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The criminally underrated

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This thread is for @gtcam who is a huge fan of these questionnaires.....

Across all sports, which athlete(s) would you say is or has been truly underrated?

Whether it's because they were overshadowed on a great team, or they played in a poor market- whatever the reason, who do you think deserves way more credit?

*If you can, give your reasoning why you chose who you chose.

My two:
1. "Fat" Lever. He is 11th all-time in triple doubles. Was a great defender, an Olympian and part of an amazing back court at ASU. He went overlooked in Denver and played at a time when some of the greatest guards in nba history roamed the hardwood.
2. Adrian Wilson- this Arizona safety was one of the most decorated, freak athlete safeties of the past 30 years: too bad he played in AZ. (Also a good front office guy since retiring)
 
Lance Armstrong. Just because he was a cheater with drugs should not eliminate him from best bicyclist ever considerations.
Probably all the riders cheated with drugs. Lance probably outcheated everyone.
He was the best cheater, yes, but he was also the best rider and team captain / leader ever.
The US Postal Service team time trials, led by Lance, were the best I've ever seen. A thing of beauty that no team has replicated since.
 
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Lance Armstrong. Just because he was a cheater with drugs should not eliminate him from best bicyclist ever considerations.
Probably all the riders cheated with drugs. Lance probably outcheated everyone.
He was the best cheater, yes, but he was also the best rider and team captain / leader ever.
The US Postal Service team time trials, led by Lance, were the best I've ever seen. A thing of beauty that no team has replicated since.
I wouldn't consider Lance underrated. He won Le Tour 7 times in a row so nobody was underrating him.

Poetry in Moten finished with 2,334 points at cuse. He and John Wallace kept cuse competitive and did win the big east tourney in 1992. I'd say he was underrated.
 
I'm gonna go obscure here: Anthony Young. Should've been at least a .500 pitcher for the Mets, probably better. Instead, he was 5-35 during his 3 years in NY, including a 22-game losing streak (yet still had a positive bWAR!). 3.82 ERA and 3.73 FIP for his career with Mets. His teammates did him wrong. While many of those losses were in relief, for the 16 starts he made during that 22 game losing streak, he received an average of 1.75 run support.
 
Lance Armstrong. Just because he was a cheater with drugs should not eliminate him from best bicyclist ever considerations.
Probably all the riders cheated with drugs. Lance probably outcheated everyone.
He was the best cheater, yes, but he was also the best rider and team captain / leader ever.
The US Postal Service team time trials, led by Lance, were the best I've ever seen. A thing of beauty that no team has replicated since.
They vilified Lance until it became known that cheating at the Tour was institutionalized
 
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Shabazz Napier for me. He's an all-time great winner without getting nearly the credit for it. I can't find it now, but I remember reading an article showing how Napier was a top five player in all advanced metrics. And that's when he was a junior for a team on probation. We all know what he did as a senior.
 
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Lance Armstrong. Just because he was a cheater with drugs should not eliminate him from best bicyclist ever considerations.
Probably all the riders cheated with drugs. Lance probably outcheated everyone.
He was the best cheater, yes, but he was also the best rider and team captain / leader ever.
The US Postal Service team time trials, led by Lance, were the best I've ever seen. A thing of beauty that no team has replicated since.
Andy Schleck.
 
The Mailman Karl Malone.... A Steady Eddie (2 x MVP) who unfortunately was never on a World Championship team.
 
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Wow. So underrated. This could be the one by which all others are judged.
I'm not seeing this. He was a first ballot hall of famer and a beast during his playing days. I struggle to imagine who underrated him.
 
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I'm not seeing this. He was a first ballot hall of famer and a beast during his playing days. I struggle to imagine who underrated him.
I'm interpreting it as the most underappreciated by the general public and forgotten in the overall narrative of nba legends. Who talks about Moses Malone? Or Alex English?
 
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Lance Armstrong. Just because he was a cheater with drugs should not eliminate him from best bicyclist ever considerations.
Probably all the riders cheated with drugs. Lance probably outcheated everyone.
He was the best cheater, yes, but he was also the best rider and team captain / leader ever.
The US Postal Service team time trials, led by Lance, were the best I've ever seen. A thing of beauty that no team has replicated since.
Actually saw him ride by near the end of victory #2. We were on vacation in Paris and really just coincidentally on the last day of the Tour Saw him through a crowd along the Rue de Rivoli. We were actually stranded there because we wanted to cross the river but the street was barricaded for several miles waiting for the racers to get to Paris.
 
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