Shaq definitely was incredibly agile and had great footwork for a guy as big and strong as he is. Makes sense since Shaq learned some of his footwork from Hakeem.
Shaq was a freak athlete who happened to gain an extraordinary amount of weight. It made him even more dominant for several years because his athleticism didn’t take a big hit for awhile, and he became a MACK truck who simply couldn’t be stopped.
😂 that was awesome about J. Stockton. Did u see that on Dream team doc. When he got off the bus & walked to the game with his wife. & started talking to another American & she said "I love the dream team. I wish I could meet one." LOL & JS said "HAY who's that player ." & pointed to himself on her shirt & she didn't even realize it. That was a Great take 👍🏼
Does anyone else notice that Jerry West played at West Virginia before playing in the Western Conference and thus their West All-Stars team? He truly lived up to his name. :D
Kobe's passing is off the charts. Excellent passer. He had games with just 2 or 3 assists if they weren't much needed, but also 10+. Many of his passes are actually more impressive than Lebron's or somebody else known as an all time playmaker. James Harden and LeBron play more point guard really.
Actually, during the 3peat, Jackson often used it as a point guard and said he was the best player at doing that in the triangle he'd ever coached (meaning better than MJ and Pip at doing that), so he had already displayed his ability at a young age
@@Matthew-xl5bc Yeah I think he partly understood that he couldn't win alone, but also they finally gave him someone to pass to, no doubt he didn't pass when playing with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown haha
No single player gets a lot of assists in the triangle system. Kobe actually led the team in assists in most years he played including all 5 Championship seasons.
Honestly Shaqs longevity is his most underrated trait, people always harp on his longevity and that he could have been the greatest if he had that, but he was honestly a force and an MVP candidate from the day he entered the league until 2005 in which he came in second in MVP voting, thats from '92 until 2005, a longer stretch than some peoples careers like bird and magics
His durability and conditioning is the thing he deserves criticism for in my opinion if anything. Shaq’s longevity is solid, and yeah, his first Miami year is the last year he was in the MVP conversation.
Idk, I’d probably say his MVP caliber play more so started when he made his way over to the Lakers, but certainly he has been dominating since he began. Regardless, his longevity is an amazing skill. Legit not far off from LeBron, and it’s crazy to say considering how he didn’t focus enough on his conditioning to be the best he could be
@@Jonathan-A.C. He was 7th in MVP voting in his rookie year, 4th the year after, and 2nd in his third year. He was also almost the scoring leader his 2nd year and was the scoring champ his 3rd year
Awesome points, Jonny. I remember bringing up Hakeem's steals many years ago among some friends and being dismissed. It is amazing how good he was at stealing the ball. I also totally agree with you about Steph. He is great at driving to the hoop and so hard to stop while doing so. Great video.
Honestly the fact that Jerry West was clamps on Defense and on top of the fact that his playoff numbers are mindblowing definitely makes him a candidate for the most underrated player ever. He probably deserved an MVP or two.
Another underrated skills of Steph curry is his conditioning and stanima. That guy can sprint whole possetion looking for best spots to shot the ball and drive his defender crazy. It is crazy to me that many describe him as unathletic
Yeah ima be honest i didnt know that hakeem was that good at picking pockets. I knew he was obviously good but 2.6 steals per game over a 3 year stretch is insane
@@JohnnyRodgers3 not even close buddy, you can't even pretend that's true at all. Olajuwon has more career steals than Kobe, Iverson, Isaiah Thomas and up until just recently, LeBron.
@@JohnnyRodgers3 none of them are giving Shaq fits on offense the way Timmy was, that's for damn sure! They'll all be able to guard Shaq very well in the post, but Timmy had an all around game, those players you named didn't. None of them were threats from 19ft from the basket like Timmy was.
Thank you for talking about Jerry West's defense. Once the all-defense teams started, he was always 1st team (except the first year, when he was 2nd team to Walt Frazier). Although he has slipped out of most people's top 10, he is rightly still in the top 5 for two-way players, imo. He had freakishly long arms for his (probably under-stated) height, and a relentless motor and quickness for ball-hawking. He's another one whose defensive stats for his career are zeroed out, since the league didn't tally up steals or blocks.
Jerry West wasn't better than Curry, but he was a better two way player. He also, before his knee injuries,likely had a 38"-42" vertical. I saw him as a little kid get his fore arm over the rim on what we now call a tomahawk jam. Unfortunately, after the ACL he lost some of that. Still, pretty remarkable in retrospect
It's hard to understand how graceful Shaq was. But seeing as how he had to go against Hakeem, who's footwork is second to none, he worked tirelessly to get on that level
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dunking, fadeaway, and footwork. He used is crossover with is back to the defender to quickly turn around and dunk on them in clips I watched. He used crossover to fake moving to the left then right and turn left dunking on the defender. And even use footwork to confuse defender creating and opening for shot. He had more than the 'Skyhook'.
@johhnyarnett I think a dope video idea would be the most underrated season of every stars career. Maybe cuz they didn’t make it far in the playoffs or just nobody talks about, but I’d love to hear you talk about great seasons.
Depends on what you call a great, but if you call top 15 great I still think I have Kareem over Hakeem. Oscar Robertson and Moses Malone also come to mind.
There is a pretty lengthy list of great players who are underrated by today's younger fans. John Havlicek, Elgin Baylor, Rick Barry, Walt Frazier, Nate Thurmond, Pete Maravich and Bob Lanier are among those I would mention. Even Oscar Robertson is becoming more underrated as years go by.
Tim Duncan’s entire game is overlooked. People only remember him as a slow old guy, especially after his foot injury around 30. That injury rarely gets mentioned, but Duncan was never the same after that. But if you look at Duncan in the early and mid-2000s, Jesus the guy was so awesome.
I remember when Greg Oden was first drafted, someone wrote an article saying that Oden was going to be a bust just after watching him walk. He said that all great NBA players, even someone as big as Shaq, seem to float when they walk, but Oden didn't.
@@Jboooog18 Yes. And he pointed out that Oden had one leg shorter than the other, which obviously creates enormous imbalances and stresses on the knees.
Pointing out Jerry West’s defense… that’s the best part of this video and it’s something that as a lifelong basketball fan near 40, I was never aware of. It makes sense that if the stats and awards existed in his prime, he would be considered one of the top 2-way guards in NBA history. Thanks for the info.
I agree about Jerry West. John Havlicek is my favorite all-time player, and he is another underrated great who consistently made the all-NBA defensive teams. Like West, he had long arms and was a tremendous athlete (in fact, he was drafted by the Browns as a wide receiver).
It amazed me how Hakeem was like the ultimate defender , He was top 10 in steals , top 1 in blocks and top 14 in rebounds. Hakeem is the only center I truly think can guard 1-5
So fantastic video. I appreciate all the things you pointed out. Is this just a part 1 of a series? I feel like you left alot of GOATS off this list...magic, bird, lebron, MJ, wilt, B russ
The footwork callout on Shaq was my favorite. As a lifelong Lakers fan growing up in LA, it pains me when newer generation fans say Shaq was just a brute. The reason he was so good was he was a brute with absolute insane agility, for his size or not.
For me, Hakeem’s underrated/undervalued skill was his shot making ability. He was completely unfazed while in either the low or high post as well as his mid range. His game really translates very well to today’s game and I very much believe he would have been a very good 3 point shooter if he played today.
Great video, I love that you gave props to Shaq's footwork. He had legitimately crazy touch and really nice footwork, its just he didn't necessarily need to use it. Great points about Duncan, Steph, etc as well, awesome stuff.
this is my favorite nba series. I was just talking to a friend about how Shaq had no right having his dancers feet and soft touch with his natural attributes.
I think another underated skill for Steph is his rebounding. For his size, he's a very good rebounder. He could end up being in top 10 reboubder for PGs
Curry's inside scoring is a good shout. I feel like people act like he's just a 3 pt guy and can't do stff around the rim. Love that call..Also Shaq's longevity is not appreciated enough
Timmy could beat you any way possible- he could blow past you to the basket. If the defender hung back to prevent that, he'd rise up and shoot it (usually banking it in). He could post up and turn either shoulder and get you with a hook shot or fadeaway. He also had an underrated passing ability. He was one of the only guys I've ever seen get triple-teamed and it not bother him. Simply unstoppable.
MJ is my GOAT, but I strongly believe Hakeem is the most complete two-way player in basketball history. He had by far the biggest offensive bag out of any big and defensively would block/deflect shots without fouling and could switch on comfortably.
With respect to Hakeem I can only partially agree. Hakeem's offence was limited in two regards. His jumpshot was only reliable in midrange (max), it extended as a reliable offensive weapon maybe 3 feet outside the box. And he was a so-so passer. Best two way players I have seen were Pippen, Jordan and Kawhi.
Olajuwon is the only player in NBA history with 200+ blocks(287), and 200+ steals(213) in the same season, that was supposed to be his DPOY in 88'! Then he followed that up with 174 steals and 376 blocks, while averaging 24ppg, 14rpg, 3apg, and still didn't win DPOY or MVP! How can a player be #10 in points, #1 in rebounds, #7 in steals, and #1 in blocks and not win MVP or DPOY?! There could be an entire video on Olajuwon getting ripped off from his earned awards.
Great video! Well thought out and presented! I always thought Shaq was just a brute until I watched several videos that showed that he knew how and where to position himself to take advantage of his size... his foot work was impressive as was his quickness...
I don't know if this is a skill but I think the most underrated part of Steph's game is his rebounding. He has the ability to track where the ball is going after it bounces off the rim. Furthermore, even with his size, he can box out a player like Dwight Howard to get an offensive rebound. In 2017 Finals, he has more rebounds in one game compared to Tristan Thompson's rebounds in the first 3 games of the series.
Wilt chamberlains passing, dude got bored one season and decided he wanted to pass.. so he led the league in assists, as a 7’2 center that makes Shaq look small. There’s a video of them shaking hands and WOW he makes Shaq look normal, even muscle wise
@@VonKappallot Go look at the tape. I don’t have to argue. Broader shoulders, bigger forearms. Bigger head, just a BIGGER person. Shaq was just shorter and fatter.
totally agree about Curry!! I've always thought this. the Steph Layup is almost as beautiful and iconic as his jumpshot. He always finds a way to make that thing go in inside, its automatic.
The framing of Steph as just a jump shooter who can’t finish at the rim is so WILD because that was always the most upsetting part about his game. Back in 2015 and 16 I’d literally see him make it look effortless to the point where I’m like “dude just block the fucking shot.” Like Kyrie you can at least tell that he’s just that good at finishing because of how acrobatic he is, but with Steph he made the D look like they weren’t trying.
I think one Superstar's most understated skill is Gary Payton's offensive ability. Obviously he is known for his defensive prowess but in his prime he was still averaging around 20 pts and almost 8 assists a season.
Shaq's sense of balance is unrivaled for his height and weight. His balance allowed him to unleash his incredible strenghth after running or pivoting. This balance (with the rules and style of the time) allowed him to be the most physically aggressive center the game has seen. On the other hand, it allowed Shaq to do something in his very first NBA game that Wilt never accomplished in his entire career..... foul out.
For me, Kobe's basketball IQ might be the best I've ever seen from any NBA player. You listen to him talk in interviews about any part of the NBA and he articulates so intelligently on why things are the way they are. Other players just don't talk about basketball as eloquently and in-depth as Kobe did, and I think it gets overlooked because he's seen as the "Mamba Mentality", grind hard, score a lot kind of player.
I always appreciated the fact that Kobe gave the older players their due. He seemed to have a good sense of NBA history, probably in part because his dad was an NBA player for many years.
In his prime... Steph Curry's defense. Came postseason other teams routinely tried to create mismatches against Curry, Unsuccessfully. He stopped fast players with great defensive footwork and bigger players with his strength. That dude is strong.
People talk about Curry shooting three's only, but I can't be the only one who watches to see what new move he does under or around the rim, from the floaters to the crazy lay ups, dude is incredible to watch.
Johnny could you make up a top 10 or 20 of the best role players of all time? Many of those players help their teams to win rings so I think they deserve some recognition
Shaq was a phenomenal passer. But he did had tremendous footwork and that’s how he was able to be as effective as he was. People now just think he was this big guy who bullied people. Basketball doesn’t work that way. No sport works that way, not even football. These guys are all elite athletes, you have to be immensely skilled to be a superstar.
You mentioned Shaq's footwork, but actually I would have mentioned Shaq's soft touch: he had a hook, a turnaround, could score lay ups and shoot well from within 15 feet. Mysteriously, his soft touch disappeared at the foul line and he piled up brick after brick haha
Reason why Kobe and MJ had so much similarities. Jordan was moved to PG for a period and nearly averaged a triple double with double digit assist. Similar to Kobe where they were shoot first mentality.
My favorite player of all time is jokic. Y’all can argue all you want but he plays basketball in such a beautiful way. I think the most underrated part of his game is his defensive positioning/stealing ability. People like to say that just because jokic can’t rim protect well that he’s bad on defense in general. His hands are the best in the league for a center right now, he led all centers in spg this season
I gotta say, every time I watch one of your videos and watch the Kobe part in the intro, I always think, “man, he must have been a better ball handler than I realize.”
I like the point about Steph. I always thought his offence was a vicious circle for defences to deal with. He has his obvious incredible 3pt shooting and that leads to defences leaving him more chances to punish them on the interior, which he does very effectively. And then, if a defence tries to combat that interior threat he just bombs them from 35ft. It makes him essentially impossible to deal with.
Man must know Curry can get busy in paint😂we saw in the '19 Finals when he dropped 45. His most under appreciated skill to ME is his off-ball movement 💯
1:46 My favorite version of Kobe: _Magic Mamba_, they called him, which is a dope name for so many reasons. Not only was Kobe moved to the 1, Nash was moved to the 2 since his wheels had fallen off by then. In that stretch, he proved he could do everything LeBron did and was doing in terms of dominating the ball with scoring *and* passing. I always wondered why he never did that to further distance himself from LeBron and even MJ.
Great video. Was looking forward to Steph Curry and you got it right. Curry's ability to finish inside is what separates him from say, Klay Thompson. Steph can kill you inside and outside.
This doesn’t have anything to do with this video, but you should do a video on the 1990 Phoenix Suns and Tom Chambers. He scored 60 and 56 points in a game that season and they beat the Lakers 4-1 in the Western Semis with Kevin Johnson and Jeff Hornacek. Very strange team
Tim Duncan wasn't called "The Big Fundamental" until quite late in his career when Shaq started calling everyone "The Big [something]", so that wasn't part of why people thought the Spurs were boring in the early 2000's. They were mostly called boring because they played really good defense and had a lot of games in the 70's and 80's.
we can say they were called boring because...they were 🤣to that casual fans at least. With the Twin Towers, they played inside-out, slow-paced, interior basketball, nothing that makes you jump off your chair
Always think it's silly when people argue that high IQ players aren't good passers. Like that is THE skill for smart players, at least offensively. You're smoking crack if you think dudes like Mike or Kobe couldn't be exceptional distributors...
I have an interesting idea for a video for you. Something about how certain players from different generations played with each other. For example, LeBron has been in the league so long that he has played with players who played in the early to mid 80s. He literally played against Karl malone, who himself played against players who played in the 60s. As in there are only one generation separating someone playing today from someone who played against bill russell. Maybe include the longest overarching player arcs in terms of who played with who as a youngest player against the oldest player. And see how few generations separate a current player from a player in the first season of the nba.
This might not be a very underrated aspect of Stephs game because he does get praise for this, but his handles are GOAT level. I saw a poll the other day about 1v1 and everyone was saying kyrie would dominate Steph because of his handles. But I disagree. I think kyrie has the more impressive and technically proficient handle, but Stephs handles are some of the most dangerous of all time. He’s just less flashy than kyrie. And I’d argue more efficient in his movement.