10 NBA superstars who are not considered superstars

7. Paul Millsap

Paul Millsap’s resume looks like it belongs to a superstar. He was a beast in college who led the nation in rebounding three times in three years at Louisiana Tech. He’s been a four-time NBA All-Star and an All-Defensive Team pick. He’s had 40-point playoff games, 20-rebound games and a triple-double, which is not common for a power forward.

Millsap even gets paid like a superstar. Last season, he was one of the five highest-paid players in the league. This upcoming season, his $29.3 million salary ranks 12th in the league; just a few dollars short of Kevin Durant‘s paychecks.

Despite all of that, Millsap has routinely flown under the radar of mainstream recognition.

Perhaps it’s because he’s played for the Utah Jazz, Atlanta Hawks and now the Denver Nuggets, teams that don’t get much airtime on national TV and haven’t been perennial title contenders. Millsap has a lot of playoff experience — making two trips to the conference finals — but he has yet to play on the NBA Finals stage.

It might be his stats. As productive as Millsap has been, he’s never averaged 20-plus points or 10-plus rebounds per game. His single-season highs are 18.1 points and 9.0 boards per game.

Millsap might just suffer from an inexplicable lack of “it” factor.

He’s not a Marshawn Lynch or Tim Duncan who has little interest in media coverage or marketing opportunities. Millsap makes an effort on social media to show his personality and lifestyle, but the followers haven’t come flocking.

J.R. Smith, a career role player, has almost four million Instagram followers. Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets’ new rookie, is approaching 700,000 followers. Millsap, Denver’s veteran All-Star and best overall player, has just under 240,000 followers.