clutch ability, defensive presence, hustle and leadership intangibles. These aren’t exemplified in the stat sheet at all.
I think a good example is Chauncey Billups a player that has pretty average looking stats. You can’t tell just from the stats and awards he has, that he was a big time clutch player, was very good as part of the Pistons help defense, and was an immediate floor raiser on every team he was on. Those are intangibles.
Similarly guys like Dennis Rodman, Draymond Green, Bill Russell, Wes Unseld, Bobby Jones etc were incredibly valuable to their team on the defensive and hustle end, they did all the little things to help their team win, and they didn’t care if it showed up on the stat sheet or not.
And in general we can divide NBA players into tiers:
Tier 5 (lowest) – average benchwarmer – i.e Lonnie Walker IV – nobody will remember these guys, only dedicated fans of that team
Tier 4 – average starter – i.e Kelly Olynyk – these guys might be known by some NBA fans, but not all
Tier 3 – average star – i.e Domantis Sabonis – these guys can make a few all star teams and will be generally known for the time they played but they are unlikely to be remembered in history
Tier 2 – average superstar i.e Jayson Tatum – these guys will most likely end up hall of famers and be remembered in history
Tier 1 – generational talent i.e MJ, Bron, Magic, Duncan, Kareem etc – these guys are not just typical hall of famers but the cream of the crop with multiple championships, MVPs, memorable playoff performances etc
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