How they became the NBA's most disrespected stars

Andy Hoops

Don’t miss out on all the action this week at DraftKings! Download the DraftKings app today! Sign-up using https://dkng.co/andyhoops or through my promo code ANDYHOOPS Let's take a look at some of the NBA's most disrespected stars of the modern generation,  I make all kinds of NBA videos which include analysis, player stories, countdowns, and mysteries. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video!  ► X (Twitter): @AndyHoopsYT ► TikTok: @AndyHoopsYT ► Music:  E L L A - Chill Hip Hop Beat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFfncn6YPW0 Music: Bay Breeze by FortyThr33 is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Support by RFM - NCM:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q_nZXa6a2g  Super Power Cool Dude by Kevin MacLeod  Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Find all of his songs and download them for free here: http://incompetech.com  ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, Statmuse.com, PBPstats.com  GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (AZ/CO/IA/IL/IN/KS/KY/LA/MD/ME/MI/NC/NJ/OH/OR/PA/TN/VA/VT/WV/WY), (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-522-4700 (NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), or visit www.1800gambler.net (WV).  21+ (18+ KY/NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/KY/LA (select parishes)/MA/MD/ME/MI/NC/NJ/NY/OH/PA/TN/VA/VT/WV/WY only. Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino &amp; Resort (KS). BET/GET: Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min. $5 bet. $200 issued as bonus bets. NO SWEAT: Valid 1 per customer. Opt-in req. Receive 1 No Sweat Bet token for NBA SGP and SGPx bets only. Req. min. legs and odds per leg may vary each day when offered. Must meet qualifying bet criteria and select token BEFORE placing qualifying bet. Qualifying bet must lose. Max. bet limits apply. Tokens are single-use and expire at the end of the last NBA game each day. Reward issued as 1 Bonus Bet in the amount of losing bet. Bonus bets must be wagered 1x before any resulting cash winnings can be withdrawn, stake is not included in winnings, and expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. Ends 5/6/24 11:59 PM ET. See terms at dkng.co/bball. Sponsored by DK.

Transcript

00:00Okay!

00:02When I think of the greatest scorers I've ever seen, Harden is not one of them.

00:06You wanted a certain coach, they brought in Mike D'Antoni.

00:08You wanted to play a certain style, they played it.

00:10You wanted Dwight Howard, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired

00:12of him.

00:12You wanted Chris Paul, they brought him in and got rid of him when you were tired of

00:15him.

00:15They brought in your old friend Russell Westbrook.

00:17Hey James, you're the problem!

00:20Dwight Howard is the best big man in the game.

00:23I'm gonna go with Robin Lopez and Andrew Bynum.

00:25If they lose in the first round, when he's been paired up with Devin Booker and Bradley

00:30Beal, they're coming for Kevin Durant.

00:33The NBA's most disrespected stars.

00:36Oh, I'm sure some players come to mind immediately.

00:39In many cases, when a star or superstar gets criticized, it's justified.

00:44It could be because they perform poorly in the playoffs, or their games are not pleasing

00:49to watch, or they do stuff outside the realm of basketball.

00:52In this video, let's talk about this.

00:55Why do so many people hate these stars?

00:58It's not just the fans either, even the media love to pile on them, and constantly put them

01:04on blast.

01:05It's gotten to the point where it has impacted their legacy, and their image, as evident

01:10by Dwight Howard being left off the NBA's top 75 list.

01:14I mean, you remember how ridiculous this was, right?

01:18How did it get to this point?

01:20And, is the disrespect justified?

01:23How's going folks?

01:24My name's Andy.

01:25And without further ado, here are the NBA's most disrespected stars of the modern era.

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02:26James Harden Harden has to be the most polarizing superstar in my entire life of watching the

02:33NBA.

02:34The hatred and disrespect stem from his playstyle.

02:37During his peak seasons on the Rockets, the dude was the best volume scorer in the entire

02:42NBA, putting up numbers not seen since Michael Jordan.

02:4532 straight 30-plus point games, 9 50-point games in a single season.

02:51Remember how we used to praise Kobe for averaging 40 points for an entire month?

02:56Well, from December 13th, 2018, all the way until March 3rd, 2019, in this nearly 3-month

03:03span, Harden averaged 40.9 points a game.

03:07Despite his absurd dominance, people were not pleased with the way he played.

03:12In particular, the way he was constantly seeking fouls.

03:16Harden had a way of baiting his opponents to reaching in, and when he felt the slightest

03:21bit of contact, he would sell the foul.

03:24Now if you take a look at all of Harden's fouls that he drew, chances are 99% of them

03:30are legit fouls.

03:31Defenders most definitely hit his arm and foul him.

03:34But as dominant as he is, this isn't something that people enjoy watching, especially after

03:39years upon years of him doing it.

03:42For his career, he's actually made more free throws than field goals.

03:47Offensive foul, his second.

03:50That's not an offensive foul.

03:52Oh, come on!

03:53That is not an offensive foul.

03:55Then you see other daunting stats like this.

03:57James Harden has drawn more 3-point fouls than any other team since 2009, when he came into

04:04the league.

04:04This article came out in 2021.

04:07So, from 2009 to 2021, the Lakers as a team drew the most 3-point fouls out of any other

04:13team, with 439.

04:16That's fewer than James Harden by himself, who drew 521 3-point fouls.

04:22Now, that's just absurd.

04:24One player drawing more 3-point fouls than every other entire team.

04:29I mean, there's gotta be a good reason for this, right?

04:31Is it because defenders are simply not disciplined when guarding him?

04:35Or is it because he's trying to lean in and flop?

04:38Well, I'd say it's a combination of both.

04:41Harden, being a lethal scorer, gets defended very tightly.

04:45And if he sees the defender slipping just a little bit, he's going to capitalize.

04:49I didn't even start talking about how comically bad his defense used to be.

04:54But you don't need a whole spiel about that.

04:56I understand the frustrations that people have with Harden.

04:59Heck, the NBA media and voters also made it clear they weren't fans of his game either.

05:06In the 2015-16 season, Harden did not make any All-NBA team, not even the third team, despite putting

05:13up these numbers.

05:14Also being second in the league in scoring.

05:16Of course, the voters tried to justify this by saying, oh, his team only finished with a 41-41 record.

05:23But plenty of players have made All-NBA with a losing record.

05:27Just look at Luka and Shea in the 2022-23 season.

05:31They both made first-team All-NBA with losing records.

05:35It seems like the criteria for Harden is always different compared to other players.

05:40All of this criticism of Harden made people overlook his dominance.

05:45He's one of the greatest scorers of all time, yet some folks see him as nothing more than a free

05:50throw merchant.

05:53Dwight Howard.

05:55Dwight was left off the NBA's top 75 of all time list, and he was by far, by far the

06:02biggest snub.

06:02I feel like over the years, his reputation got tarnished.

06:07I know he wasn't very good in his first stint in LA, and on the Rockets, there were reports that

06:12he didn't like running pick-and-rolls.

06:14And demanded the ball more.

06:16Sure, you can blame him for that, too.

06:18But I don't think these are the reasons why he got snubbed.

06:21I think a large part of it has to do with Shaq.

06:25For years, he's held a grudge against Dwight.

06:28Probably because he stole his very generic nickname.

06:31And Shaq used his platform to really discredit Dwight's accomplishments.

06:36Shaq would always say he wasn't good enough, or he has no postgame.

06:40Heck, even when he played in Taiwan, Shaq looked up the Taiwan standings to attack Dwight for having a losing

06:46record there.

06:47Regardless, anyone who watched Dwight Howard in his prime, you know he was the most dominant center of his time.

06:54He anchored the NBA's best defense, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

06:59All while being an unstoppable force in the paint.

07:03At the age of 24, he led his team to the NBA Finals, with a team built around him perfectly.

07:10Because of Dwight, the Orlando Magic have the distinction of being the only Eastern Conference team that LeBron has never

07:16beaten in the playoffs.

07:18Well, and the Cavs.

07:20But he was on the Cavs, so it doesn't count.

07:22Now, there are parts of his career that should be condemned.

07:25For instance, he didn't get along with a decent number of his teammates and coaches.

07:29There were times he'd complain about not getting touches, even though when he did get the ball, he turned it

07:34over.

07:35Over his career, Dwight has doubled the amount of turnovers as assists.

07:39He never passed the ball much, and still got stripped very often in the paint.

07:44Then, there's his free throw shooting, which has always been wildly inconsistent, and the longevity of his career got hindered

07:51due to his back problems.

07:53Still, we tend to forget how dominant his prime truly was, and sadly, he'll probably never get the credit he

08:00deserves.

08:02Draymond Green.

08:04There's a lot to dislike about Draymond.

08:06His erratic behavior, his constant screaming at the refs, which was at the very worst during his prime, and his,

08:13uh, natural shooting motion.

08:16It's quite obvious why he attracts a lot of hate.

08:20However, everyone's hate towards his character has overshadowed his contributions on the court, especially during the Warriors' championship years.

08:28To give you an idea of his impact, from the 2014-15 season up until the 2023-24 season, in

08:36the span of these 10 seasons,

08:38when Steph Curry and Draymond Green were on the floor together, the Warriors had a ludicrous net rating of plus

08:4413.4.

08:45When Curry is on the floor, but Green is on the bench, their net rating dropped to just plus 6

08:51.25.

08:52The biggest change being the Warriors' defense.

08:55While we have seen iterations of small ball in the past, none of them have been as successful as the

09:00Warriors,

09:01because Draymond Green was the key to making it work.

09:05While he's only 6'6", Green's stocky frame combined with his long arms made him well-equipped to deal with

09:11players several inches taller than him.

09:13He was able to switch onto guards and not get taken advantage of, unlike many other taller centers.

09:18Remember the infamous death lineup?

09:21It was this lineup in the 2016 season with Draymond at center, which outscored opponents by a comically absurd 47

09:29points per 100 possessions.

09:31It even has its own Wikipedia page.

09:33We've always talked about the Warriors' dominance, offensively.

09:37Some say they were the greatest offensive team the NBA has ever seen,

09:42but they also ranked first in defense for two of their four championships,

09:46and that's largely due to Draymond's versatility and leadership.

09:50While it's justified to blame him for his antics, which probably cost them the 2016 title honestly,

09:56Draymond's importance to those Warriors teams should never be taken for granted.

10:02Joel Embiid

10:04I've heard some folks say Embiid is the big man version of James Harden,

10:09in the sense that they both dominate the game, both won several scoring titles, both shoot a ton of free

10:14throws,

10:15and they both kinda underachieve in the playoffs, as their numbers and percentages see a noticeable drop-off.

10:22The only difference is that Embiid gets injured way more often, especially around playoff time,

10:27so his supporters give him a pass for his poor performances.

10:30Out of the seven seasons he's been in the playoffs, he's only been fully healthy, like, maybe once or twice?

10:37The year he won MVP was incredibly toxic, and it left him with such a bad image,

10:43especially with all the media noise surrounding it.

10:45So when he failed in the playoffs right after winning MVP,

10:50his haters cherished this opportunity to pile on him.

10:54Besides all that, it's mostly the way he draws fouls that irritates people.

10:58It's eerily similar to how we think of James Harden.

11:01Imagine having both of them on the same team.

11:04Heh.

11:04But I like looking at things from a different angle.

11:08The fact that he's one of the best free throw shooters in the league at his size, that's so rare.

11:13To me, that's the impressive part of it.

11:16Despite his gargantuan size, he's exceptionally skilled in so many facets.

11:21Defensively, there's few centers who could match his impact at defending the basket.

11:25Embiid has superb agility and finesse.

11:28He's as skilled as he is powerful.

11:30Embiid also happens to be a top-tier mid-range shooter.

11:33Averaging 51% from mid-range in the last several seasons.

11:38That's among the best in the entire NBA, not just among centers.

11:42During his time in rehab, this was the part of his game that he worked on tremendously.

11:47And now, he's one of the NBA's best jump shooters.

11:50Even if Embiid's results might have come up a bit short,

11:53he's still the first center since Shaquille O'Neal to lead the league in scoring.

11:59He, along with Jokic and Giannis, ushered in a new era for big men.

12:03An era where bigs are dominating for the first time in a while.

12:08Kevin Durant

12:09There isn't much to say here.

12:11We all know why Kevin Durant gets disrespected.

12:14What most people don't realize is, Durant was the golden boy of the NBA before he joined the Warriors.

12:21Back then, LeBron was the villain, and Durant was the good guy who everyone cheered for.

12:26Everyone wanted to see Durant take his throne.

12:29Even during times in OKC when he struggled, it would always be Russell Westbrook who took the burden of the

12:35blame.

12:35However, in the span of a single offseason, no scratch that, in the span of a single day, Durant went

12:42from the most adored superstar in the league to the most hated.

12:46And that hate has evolved into disrespect.

12:49In fact, when you talk about Durant's two championships and two finals MVPs where he put up the most absurd

12:55numbers on ridiculous efficiency, people tend to brush it aside and devalue his championships.

13:01It also didn't help that, when he joined the Warriors, Durant started being way more active on social media.

13:07He would constantly respond to his haters and get upset at the slightest bit of criticism.

13:12There's plenty of reasons to not like him for stuff like this.

13:16With that being said, he's still one of the greatest scorers the NBA has ever seen.

13:20Probably a top 5 or even top 3 scorer ever, if we're being honest.

13:26Not just that, but his longevity gets overlooked.

13:29Few players have been able to successfully recover from an Achilles tear and play even better afterwards.

13:36Durant is a miracle story.

13:38Along with becoming a low-key, fantastic defender, he's evolved into a complete player.

13:44It's easy to hate Durant, but nobody should ever question his talent.

13:51Russell Westbrook

13:52You know, I mentioned earlier in this video about Harden being the most polarizing player, but I take that back.

13:59I forgot about Westbrook.

14:00At least with Harden, nobody questioned whether or not he deserved his MVP.

14:05With Westbrook, he has been disrespected in every stage of his career.

14:10As a youngster in OKC, if they didn't win, it was his fault, not Durant's.

14:15When he led the Thunder by himself and could not get past the first round, he was labeled a fake

14:21MVP, even though his supporting cast sucked.

14:24When he joined the Lakers and did not play up to expectations, oh, he got killed.

14:29It was more harsh than any other point of his career because the Lakers are such a huge market.

14:36At that time, one thing all Lakers fans had in common was they were furious watching Westbrook play.

14:42He never found his niche.

14:44As the years went by and he got older, no longer the superstar he once was, his career is not

14:51as respected as it should be.

14:53The critics point to his inefficiency or his turnovers or his lack of a three-point shot that he never

14:59truly fleshed out.

15:00Those are valid, but it also takes away from the massive impact he had on the NBA landscape.

15:06Westbrook actually broke one of the most popular advanced stats at the time.

15:11Box plus minus, or BPM, basically an aggregate advanced stats based on your box score impact.

15:17It was invented by the popular website Basketball Reference, which I'm sure you've all heard of.

15:22So after Westbrook's MVP season, he recorded by far the greatest BPM of all time at plus 15.6.

15:30However, this resulted in them redoing their entire formula for this stat.

15:35And this is what they said.

15:37Westbrook's 2016-17 MVP season graded out at plus 15.6 in the original BPM.

15:44Essentially, his 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists broke the interaction terms between those statistics.

15:50So Westbrook's great season ended up being 20% better than any other season in the database, which just didn't

15:57pass the smell test.

15:59Then with the new formula, Westbrook's BPM is now at plus 11.1.

16:04Still in the top 20 highest of all time, but damn.

16:08He really caused Basketball Reference to change an entire metric, just because it didn't seem right.

16:14I feel like if Curry or LeBron put up a season like this that broke the stats, they wouldn't change

16:21it.

16:21But because it's Westbrook, you know, people felt a different way about it.

16:26At the peak of his prime, he was the most captivating player to watch.

16:30The first player to break Oscar Robertson's triple-double record.

16:33A record that most folks believed was impossible to break.

16:36Nowadays, triple-doubles aren't really seen as a big deal anymore because everyone gets them.

16:42That's because Westbrook normalized it.

16:46Anyway, that's all folks.

16:48Those were some of the NBA's most disrespected stars in the modern era.

16:53Do you think any other players should have been on this list?

16:56What are your thoughts on these players in this video?

16:58Let me know in the comments.

17:00Thank you all so much for watching.

17:02And of course, as always, I'll see you next time.

17:05Peace.

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