Los Angeles Clippers: The 5 Most Overrated Players of All Time

People look back fondly on the days of "D & Q." Perhaps a little too fondly.
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"Overrated."

It's a controversial word. Applied here, though, it doesn't mean that these popular former Los Angeles Clippers can't ball. It simply means that their status in Clipper lore has been elevated by nostalgia.

In some cases, players who were not quite stars can be remembered as standouts by reminiscing fans. Let's see which five Clippers have had their legacies inflated in such a way.

Darius Miles

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Darius Miles was nothing if not exciting. The No. 3 pick in the 2000 draft provided Clippers fans with highlight-reel plays and hope for the future. 

After just two seasons in L.A., Clippers management gave up on Miles before he even reached legal drinking age. Understandably, fans were furious and today still gripe about the opportunity and optimism that Donald Sterling snatched away from them when he shipped Miles out of town.

After seeing the way the rest of Miles' career panned out—"disappointing" doesn't even begin to describe it—maybe Sterling got that one right after all.

Quentin Richardson

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You can't have one without the other. Quentin Richardson was drafted by the Clippers just 15 picks after Darius Miles in 2000, and the two will forever remain inseparable in the minds of Clippers Nation.

For all the excitement and enthusiasm the D & Q show provided, neither player ever blew up—with the Clippers or elsewhere. The Clips weren't going to get far if those two became franchise stalwarts for the next decade. At least Clippers fans will always have the duo's patented forehead fist-bumps to look back on.

Maurice Taylor

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Maurice Taylor was touted as the next big thing for the Clippers back in the late-90s. 

Taylor's potential was obvious and he could score from the moment he stepped onto an NBA floor, but he was a poor rebounder for a big man and had real trouble staying healthy throughout his career. Taylor was another Clipper from that era who left L.A. before hitting his prime (in this case, by way of free agency), but the arrival of Elton Brand a couple years later helped to soften that blow.

Shaun Livingston

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After seeing how disappointed they were in Darius Miles, the Clippers brass sure weren't shy about getting back into the high-school drafting game, taking Shaun Livingston fourth overall in the 2004 draft.

Victim to one of the most gruesome injuries ever seen on a basketball court (You can YouTube that one on your own. I don't have the heart to link to it here), Livingston's run with the Clippers came to an untimely end.

The talent he possessed was evident, but even when healthy, Livingston never put it together enough to supplant the ancient Sam Cassell as the starting point guard. Perhaps he would have eventually had his knee held up, but a player with his body type would be prone to injury anyways. We can't label someone a future superstar unless they gave us an actual reason to.

Cuttino Mobley

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Cuttino Mobley will always be a fan favorite for his contributions to the magical 2006 squad that was one game away from reaching the conference finals. It's undeniable that Mobley was a productive player as a member of the Clippers, but his best days were already behind him by the time he got to Los Angeles.

Despite his awesome chemistry with Cassell in the backcourt, Mobley's shooting and scoring numbers declined. Aside from his rookie campaign, the four worst seasons of Mobley's career (PER-wise) came while he was with the Clippers.