Most undervalued basketball player and card of all-time is..

olb31

Hakeem Olajuwon in a landslide.

Points scored 9th all time

Rebounds 13th all-time

Steals 8th all time

Blocks 1st all-time in a landslide

How is this for a triple double?

hyperchipper09

Top 10 player all time IMO.

MULLINS5

A lot of overlooked and undervalued players from that era, due solely, I think, because of one single great player.

JBrules

The Big "O" Oscar Robertson: Speaking of triple double 1961-62 2nd year in the league averaged a triple double for year (12.5 Rebounds *11.4 assist and 30.8 ppg). 2nd all-time scoring leader for guards behind Jordan. 6th All-time in assists which is amazing because assists were not given oug ax generously back in his day. You would think his rookie card would be much higher. Not sure he beats Hakeem Olajuwon but has to be up there.

lightningboy

Agreed that MJ casts a long shadow over many other great cards from the 86 set. But what about Erving's card. Over 40 years old, and really the precursor to Jordan who revolutionized the game. And no matter what the value and the lack of beauty, the 1980 Bird/Johnson rookie is unheard of in any sports. 2 of the all time greats sandwiched around another great for good measure.

billwaltonsbeard

Underrated player is one thing; undervalued card is a whole other thing. The player's performance and stats have little to do with his card's value. A player's popularity matters a lot more.

The 86 Fleer Jordan and Olajuwon are a great example. In PSA 9 condition the MJ is $2500-$3000 while the Hakeem is $75-$90. But was Hakeem 3% the player MJ was?? Certainly not.

larryallen73

<< <i>The Big "O" Oscar Robertson: Speaking of triple double 1961-62 2nd year in the league averaged a triple double for year (12.5 Rebounds *11.4 assist and 30.8 ppg). 2nd all-time scoring leader for guards behind Jordan. 6th All-time in assists which is amazing because assists were not given oug ax generously back in his day. You would think his rookie card would be much higher. Not sure he beats Hakeem Olajuwon but has to be up there. >>



Yup. Big O put up some amazing numbers. Most kids have no clue about this guy.

DanBessette

God Shammgod and his autographed Score Board RC.

PSASAP

Oscar Robertson's rookie card could not be considered undervalued. In PSA 8, it has sold for more than the Jordan rookie, and just about every other rookie, except for Bill Russell, George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. In a 9, it would blow away the Jordan rookie. I would agree that Olajuwon's rookie card is one of the most undervalued cards, based on his career.

CDsNuts

VitoCo1972

Bob Pettit is the most undervalued and underrated in my opinion

Stingray

<< <i> >>



Pistons killer!! Didn't help having Kelly Tripuca guarding him!!

Nathaniel1960

How about John Stockton 1988-89 Fleer?

mlbfan2

<< <i>The Big "O" Oscar Robertson: Speaking of triple double 1961-62 2nd year in the league averaged a triple double for year (12.5 Rebounds *11.4 assist and 30.8 ppg). 2nd all-time scoring leader for guards behind Jordan. 6th All-time in assists which is amazing because assists were not given oug ax generously back in his day. You would think his rookie card would be much higher. Not sure he beats Hakeem Olajuwon but has to be up there. >>



Oscar was fortunate to play in the highest scoring era in NBA history. Teams averaged 119 points and 71 rebounds that season! In 2013, it was just 99 and 42.

JBrules

PSASAP you make a valid point regarding Robertson not being under valued. Tough to compare it to PSA 8 Jordan when there are just under 6,500 PSA 8's compared to Robertson having only 87 PSA 8's. I wonder what a PSA 8 Jordan would go for if there were only 87 of them?

VitoCo1972, I agree with you on Pettit. A much more under valued card than Oscar Robertson.

Allen

Oscar and Hakeem both have valid arguments, as does Moses Malone, Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit.

If you like this type of debate I recommend Bill Simmons The Book of Basketball. He lays out some solid arguments with his pyramid system. It is a very long book with lots of footnotes, but it is funny and insightful.

Cakes

<< <i>Bob Pettit is the most undervalued and underrated in my opinion >>



Good call on Pettit.

Cakes

<< <i>Oscar and Hakeem both have valid arguments, as does Moses Malone, Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit.

If you like this type of debate I recommend Bill Simmons The Book of Basketball. He lays out some solid arguments with his pyramid system. It is a very long book with lots of footnotes, but it is funny and insightful. >>



Allen,

I will try to take a look at that book, btw who does Simmons list as his top 5 players of all time?

DanBessette

<< <i>

<< <i>Oscar and Hakeem both have valid arguments, as does Moses Malone, Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit.

If you like this type of debate I recommend Bill Simmons The Book of Basketball. He lays out some solid arguments with his pyramid system. It is a very long book with lots of footnotes, but it is funny and insightful. >>



Allen,

I will try to take a look at that book, btw who does Simmons list as his top 5 players of all time? >>



Hope he includes Shammgod.

Constantine

phi slamma jamma - Hakeem and Clyde Drexler

PSASAP

I nominate Robert Horry as the most underrated basketball player of all time. The guy will never get any serious consideration for the Hall, but he has 7 rings with three different teams, the most of any player not a part of the 1960's Celtic teams, and was a factor in each series that he played in. "Big Shot Bob" was a cool nickname too.

mrpeanut39

<< <i>Oscar and Hakeem both have valid arguments, as does Moses Malone, Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit.

If you like this type of debate I recommend Bill Simmons The Book of Basketball. He lays out some solid arguments with his pyramid system. It is a very long book with lots of footnotes, but it is funny and insightful. >>



Really funny book. If you like irreverent humor, this book would be right up your alley. He talks about stuff that guys would sit around talking about. Like Who's the ugliest guy? Or Who's the "biggest" guy? Props to Jerry "Ice" Reynolds.

handyman

1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain PSA 9-10
29 total 9s an 3 10s.
9s sell for VCP average 10,000 POP 29 10k seems low for this as there are only 29 from one of the first BK issues.
PSA 10s VCP 20,000 Pop 3
Next sale of a 10 will be multiples of the last? Cool Rc card and history of the game.

rtimmer

<< <i>1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain PSA 9-10
29 total 9s an 3 10s.
9s sell for VCP average 10,000 POP 29 10k seems low for this as there are only 29 from one of the first BK issues.
PSA 10s VCP 20,000 Pop 3
Next sale of a 10 will be multiples of the last? Cool Rc card and history of the game. >>



Very interesting Chamberlain summary. I wonder what this would go for at auction being a pop 1

JBrules

Wow!! That wax pack is incredible.

handyman

Awesome pack!
Card is a very very tough centered card. Its my vote for the 1 undervalued BK card.

slum22

It took me a while to think of an answer to this question. Removing cardboard from the equation, the most underrated player in my mind is Isiah Thomas. I am not a Detroit fan and did not even root for the Bad Boys at the time. However, he was the best (non-Magic) PG of all time. His Detroit teams are the only ones to have beat Bird's Celtics, Magic's Lakers and MJ's Bulls. He is the only 6 foot player to ever be the dominant player on a championship team. His legacy is probably less than it should be because of non playing issues (his feud with Jordan, his GM career, etc.) which is a shame because his playing career as a PG is second to Magic only (at least IMO).

MrNearMint

I always wondered why the rest of the 86-87 crew "Olajuwon, Thomas, Drexler, Mullin, Malone, Ewing, Barkley, Wilkins" cards weren't valued higher. This is probably the best (or second best) rookie class behind the 96-97 class, Kobe, ray allen, Iverson, Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, stephon Marbury, marcus camby, Antoine walker, Peja stojakovic. I also just learned that Ben Wallace went undrafted in the 96 draft, crazy.

slum22

In terms of RC class, I think the 86 is the winner: MJ, Barkley, Drexler, Dumars, Ewing, K. Malone, Hakeem, Mullin, Isiah, Worthy, Ralph Sampson. Off the top of my head that is 11 HOF RC's in that set. That blows away the 96 set. Now your argument for draft class becomes more interesting as the 86 set is the combination of multiple draft classes (82-86?). For the 96 class, Kobe, Nash and Iverson are sure HOFers and Ray Allen should get in too. I would still favor the 84 class of Jordan, Hakeem, Barkley, Stockton and Oscar Schmidt (the international star and fifth HOFer in the class). Bonus points for the 84 class that you can slot each of those players in their natural positions if you were to actually create a team with the players. 1996 was a beast of a class though and is probably the best post 90's class with 2003 and 1998 rounding out the top 3.

MrNearMint

<< <i>In terms of RC class, I think the 86 is the winner: MJ, Barkley, Drexler, Dumars, Ewing, K. Malone, Hakeem, Mullin, Isiah, Worthy, Ralph Sampson. Off the top of my head that is 11 HOF RC's in that set. That blows away the 96 set. Now your argument for draft class becomes more interesting as the 86 set is the combination of multiple draft classes (82-86?). For the 96 class, Kobe, Nash and Iverson are sure HOFers and Ray Allen should get in too. I would still favor the 84 class of Jordan, Hakeem, Barkley, Stockton and Oscar Schmidt (the international star and fifth HOFer in the class). Bonus points for the 84 class that you can slot each of those players in their natural positions if you were to actually create a team with the players. 1996 was a beast of a class though and is probably the best post 90's class with 2003 and 1998 rounding out the top 3. >>



I think the class of 86 is also the winner, I was just comparing it to the 96 class because in my opinion they are the two best rookie classes ever and I could see both sides of the argument as they both produced one of the best players the world has ever seen.

DaWongz

Both pricey but still undervalued in my opinion.

slum22

Dawongz--I agree on both of your cards. They are both very undervalued. There was a comment a while back in a thread that wondered what the value of individual Bird and Magic RC's would be. It is hard to think of these two separated, everyone knows what you are talking about when you talk about the "Bird Magic" card. But, if you think about the baseball players who share RC's (Ryan, Bench, Schmidt) almost universally collectors wish for their RC's to be solo cards. Fun to think what that would be like. Plus you get to collect to cards instead of one!

MrNearMint--I agree with you on the quality of the 1996 class. Although, if we want to go back historically the 1960 draft class yielded Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Lenny Wilkens and the 1961 Fleer set has the RC's of Baylor, Wilt, Robertson, West, Wilkens, Sam Jones, KC Jones. Again, that is off the top of my head. Like the 86 set, the 61 has the advantage of merging several draft classes into its set's "rookie" crop.

rtimmer--That is an amazing pack. I can't see it enough! I think BBCE has an Oscar Robertson showing 1961 Fleer pack for $2250 last time I checked. The Wilt would obviously command a premium over that pack as well. If I had an extra $2250 for the hobby I would swing for that Robertson pack!

seebelow

For this post ill take undervalued to mean the value today versus what it will or should be at a point in time in the future. For example, say a bird rookie is $100 for sake of argument. But in 20 yrs it will still be "worth" $100. Then it's correctly valued. Even though, yes, a hundred buck bird rookie would be crazy.

So I say a Jordan psa 9 is undervalued. Meaning in my opinion has the greatest potential for price growth.

I know this is kind of silly but good for a discussion. ....btw I think the bird majic rookie is still undervalued.

Lefthander

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar