122. Antawn Jamison
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An underrated player who sometimes gets vastly overrated is a common occurrence in the NBA, especially in contemporary times. But sometimes a player becomes so overrated that they become underrated; such as the case with Antawn Jamison.
Jamison was a high school star who was highly recruited going into college and chose the legendary program of the University of North Carolina. He had a spectacular Junior season earning both Naismith and Wooden honors and leading the Tar Heels to a final four appearance. Regarded as the best college player in the country Jamison went pro.
As was the case many times in the late 1990s and early 2000s teams drafted on potential and often overlooked a sure thing. This caused Jamison to fall to fourth in the 1998 NBA draft. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors but than traded to Golden State for former UNC teammate and good friend Vince Carter.
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Jamison had a sub-par rookie season averaging under 10 points a game on an abysmal Warriors team. He improved vastly his second year and averaged just shy of 20 points a game, and by his third year was averaging nearly 25 a game and in back-to-back games scored 51 points. Many thought he was snubbed from the all-star game a few times because of the struggles of the Warriors.
In 2003 Jamison was traded from the Warriors to the Dallas Mavericks. He would come off the bench for a very deep Mavericks team and earn sixth man of the year honors. He’d also experience his first winning season and play in the playoffs for the very first time. He spent only one season in Dallas before being traded to the Washington Wizards for the draft pick that became Devin Harris.
Jamison joined a Wizards team which had become synonymous with losing, but with the help of Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler he helped turn that around. His first year with the Wizards he finally made the all-star and the team finished above 500 for the first time in 26 seasons. They made the playoffs for the first time in 7 years and the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time since 1982.
Jamison’s years with the Wizards are arguably his best of his career. His scoring numbers are on par with what he did in Golden State but his rebounds were up and the team seen success and became a force in the Eastern conference. Jamison made the all-star team again in 2008. Injuries and trouble ended the Wizards run unfortunately. Gilbert Arenas suffered several knee injuries over a two year span than threatened to shoot a teammate ending up in a 50 game suspension. Butler and Jamison where both hurt for large portions of the 09-10 season and both ended up getting traded. Butler got shipped to Dallas and Jamison joined Lebron James in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers hoped that Jamison would be their final piece to a championship, unfortunately it wasn’t to be and the Cavs fell to Boston in the NBA playoffs. Currently Jamison is under contract with the Cavs and the Cavs future is currently being held hostage by Lebron James and NBA free agency.
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