The league keeps selling us the same handful of names. You know them already. But if you care about how games are actually won, you start noticing the players who shape everything without getting the commercial spots. Those are the underrated NBA stars this list sits with.
These are the guards who spent whole nights in a defensive stance, the forwards who happily guarded every position, the centers who did all the ugly work while someone else smiled at the podium. If you are a newer fan and you really want to understand how winning basketball works, you need to know these nine.
Why Underrated Still Matters
Basketball history is usually written by scorers and shoe deals. That is how highlight shows work.
But playoff series are decided by the players who make the extra rotation, call out the coverage, or give up a shot for a better one. A lot of them never averaged 30, never had their own signature sneaker, and still changed what their franchises became.
Learning their stories gives you a different map of the NBA. One that follows impact, not volume.
Methodology: Rankings lean on official stats, awards and team success, balanced with longevity and playoff impact, with light era adjustments when comparing roles that no longer exist in quite the same way.
The Names Casual Fans Miss
1. Sidney Moncrief underrated NBA star
Start with the guard stars hated seeing on the schedule. In the early eighties, Sidney Moncrief took home the first two Defensive Player of the Year trophies and still scored efficiently for a Milwaukee team that kept running into loaded Sixers and Celtics groups.
He made 5 All Star teams and multiple All Defensive groups, all while carrying a 20 point scoring load in his prime. In a league full of giant centers, he was the only guard with more than one Defensive Player award, which says plenty about how rare his impact was.
Larry Bird once said Moncrief did everything you were supposed to do on defense and never took shortcuts. The story old Bucks staff tell is simple. If their bus got in late, you still saw Sidney on the film machine, studying angles like a cornerback.
2. Alex English quiet scoring machine
Here is the thing about Alex English. You look at his highlights and it just seems smooth, almost gentle. Then you realize he scored more total points than anyone in the league during the eighties.
English averaged roughly 27 points for Denver through that decade, with one season at 28 point 4 to win the scoring title. For eight straight seasons he cleared 2 thousand points, something no one had done before.
He was not a trash talker. Teammates talk about a soft spoken star who would sign autographs in the tunnel, then quietly hang 30 on you with curls and midrange pull ups. I have watched those Nuggets tapes a lot. You start wondering why his name is not on every casual fan list.
3. Chauncey Billups calm Finals brain
Jump to 2004. The Lakers rolled out four future Hall players. Most people expect a coronation. Chauncey Billups turns it into a clinic on control, walking the Pistons into a five game win and taking Finals MVP.
He averaged 21 points and nearly 6 assists in that series, shooting over 50 percent from the field and outplaying both star guards in crunch time. For a team with no true megastar, his blend of shooting, size and calm decision making was the central piece.
Billups has talked about using opposing egos against them, reading which matchups to poke at instead of forcing his own numbers. Coaches from that run still mention how he ran film sessions like a second bench boss, pausing clips and asking bigs to adjust their angles.
4. Manu Ginobili fearless sixth man
Manu is famous if you love hoops. He is still underrated if you only track banners. Off the bench in San Antonio, he gave the Spurs four titles, an All Star level punch and one Sixth Man trophy, while never caring what his box score looked like.
From 2003 through 2014, he routinely posted double figure scoring, efficient shooting and playmaking numbers in minutes that would have been starter volume on weaker teams. The Spurs net ratings with him on the court often matched or beat their headliners, which says everything about his all-court effect.
Gregg Popovich once said Manu was such a competitor that money or contract talk would never change how he played. I still think about that Eurostep in Detroit in 2005, the one where the whole building felt him take the game by the throat, then just jog back on defense like nothing special happened.
5. Shawn Marion glue forward blueprint
Before the phrase positionless became trendy, Shawn Marion was already living it. In Phoenix and later in Dallas, he guarded point guards one night and bruising fours the next, then cleaned the glass and ran the floor.
Across 16 seasons, Marion averaged about 15 points and almost 9 rebounds, made 4 All Star teams and joined a tiny club with over 17 thousand points, 9 thousand rebounds, 1 thousand steals and 1 thousand blocks. That is a rare company for any forward.
Rick Carlisle once said he would go down as one of the great players in Mavericks history because of everything he did for their 2011 title. The Suns folks still tell stories about walk-throughs where Marion quietly took the toughest defensive assignment without even waiting for the staff to finish talking.
6. Tony Parker overlooked Finals MVP
Tony Parker spent most of his prime standing next to Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, which meant a lot of people treated him like a spare part. Then 2007 happened. He shredded Cleveland off the dribble, won Finals MVP and made it clear he was an elite lead guard.
Parker finished his career with 4 titles, 6 All Star selections and several seasons near 20 points and 7 assists on strong efficiency. In an era full of ball dominant guards, he did it inside the structure of a motion offense that asked him to give the ball up early.
Popovich and teammates have talked about how he grew from a hesitant teenager into the guy who kept attacking even when defenses loaded the paint. I still picture that teardrop in traffic. Quick, soft, perfectly timed, like he was throwing the ball into a bucket only he could see.
7. Kyle Lowry underrated NBA star
Look, maybe you only remember the charges and the flailing threes. But Kyle Lowry changed the Toronto Raptors fortune. As their point guard, he piled up 6 All Star nods and served as the on court conscience of their 2019 title group.
His peak seasons in Toronto brought around 20 points and 7 assists with strong three point shooting and some of the best on ball charge taking in the league. Advanced impact metrics regularly put him near the top of guard lists, even when his counting numbers looked modest.
Lowry once said he loved being an All Star but had always been a team player first. People around that team remember him barking at stars and rookies in the same tone. Film, details, screens. Little things that, somehow, turned into a parade.
8. Jrue Holiday quiet two way star
If you ask active players to name the toughest guard defender, Jrue Holiday shows up fast. He helped push Milwaukee to the 2021 title as their third scorer and primary perimeter stopper, then kept winning wherever he went.
Holiday has multiple All Defensive selections, an All Star nod and playoff runs where his on off defensive numbers are elite even compared with other top guards. When you factor in the offense he brings, you get a player who sits in rare two way territory.
He once said he felt like the Defensive Player of the Year every season. That sounds cocky on paper. In practice, it is just a guy who knows that every scout, every game plan, starts with him picking up full court.
9. Marc Gasol unselfish defensive anchor
Maybe it is just me, but Marc Gasol feels like the center version of a good novel. The more you watch, the more layers show up. In Memphis he anchored the Grit and Grind defense, won Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, then later helped Toronto grab the 2019 title.
Gasol made 3 All Star teams, moved the ball like a guard from the elbow and held opponents to ugly numbers at the rim for several seasons. The Grizzlies defensive ratings with him on the floor were regularly among the best in the league.
He once said stats were less important than wins, and that some of the most important parts of basketball could not be measured. That fits the stories from coaches who describe him calling out sets before opponents even crossed half court, almost like he was reading a script.
What Comes Next
So where does that leave us now? New fans are coming into the league through clips, social feeds and award debates. A lot of what made these players special does not show up there.
The hope is that the next wave learns to love the helpers as much as the headliners. When a young guard studies Holiday instead of just the scoring stars, or a big studies Gasol’s positioning instead of only chase blocks, something shifts.
When you pick a side as a fan, are you ready to ride with the guys whose work does not always trend.
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