The Boston Celtics are one of the most longstanding teams in NBA history, with success at all levels dating back to the formulation of the team. Their rivalries, especially with the Los Angeles Lakers, always garner attention and bring in viewership.
At one of the highest pedestals in professional sports, good performances seem to be great. Great performances seem to be excellent, and excellent performances seem to be the best of all time. Playing well as a part of the Boston Celtics always seems to get over-hyped.
However, it also goes in the other direction too. Some Boston Celtics players are heavily underrated, but some weren’t as good as they were made out to be, and were overrated in the long run.
3. K.C. Jones
Put down your phones and get off of Twitter ready to DM me about this pick. Just to preface, I love K.C. He was incredible at his role and was a major contributor to the championship wins. However, I really don’t think he was a very multi-faceted player.
Although defense was his specialty, I cannot think of a reasonable way to explain how he’s a Hall of Fame player. He averaged 7 and a half points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds a game in his career. His shooting stats were abysmal, and he shot over 40% from the field only twice in his career.
2. Kendrick Perkins
After 2010, Perk was never the same man. He had a 5-year stretch where he averaged over a block a game, even hitting 2 per game with the Celtics for a bit of time. However, after the ACL tear, people started looking at his earlier career with nostalgia.
Perk was not bad. He was a good system fit and made plays when needed, specifically on the defensive side of the ball. He could defend the post, but that was his only real asset.
His success in Boston was short, and his last 3 or 4 years he was putting up 2022 Draymond Green NBA Playoff numbers. He was slower, wasn’t a massive help on the course, and shouldn’t be praised for his time like he is.
1. Avery Bradley
Please, with all your might, do not take this as a shot at Bradley. He’s an integral piece of the last decade of Boston sports and held longevity even when rebuilding. I love Bradley and watched him play in person multiple times.
However, we seem to put him on this throne of greatness. Whether it be his scoring, defense, or playmaking ability, the Boston Celtics praise Bradley.
In all fairness, he was good. Fairly efficient, solid third/fourth option type of player. In all fairness, that’s what he was; a third or fourth option.
When Bradley had starter-level minutes as part of the Boston Celtics, he averaged about 14 points per game. This was his only valuable statistic. Other than a fluke rebounding year during his last season with the team, he averaged 2 or 3 rebounds and assists per game.
I love Bradley, but he really did only two things. He played defense and scored a bit. He’s a lower-level version of what Rondo and Smart do for the team, with each of them being stronger in one of the areas. Bradley isn’t great at anything, just a jack of all trades and a master of none.
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