The 10 most underrated NBA players of the 2010s

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Chicago Bulls Luol Deng (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /

9. Luol Deng

Luol Deng was arguably the best two-way player on the Chicago Bulls towards the beginning of the decade. Once Derrick Rose began a string of unfortunate injuries, more was asked of Deng at both ends and he responded with consecutive All-Star appearances in 2012 and 2013 to keep Chicago competitive.

From 2010-14, Deng ranked seventh in total minutes played, leading the league in minutes per game twice. That remarkable showing of stamina only gets more impressive when considering he only ranked 22nd in games played over that same period.

Deng was a thorn in the side of greats like LeBron James given his size and effort across numerous battles in both the regular season and playoffs.

That willingness to compete was how Deng made it to the court for Game 7 of Chicago’s opening-round battle with the Brooklyn Nets in 2013 despite undergoing a spinal tap for viral meningitis days earlier.

His averages of 16.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game this decade — as a Bull and partially as a Cleveland Cavalier — are respectable numbers, but nothing that demands a shower of praise and admiration.

Rather, in the age of load management where the regular season is taken with a grain of salt, it’s only proper to give credit to one of the NBA’s least-heralded workhorses who helped keep the Bulls a fixture in the playoff picture out East.