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Tyrese Haliburton made a fool of his NBA peers a year ago.
In April 2025, an anonymous player poll by The Athletic showed he was voted as the league's most overrated player. By that June, he was one win away from winning an NBA championship, tearing his Achilles in Game 7 after one of the most impressive playoff runs in recent memory.
The players were wrong.
This year, however, they might be closer to getting it right after voting Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun as the league's most overrated player. And we can use the playoffs as a good gauge of their judgement in the same way we used last postseason to determine they were wrong about Haliburton. Because instead of stepping up as Houston's offensive leader with Kevin Durant out, Sengun scored fewer than 20 points in four of those five games against the Lakers, including the last three.
Houston has now been upset in the first round of the playoffs in two straight years under his watch.
And if that isn't reason enough, Sengun occasionally being referred to as "Baby Jokic" should be proof enough of him being overrated. Because while he certainly has some bright moments, and his talent is undeniable, he hasn't come close to reaching the level of Jokic. Clearly, players think it's time to pump the brakes on that hype.
But they weren't all right. Rudy Gobert tied with Trae Young as the second-most overrated player, which proves this poll was conducted before his masterful job against Jokic in the playoffs. And Karl-Anthony Towns being voted fourth-most overrated feels a little off too. Jalen Johnson as the NBA's most underrated player was a good call, though.
If you asked any random NBA fan who the leader of the Nuggets is, they would rattle of several names before even thinking about fourth-year star Christian Braun. And, according to Braun, they would've been wrong.
Braun claimed to be the vocal leader of the Nuggets in a recent story by The Denver Post. And not to take anything away from the 25-year-old, but this explains a lot about why the team is where it is. It's a massive indictment of Nikola Jokic, writes Robert Zeglinski:
A young role player shouldn't have to play leader for a team of vets.
This was Layup Lines, For the Win's basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NBA players vote Alperen Sengun most overrated in anonymous poll
Continue reading...
In April 2025, an anonymous player poll by The Athletic showed he was voted as the league's most overrated player. By that June, he was one win away from winning an NBA championship, tearing his Achilles in Game 7 after one of the most impressive playoff runs in recent memory.
The players were wrong.
This year, however, they might be closer to getting it right after voting Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun as the league's most overrated player. And we can use the playoffs as a good gauge of their judgement in the same way we used last postseason to determine they were wrong about Haliburton. Because instead of stepping up as Houston's offensive leader with Kevin Durant out, Sengun scored fewer than 20 points in four of those five games against the Lakers, including the last three.
Houston has now been upset in the first round of the playoffs in two straight years under his watch.
And if that isn't reason enough, Sengun occasionally being referred to as "Baby Jokic" should be proof enough of him being overrated. Because while he certainly has some bright moments, and his talent is undeniable, he hasn't come close to reaching the level of Jokic. Clearly, players think it's time to pump the brakes on that hype.
But they weren't all right. Rudy Gobert tied with Trae Young as the second-most overrated player, which proves this poll was conducted before his masterful job against Jokic in the playoffs. And Karl-Anthony Towns being voted fourth-most overrated feels a little off too. Jalen Johnson as the NBA's most underrated player was a good call, though.
The Nuggets' leader is... Christian Braun?
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If you asked any random NBA fan who the leader of the Nuggets is, they would rattle of several names before even thinking about fourth-year star Christian Braun. And, according to Braun, they would've been wrong.
Braun claimed to be the vocal leader of the Nuggets in a recent story by The Denver Post. And not to take anything away from the 25-year-old, but this explains a lot about why the team is where it is. It's a massive indictment of Nikola Jokic, writes Robert Zeglinski:
A young role player shouldn't have to play leader for a team of vets.
Shootaround
- Timberwolves coach Chris Finch couldn't believe Victor Wembanyama was getting away with goaltending.
- Austin Rivers ripped Draymond Green in a back-and-forth that actually started with Steve Kerr.
- Jared Vanderbilt's gruesome finger injury led to the most horrified reaction by the OKC bench.
- Anthony Edwards was incredible in his Game 1 return from injury, and still only saw the fault in his game.
This was Layup Lines, For the Win's basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NBA players vote Alperen Sengun most overrated in anonymous poll
Continue reading...
