On the surface, Pau Gasol’s resume doesn’t necessarily pop like other elite big man resumes. He was never named 1st Team All-NBA, and made the 2nd and 3rd teams just twice each over 18 seasons. Throw in the fact that he never received a single MVP vote, and you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. However, if we dig just a little deeper, a pretty stellar resume starts to emerge. First, it’s important to note that Gasol was a strong player for Memphis during his first 6.5 seasons in the NBA, averaging 18.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, and 1.8 blocks per game on 51% shooting. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) was among the top-20 in the league over this stretch. Had Gasol just continued that level of output for the remainder of his career, he would’ve been an easy inclusion in the top-100. Instead, Gasol’s second act not only saw him become a playoff powerhouse, but also a star on the international stage. 

Gasol might be most known for his 6.5-year run with the Lakers, where he helped LA win back-to-back NBA Championships and reach three consecutive NBA Finals. Using the word “help” to describe Gasol’s impact is probably already in the pantheon of understatements. It would be more accurate to say that he had arguably the biggest impact that any mid-year acquisition has ever had on an NBA franchise. That sounds crazy, but the results bear it out. Following Shaquille O’Neal’s departure from the Lakers after the 2003-04 NBA season, Kobe Bryant struggled to gain traction as the focal point of the franchise. The Lakers missed the playoffs altogether in 2005, and then were bounced from the playoffs in the first round in 2006 and 2007. LA’s record over this stretch was an unremarkable 121-125 (49.1%). The moment the Lakers acquired Gasol, the team went on a 22-4 run with Gasol in the lineup to close out the 2007-08 regular season, and the rest is history. The Lakers would win at least 57 games over Gasol’s first four years with the team, including 65 wins in 2008-09.  Gasol provided the Lakers the low-post grit that they had sorely missed following Shaq’s departure. He averaged 19 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks in the Finals during LA’s back-to-back championship runs, and he piled up the most Win Shares in the 2010 NBA Playoffs.  

Gasol’s impact on the Lakers was sudden and extraordinary, and it’s probably the capstone achievement on his resume. However, coming in a very close second is what he did on the international stage against countries stacked with NBA talent. Gasol played at five Olympic Games, garnering Spain two silver medals and a bronze. Spain had not finished better than 7th at the previous five Olympic Games before breaking through with Gasol in Beijing in 2008. Gasol led the Athens (‘04) and Beijing (‘08) Olympic Games in scoring and finished 4th in scoring in both London (‘12) and Rio (‘16). He has the 3rd most points, 2nd most rebounds, and the most blocks in Olympic basketball history.

Gasol also led Spain to the gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, where he was named the tournament MVP. Prior to Gasol’s heroics, Spain had never finished better than 4th at the World Championships. Gasol was a top-5 scorer at all three FIBA World Championships that he participated in, and is the 8th leading scorer in the history of the tournament.

Every year, NBA teams make deals at the trade deadline, hoping to find lightning in a bottle for a franchise looking to make noise in the playoffs. Even in a sport notorious for optimistic general managers, nobody expects a player to have the type of impact that Gasol had on the Lakers. Similarly, there are fans in basketball-starved countries all across the world who dream of seeing their countries legitimately compete for the first time at the highest levels on the international stage. For Spain, that happened when Pau Gasol entered the building. Few players in the history of basketball have had such an immense impact on not just an NBA franchise, but also an entire country. 

The word underrated typically implies a fairly significant level of devaluation from actual performance. In the classic sense, it’s hard to say Shaquille O’Neal is underrated. He’s universally considered an all-time great. However, Shaq is definitely underrated when it comes to where he falls in the pecking order of the all-time greats. It’s common to see Shaq tossed in at the back of a top-ten list, or outside of it all together. This, of course, is bananas. There are only two basketball players in history who unquestionably have a better resume than Shaq: LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar–whom I have rated one spot ahead–isn’t immune to a resume standoff with Shaq, given that Abdul-Jabbar played in a competitively compromised league with half of the pool of professional basketball players playing in the ABA. The case for Shaq in the top-5 is an easy one to make. The case for him outside of the top-5? Well, I don’t know what that looks like. 

There’s no need to get complicated when it comes to making the case for Shaq in the top five. At 7’1, 370 pounds, he was the most physically dominating player the NBA has ever seen. There is a lot of hyperbole and lore surrounding Wilt Chamberlain that belies how watered down the NBA was in the 1960s. There is no hyperbole with Shaq. He was significantly more efficient than Chamberlain, and did it in a big boy league featuring Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo, Dwight Howard, Pao Gasol, Alonzo Mourning, Arvydas Sabonis, and Ben Wallace. 

Shaq’s resume is chock full of statistics that quantify his dominance, starting with his work in the playoffs when it mattered most:  

Shaq’s Dominance

1). One of only two players in NBA history to win three consecutive Finals MVPs. Michael Jordan is the other.  

2). Averaged a cartoonish 35.9 points, 15.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.9 blocks across three consecutive NBA Finals from 2000-2002. 

3). Pulled down 866 offensive rebounds in the NBA Playoffs, which are, by far, the most all-time. Only Tim Duncan (778) is within 220 of Shaq, and Duncan played 35 more playoff games! 

Editor’s note: This is my favorite Shaq stat. 

4). Led the NBA in field goal percentage a record 10 times. Wilt Chamberlain (9) is the only other player to do it more than five times. 

5). Only player since 1974 to lead the league in scoring and field goal percentage in the same season.  

6). Only player since 1974 to lead the league in field goal percentage and finish in the top-3 in scoring in the same season, and he did it six times. Nobody else who has led the NBA in field goal percentage over that timeframe has even finished in the top 5 in scoring.

7). Only player in NBA history to average at least 23 points per game with a .560 shooting percentage, and he did it with a .582 shooting percentage!

8). Led the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) for five consecutive years. Only Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Wilt Chamberlain have had longer streaks.

9). Led the NBA in Points per 36 minutes six times. Jordan is the only other player to do the same.

10). Led the NBA in Points per 100 possessions five times. Jordan is the only other player to do the same.  

11). Finished in the top-2 in scoring six times. No center since 1975 has done it more than twice. 

12). One of only two centers since 1976 to lead the NBA in scoring more than once. Joel Embiid is the other.

13). Holds the highest field goal percentage in NBA Finals history among players with at least 10 Finals games played.

14). Eight 1st Team All-NBA selections at center are the most by any player to debut since 1970. 

15). Led the NBA in field goals per 100 possessions eight times. Michael Jordan (9) is the only other player in NBA history to do it more than four times. 

16). 5th highest average in NBA Finals history (28.3).

17). 24 rebounds in Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals are the most since 1972.

18). 3rd most NBA MVP award shares since 1984.

19). 5th highest career Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in history.

The playing style in the NBA has evolved significantly since Shaq put on a jersey, which might obscure how difficult it was to survive in the paint in the 1990s and early 2000s when refs treated foul calls as optional. In a league full of bullies, Shaq was the biggest bully of them all. He scored more points, more efficiently than any player in league history. His three-year playoff run from 2000-2002 is arguably the greatest stretch any NBA player has had–regular season or playoffs-ever.  If Shaq was even a 70% free throw shooter, he would have been the greatest player of all-time. Still, outside of LeBron James and Michael Jordan, Shaq bows to no one.   

James Harden gets a lot flack. Whether it’s the beard, the rip-through maneuver that the league banned, or the Euro step that he perfected, most of it is noise. The one criticism that does have merit, and puts a hard ceiling on his place among the all-time greats, is his empty postseason trophy case. Harden, of course, has never won an NBA Championship. In fact, he’s only made the NBA Finals once, and that was way back in 2012 when he was still a 6th man for the Thunder. Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic are all players from Harden’s era who are safely ahead of him on the GOAT list, and it has everything to do with playoff success, or lack thereof. While that might keep Harden from cracking the top-ten, it doesn’t keep him from running neck-and-neck with Karl Malone as the greatest player to never win an NBA Championship. 

Harden’s regular season resume is among the best in the history of the league. He won the MVP in 2018, and finished second in MVP voting three times. The other players to have four top-2 finishes in MVP voting? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Nikola Jokic, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jerry West, and Bob Pettit. Company doesn’t get much more impressive than that. Harden was also named 1st Team All-NBA six times, which is more than Curry, Kevin Garnett, and Dirk Nowitzki.

Harden became a glorified cheat code after he first perfected the aforementioned Euro step, and then paired it with a historically uncanny ability to draw fouls and make three-pointers. He took the “threes or layups” mantra that has taken the NBA by storm one step further by unearthing “threes or free throws.”  Harden’s ability to score in a variety ways, and do it efficiently has resulted in a remarkable ledger of unique accomplishments:

Harden’s Achievements

1). The only player in NBA history to average at least 36 points per game in a season with a .600 True Shooting %.

2). The only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points and 7.5 assists for three consecutive seasons. 

3). The only season in NBA history with at least 750 free throws made and at least 350 3-pointers made. 

4). The only player in NBA history to score at least 23 points per game, accumulate 8,000 career assists, and hold at least a .607 True Shooting %.

5). The only player in NBA history to have led the NBA in assists and also in 3-point field goals made.

6). The only player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring 3+ times and assists 2+ times. 

7). The only player in NBA history with 8,000 career free throws made and 3,000 3-pointers made.

8). The only player in NBA history to have led the league in total points, steals, assists, and 3-pointers.

9). Led the league in scoring average for three consecutive seasons. Over the last 45+ years, only Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant have done the same.

10). Averaged at least 29 points for six consecutive seasons. The only other players in NBA history who can say the same are Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. 

11). Finished in the top-2 in scoring for six consecutive seasons. Only Jordan and Chamberlain can say the same. 

12). 4th most 60-point games in NBA history. 

13). 4th most 50-point games in NBA history.

14). One of only three players in history with a 60-point triple double. 

15). Led the NBA in Win Shares five times. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Michael Jordan did it more often. 

16). Led the league in free throw attempts seven times. Only Chamberlain did it more often. 

17). Led the league in 3-point field goals made for three consecutive seasons. Only Steph Curry can say the same.

18). 5th most free throws in NBA history. 

19). 8th most triple-doubles in NBA history.

20). Led the league in points scored four times. Only Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kevin Durant did it more often. 

21). Averaged 36.1 points per game in 2019. Only Chamberlain and Jordan averaged more in a single season. 

22). Averaged at least 34 points per game in two different seasons. Only Chamberlain and Jordan can say the same. 

23). Led the league in Value Over Replacement Player three times. Only Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, and Nikola Jokic have done it more often.

Harden’s postseason disappointments will almost always be the headline when discussing his place in history, and that’s fair. He simply doesn’t have the postseason hardware to crack the top-ten on the all-time list. However, Harden is every bit in the conversation as the greatest player never to win an NBA Championship, and his regular season virtuoso performances put him ahead of many superstars who did win a championship. Harden also comes in ahead of the early stars of the NBA who played in the weakest era the league has ever seen. What James Harden accomplished in a fully globalized league is more impressive than anyone who dominated small leagues when racial quotas existed and segregation was still a part of the national discourse. It’s highly likely that the combination of Harden’s empty postseason trophy case along with not being a particularly popular player will keep him from ever receiving his proper due as an all-time great basketball player. Nevertheless, his historical greatness is a matter of record for anyone who cares to look.