Why is Adrian Dantley the most underrated player in NBA history?

Adrian Dantley is rarely in the discussion of all-time greats. He was nowhere to be found on the list of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History that was released by the league in 1996, and he’s even more of an afterthought today. Despite the snubs, Dantley’s True Shooting Percentage and ability to get to the foul line tells a different story, revealing a brilliance that has been hiding in plain sight for four decades. Long before the NBA realized how important scoring efficiency was, Dantley had mastered the art. Prior to the 2022-2023 NBA season, he was the only player in NBA history to post consecutive seasons of at least 30 points per game and a True Shooting Percentage of at least .620, and he did it four years in a row. Joel Embiid and Shea-Gilgeous Alexander have since done it in back-to-back seasons, but Dantley remains the only player ever to do it four years in a row. Dantley is one of only three players in NBA history with a career average of at least 24 points per game and a True Shooting Percentage of at least .616 (min. 100 games played). Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are the other two. There have only been five seasons in NBA history that have produced 30 points per game with a True Shooting Percentage greater than .651; Dantley has two of them.

Everywhere we look, there is evidence that Dantley put more pressure on defenses than even the greatest players to ever play the game. Since the 1974-75 season, Dantley’s 3,109.6 TS Added (extra points added due to True Shooting % compared to the league average) are the second most behind Kevin Durant. In fact, only Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Durant have more in the history of the league. Dantley is the only player in NBA history to average at least 8.7 free throw attempts per game and have at least a .617 True Shooting Percentage. He’s also the only player in history to average at least 7.2 free throws per game with at least a .540% shooting percentage.

As amazing as LeBron James and Steph Curry are from an efficiency standpoint, they have nothing on Adrian Dantley. Dantley had the misfortune of being traded from Detroit just four months before they won the first of back-to-back championships. Even still, Dantley’s Pistons went toe-to-toe in the playoffs with two of the greatest dynasties of all-time: Bird’s Celtics in 86-87 and Magic’s Lakers in 87-88. The Pistons really should’ve won both series based on win-probability but, nonetheless, Dantley was Detroit’s leading scorer in both 7-game-series, so his playoff cupboard is hardly bare. Dantley is clearly one of the most efficient high-volume scorers in NBA history, even if it takes relying on tools like eFG%, True Shooting Percentage, and free throw attempts to show it.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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