fine unless this year becomes a pattern

[ReddoverKobe]

Trae Young 1. Guy was exposed badly. Everyone else we already knew about.

[ReddoverKobe]

All the Lebron jock-riders voting KD in this poll

bruh, the Lebron-KD rivalry is dead

There never was one tbh.

[Joshyjess]

For me:
1 - Simmons. The guy proved to the world just what a joke he really is. Getting paid by one team to not play, then going to a second team and not playing ,all the while trying to get more money out of the first team for not playing for them!
2 - Lebron. Not that it should be, but since his whole focus now seems to be more on his appearance / legacy more than anything else, I think this did some major damage to his career.
3 - Harden. Barely giving any effort while playing for the Nets, then getting the obvious trade he wanted and after a few games, once again not putting much effort for his new team. He can still salvage this season if he takes charge of the Embiid less Sixers, and leads them past the Heat.
4 - Kyrie. Yes, the guy can play ball when he puts the effort into it, but he just didn't. Even when he actually was allowed to play, he only showed up for a couple of the playoff games. He's too good to play that bad.
5 - Westbrook. I mean, it's hard to say that his rep took a big hit, because basically he is what he is, and everyone already knew what he is. But he was just more of "what he is" this season.
6 - KD. Considering his age, coming back from a major injury, the amount of minutes he played trying to carry the Nets for a good part of the season, and the suffocating defense he had to face, I really don't think his rep should have taken much of a hit at all. I know the whole "he left the Warriors to make it on his own" conversation is held against him, but he really didn't have much of a chance this season with the lack of help he had.
Honorable mention - Trae Young. Maybe more of a hit on his fans than him, but the whole "he's better than Luka or Tatum or Curry..." narrative took a death-blow with his complete and utter failure to do anything in the playoffs. We all knew how bad his defense is, but when your offense is that bad as well - OUCH!

[ANTETOKOUNBROS]

KD joining a 73 win team who eliminated him a month earlier has no equal. Then this year he proves why he joined a 73 win team. Simmons definitely after this one.

KD is the greatest bus rider to ever ride a bus.

[gorz]

As for the playoffs Durant. He played bad and his team got swept. I didnt even think that could happen. As for the season as a whole simmons by far. What he did this season was awful. The guy flat out refused to play basketball. Nobody should respect him. He should be viewed as a pariah by all basketball fans

Agree. For all the b.s Simmons has pulled the past year and half he's had it very mild by fans, basketball circles, and sports media. Miraculously he was still able to garner some sympathy as some have injustifiably come to his defense for not suiting up for the team that pays him extravagant amount of money instead uses mental health as an excuse for not playing. Sports media has been pretty mum about his situation despite Ben quitting on his team/sabotaging the sixers meanwhile kyrie has been ripped to shreds by that same sports media all season for not being a "team player" and getting the vax. I have seen way more venom spewed embiid for his flopping and on court trolling than Ben Simmons pathetic behavior. Had another player done what Ben has he would have been blackballed by league by now.

[Ito]

Simmons been a joke so I voted KD.. I knew Lakers weren’t goin anywhere with Melo on the roster

[Castle Black]

People will say KD cause he’s an easy target but he turns 34 this year and was playing on a HIGHLY dysfunctional team this season that barely made the playoffs. Boston is also arguably the best defensive team in the playoffs and Nets had to play them in the First Round. Westbrook is the easy answer for me.

[giberish]

Simmons certainly took a hit, but his reputation (to many at least) was already way down from the way last season ended. As far as a 1.5 season reputation hit Simmons is the greatest but this season only it didn't drop that much to me as it was already way down.

LeBron did as much as you can reasonably expect from a player his age. His reputation for GM skills certainly took a hit without the best player in the league to cover but I don't think his playing reputation really took a hit.

I haven't taken Irving seriously as a high-impact player for several years now. This year just reaffirmed that.

Durant played MVP tier basketball when healthy. He missed a chunk of time (expected given his age and injury history) and couldn't salvage an otherwise collapsing roster, but who could have?

Westbrook was just a worse version from the year before, who was a worse verion of 2019-20 Westbrook. The continued steady decline is hardly a shock to anyone paying attention. He's not that old but his game, even at it's peak, always looked to age poorly.

Harden IMO took the biggest hit. Both in terms of attitude and performance. Just a year after forcing his way out of Houston to the Nets, he aggressively self-tanks his way out of Brooklyn to Philly. That's just a REALLY, REALLY BAD look. Many guys force there way out of one team, especially when that team looks generally primed to switch from competing to tanking. I can't think of anyone except Harden who did it again the next season, especially from a team that still had title chances before Harden stopped trying. Of course, when Harden was trying he still didn't look nearly as good as he had in the past. For a long time Harden was an MVP-tier player but now even when he tries Harden doesn't look like a top-25 player.

[Liver_Pooty]

Anyone who voted Westbrook is weird.

[MrBigShot]

Simmons has created one of the worst reputations of any player in nba history. Everyone hates him.

I mean, everybody hated LeBron in 2011 but at least heat fans liked him and he was actually on the court.

[Big J]

Rich Paul.

[HumbleRen]

Where's Trae

Played poorly but is very young and did lead his team to a conference finals last year. His reputation is fine unless this year becomes a pattern

I agree big picture wise but people were anointing him as the 2nd best PG in the league and everyone assumed the Hawks would be a top 4 seed. Pretty big hit imo even if it won't define who he is as a player for the rest of his career.