Trying to determine what qualifies a player as underrated in the NBA can be pretty tricky business. Like the awarding of the M.V.P. trophy, you won’t find any shortage of opinions on what basis the player should be judged upon. With no clear cut answer, I decided to try and simplify things, breaking everything down to one statement: Who doesn’t get enough credit for their play?

A big thank you goes out to Kristen Wise for sending a bunch of pictures from the adidas Nations camp which recently wrapped up in Dallas.

Somewhere between 11.7 rebounds per game at Miami University and three championship rings at point guard with the Chicago Bulls, Ron Harper’s career took a dramatic twist. In an attempt to determine exactly when or where said twist occurred, one must take a good long look at perhaps the most overlooked career of perhaps the game’s best generation.

One of the most intriguing stories in basketball history belongs to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Don’t believe me? Think again. From his rail-thin physique to his 1991 conversion to Islam, in a traditional sports world, the man originally born Chris Jackson lived a spiritual life far removed from the traditional sports scene. Oh, and he did so while suffering the symptoms of Tourette’s.

What Anthony Mason lacked in size he made up for in pure, unadulterated grit and an off-court personality ahead of its time. Just five years into retirement and seven years removed from his first and only All-Star appearance, the man they called Mase is already being unfairly overlooked.

Shawn Bradley is, and always has been, more than just astonishingly tall. An admirable citizen both on and off the court, it was hard not to appreciate the affable giant as he patrolled the paint like an extraterrestrial on a solo mission to conquer mankind, but the man was not without his critics.

He wasn’t Michael Jordan and he wasn’t Scottie Pippen, but if the original Chicago Bulls dynasty was to you what it was to the rest of the world, he was the next best thing.

With the NBA getting its draft on in the Big Apple tonight, most basketball fans will tune in to see the glitz and glamour of David Stern’s version of the Price is Right, with young men, some fresh outta’ their freshman seasons, making their services available for millions.
Everyone knows pretty much that the top tier, lottery picks turn out to be pretty decent pros (in my mind, Kwame Brown never happened). But it’s the second round picks that’ll really surprise you.
Gilbert Arenas, Rashard Lewis, Manu Ginobili, the list goes on, …

At the conclusion of every NBA season, the media carnival comes to town, but this county fair has only one ride, the “coaching carousel”.
In the next few weeks, you’ll see Larry Brown, a Van Gundy, and some other guys’ names spinning around, waiting to get scooped up by a team. What you’ll see often however, are teams that sign their “native sons” to coaching commitments (see: Magic and the Lakers, Rudy T and the Rockets, Frank Johnson and the Suns) and the newest example of this is T-NBC’s own Reggie …

With all the hoopla surrounding the Rolls Royce Silver Spurs’ dismantling of King James’ Chevy Cavaliers, Ryan posted some pure comedic gold a few days ago when he found a pic of Michael Dickerson’s basketball board game.
Never mind the fact that nobody plays board games anymore, it was Michael Dickerson, on the cover of a board game, looking as if maybe he was being held at gunpoint. I knew I had to do my weekly duty on this site on none other than the star-crossed Mr. Dickerson.
Coming into the NBA …