It’s hard to say whether Tony Parker is underrated by every demographic, or just the one that does a surface level check before rendering a verdict. Judging by career accomplishments, it would be easy to assume that he was a fairly nondescript role player for a championship level franchise. First, it would be unfair to Parker to call him a role player. He finished in the top 10 in MVP voting four times, and garnered MVP votes in seven different seasons. He was also a six-time all-star selection. Just from his regular season output alone, Parker has a strong case as a top-100 player of all-time. When we add in the fact that he’s one of the most decorated playoff performers in NBA history, it’s not a question of if he’s a top 100 player, but how high on the list does he go.   

Parker helped lead the San Antonio Spurs to five NBA Finals appearances, including four NBA Championships. He was the leading playoff scorer for the Spurs on the 2014 title team, and was named the Finals MVP in 2007. He is one of only three point guards since 1960 to win four NBA Championships with a career scoring average of at least 17 points. The other two are Magic Johnson and Steph Curry. He’s also one of only two point guards in history with four NBA Championships while holding at least a 49% career field goal percentage. Magic Johnson is the other. Parker has played the 6th most playoff games in NBA history, and is one of only five players to play at least 220 playoff games with a career scoring average of at least 17 points. The others are LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Kobe Bryant. 

Parker’s playing style was truly one-of-a kind for point guards. He probed and broke down defenses in a way the league had never seen before and has not seen since. In truly one of the more remarkable stats in NBA history, a whopping 34.8% of Parker’s field goal attempts came from within three feet of the basket. Even more remarkable, his field goal percentage on these shots was a mind-blowing 64.8%. To put that in perspective, both of those percentages are higher than Hakeem Olajuwon’s, who just happens to be one of the top-5 centers the league has ever seen.

The number of point guards who have been the focal point of multiple NBA Championship teams–let alone four–is few and far between. The point guard position has historically not been the straw that stirs NBA dynasties. Outside of Magic Johnson and Steph Curry, it just hasn’t happened, which is a testament to how unique Tony Parker’s career was.        

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.