How Do You Become Underrated - the career of underrated player Reggie Theus - Statistical Data Included

Basketball Digest, Nov, 2001 by Brett Ballantini

Reggie Theus should know the answer, because he never got the credit he deserved as an NBA star

THERE ARE PLENTY OF NAMES that come to mind when listing off the most underrated players in basketball history. But how do you become underrated?

There are many formulas, but the standard recipe is based on a heap of talent Mix in a pinch of superstardom, a dash of unfulfilled playoff promise, sprinkle in reliability and longevity, and pour onto several subpar squads, and more often than, not, you'll have an underrated player.

Case in point: Combo guard Reggie Theus. Theus was the runner-up in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1978-79 and was a two-time All-Star. He was his team's scoring leader six times--including in his very last NBA season at age 34. Theus also was an iron man who didn't miss a game because of injury in his first eight seasons.

If you see Theus on the underrated player menu and blanch, chew on of this, question: How many players in NBA history have both more points and assists than Theus? No one I talked to about Theus--among them New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn (who drafted and briefly coached Theus), Nets coach Byron Scott (who often drew Theus on defense), Sacramento Kings director of player personnel Jerry Reynolds (who coached Theus in Sacramento), and my dad (no NBA experience, but a big RT fan nonetheless)--came close to answering correctly.

Perhaps that's not a crack research team, but it's not exactly chopped liver. Yet they sure performed that way. Put it like this: The closest guess came from Dad. (And Mr. Reynolds, I'll have to ask to see you after class).

So what is the answer: Fifty? Twenty-five? Fifteen? Five?

You may want to sit down for this one, because that's the answer. One. One player, Oscar Robertson. Theus is No. 34 on the all-time points list (19,015)--that's right, Theus scored more points than Hall-of-Famers Isiah Thomas, Bob McAdoo, Dolph Schayes, Calvin Murphy, and Lenny Wilkens. And Theus is No. 18 oil the all-time assists list (6,453)--yep, that's more dimes than Hall-of-Famers Jerry West, Larry Bird, and Walt Frazier, and future HOFs Clyde Drexler and Michael Jordan. In fact, there are only four players among the top 40 all-time scorers and top 20 all-time assists leaders: Robertson, West, Thomas ... and Theus.

"Well, I'll be daggone," Thorn says.

"Oh my God, I am absolutely shocked," says Reynolds, whose guess was 25.

"Wow, not bad company at all," says Theus, himself unaware of his exclusive membership. "Truly, nobody would know that. It's not because people don't regard me as a hell of a player. It's because they don't know any different."

In Theus's case, the biggest ingredient in his underrated recipe was that he was saddled with some of the ugliest teams in NBA history, in three different decades. For a man considered one of the most dashing NBA players of all time, he was set up with some ugly suitors. Think Danny Ainge was a whiner? Bill Laimbeer a thug? Dennis Rodman a freak? You still wouldn't have blind-dated them onto any of these sad crews: the 1982-83 Chicago Bulls (28-54), the 1987-88 Kings (24-58), the 1989-90 Orlando Magic (18-64), or the 1990-91 Nets (26-56).

Critics of Theus's career point out that his teams finished with winning records in only two of his 13 seasons, and he played in only 17 playoff games in four total postseasons. But that blunt criticism may be short-sighted.

"People don't understand how much harder it is to maintain your professionalism, zest for the game, and consistency when you have not had a consistent pro gram to work with," Theus says. "Those things, in terms of how a player, had great impact on my career."

What's more, Theus--already fazed by being drafted from the fast-breaking UNLV Runnin' Rebels onto the Bulls, who basically played a four corners offense with Artis Gilmore anchored in the paint--played under eight head coaches in his first seven seasons. Unofficial record or not, "That's not the norm," Theus says. "You have to be a better player to go through eight different programs, eight different coaches, and still perform for every one of them. Look at how many coaches I had through my career, and I gave them all numbers--there wasn't one I couldn't play for."

Ironically, it was a position--or lack thereof--Theus pioneered that could be responsible for the degree to which he is underrated. He brought unprecedented size to the point guard position (at 6'7", he was two inches shorter but one season sooner than Magic Johnson) and boasted rare passing polish for a 2-guard. His position, today commonly known as a combo guard, simply didn't exist 20 years ago.

"In those days, it seemed a little confusing to people because they didn't know how to categorize me," Theus says. "I got caught in the middle when they were choosing awards teams, putting people in categories, thinking about guys and what their contributions were. The category--a guard that legitimately played both positions--really hadn't been set yet."

"It was a little different with someone like me having to play Reggie because I was used to playing against guys my size or a little smaller," Scott says. "It was a huge challenge to face him and guard somebody who could do so many things on the basketball court."