Adrian Dantley is rarely in the discussion of all-time greats. He was nowhere to be found on the list of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History that was released by the league in 1996, and he’s even more of an afterthought today. Despite the snubs, Dantley’s True Shooting Percentage and ability to get to the foul line tells a different story, revealing a brilliance that has been hiding in plain sight for four decades. Long before the NBA realized how important scoring efficiency was, Dantley had mastered the art. Prior to the 2022-2023 NBA season, he was the only player in NBA history to post consecutive seasons of at least 30 points per game and a True Shooting Percentage of at least .620, and he did it four years in a row. Joel Embiid and Shea-Gilgeous Alexander have since done it in back-to-back seasons, but Dantley remains the only player ever to do it four years in a row. Dantley is one of only three players in NBA history with a career average of at least 24 points per game and a True Shooting Percentage of at least .616 (min. 100 games played). Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are the other two. There have only been five seasons in NBA history that have produced 30 points per game with a True Shooting Percentage greater than .651; Dantley has two of them.
Everywhere we look, there is evidence that Dantley put more pressure on defenses than even the greatest players to ever play the game. Since the 1974-75 season, Dantley’s 3,109.6 TS Added (extra points added due to True Shooting % compared to the league average) are the second most behind Kevin Durant. In fact, only Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Durant have more in the history of the league. Dantley is the only player in NBA history to average at least 8.7 free throw attempts per game and have at least a .617 True Shooting Percentage. He’s also the only player in history to average at least 7.2 free throws per game with at least a .540% shooting percentage.
As amazing as LeBron James and Steph Curry are from an efficiency standpoint, they have nothing on Adrian Dantley. Dantley had the misfortune of being traded from Detroit just four months before they won the first of back-to-back championships. Even still, Dantley’s Pistons went toe-to-toe in the playoffs with two of the greatest dynasties of all-time: Bird’s Celtics in 86-87 and Magic’s Lakers in 87-88. The Pistons really should’ve won both series based on win-probability but, nonetheless, Dantley was Detroit’s leading scorer in both 7-game-series, so his playoff cupboard is hardly bare. Dantley is clearly one of the most efficient high-volume scorers in NBA history, even if it takes relying on tools like eFG%, True Shooting Percentage, TS+ and free throw attempts to show it.
I think scoring efficiency is important, and Dantley looks great through that lens. But ultimately basketball is a team game so the question has to be to what extent a player makes his team better. Obviously, the fact that most of Dantley’s teams were terrible cannot be laid entirely on him – as I said it’s a team game – but a proper analysis of Dantley games reveal part of the reason why his great numbers didn’t convert into team wins. He was pretty one-dimensional player. He liked the ball in the mid-post. He was highly efficient from there, but it came at a cost to his team. When you watch his games you can see that he slows things down a lot, eats up a lot of clock, looking for that high percentage shot. But if the shot doesn’t come he often dishes off a nothing pass to a teammate who is then forced to take a low-percentage shot with the shot clock running out. An analysis of how Dantely’s teams perform with him and without him reveals that his teams are either only marginally better with him, or in some cases, better without him. The Pistons for example, were certainly better once they traded for Aguire AND the Mavs were worse following the trade. Add in that Dantley was nothing much as a passer, and a below par defender, I think you start to see why teams often looked to trade him and why he hasn’t received the recognition that his scoring numbers would indicate he deserves.
Hey Stirlo,
I appreciate the thoughts. There is no doubt that Dantley was not one of the uber-rare players who can put a team on his back and lead it to a championship. This is why I have him in the top 45 and not in the top 20. However, I disagree with several of your statements, including your characterization of Dantley as a player.
1). The Pistons weren’t better without Dantley. Before trading for a 31-year-old Dantley in 86-87, the Pistons hadn’t won 50 games in 12 years. He led the Pistons to 52 wins in his first year, 54 wins in his second, and had them on pace for 58 when he was traded during his 3rd year. The Pistons were showing improvement each year and came within seconds of winning the NBA Championship in 1987-88 with Dantley, and should have won the series in six games (phantom foul on Laimbeer was the real Finals MVP) even without homecourt advantage against the defending champions. There is no evidence that the Pistons were better without Dantley before his falling out with Chuck Daly (which is why he was traded). Dantley was 33 years old when he was traded, which was ancient in 1988, so even if the Pistons were better without Dantley (again, the evidence suggests otherwise), using his age-33 production as evidence that teams improve when he leaves is disingenuous. You definitely don’t want to look at what Mark Agguire did in his age-33 season with the Pistons.
2). Most of Dantley’s teams were not terrible. He went to the playoffs in 7 of his 15 seasons despite playing 7 seasons for a Utah franchise that had only been in existence for five years before Dantley came aboard. Utah improved immensely behind Dantley, going from a franchise that had never won 40 games or finished better than 5th in its division to winning 40+ games three consecutive years and winning its division for the first time in franchise history.
3). There is plenty of evidence that Dantley was a significant net plus for his teams beyond the win increases in Utah and Detroit that occurred after he arrived. The margin between Dantley’s offensive and defensive rating (119 – 109, +10) is outstanding and shows just how dangerous his teams were when he was on the floor. Very few players in NBA history with a usage rate of at least 26 have a margin of 10+.
4). Dantley was very much not a one-dimensional player. He finished in the top 15 in the league in Box Plus/Minus (BPM ) eight times. Box Plus/Minus is a measure of the total impact a player has on his team compared to the league average. He was also perennially in the top 15 in Win Shares, Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), and Player Efficiency Rating (PER), which are also measures of a player’s total contributions to a team. In fact, Dantley is in the top 50 in NBA history in all of those measures.
This post explains why Dantley is one of the most underrated players in NBA history. It does not contend that Dantley is a flawless player. All players outside of the top 25 (and even some inside of it) have flaws. However, the fact that he is routinely omitted from top-50 and top-75 discussions despite a resume that belies such an omission is what makes him the most underrated player in NBA history. Heck, the NBA didn’t even acknowledge him as a top 50 player in league history 30 years ago! Players who lead the NBA in offensive win shares four times (and finish 2nd twice) don’t grow on trees. In fact, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Nikola Jokic are the only players who’ve done it besides Dantley in the last 70 years. If you’re on a list with those guys, and nobody knows you or talks about you, then you are almost certainly the most underrated player in NBA history.