Most Overrated Player in the Top 10

[Ni Da Ye]

Glad to see Kobe was not in the vote, coz he is at 11th all time ranking.

Kobe would have won the vote if he was though.

[TheNG]

Those kind of lists contain 2 types of players: inactive players and active ones.
The active ones are always favoured because of recent bias.
So by definitation the active players have the most chances to drop a few places a few years after they become inactive.

So LeBron is probably the most overrated one in the list.

[rtiff68]

It's LeBron for me, but you can't say that around here anymore especially ever since he broke the all time scoring record. Great great great player, don't get me wrong, outstanding longevity. I just don't view him as a lock at #2. Top 6? Absolutely.

As for those people negging older guys like Magic and Bird for a lack of longevity, how do you think LeBron would have held up in the 80s when there was no load management culture? When guys couldn't afford to spend 2 million dollars a year on their bodies? When the supplements industry was not as widespread throughout the NBA? I bet you he wouldn't have played for 20 seasons and if by some miracle he did, I doubt he'd be playing the way he is today.

There are plenty of reasons to criticize LeBron, but leading with the “load management culture” angle in a conversation like this is extremely disingenuous.

LeBron averaged playing 76 games per year his first 13 seasons. He then lead the league in mpg in year’s 14 and 15 (2017 and 2018). Jordan and Magic each played 12 seasons total for the Bulls and Lakers, respectively.

[MavsDirk41]

Duncan and Russell

Duncan in 19 years with the Spurs

- 5 championships
- 3 FMVPs
- 2 league MVPs
- 15 all defensive team
- 15 all nba team

How is this guy overrated to you? His is closer to top 5 than 10 for me

[formula 400]

LOL when did Duncan make the top 10????? only on this board smh

Who's taking Duncan's place on the OP's list?

no one remembers duncan or the spurs titles. they won them all on down years: 99, 03, 05 etc.

they are like the bucks or mavericks of the mid 80s. no one remembers except this board

[JShuttlesworth]

LOL when did Duncan make the top 10????? only on this board smh

Only on this board?

Spoiler:

https://theathletic.com/3137873/2022/02/23/the-nba-75-the-top-75-nba-players-of-all-time-from-mj-and-lebron-to-lenny-wilkens/
https://www.complex.com/sports/best-nba-players-of-all-time-ranked
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1795233-10-greatest-nba-players-of-all-time
https://hoopshype.com/lists/75-greatest-nba-players-ever-the-hoopshype-list/
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33297498/the-nba-75th-anniversary-team-ranked-where-76-basketball-legends-check-our-list
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/top-15-players-in-nba-history-cbs-sports-ranks-the-greatest-of-all-time-from-west-and-steph-to-lebron-and-mj/

[Matt15]

On RealGM it’s easily Tim Duncan.

[-Sammy-]

LOL when did Duncan make the top 10????? only on this board smh

Who's taking Duncan's place on the OP's list?

no one remembers duncan or the spurs titles. they won them all on down years: 99, 03, 05 etc.

they are like the bucks or mavericks of the mid 80s. no one remembers except this board

1.) Greatness isn't a function of how many people remember something.

2.) We all know that it's a false assertion that nobody remembers Duncan or the Spurs' titles; if you mean that 'casual fans' don't remember, then your premise is inherently flawed anyhow-- why would you defer to casual fans for informed analysis? If this board is populated by passionate, knowledgeable fans, then even if your assertion that we're the only ones who remember were true, it would only strengthen my point.

3.) Neither the Bucks nor Mavericks of the 80s won titles; the fact that you had to cite to two teams that didn't win titles to 'prove' that nobody remembers a team that did win titles says it all.

[formula 400]

Who's taking Duncan's place on the OP's list?

no one remembers duncan or the spurs titles. they won them all on down years: 99, 03, 05 etc.

they are like the bucks or mavericks of the mid 80s. no one remembers except this board

1.) Greatness isn't a function of how many people remember something.

2.) We all know that it's a false assertion that nobody remembers Duncan or the Spurs' titles; if you mean that 'casual fans' don't remember, then your premise is inherently flawed anyhow-- why would you defer to casual fans for informed analysis? If this board is populated by passionate, knowledgeable fans, then even if your assertion that we're the only ones who remember, that would only strengthen my point.

3.) Neither the Bucks nor Mavericks of the 80s won titles; the fact that you had to cite to two teams that didn't win titles to 'prove' that nobody remembers a team that did win titles says it all.

whatever makes you feel better

[-Sammy-]

Olajuwon is the first guy I'd take out of this top 10, though his two-year peak might be a top-five peak.

As of today, Olajuwon is still #1 in blocks, #14 rebounds, #10 steals, and #12 points. He was phenomenal throughout his career.

I agree fully: I didn't mean to assert that he didn't have a GOAT career outside of his peak. I just meant that he's probably the likeliest 'target' for omission on this list, because he has the fewest total rings and awards of anyone on the list.

[-Sammy-]

no one remembers duncan or the spurs titles. they won them all on down years: 99, 03, 05 etc.

they are like the bucks or mavericks of the mid 80s. no one remembers except this board

1.) Greatness isn't a function of how many people remember something.

2.) We all know that it's a false assertion that nobody remembers Duncan or the Spurs' titles; if you mean that 'casual fans' don't remember, then your premise is inherently flawed anyhow-- why would you defer to casual fans for informed analysis? If this board is populated by passionate, knowledgeable fans, then even if your assertion that we're the only ones who remember, that would only strengthen my point.

3.) Neither the Bucks nor Mavericks of the 80s won titles; the fact that you had to cite to two teams that didn't win titles to 'prove' that nobody remembers a team that did win titles says it all.

whatever makes you feel better

An excellent response!

[Blame Rasho]

LOL when did Duncan make the top 10????? only on this board smh

Who's taking Duncan's place on the OP's list?

no one remembers duncan or the spurs titles. they won them all on down years: 99, 03, 05 etc.

they are like the bucks or mavericks of the mid 80s. no one remembers except this board

Great obtuse post.

I expect more and more posts like that from you going forward.

[Salieri]

The answer to this question is obviously Jordan.

I have no problem with people considering him the greatest basketball player of all time. I do have a problem though when people don't consider him a basketball player, but some kind of demigod who beat insurmountable odds to achieve the greatest triumph in the history of sports and could do no wrong, being the best at everything.

He's not that, he's never been that.

He's just a very good basketball player, not qualitatively different from others. He screwed up and failed plenty of times, and he had his flaws. Exactly like the rest of the list.

Seeing how many people consider him that demigod instead of an excellent player, I'd say he's by far the most overrated of the bunch.

[pipfan]

Surprised LBJ is in 2nd in the voting-I am an all time (sports) hater of him but the guy is an incredible player with an awesome resume. I have MJ as better, but that could be my Bulls' fan bias, now that LBJ's longevity is so beyond anyone else's (coming straight out of HS helps him in this regard, of course). Honestly, if it wasn't for that Dallas series (which is a HUGE mark against him) I might have him better than MJ.

[hauntedcomputer]

If Russell is 4th here as the least talented player in the weakest era, the answer is right there

Poor guy. His only skill was winning, and he happened to be the best ever at it.

I tend to rank on greatness, not skill. I'd put Mikan over Shaq, who underachieved for his career.

[SNPA]

The guy with high school, college, Olympic and 11 NBA titles is overrated? That’s an interesting take by the board.

[Ein Sof]

I would've said Jordan but he's not a top 10 player ever.

I wanna say Bird because I don't like how he has this Damian Lillard-like reputation as an infallible playoff clutch god who definitely never averaged 20 on awful efficiency against the '88 Pistons...

But I don't think he's usually overrated on all-time lists.

[rim213221]

LeBron. Heavy media narrative combined with youth who didn’t grow up in previous eras trying to push the GOAT case when it isn’t all that legitimate. Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. He’s certainly not at worst #2 all time as you can reasonably argue him lower.

Not to mention he’s never had a GOAT total season (regular season + playoffs), never won a DPOY, barely has any scoring titles, had a fairly weak midrange game that was exploited for most of his prime and performed poorly in multiple Finals despite playing with insane amounts of talent constantly trying to stack the deck to win.

[theforumblue]

Glad to see Kobe was not in the vote, coz he is at 11th all time ranking.

Kobe would have won the vote if he was though.

seen him as low as 15 so he still got ways to go to not be "overrated".

[RAPSinCAPS]

give each of these players you have listed in the top 10...Larry Bird's body and athleticism and see how they are. Almost every single one of those players except Magic and Bird, hit the genetic lottery and most of their dominance was predicated on them having a physical and athletic advantage. So essentially most of the centers and Lebron are way overrated and guys like Kobe, West, Havlicek, Oscar and Baylor are underrated because they relied on skill mostly.

Bird was almost 6'10 with
7'3 wingspan. Deceptively athletic just not as quick. But his reaction time was elite. He would operate steps ahead as they play was developing. He had a death touch that you don't just learn. You're born with that. Yes he won the genepool lottery. Only stereotyping morons perceive otherwise.

I'd say Russell. Won a bunch of rings but as an individual player he was not that blessed.