Paul Pierce

[Eric15]

Is Paul Pierce the most underrated and under-appreciated NBA player of this generation?

 

[Gabjon]

Is Paul Pierce the most underrated and under-appreciated NBA player of this generation?

No not even close!

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

He's up there for sure...right alongside Rik Smits for underappreciated stars.

 

[Gabjon]

I think Ray Allen is more underrated/Under appreciated than Pierce.

 

[samspann1]

Is Paul Pierce the most underrated and under-appreciated NBA player of this generation?

Lebron.

 

[Garbs]

yes

 

[jdubs30]

Definitely don't hear his name brought up often enough. However, he never really won until Rondo/Allen/KG were in Beantown. Granted, all those years with Walker/McCarty they didn't have the most talent, but still.

He won his title with 2 sure-fire HOFers and one of the best PGs in the last decade beside him...

 

[longislandcuse]

Lebron.

Lol, I knew someone would go here.

 

[longislandcuse]

I think most people would probably say Tim Duncan

 

[Eric15]

However, he never really won until Rondo/Allen/KG were in Beantown.

To play Devil's Advocate, those guys never won anything until they played with Pierce.

 

[jdubs30]

To play Devil's Advocate, those guys never won anything until they played with Pierce.

No argument here but we could go back and forth on this as far who would have won where (LeBron/Nash/KG/Allen/Pierce, etc)

I guess the moral of the story is they all needed each other.

 

[bnoro]

Definitely don't hear his name brought up often enough. However, he never really won until Rondo/Allen/KG were in Beantown. Granted, all those years with Walker/McCarty they didn't have the most talent, but still.

He won his title with 2 sure-fire HOFers and one of the best PGs in the last decade beside him...

Rondo was not one the best PGs in the last decade in 2008. Pierce should be lauded more for giving up the shots and touches each game when Allen and KG arrived. He also somehow made the playoffs/won quite a few games with teams with very minimal talent and numerous head cases (Ricky Davis, Bassy Telfair, Walker, etc.).

 

[Knicks411]

I think most people would probably say Tim Duncan

Works for me. Dude has got to be one of the 10 best players ever, and he's still going strong now (albeit in fewer minutes).

Here's a question; if you were drafting a team from scratch, would you take Shaq or Duncan? And you know how each career plays out; ie that Shaq has trouble staying in shape and doesn't have the longevity that Duncan does, but also that Shaq is the most dominant player in the game for a 5 y ear stretch or whatever.

It's a tough call; give 2000 era Shaq any reasonable kind of talent around him and you're probably winning the title. But Duncan gives you a 12-15 year window.

 

[MikeSU02]

Works for me. Dude has got to be one of the 10 best players ever, and he's still going strong now (albeit in fewer minutes).

Here's a question; if you were drafting a team from scratch, would you take Shaq or Duncan? And you know how each career plays out; ie that Shaq has trouble staying in shape and doesn't have the longevity that Duncan does, but also that Shaq is the most dominant player in the game for a 5 y ear stretch or whatever.

It's a tough call; give 2000 era Shaq any reasonable kind of talent around him and you're probably winning the title. But Duncan gives you a 12-15 year window.

Duncan. Hands down. He is the best power forward of all time. At his peak, he could get you a quadruple double. You didn't have to worry about him making a movie like Kazaam or dropping an album. He would be way less of a headache and I'm guessing a 10x better teammate (not that Shaq was bad, per se, but Duncan is basically an extra coach on the floor).

Here is my other thought, Shaq played on six teams over the course of his career (Orl, LA, Mia, Pho, Cle and Bos).

Something has to be said for the fact that Duncan stayed in one spot and was never going to be traded and, outside of flirting with Orl, never was going anywhere else.

 

[Knicks411]

I could go either way. Peak Shaq was better, IMO, but you get 15 years of Duncan giving you somewhere between really good performance and all time performance. Definitely right about being the better teammate and not bringing as much baggage. I'd probably lean to Duncan, but peak Shaq was really unbelievable. (Though I'd be interested to see how those Lakers team do without Kobe; he was just coming into his own in 2000 and Shaq was more limited later in games with his FT shooting)