5 Most Overrated Active NBA Players

The NBA is a league dominated by its stars. Their players are extremely marketable and recognizable. Some players, however, are overvalued because of the emphasis the league puts on creating stars.

LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki are obviously among the league's best players. The problem arises when players who are viewed as elite don't have the game to back it up.

5) Carlos Boozer

Carlos Boozer’s horrendous play in last year’s postseason cemented his place among the league’s most overrated players. Boozer averaged a pedestrian 12.7 points per game during the postseason while only shooting 43 percent from the field.

During the regular season, Boozer’s points-per-game and rebounds-per-game averages both dropped from the previous year. The pressure created by the big contract he signed prior to the season may have attributed to Boozer’s poor play.

Carlos Boozer may be a good player, but he's not nearly as good as his lucrative contract indicates.

4) Chris Bosh

Chris Bosh is known for his smooth jump shot and offensive skills. He was the undisputed best player on the Toronto Raptors throughout his tenure there and because of this, he was able to sign a lucrative multi-year deal with the Miami Heat.

LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Bosh are referred to as the "big three." However, it is really the "big two." Bosh is a very soft player who refuses to bang bodies in the paint. His lack of toughness allows him to be pushed around by bigger, more physical players.

Bosh signed a deal prior to the 2010-2011 season that gave him the same amount of money as teammates LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. Bosh is nowhere near the player James or Wade is and is overvalued because of the statistical excellence he provided for a poor Toronto team.

3) Joe Johnson

Joe Johnson is viewed as one of the top shooting guards in the NBA. His team had so much confidence in him that before last season they signed him to a six-year, $119 million dollar deal. Johnson will be 35 years old in the final year of the deal.

While Johnson has been a prolific scorer for the majority of his career, he is a very one-dimensional player. He is not a great passer or rebounder, and he's known to play less-than-stellar defense. He has also been known to take many shots while preventing others from getting involved in the offense.

Johnson took a step back this year, averaging 18 points per game while shooting only 30 percent from behind the arc and 44 percent from the field. Johnson had scored over 20 points per game in all of the previous five seasons.

2) Rajon Rondo

I know many people, and especially Celtics fans, are going to disagree with me on this one. Being a Celtics fan myself, it wasn’t easy for me to proclaim one of our best players overrated.

Rondo is an extremely gifted player who possesses playmaking ability that is only matched by superstars like Chris Paul and Steve Nash. He also is a great defensive player and is consistently among the league leaders in steals.

However, Rondo has proven on numerous occasions to be a liability on offense. His inability to develop a consistent jump shot has hurt him mightily. Teams are able to play off of Rondo and force him to make jump shots, which he has proven he cannot do on a consistent basis. Rondo’s poor free-throw shooting has also been a black mark on his career and has even forced the team to take him off the court down the stretch of close games.

To be considered one of the league’s best players, Rondo is going to need to develop a jump shot or he’ll continue to be an offensive liability for his team.

1) Amare Stoudemire

Amare Stoudemire is a six-time NBA All-Star, a four-time All-NBA Second Team selection, and was on the All-NBA first team in 2007. Stoudemire is an extremely athletic and offensively gifted player. He has averaged 22 points per game over the course of his career and has even developed a reliable jump shot in recent years.

However, Stoudemire is the most one-dimensional player in the NBA. He is a below-average defender and a horrific help defender. Over the course of his career, he has consistently put little to no effort on the defensive side of the ball.

Stoudemire is also a poor rebounder for his position. Despite having terrific size and athleticism, Stoudemire has never averaged 10 rebounds per game in a season. Equally important, Stoudemire is a very poor passer and is known for dominating the ball on offense.

Until Stoudemire improves his many weaknesses, he cannot be considered an elite player.