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cmills2000

Of all the pictured players I think Gilbert Arenas was actually considered a superstar for a brief period at his peak.


mike_p_88

Joe Johnson for a minute , too Edit: happy birthday JJ


Ornery_Alligators

Joe Johnson was way more than a minute. Joe Johnson made the All-Star team in 7 out of 8 seasons from 06-14. While being the best player on an Atlanta team that was consistently one of the best in the league. He was also really solid before that and had a few good years in Brooklyn too. If Joe Johnson was a minute, Gilbert Arenas was 15 seconds.


justbrowsing987654

True but peak Gil >>> peak Joe and that’s not a knock on Joe at all


YaM0thas0ni0n

They both can’t guard each other


GeriatricSFX

During 2005 and 2006 Gilbert was on a whole other level. Then the problems started showing in 2007 and the slide began. Arenas was NBA Icarus.


Justa_Guy_Gettin_By

That's just Wizards basketball baby 🤣 Small amount of success leading to plummeting doom


Marcus11599

2007 was when Lebron messed up his free throw routine and said “if you miss these you’re going home” then proceeded to miss the FTs and get sent home


Gamesgtd

That was 06 right? Didn’t he get hurt before the playoffs in 07


JLamb8

Joe Johnson was never close to being a Superstar


MeechGabbana

I was definitely coming to post Joe Johnson. Unfortunately for me, I became a Hawks fan because of him


lxkandel06

Peja was also 4th in MVP voting in 2004


TheComebackKid74

The Peja disrespect is crazy !


EazyBeekeeper

Peja in any video game was money.


GSG2150

Hell yes! I would always pick the kings and just rain 3s with peja all day. The guy couldn’t miss in NBA Live!


justbrowsing987654

100% he was. That dude was a BUCKET


sammy17bst

If you average basically 30 PPG for an entire season in the NBA, that makes you a superstar in my eyes lol. He was Steph before Steph, draining threes from nearly half court, a lethal scorer. And he did it back before the evolution of the three ball and spacing of the modern NBA, against legendary competition.


CosmicCoder3303

Steph was on a literal MVP level


SelfLoathinMillenial

Arenas was arguably the leading MVP candidate the season he blew out his knee. Had my bum Wizards as the #1 seed in the east at the break until that happened.


c0nv3rg_3nce37

I'm Agent 0


heddyneddy

I was about to say, at his best Gil was a top 5 player in the league. He just didn’t sustain it very long but for a couple years he was absolutely a superstar.


actuarally

Injury (knee), followed by injury (brain).


actuarally

Agent Zero was heading towards perennial All Star/All NBA status, then tore his MCL. He was KINDA coming back after missing most of 2007-2009, but went full Chappelle Show "Keeping it Real" with the gambling gun incident. By the time he got on the other side if THAT mess, he was in his 30s and wasted his entire prime. Related thought: I hope someone is telling Ja this story. He's on almost exactly the same path of Arenas...he just flip-flopped the injury & suspension.


DrimHols

Arenas did give Ja the “take it from me, I’ve been there before” talk in his podcast I believe. Or at least teach him how to recover from it.


BlasstOff

HIBACHI!


Piggy_Smollz404

*pew pew pew*


AAL2017

Gilbert likely thinks that too lol


BlueHundred

Arenas was absolutely a superstar. If only he didn't get hurt


lennycooke

Manu. Easy answer.


Swimming-Couple4630

Probably the best role player ever


driatic

Clutch. Not just on offense either. He could save the game on either end


Shitposting_Tito

And against bats!


Brilliant_Macaroon83

I respectfully disagree. San Antonio fans know Manu was a superstar who sacrificed for his team. Charles Barkley knows Manu was a superstar. Kobe knows Manu was a superstar. A superstar that led his country to a gold medal and for a time had him over D-Wade for a few years. And a central piece to 4 championships. If he’s not considered a superstar than Klay Thompson is not a superstar.


kongulo

Was tracking until that last sentence lol. Klay a superstar? Nah


Brilliant_Macaroon83

My opinion is Klay is not a superstar.


Tipfue

Then what was that last sentence for? 😂


Link_Slater

I’ve never been so onboard with a comment until the last sentence. It’s like you got the space shuttle 95% to the moon, then somehow crashed into Lake Michigan.  Klay Thompson never sniffed superstar status. 


Bobba_fat

I was gonna go for this as well. If that counts


user_15427

I fully believe if he played anywhere other than San Antonio he would have been a multi time all star.


mamba-pear

He’s already a multi time all star.


SilverWarrior559

Yeah but He's only made 2 appearances, If He had a bigger role or was a starter or played in the East, He would've had more


boowut

The Joe Johnson disrespect on the man’s birthday.


_NautyByNature

Iso Joe was absolutely box office. If anything, I’d put Josh Smith on the list for being the clear number 2 behind Joe.


CHRLZ_IIIM

That whole team was fun, J smoove, Jamal Crawford, Bibby, Teague, Zaza, Horford, Hinrich


uncledrew2488

Zaza was the antithesis of fun and a notoriously dirty player. Otherwise yes.


CHRLZ_IIIM

I included him because of that contrast, that team was eclectic


uncledrew2488

Ah okay lol. Yeah, real oddball mix. Teague is funny as hell in interviews/podcasts but I didn’t know that at the time. And it’s a bunch of not-quite-amazing guys at different times besides JJ. I gotta believe (without searching) that Crawford, Bibby, Smith and Horford all have 1+ AS appearances.


uncledrew2488

Wow. Just looked because I was curious. Horford and JJ the only ones. Bunch of random awards between the rest but no AS.


goldiegoldthorpe

Wasn't he the highest paid player in the league for a minute?


_NautyByNature

Paul Milsap, Peja Stojakovic, QRich, Rip Hamilton, Penny Hardaway, Cliff Robinson, AK-47, and Baron Davis to rattle off a few.


ery_and

Paul Millsap is a great shout, loved his game.


SwaggyButNerdy

Millsap dropping 46 on the Heat one random day was one of my favorite games by an opposing player. By the end, I was rooting for him to let it fly every time down the court.


DunksOnHoes

It was Halloween I believe as well right at the start of the season.


marvin_is_joe

In a Jazz jersey. Right before Deron Williams was traded, we called it the miracle in Miami game. Still refer to it in Jazz nation.


Internal_Champion114

Loved baron Davis


Khashim1

Penny Hardaway doesn't count as non superstar. He just had a very short prime due to injury.


ethnicfoodaisle

Cliff Robinson would flourish in today's game I think. I loved watching him play, even though I grew up a Lakers fan. RIP Cliff


Difficult-Jello2534

Penny not a superstar? He was the man after Jordan left. He had his own shoes. Had Lil Penny going on. He had a whole thing going on.


ery_and

Personally, when I first got into NBA I loved everything about Rondo back in like 2011. His style, great passing and being a monster defender on top of his general FU attitude made me a fan. Always liked watching Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson back then. Josh Smith and Lou Williams had their moments too but they weren’t on the same level as the others maybe.


TransportationOk3287

Yesss rondo being pass first and so shifty made me love NBA basketball


Urban_Introvert

His knack for rebounding as a 6'1 guard was amazing too


PshhhhhhhUnreal

As a kid in my driveway I used to practice his behind the back pass fake to layup


nicknamebucky

Anyone on those 2000s Kings teams-- Peja, Webber, J Will, Bibby, Bobby Jackson, Doug Christie, Valde Divac, Scot Pollard, Hedo Turkoglu. Good times!


Minute-Editor-4452

Doug Christie is super underrated. One of the most underrated defenders of all time


KansasSheriff

What about Brad Miller


TooGoodNotToo

Still repping that team over 20 years later ✊🏽


CzarCW

Robbed of a title


raidernation0825

Those were some of the most entertaining teams to watch. Bobby Jackson was my favorite player to watch back then.


counterpointguy

All Non-Star Team: PG- Damon Stoudamire SG- Jason Terry SF- Mario Elie PF- Antoine Carr C- Arvydis Sabonis


shakakaaahn

Fuck yeah mighty mouse representation.


driatic

Wish we could've seen sabonis at his peak in the nba


AugustKellerThinks

Jason Williams


_NautyByNature

White Chocolate will forever be under appreciated


kongulo

Just a good ole boy


Electronic_Repeat_81

Never meanin’ no harm.


driatic

Gym rat.


dukegrand12

I loved watching Z Bo bully Blake Griffin.


Big-Raspberry-6151

Z Bo is a walking 20-10 for a hot minute. Shout-out David Lee too


dukegrand12

Great call on David Lee. He played pretty. Great passing.


JKiddBurner

Boban


Battery_acid_dude1

Korver


Immaculatehombre

Boris Diaw


_NautyByNature

Boris was too ahead of his time.


herboyblu

Dont put Agent Zero in the same category with the other guys. He was doing great before that injury.


Internal_Champion114

Gilbert arenas had a good 3 year stretch where he was top 5 in the league in every major PG stat category. He was the real deal and just flamed out with injury and bad choices. Truly sad, he was my favorite player


Willis050

Mike Bibby baby


Wembanyanma

Boris Diaw.


DevelopmentJumpy5218

Kerr Diaw Peja Horry Ginobili JJ Berea Brian Cardinal Patty Mills You probably see some similarities between the players


HartfordYardGoat

Shawn Marion


Das_Oberon

AK47. ZBo. Waiters’ last year in OKC. Kirk Hinrich.


nrj6490

Obligatory Derrick White, I love the dude and he does everything for us in Boston Otherwise: Mike Bibby, Mike Conley, Al Horford, Joe Johnson, Rasheed Wallace all come to mind. The last 3 were definite stars but idk if they ever took that next leap


Chemical-Fly-787

Dennis Schroder, Zach Randolph, Tyus Jones, Evan Turner, Sasha Vujacic, Rudy Fernandez, Khris Middleton, Lamar Odom, Jeremy Lin


Ugievsoj

Brandon Roy, probably the most underrated and forgotten player in that era.


Urban_Introvert

Jrue Holiday. Only started paying attention to him once he got traded to the Bucks and I watched him in the finals. It's so fun watching him play defense. He's so elite.


Qsr17

Josh Hart


x6o21h6cx

Elton brand. Antonio Davis


imianha

Ricky Rubio has a spot in my heart


octobersons

Serge Ibaka


Immediate_Candidate5

Shane Battier


obikamkenobi

Manu Ginobli


Wallrusswins

Jason Richardson


razorchum

Ball don’t lie! The real answer is Rasheed Wallace.


rai3_

Michael Redd


cmacfarland64

Joakim Noah was my favorite player in the league for a good 10 year stretch. He was good, not a super star though. The energy and intensity, his passing ability for a big man, he was just so much fun to watch play.


ChicknB8by

I agree! I thought he and Carlos Boozer were great teammates alongside Derrick Rose. They fed off his energy. Now excuse me while I cry thinking about all the possibilities...


daintybarley_deux

Steve Francis Baron Davis Nate Robinson


StargazerNCC82893

Lamar Odom, Tony Allen, Lou Will, White Chocolate, Jason Terry.


henry_mardukas

K Mart is my favorite player of all time


Automatic-Safe-9067

Rodman and Steven Adams


Mental-Pie7389

Khris Middleton!


TickleBunny99

Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel backcourt


Ho-Chi-Mane

Michael Finley


WillMarzz25

Morris Peterson, James Posey, Baron Davis, Steve Blake, Malik Monk, Naz Reid, Chris Anderson, Leandro Barbosa, Andrei Kirilenko, Mo Williams, John Salmons, Hedo Turkoglu, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Klay Thompson, Trevor Ariza, Jeremy Grant, Jameer Nelson, Jrue Holiday, Derek White, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Rafer Alston, Michael Finley, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Rondo, Eddie House, Lamar Odom…I could keep going but you get it


dutchslytherin

bro really snuck in Klay Thompson lol


sweet_tea_pdx

Arvydas sabonis


LovelyButtholes

Always have been a big fan of Ron Artest/ World Peace's defense. I remember him jamming up up Tracy McGrady when he was with Orlando and him saying Ron was a bitch to play against.


Intravertical

Rajon Rondo


AstonishinglyAverage

DJJ is one of my favorites in the league rn. Played with the bulls for a bit but he is fun to watch on any team. An athletic anomaly


gonghis_khan

I'd say Gilbert 04-07 was definitely superstar, if not playing at superstar level. Averaged 27.7 ppg those years 78 games a season


Swaggamuffins

Jason Williams aka White Chocolate. Such a baller, his highlights are fun. And he got a ring in Miami


justbrowsing987654

Rondo!!! The last of the non-shooting, table setter PGs of years past. Loved his game, better in the biggest spots, had that dog in him, elite passer, that one move he got guys with repeatedly. Loved watching him play


Dry-Broccoli3090

Nick van Exel


PossibilityInitial10

Shout out to Kyle Korver from Paramount, CA.


Mister-Lavender

Khris Middleton.


YakNo9003

Gerald greens windmill will never be topped


Battlehead601

JR Smith is one of my favorite all time players period! I saw him going against elite NBA stars in a pickup game and JR was hands down the best player on the floor! But to name a few others, Monta was greatly under valued, Jeff Teague, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Josh Smith, Allan Houston, Vernon Maxwell, Mike Miller…man I can think of so many more. I love this game.


TheJeffreyPesos

Gerald Wallace, Brandon Roy, Al Jeff, RIP, Rasheed Wallace


beastofhamden

ersan ilyasova


SliGhi

Andre igudala


CashAndFabPrizes

Monta Ellis have it all


Green-Moment-4509

Agent 0 and JJ don’t belong


ssg_broly

Jamal Crawford for sure


ElDuderino1000

Steve Francis


Barange

It's either [Shaun Livingston](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGYYoHJWLU4) or go fuck your mudda


JonathanFrusciante

Peja will always be a superstar in my heart


BugO_OEyes

Jermaine O'Neal


JiggaMan2024

I stan Brandon Jennings to an unhealthy degree


Straight_Toe_1816

Josh Hart.Man is the definition of heart and hustle


Mr-Sister-Fister21

Peja was great in the Mavs’ championship run.


Presto2020

Allan Houston & Latrell Sprewell


xylazineupbidensass

Chris andersen


bright_darkness520

*Dennis Rodman* 1. Jamal Crawford! 2. Pistol Pete Maravich 3. Nate Robinson 4. Rafer "Skip2Da Lou" Alston


MelodicLavishness335

The Big 🥝Steven Adams & Mr. Thunder 🌩️Nick Collision https://preview.redd.it/nm8s9150uk9d1.jpeg?width=298&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71cf97ff9f1eb98af3be0e52e4bf0a54471c0fda


RainmakerIcebreaker

David Lee!!!!


This_IS_A_Laundromat

Who remembers Bubble TJ Warren


XDBruhYT

Donte divenchenzo


Munsonator

As a knicks fan. Rn josh hart is my fav


Wonderful-Fox-8861

Luol Deng


Cool_Butterscotch_88

Sprewell


originaltigerlord

Ron Artest/ Mets World Peace Chauncey Billups Ben Wallace Robert Horry Sherman Douglas Glen Rice Michael Finley Latrell Sprewell Kyle Lowry Demar Derozan Bonzi Wells Z-Bo Rasheed Wallace


Fickle_Ad_109

David Lee was solid asf for a few seasons


BabySasuke

Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka, and Joakim Noah come to my mind. Honestly, I just enjoy watching professional players play at the top level. You gotta be a dirty player for me to not like you


-Lord_Jamar-

https://preview.redd.it/qjws9k8ajl9d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5876002dc6d6402a7b14b5a8c364c545915904e3


SumptuousSuckler

Gotta rep my boy CJ McCollum. His handles and shiftiness was underrated, when he was hot he was fun to watch


sh00ner

100% White Chocolate. I wish we got a timeline where him and peak Vince Carter played for the same team.


Fake_the_jaB

lol I used to force trades in NBA live for them 2 to play together


Consistent_Tell2417

Antonio McDyess. Dude had a solid jumper imo. Helped his teams out relatively well.


truewert

TJ McConnell and Alex Caruso.


Confident_Target8330

-Chauncey “Mr. Big Shot” Billups -Manu Ginobilli -J.J Barea -Jamal Crawford -Caron “Tough Juice” Butler -Monta Ellis -George King -Derrick White -Michael Beasly -Ben Gordon -Cedric Maxwell -Jo Jo White -Michael Cooper -AC Green -Steve Kerr -Connie Hawkins -Kelenna Azubike -Kent Bazemore -Peja Stojkavic -Kendrick Perkins -Rasheed Wallace -JJ Resdick -Joel Anthony -Udonis Haskem -Willie Green -Samuel Dalembert -Mike Bibby -Doug McDermott -Ian Mahmmi -Sam Hauser -JT Thor -Lance Stephenson -Kenneth “Manimal” Faried -DeJuan Blair -Doc Rivers -Aaron Brooks -Luis Scola -Brad Miller -Eddie House -Nate Robinson -Roy Hibbert -Tyler Hansbourgh -Brandon Roy -Ricky Rubio -Bryant “Big Country” Reeves -Shareef Abdul-Raheim -Lorenzo Wright -Stromile Swift -Ha Seung-Jin -Andre Ingram -James Jones -Dorrel Wright -Devin Harris -Leonrdo Barbosa -Soencer Hawes -Tiago Splitter -God Shamgod -Jameson Curry -Thanasis Antekump -Hasheem Thabeet -Rudy Gay (Edit; Forgot Brian Scalbrine, Drazen Petrovic and Boban Marijovic All of my favorite role players.


submergedwatermelon

For absolutely no reason at all: Leandro Barbosa. He even liked a tweet of mine once


Fake_the_jaB

He was nearly unstoppable in transition


YoutubePRstunt

Arenas was a bonafide superstar at one point. He literally single-handedly dragged that wizards squad to any semblance of relevancy. Joe was too on the hawks and he was like a 7x allstar during that stretch, he probably didn’t get the media attention of a superstar but he was clearly one of the best in a stacked league


Argenteus_I

Too many to list here, I wouldn't even be able to make it to the non-active players, so I'll go with a team format. Active: PG: Jamal Murray SG: Desmond Bane SF: Mikal Bridges PF: Lauri Markkanen C: Steven Adams Retired: PG: Rajon Rondo SG: Rip Hamilton SF: Andrei Kirilenko PF: Lamar Odom C: Elton Brand Edit: Reddit spacing


Jackfreezy

American dream Joe Johnson aka Iso Joe. First player to get 2 $100 million dollar contracts and he deserved every cent.


Mrdynamo18

Yeap I honestly think if he signed with Cleveland in 05 instead of atl Lebron and joe would be a problem


Mammoth-Coat-8838

Tyson Chandler.


H2Kutthroat

Why the hell is Gilbert Arenas there? He was a top 10 popular player in the league at a point in time


Paramount-Chief

Yea idk what OP is doing here everyone knows Gil was a superstar for at least 3-4 years


Jonthegoat_09

Jaden mcdaniels


jrtasoli

Joe Johnson got paid like a superstar and was an all-star, so does he count? He’s probably my favorite NBA player ever. If it’s more of a role player thing, I will always love Andray Blatche. Dude was way ahead of his time. If he joined the league a decade or so later he’d be a star.


HERESOIDONTGETFINED3

Monta Ellis is always my answer to this question


Mrdynamo18

Man he was good I wish he was paired with Kobe lebron wade Dwight in this 07-10 yrs


iAmKingCed25

white mamba


jhunger12334

Kember walka


Zkurwysyn

Mark Eaton, Manute Bol, Tony Allen


TheAnswerEK42

I’ll always appreciate Rashard Lewis for becoming a role player. The Magic never would have made it to the finals had he not sacrificed


SmeargleShmeagle

ISO JOE 🗣️🗣️


Ornery_Alligators

Arenas, Monta, Crawford, Green, JR Smith, Stephen Jackson, even Kenyon Martin... You definitely have a type.


Teek00

Gilb was an absolute superstar for a few short seasons. He was electric!


ilo-milo

Joakim Noah


cmacfarland64

Same answer for me!


fryapp4life

As a Spurs fan I still believe we could have won back-to-back chips if we re-signed Jack in 03. I think Pop even tried to trade for him before the deadline in 03-04


TheReal_Spartan

Sam hauser tore up Luka in the finals, so probably him


Electrical_Fun5942

Gilbert being an unbelievably fun player and then pivoting into being the most annoying dipshit of an “analyst” is an all-time bag fumble rep-wise


illinoises

Taj Gibson


justinmorneau33

Nemanja bjelica on the wolves. Sharpshooting awkward unicorn lol, a less emphatic Karl towns


100ozofjuice

Bradley Beal, Josh Okogie, TJ Mconell, Lou Williams, Kris Dunn, Jordan Clarkston, Naz Reid, Malik Monk


HiImWallaceShawn

Ron artest specifically on the rockets


StillNotAF___Clue

Lamar Odom. Tall ,lefty with a good enough dribble and good rebounding. He was my favorite, besides kobe, on the Lakers. They did him dirty when they traded him.


sportscrazr

Brandon Bass. Solid rebounder, defender, and had a sweet midrange jumper. I try to imitate his game when I play pick up 😂.


ThaLegendaryD

Arenas was legit a superstar even for that brief 3year peak (Fk u Gerald Wallace) ISO Joe was as close as you can get without that next step.


actuarally

The pics & this entire thread just confirm the WILD amount of disrespect for pretty much 1998 through 2005/2005. If you weren't Shaq & Kobe or the Spurs, might as well not exist in that era.


ThomasDominus

Rajon Rondo, Gerald Wallace, Peja Stojakovic, David Lee, Rasheed Wallace, Kemba Walker, Rex Chapman


qdavis22

These pictures are cap, Gilbert was a superstar, he just wasn’t for a long span due to injuries


Mateo_87

No. Just. No. I'm not a fan, but! Gilbert Arenas was at one point a superstar in this league. Period. Do your homework. Ps. Peja was 4th in MVP one year. It that's not too 5 level and superstar then I don't know what is.


TransportationOk3287

Rajon rondo. Some people might consider him a super star But i just think he had such a short “peak” to be considered a superstar.


Kombuja

The Manimal was fun to watch as a nuggets fan.


Live_Region_8232

pg: mike conley sg: kyle korver sf: zach lavine pf: aaron gordon c: tyson chandler


barelyawake126

I’d consider 2005-2007 Arenas (until the injury) was considered a superstar. Dude was voted by fans as an AS starter in 06. If the injury never happened, he’d definitely get talked about more (as a player) these days.