There is the long-standing argument that athletes earned and deserved to be there if they made it to any professional league. The last player at the end of an NBA bench or the 53rd man on an NFL roster earned their spot despite their role. However small or large it may be. Say what you want about NBA journeyman Garrett Temple, but he’s an active professional basketball player, and millions of others are not while he makes millions. In Temple’s case, he’s neither overrated nor underrated; he’s simply just present. However, overrated and underrated hold more weight when it comes to the upper echelon of NBA role players, stars, and superstars. With the Atlanta Hawks, the weight of Trae Young‘s feathers is heavier than others. His status is “superstar.” That said, according to The Athletic’s latest NBA player survey, his status is overrated.
Hawks’ Trae Young Makes Top-Three On Overrated List
The Athletic’s latest NBA survey places Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young on a list he does and doesn’t deserve to be on
Is Young overrated? Or is he properly rated before he’s overrated or underrated? He’s not underrated; he’s too gifted a scorer and skilled a point guard to be. Perhaps that is all he is; perhaps his ceiling is his skill and gift. Yet, he is considered a superstar. However, the lack of playoff success and winning in general pours cold water on a Cinderella season in which Young led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference semifinals once upon a time.
There’s no denying Young can shoot the ball, light the buzzer, accumulate all-star votes, raise the crowd, and put up points in bunches. What can’t be denied is he likely will never be a superstar who leads his team through three playoff rounds to compete in a fourth for a title. Not alone, anyway—not as a number one option. The third most overrated player in that regard—yes, maybe so.
Overrated as a superstar, not as a player
In last year’s NBA player poll, Young was also third on the overrated list. Two years ago, he was voted as the number one most overrated player. He’s no stranger to being viewed this way. He’ll likely make the list again next year.
Young has almost everything a point guard needs to be effective as a superstar. He is Ice Trae, after all. Yet, he does not affect winning, therefore, Atlanta has not and does not win. It’s not to say that Young isn’t or can’t be a winning player. It’s just that he won’t be the one to do it for Atlanta. He won’t be the one to carry a team. That’s where he becomes overrated because the Hawks have given him the team to carry for the past several years, and he’s fallen short.
As great an offensive player as Young is, he might be an overrated superstar. That’s why he deserves to be where he is on the list. Where he is not overrated is as a player, making him properly rated. What did the 158 players invited to vote on these surveys have in mind when pondering who is overrated and how much? Who knows? Were they thinking in terms of skillset? Leadership? Superstar status? Or just their overall game? If it’s skill or overall game, Young shouldn’t be in the top three. If it’s leadership or superstar status, he should be. In the end, as an NBA player playing at the highest level of the game worldwide, Young is more properly rated than anything else, making his overrated status difficult to gage.
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