The 4 least-scrutinized players in the NBA right now

It isn’t easy being one of the best basketball players in the NBA, yet the following four guys just seem to be liked by (almost) everybody.

Deep down we all want to be liked by everybody, but if you happen to be a professional basketball player in the NBA, that is virtually impossible. We can say this with certainty because it almost feels like the better somebody is in the league, the more people dislike them because of their ability to lord it over everybody else.

LeBron James still suffers the most from this, but as we have already examined he is far from alone here. In fact, the list of most scrutinized players is a good deal easier to put together than what we’re attempting to do here. Being liked by essentially everybody requires hitting several sweet spots, with players moving out of this category over time as well.

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A good example of this is Chris Paul, who perhaps moves between most and least scrutinized lists like nobody else in the league. Widely regarded as the best point guard of his generation, and despite rubbing people up the wrong way when he’s arguing with referees, he was beloved by as close to everybody as you can get when with the New Orleans Pelicans (then Hornets).

The changed when with the LA Clippers because of their whining to officials, and didn’t get much better once he got to the Houston Rockets. After both of those stops he was ridiculed for not being able to win a championship, despite being in a great situation. Now with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who don’t have title aspirations, people are just enjoying his game again.

So you see it depends on where a player is in their career as well. Paul is moving closer to being in this list again, although he doesn’t make it. Neither does Kemba Walker, who was a tough omission. Carrying the Charlotte Hornets for years and not complaining was one thing, but joining the Boston Celtics and bringing a lot more smile after the departure of Kyrie Irving sealed it.

He always comes across well and still hasn’t hit the point where he needs to deliver big in the playoffs (although that is coming once we can actually get a season up and running again). For the following four guys though, it is unclear what they’d have to do to fall out of this list in the near future.