Some NBA players vote Austin Reaves is the most overrated player in the league

In an anonymous poll of NBA players, the league can’t determine whether Austin Reaves is underrated or overrated for the Lakers this season.

The NBA really isn’t sure what to think of Austin Reaves. The Lakers guard has emerged as a truly — and objectively — good player this season despite it being just his sophomore campaign. But the question always remains in the public eye of whether he’s actually a good player or just hyped up because he’s a Laker.

In an anonymous survey of NBA players from The Athletic, it’s clear that debate doesn’t exist just within fans. When asked who the most overrated player was, two of the 54 surveyed named Reaves.

Hilariously, the same survey asked NBA players who the most underrated player is and, wouldn’t you know it, Reaves also got two votes in that poll.

Unfortunately, we obviously do not know who voted for Reaves in either poll nor do we even know who took part in the poll. That means we’ll just have to assume it was D’Angelo Russell and Malik Monk who voted him underrated and Patrick Beverley and Josh Green of the Mavericks who voted him overrated.

Much like was the case with Caruso before him, Reaves is a legitimately good player that fans are just going to think is overrated because he’s a Laker. Hopefully, that is where their stories diverge and Reaves never goes to another team and he’s just considered an overrated role player for the Lakers for the rest of his career while he continues winning us playoff games.

Overrated and underrated are very subjective terms and people likely feel that way based on the amount of coverage someone gets. Reaves is a legitimately good player, as he showed in his first playoff game, and other coaches and teams have begun treating him as such.

Most importantly, the Lakers know he’s’ a good player and have put him in positions to prove that and succeed. So, he can continue to be called overrated or underrated as long as he’s still a Laker through it all.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.