Ever get into a heated bar debate about who the greatest bucket-getter was? You probably hear the same names. MJ. Kobe. KD. Maybe some old-timer brings up Wilt. But honestly, most fans completely ignore the guy who actually led the entire 1980s in total points.
It wasn't Larry Bird. It wasn't Magic Johnson. It was Alex English.
That right there is the definition of being overlooked. In a league that obsesses over rings and "bag" videos, we tend to forget the guys who were absolute nightmares to guard but didn't have a flashy personality or a Nike commercial. We’re talking about the players who coaches feared but history somehow misplaced.
Let's look at the most underrated NBA players of all time and why their lack of "mainstream" fame is basically a basketball crime.
The Most Underrated NBA Players of All Time: The Guys Who Broke the Box Score
To understand why these guys get ignored, you have to look at "Ring Culture." If you didn't win a championship as the number one option, the casual fan thinks you're a footnote. But that’s a lazy way to watch sports.
Take Alex English, for example. The man was a human cheat code in Denver. He scored over 2,000 points in eight consecutive seasons. Think about that for a second. The consistency is staggering. He wasn’t dunking on everyone like Dominique Wilkins, so the highlights aren't as "cool." He was quiet, cerebral, and used a high-release jumper that was essentially unblockable. English finished his career with 25,613 points. He’s 22nd on the all-time scoring list, yet he barely gets a mention when people talk about the greatest small forwards.
Adrian Dantley: The Efficient "Black Hole"
Then there’s Adrian Dantley. If you check his stats, they look like a typo. From 1981 to 1984, he averaged over 30 points per game every single season. He’s one of only six players in history to have four consecutive 30-point seasons.
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- Michael Jordan
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Oscar Robertson
- James Harden
- Elgin Baylor
- Adrian Dantley
That is the list. That’s it.
People used to call him a "black hole" because once the ball went into the post, it wasn't coming back out. But when you’re shooting 57% from the floor as a 6'5" forward, why would you ever pass? He was a master of the "old man game" before he was even old. He’d draw fouls, use weird pivots, and just bully people. He didn't make the NBA 75 list, which is honestly kind of insulting given his efficiency.
Sidney Moncrief: The Original Perimeter Lockdown
If you ask Michael Jordan who the toughest defender he ever faced was, he doesn’t say Joe Dumars or Gary Payton first. He says Sidney Moncrief.
Moncrief was the first-ever winner of the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award. Then he went out and won it again the next year. He’s still the only guard to win it twice. In the early 80s, the Milwaukee Bucks were the third-winningest team in the league, trailing only the Lakers and Celtics. Moncrief was the engine.
He was a 6'3" guard who played like a power forward. He’d post up, grab nearly 6 rebounds a game, and then lock down the other team's best player for 40 minutes. His knees eventually gave out, which is why his peak was short, but for a five-year stretch, he was arguably the best two-way guard in the world.
The Triple-Double Machine Nobody Remembers
Long before Russell Westbrook made the triple-double a daily occurrence, there was Lafayette "Fat" Lever.
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Lever was a 6'3" point guard for those high-octane Denver Nuggets teams. His stats in the late 80s were genuinely absurd. In 1988, he averaged 18.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.8 assists. For a point guard to grab over 8 boards a game in an era of giants like Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing is wild.
He once had a game where he put up 31 points, 16 rebounds, 12 assists, and 6 steals. Against Michael Jordan.
Lever retired with 43 career triple-doubles. At the time, that put him sixth all-time. He’s currently 11th. If he played today in a "positionless" NBA with modern spacing, he’d probably be a perennial MVP candidate. But because those Nuggets teams never won a ring, he’s mostly remembered by hardcore stat nerds and Denver locals.
Jack Sikma and the "Sikma Move"
You ever see a big man catch the ball in the post, face up, and do a reverse pivot with the ball held behind their head? That’s the "Sikma Move."
Jack Sikma was the original stretch five. He was a 6'11" center with a perm and a jump shot that looked like it belonged on a shooting guard. He helped lead the Seattle SuperSonics to their only championship in 1979. He was a seven-time All-Star.
One of his weirdest and most impressive stats? He’s the only center in NBA history to lead the league in free-throw percentage (92.2% in 1988). He was 20 years ahead of his time. If Sikma was playing in 2026, he’d be the perfect modern center—rim protection, elite rebounding, and 37% shooting from deep.
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Bobby Jones: The Ultimate "Glue" Guy
Finally, we have to talk about Bobby Jones. Not the golfer. The "Secretary of Defense."
Jones is the guy every coach wants but every fan ignores. He made eight straight All-Defensive First Teams. He was the first-ever Sixth Man of the Year winner. His stats—12 points and 6 rebounds—don’t pop. But his impact was legendary.
He didn’t care about scoring. He cared about the "chase-down block" before LeBron made it a thing. He’d sprint the floor like a track star, dive for loose balls, and guard anyone from a point guard to a center. He did all this while dealing with asthma and epilepsy. He was the backbone of that 1983 Sixers team that swept the Lakers.
Why We Get It Wrong
The problem is how we consume basketball. We focus on the "top of the mountain"—the MVPs and the Finals MVPs. But the most underrated NBA players of all time are the ones who made the league what it is. They provided the depth, the defense, and the high-level scoring that forced the "superstars" to actually get better.
When you're looking back at basketball history, don't just look at the rings. Look at the guys who dominated their roles so thoroughly that their peers still talk about them 40 years later.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
- Watch Full Games, Not Just Highlights: To appreciate guys like Alex English or Bobby Jones, you have to see the flow of the game. Highlights miss the defensive rotations and the "boring" 15-footers that win games.
- Check "Era-Relative" Stats: Use sites like Basketball-Reference to see how a player performed compared to the league average (TS% or Defensive Rating). This shows why Adrian Dantley’s scoring was so much more impressive than modern volume shooters.
- Study the "NBA 75" Snubs: Looking at who didn't make the cut is often more educational than looking at who did. Players like Moncrief, English, and Dantley are the primary case studies for how we undervalue consistency and two-way play.