Paul Pierce is the most underrated player in the NBA

[Moranis]

I don't think he's top five.  He's top fifteen, and arguably, top ten. 

The other day I saw a poll asking if PP is Hall of Fame. I know he's not perfect and only won 3rd team All-NBA twice but according to espn Pierce is one of 11 players in NBA history with career averages of 23 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

I don't know who the other ten are. If they are all from his era it weakens his case


I think at this point there are very few wings who are better than him. If you trade Vince for PP I think the Celts get worse and the Nets get better. Part of the reason I think is that PP has taken care of himself and makes good life decisions.  He may not be the MOST talented but he gets EVERYTHING he can out of his talent. A guy like Kobe, Iverson or Melo or Vince may have more talent but then they get distracted by drugs, posses, snitching, fast food, money, women, fame, etc.  Right now maybe the only wing I'd take over him would be Lebron

Here is the list of 23 ppg career scorers (NBA numbers only), so they would obviously be among those guys.  Not bad company to be in.  * are HOFers.  The inactive guys not in the HOF will all be there, as will all of the active players except perhaps Pierce and Carter (assuming Lebron just doesn't disppear into oblivion of course).  And that really is the question.  Are Pierce and Carter HOFers?  They have almost identical stat lines, so you kind of have to take both or neither.  At this point I wouldn't put either in the HOF, though a few more years for either guy and they could get there.  They are both very good and very consistent performers, but the HOF shouldn't filled with guys that are good for a very long time, it should be filled with Great players, and in that I just can't say that Pierce and Carter belong.

Rank Player PPG
1. Michael Jordan 30.12
2. Wilt Chamberlain* 30.07
3. Allen Iverson 27.73
4. Elgin Baylor* 27.36
5. LeBron James 27.34
6. Jerry West* 27.03
7. Bob Pettit* 26.36
8. George Gervin* 26.18
9. Oscar Robertson* 25.68
10. Shaquille O'Neal 25.23
11. Karl Malone 25.02
12. Kobe Bryant 24.96
13. Dominique Wilkins* 24.83
14. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* 24.61
15. Larry Bird* 24.29
16. Adrian Dantley* 24.27
17. Pete Maravich* 24.24
18. Vince Carter 23.80
19. Rick Barry* 23.17
20. Paul Pierce 23.15
21. George Mikan* 23.13

[carlherrera]

according to winscore and other stats (that take offense and defense into accout) Pierce and Kobe were basically as good. I think they were somewhere near top 10. I think this shows two things: that Kobe is OVERrated and Pierce probably underrated.
This year Chris Paul was #1 followed by KG (who had been #1 for like the past 7 years).
The whole argument of taking your team to the second round would only help PP but its pretty subjective. I mean, Antoine Walker was not that good and just look at last year's team with PP in the line up. The guy is not flashy but he's nevertheless amazing.
And even this year, against "the best player on the planet" Kobe, he outplayed him. I mean, what more can you ask for?

[Bankshot]

according to winscore and other stats (that take offense and defense into accout) Pierce and Kobe were basically as good. I think they were somewhere near top 10. I think this shows two things: that Kobe is OVERrated and Pierce probably underrated.
This year Chris Paul was #1 followed by KG (who had been #1 for like the past 7 years).
The whole argument of taking your team to the second round would only help PP but its pretty subjective. I mean, Antoine Walker was not that good and just look at last year's team with PP in the line up. The guy is not flashy but he's nevertheless amazing.
And even this year, against "the best player on the planet" Kobe, he outplayed him. I mean, what more can you ask for?

Kobe Bryant = the best player on the planet.

LOL.  Cracks me up every time I hear that.

[Eja117]

Toine's allstar seasons were laughable - he scored 20.1 per game on 19.9 shots, he was a hugely overrated player. The point of taking a team to the second round by yourself is useless can not be proven. It is completely subjective based on how you feel about the other players on a stars team. Yeah PP couldnt get a 19 year old Al and company to the playoffs but that team won 4 out of 28 games without him and was 20-24 with him, that is a HUGE disparity.

Skill set wise I think PP is better then wade, cant touch lebron or kobe however

3) Well of course, this is subjective. The topic is about PP being underrated (how one feels about him). I feel that if you put him on a fair team with no very good to great players, the team won't make the 2nd round. I'm not trying to prove anything. This is how I feel.   

Kobe, AI, Vince, TMac, D Wade, and even Lebron have all had that problem

[Robb]

Robb, you disagree and agree? I'm confused. I said that Pierce alone couldn't (and still can't) take his team out of the second round. He doesn't have to try anymore so there is no way of finding out whether he is better. Or do you disagree about my top 5? I really can't see how anyone can think PP is better than Kobe or Wade. Sure, Wade was injured (had he been healthy, the Heat surely would've made it to the second round - the refs love him that much).

I think the all around game that Paul was allowed to play this year could have taken the team to the second round.  Before this year, I don't know.  I think in 2002 he wasn't truly leading that team.  He was the best player no doubt, but I think that was Antoine's team more than anything.  This year alone, he could have led the team to the second round at least.  When he was the best player and the leader of the 2004 team the only thing that kept them from winning that series was his maturity.  It was probably a result of playing the season with talented veterans, but his play this season could have gotten it done.

So, my disagreement is that Paul Pierce can lead a team out of the first round.

[Sweet17]

3) Well of course, this is subjective. The topic is about PP being underrated (how one feels about him). I feel that if you put him on a fair team with no very good to great players, the team won't make the 2nd round. I'm not trying to prove anything. This is how I feel.

Well I can't fight "feelings' but since he did make the ECF with Walker as the "best" player - I'd say your statement is factually inaccurate.

Pete

[EarthBall]

3) Well of course, this is subjective. The topic is about PP being underrated (how one feels about him). I feel that if you put him on a fair team with no very good to great players, the team won't make the 2nd round. I'm not trying to prove anything. This is how I feel.

Well I can't fight "feelings' but since he did make the ECF with Walker as the "best" player - I'd say your statement is factually inaccurate.

Pete

Geez, everyone on this blog is always gushing over Toine. People are talking about bringing him back in 2008-09! I'm talking about 2002-03. I hated him then as I hate him now, but there's no doubting he was a very good player 6 years ago.   

And was that a REO Speedwagon reference??

[jayc429]

 Hard to say that his Finals MVP has made it impossible for him to be underrated when we are still reading articles saying he didn't deserve it in the first place. For the record, Pierce was +52 for the series.  No other starter was even close to that.
PP wasn't on the cover of SI holding the Championship trophy or on a Wheaties box.
So, yes, I'd say he is STILL underrated. Most underrated?
I don't do top 10 lists, or most underrated, or most overrated because it is so subjective and whose ratings are we going by in the 1st place?  

[jayc429]

3) Well of course, this is subjective. The topic is about PP being underrated (how one feels about him). I feel that if you put him on a fair team with no very good to great players, the team won't make the 2nd round. I'm not trying to prove anything. This is how I feel.

Well I can't fight "feelings' but since he did make the ECF with Walker as the "best" player - I'd say your statement is factually inaccurate.

Pete

Geez, everyone on this blog is always gushing over Toine. People are talking about bringing him back in 2008-09! I'm talking about 2002-03. I hated him then as I hate him now, but there's no doubting he was a very good player 6 years ago.   

And was that a REO Speedwagon reference??

Actually there is doubting Walker was a very good player 6yrs ago.  Check out some of the most reliable statistical data.....PER, Ewins, Winshares, eGF, TS%, PSA......Walker was less than average in most all of them.

[EarthBall]

Actually there is doubting Walker was a very good player 6yrs ago.  Check out some of the most reliable statistical data.....PER, Ewins, Winshares, eGF, TS%, PSA......Walker was less than average in most all of them.

I really don't want to support 'Toine, but I can't help it when this blog is so schizophrenic. Statistically he sucked, but wasn't that partly due to O'Brien's offense? But there isn't debating that he was the leader. That's got to be worth something. 

[TitleMaster]

Nationally speaking, Pierce was known as a "ballhogging" scorer type, before this year.

Then after these playoffs: defensive stopper, playmaker, and some lights out games (here and there) made him a superstar a.k.a. playoff MVP. Realize, neither KG, Nowitzski, Ray Ray, Karl Malone, VC, etc, are playoff superheroes, only regular season stats packers. And in the case of K Malone, as oppose to Moses Malone (the real thing), his scoring punch was pretty much 50% out of Stockton's feeds.

What Pierce did was everything humanly possible, given the fact that he wasn't the fastest, quickest wingman out there to get the job done. And from that perspective, he's one of the top players in the league today.

[Truth Hurts]

Skill set wise I think PP is better then wade, cant touch lebron or kobe however

This is why he is still underrated. He just outplayed Kobe on the biggest stage.

The top 20 list of ppg scorers is very telling, also.

Pierce is definitely top 10. Maybe top 5.

[JBcat]

I don't know if he is so much underrated anymore from the national media or fans coming off of a title.   However I will say as much as almost any player he gets the most out of the talent he has.