Most Overrated player in sports history?

• DeadliestWarrior34

  

  Nolan Ryan - Career .500 pitcher
  
  Pete Rose - Inflated stats since he played for five years longer than he needed to. TyCobb>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pete Rose
• Ironman92

  

  DeadliestWarrior34;1213060 wrote:Nolan Ryan - Career .500 pitcher
  
  Pete Rose - Inflated stats since he played for five years longer than he needed to. TyCobb>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pete Rose

  
  How is Ryan a .500 pitcher? Sucky teams my friend.
  
  Ex 1987 Astros Nolan Ryan was 7-15 but led the league in K and ERA.....Roger Clemens was 20-3 for the 2000 Yankees but had 7 wins versus the 100+ loss Devil Rays and had a huge run support.
• wghfan

  LeBron James
• Ironman92

  

  wghfan;1213340 wrote:LeBron James

  
  Silly rabbit.
• hasbeen

  

  DeadliestWarrior34;1213060 wrote:Nolan Ryan - Career .500 pitcher
  
  Pete Rose - Inflated stats since he played for five years longer than he needed to. TyCobb>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pete Rose

  Ironman92;1213073 wrote:How is Ryan a .500 pitcher? Sucky teams my friend.
  
  Ex 1987 Astros Nolan Ryan was 7-15 but led the league in K and ERA.....Roger Clemens was 20-3 for the 2000 Yankees but had 7 wins versus the 100+ loss Devil Rays and had a huge run support.

  For example, 2010 AL Cy Young Winner Felix Hernandez had a record of 13-12 with a 2.27 ERA. He loses 1-0, 2-1, and such way too much. That shit still happens even this year with a slightly improved offense.
• wes_mantooth

  

  Emmitt Smith
• Trueblue23

  

  Greg Oden is a very poor example.
  
  Iverson had so many steals because he gambled too much.
  
  A few guys come to mind..
  
  Steve Nash. Peyton Manning. Paul Pierce.
• Sonofanump

  Joe Namath without a doubt. Scottie Pippen should not have been on that 50 greatest list. Whitey Ford and Don Larson were not that great. Ozzie Smith did a backflip and was a great fielder, but not a fucking chance a first ballot HOF. Not sure about Eric Lindros since injuries effected his career.
• robj55

  

  Sonofanump;1213624 wrote:Joe Namath without a doubt. Scottie Pippen should not have been on that 50 greatest list. Whitey Ford and Don Larson were not that great. Ozzie Smith did a backflip and was a great fielder, but not a ****ing chance a first ballot HOF. Not sure about Eric Lindros since injuries effected his career.

  Strongly disagree, Pippen is easily one of the 50 greatest to ever play the game.
• Azubuike24

  

  My response (to sleeper's rant on AI).
  
  1. I'm a huge AI fan. He's the reason I became a serious Sixers fan.
  
  2. For his stature, he's one of the best ever.
  
  3. Knocks on him (and they are legit) will always be his lack of a title, reputation off the court and perception of his on-floor game.
  
  HOWEVER...nobody is calling Allen Iverson great. He was a very good player. He'll make the hall of fame (probably). His greatness will never be elevated above that. Therefore, I think he is what he is. A player who was unique, had a very good career but did not have the complete package of skills and achievements that put him in the discussion with the best. I think most, if not all (outside of sleeper) will agree with this assessment.
  
  Therefore, it's hard to really call him "overrated." To me, that definition is reserved for someone who is elevated to a level where nothing about their career accomplishments put them there. It's usually due to media exposure or non-sports related events that cause this.
  
  Joe Namath is a perfect example. However, Broadway Joe had an impact on the sport that few did, even if his stats were lackluster. Could other players, when put in his situation had a similar impact? Sure. But you can't discredit that necessarily.
  
  Darryl Strawberry is another example. .259 career hitter. He spent his entire career in New York or Los Angeles. His career is generally held in a higher regard than his numbers indicate. Maybe it's because he got a lot of attention for off-the-field matters, making him seem bigger and better than he really ever was.
• Sonofanump

  robj55;1213627 wrote:Strongly disagree, Pippen is easily one of the 50 greatest to ever play the game.

  So you (not just you, but many) have him as easily one of the 50 greatest players off all time actually helps my point that he is overrated.
• Speedofsand

  

  wes_mantooth;1213480 wrote:Emmitt Smith

  
  
  
  
  [video=youtubeVHLRpg1WSE][/video]
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  Ricky Williams
• killer_ewok

  

  Not considered a "player" exactly but I'll go with Mike Tyson.
• reclegend22

  

  Azubuike24 wrote:2. For his stature, he's one of the best ever.

  This reminds me of what the great Chuck Daly once said of Isiah Thomas: "Had he been five inches bigger, he might have been the greatest player ever."
  
  Iverson wasn't on Zeke's level, but dropping 30 and 40 in the NBA year after year for a decade, when you are barely big enough to ride a rollercoaster, is something at which to marvel. As another poster pointed out, he single-handedly willed the 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001. Allen Iverson may not have been a lot of things, but, when the lights were on and the ball was tossed into the air, he was inch for inch the most tenacious player in the history of the League.
  
  And I was never particularly a fan. I simply can respect the feats he was able to accomplish in a game of giants. I don't necessarily know what "heart" actually means when it comes to sports, or how to properly calculate it, but Iverson had it.
• like_that

  

  killer_ewok;1213947 wrote:Not considered a "player" exactly but I'll go with Mike Tyson.

  
  I agree with this. Good call. I said this to a group of friends before, and they all got their panties in a bunch.
• WebFire

  Sonofanump;1213803 wrote:So you (not just you, but many) have him as easily one of the 50 greatest players off all time actually helps my point that he is overrated.

  Pippen was not overrated.
• reclegend22

  

  WebFire;1214929 wrote:Pippen was not overrated.

  Agreed. Pippen is arguably the greatest defender of any small forward who ever played the game. The best I ever saw during my lifetime was Dennis Rodman, but Pippen is often regarded by many NBA insiders as the gold standard defensively at his position.
  
  He averaged 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists a game for the Bulls during the full season that Jordan was living his baseball hallucination. Pip was a gamer. Without Pippen, Jordan isn't Jordan. There's a reason Karl Malone, the NBA's second career leading scorer, once said that if he were picking starters for his team, the first player he'd take is Scottie Pippen -- not Michael Jordan. That's respect.
• Sonofanump

  reclegend22;1215657 wrote:He averaged 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists a game for the Bulls during the full season that Jordan was living his baseball hallucination.

  22/8/5 equals without a doubt 50 greatest players of all time. Got it.
• reclegend22

  

  Sonofanump;1215707 wrote:22/8/5 equals without a doubt 50 greatest players of all time. Got it.

  It means that in order to pick up the slack in Michael Jordan's absence and keep the Chicago Bulls in position to reach a fourth straight NBA Finals by marshaling the team to 55 wins, Pippen led the team in every major statistical category. Impressive, if you ask me.
  
  Pippen was a brilliant defender, and an even better facilitator on the other end of the floor. He was, essentially, the perfect teammate. Think LeBron James without the Herculean physical characteristics. Michael may have been Chicago's captain, but Scottie was the guy below deck making the team go. He was one of the most versatile players of his era. It just so happens that Pippen was teammates with the greatest man to ever play the sport. As such, he's often cosigned to obscurity when it comes to these types of lists.
• Early Cuyler

  

  Sonofanump;1213624 wrote: Ozzie Smith did a backflip and was a great fielder, but not a fucking chance a first ballot HOF.

  Exactly. It's fucking unexplainable how he was a 1st-ballot HOF'er, when Dave Concepcion STILL (and probably never will) be in the HOF. Some people argue about his Gold Gloves (cause it damn sure wasn't his offensive game)... if Juan Castro had been an everyday player how many Gold Gloves would of he had? SMDH
• stlouiedipalma

  Ozzie won all those Gold Gloves because all of the great defensive shortstops played in the AL. Vizquel won 11 playing against folks like Jeter, Ripken, Garciapara and ARod. I still think Omar is a first-ballot HOFer simply because he has better statistics than Ozzie across the board.
• Ironman92

  

  Early Cuyler;1216042 wrote:Exactly. It's fucking unexplainable how he was a 1st-ballot HOF'er, when Dave Concepcion STILL (and probably never will) be in the HOF. Some people argue about his Gold Gloves (cause it damn sure wasn't his offensive game)... if Juan Castro had been an everyday player how many Gold Gloves would of he had? SMDH

  
  See Mark Belanger.
  
  Ozzie should've been a HOF....Concepcion is borderline IMO.
• Sonofanump

  Lulz, A 16.1/6.4/5.2 coattail rider as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.
• sportchampps

  Ill go with qa current player. Dwight Howard. He has very little actual skill and just uses his size to dominate. If he had some actual post moves he would dominate. Right now hes taking advantage of a group of shitty centers in the NBA.