Photo Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Paul Millsap; The NBA’s Most Underrated All-Star… Again.
When the 2017 All-Star reserves were announced this past Wednesday, Paul Millsap was named for the 4th time in his career and is having yet again another extremely underrated season.
Millsap was the final player announced by Ernie Johnson on The NBA on TNT and made you think “hmm; is this guy really worth an All-Star nod?”
The answer is unhesitantly: yes, yes, yes. The 31-year-old forward—who logged an exhausting Hawks franchise record of 60 minutes played in Sunday’s quadruple-overtime thriller against New York—is the focal point on the Atlanta Hawks and leading his team to a 28-20 record, good for 4th place in the Eastern Conference.
#NBA Final: #Knicks 139, @ATLHawks 142. TP: @Paulmillsap4 with 37 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists. #TrueToAtlanta https://t.co/rF0xKqDApx
— WeLoveSport (@WeLoveSport_INT) January 30, 2017
The first major difference that sets Paul Millsap apart from other big-name superstars in the league is the amount of media attraction earned. Other than a few Tweets from media outlets who laud him, Millsap simply does not draw the attention of a Draymond Green—who is seen all over social media for his hilarious antics on-and-off the court, as well as his stellar play with Golden State. Millsap and Green’s personalities are polar opposites, but their statistics and impact can easily be compared. Atlanta is no Golden State or Cleveland; Millsap does not get the true spotlight he deserves.
His casual popularity was proven in the 2017 All-Star voting system where fans accounted for 50% of the vote. According to fans, Millsap is the 20th most popular front court player in the Eastern Conference—thousands of votes behind such players as Richard Jefferson, Marcin Gortat, Ersan Ilyasova, Tristan Thompson, and Channing Frye who have no right to be in the All-Star discussion.
Paul Millsap is averaging an efficient 18.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game for Atlanta in 2016-17 and quietly stuffing-the-stat-sheet on a nightly basis. While shooting a career-high 14.6 field goal attempts per game and 3.7 three-pointers per game, Millsap is shooting a fair 44.1% from the field and 33.3% from deep. One third of his three-pointers made is impressive compared to virtually shooting none in his first seven professional seasons. Millsap arguably may be the best all-around power forward in the league. He is a savvy, unselfish passer and is looked at as Atlanta’s go-to scorer and second rim protector (alongside Dwight Howard).
#PaulMillsap is headed to New Orleans for his 4th straight #NBAAllStar Game in his 11th season! He's averaging 18 pts, 8 reb & 4 ast 👀 pic.twitter.com/TIdrroDfb4
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 27, 2017
A four-time All-Star, we have had this conversation many times, and fans still forget to mention Paul Millsap as one of the league’s bests. He has outshined almost everybody at his position this season and was not shown the love by the fans in the All-Star voting column. Luckily, coaches around the league recognized Millsap’s skill and gave him his 4th All-Star nod.
Kudos to Paul Millsap for laying low and quietly dominating for Atlanta… Again.
