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Following Russell Westbrook's retirement, I witnessed polarizing opinions. Like when Kobe retired, there's a lot of post-retirement adulation, but the Westbrook loathers are having a ball. It is the most notable time for them to pridefully exclaim him as "overrated", and I realized that the idea of an "overrated" NBA player is often based more on extreme opinions than on the consensus view.

Russell Westbrook in specific had obvious athleticism and production, but his weaknesses are also very public, including turnovers, inefficient shooting, questionable decision-making and arguably stat-padding. Those flaws have been discussed for years, so describing Westbrook as overrated simply because some fans rate him too highly overlooks how the broader basketball community actually views him. The term overrated is overrated in that sense.

I mentioned Kobe earlier. Some of his most devoted supporters consider him the greatest player in NBA history, but that is far from the prevailing view. Michael Jordan has the stronger statistical and championship résumé, and a vast majority of basketball fans already recognize that. Using the most extreme Kobe supporters as evidence that Kobe himself is overrated confuses a small group of fans with the general perception of the player.

Underrated players are very different because unfamiliarity and general fame plays the primary role. For example, Sidney Moncrief was one of the best two-way guards of his era, won Defensive Player of the Year twice and was an elite scorer, yet many younger fans know little about him. That lack of recognition is simply a product of time. Players from older generations can become underrated simply because fewer people have seen them play, and because they aren't famous.

I scoured through Southern Rock, Pub Rock, Swamp Rock and Hard Rock. All of those have major exceptions. Which genre(s) are practically the closest synonym to "dad rock"?

Recap: In 1979, the NBA used a coin flip to determine the first overall pick between the teams with the worst records in each conference. The Chicago Bulls had finished 31-51, while the New Orleans Jazz had gone 26-56. Los Angeles owned New Orleans' first-round pick from an earlier trade, so the Lakers would receive the selection if the Jazz won the toss. 

The top player available was Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who had just led Michigan State to the national championship. Chicago was given the choice of heads or tails. Bulls general manager Rod Thorn called heads. The coin landed tails, giving Los Angeles the first pick. The Lakers selected Magic, who joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and eventually became the central figure of the Showtime Lakers. Together, Magic and Kareem won five championships, while their rivalry with Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics had become probably the defining story of 1980s basketball.

If the coin had landed heads, Magic would have gone to Chicago. The Lakers would have had to build around Kareem without him, while the Bulls would have entered the 1980s with Magic as the foundation of the franchise. That would have changed the careers of everyone involved. Magic and Bird would have been competing in the same conference, which could have given them a very different (greater?) rivalry. The Celtics would have had another major obstacle between themselves and the Finals, while the Lakers would have been missing the player who helped turn their collection of talent into a dynasty.

Anyways, the bigger consequence comes a few years later. Chicago selected Michael Jordan with the third pick in the 1984 draft, but a Bulls team built around Magic would almost certainly have followed a different path during the five seasons between the two drafts. They could have become a contender long before 1984, making it unlikely that they would have ended up with the same draft position. Jordan might have gone to another team, and the career that made him synonymous with Chicago would have started somewhere else.

Magic's career in Los Angeles would have been different. Kareem's championship record would have been different. Bird's rivalry with Magic would have taken place under different and arguably way more competitive circumstances. The Lakers might never have become the team that defined the 1980s, and the Bulls might never have become the team that defined the 1990s. All of it traces back to a damn coin flip in 1979, cause Rod Thorn called heads and the coin came down tails. Five years later, the Bulls drafted Michael Jordan. In between those two events was a decision that took ~3 seconds, but changing it would have directly altered the careers of four of the ten greatest players in NBA history, and indirectly altered the careers of just about everybody in that timeline, in my eyes.

It was a match-up between the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers.

On there floor there was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6 MVPs), Magic Johnson (3 MVPs), Julius Erving (4 MVPs), Bob McAdoo (1 MVP), Charles Barkley (1 MVP) and Moses Malone (3 MVPS).

There were 33 combined MVP awards (accounting for FMVP, All-Star MVPs and ABA MVPs) on the floor, which is also the all time record.

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 6x Regular Season MVP, 2x NBA Finals MVP, 1x All-Star Game MVP
• Magic Johnson: 3x Regular Season MVP, 3x NBA Finals MVP, 2x All-Star Game MVP
• Julius Erving: 1x Regular Season MVP, 3x ABA Regular Season MVP, 2x ABA Playoffs/Finals MVP, 2x All-Star Game MVP
• Moses Malone: 3x Regular Season MVP, 1x NBA Finals MVP
• Charles Barkley: 1x Regular Season MVP, 1x All-Star Game MVP
• Bob McAdoo: 1x Regular Season MVP
• James Worthy: 1x NBA Finals MVP

One of my favorite lesser-known NBA fun facts.

Over the years, I've changed my answer several times when asked who the most underrated player in NBA history is. Looking back, I think another change is justified. By "underrated," I mean exactly that. The player who receives the least praise comparatively to what I think they should be getting. For me, that player is David Robinson.

His career already started unusually. After graduating from the Naval Academy, Robinson fulfilled his military time before entering the NBA, delaying his debut until age 24. Those are years that most superstars spend building their resume. Despite that late start, he became an MVP, a perennial All-Star, one of the defining players of his era and basically the 90s centerpiece of advanced metrics.

For many fans, Robinson's legacy begins and ends with Hakeem Olajuwon's dominant performance against him in the 1995 Western Conference Finals. One remarkable series has become shorthand for an entire postseason career. His championships don't do much to reshape that perception either. By the time San Antonio won in 1999 and 2003, Tim Duncan had already become the franchises centerpiece, leaving Robinson remembered more as an elite supporting star than as the player who established the Spurs as contenders. There's also a persistent belief that Duncan arrived in 1997 and rescued both Robinson and the franchise from mediocrity. I want to counter this with the fact that David Robinson had the best single-season VORP of any player in the 90s. Not even post-1989 Jordan had a single-season where he affected his team's winning as much as David Robinson did in 1994.

The Spurs finished 20-62 in 1996-97, earning the first overall pick that became Duncan. On paper, it looks like a classic rebuilding team landing a generational prospect. In reality, Robinson's injuries explain almost the entire collapse. A serious back injury cost him the opening months of the season, and after returning briefly, he broke his foot and played only six games before being shut down.

The season before, San Antonio had won 59 games and entered the year with genuine championship expectations. Robinson's absence, not the quality of the roster, was the decisive factor behind the collapse. Before those injuries, his Spurs averaged 55 wins over seven healthy seasons and were consistently viewed as one of the Western Conference's strongest teams. It's also worth remembering that this wasn't a superteam. Sean Elliott was an excellent player, but more of a fringe All-Star than a perennial star. FYI, Duncan didn't inherit a struggling organization. He joined one that Robinson had already turned into a perennial contender.

Robinson also deserves more credit for what he remained after those injuries. Returning in his mid-30s from serious back and foot problems, he still averaged nearly 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks while shooting 51 percent from the field in 1997-98. He finished seventh in MVP voting and third in Defensive Player of the Year voting. If that's what decline looked like, I mean, his prime speaks for itself.

Few players have ever combined Robinson's range of accomplishments. He led the league in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots during different seasons of his career. Officially, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can claim the same distinction. That's a really exclusive list, and a broad one at that.

His defense, in particular, deserves a higher place in the historical conversation. Robinson made eight All-Defensive Teams, the third most among primary centers, despite competing alongside Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O'Neal, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning and more All-NBA caliber guys. His 1992 Defensive Player of the Year season featured 2.3 steals per game, fifth in the league, and 4.5 blocks, one of the highest averages EVER recorded. Add an MVP award and two championships, and it's difficult to argue that his resume belongs outside the company of players routinely placed above him.

He had very rare speed for a seven-footer, ran the floor like a forward, defended enormous amounts of space, and possessed a polished mid-range jumper with soft touch. In many ways, his physical profile resembles the kind of center teams covet today more than the archetype of his own era.

I'm not arguing that Robinson was a perfect playoff performer or that he belongs ahead of players like Hakeem Olajuwon or Shaq. But to say that he is drastically underrated is my reflection of a player whose impact on winning, defensive value, and just overall resume (especially the advanced-metrics) has been undervalued for far too long. Hopefully I made a compelling, convincing case.

(note: no AI was utilized in writing this. Please don't come with accusations but sorry if my writing comes across as opaque lol).

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