Question: do any of you see how the media is able to build a players reputation? I mean Lebron has 1 great game and it is now legendary. It is like they are keeping a running count, so when they anoint him they have their evidence. Hakeem had so many games like that it was almost routine and yet his legend gets weaker every year. Hakeem hit so many shots in the 4th quarter to win games. I mean every game it happened like that for Hakeem. Not just in the playoffs. To me, Hakeem and Jordan are the exact same player. Both had the offense and the defense. Was Jordan a better defensive player than Hakeem? Hell no. Was he a better offensive player? Maybe a little. But only because that was what Jordan focused on. It was like the difference between Hakeem's defense which was more valuable to the Rockets than Jordan's D was, even though both were about equal for their position. Yet it is Jordan that gets all the attention. If Hakeem was a media darling, he would have been a GOAT, too. Hakeem was better defensively than every center, except Nate Thurman and Bill Russell. But he was at least Thurman's equal. He was also as good as any center on offense, but not as dominate as Shaq, Wilt and Kareem. He wasn't far behind them. He was, however, more clutch than any of those players, except Jordan.
There are a lot of great players that don't get enough credit. Nonetheless, I still hear Hakeem's name mentioned often enough. His name pops up on the radio occasionally, and he has been recognized as one of the best by both Shaq and Michael Jordan. Most people who are not from Houston will truly never understand the impact of his legacy, but that is for us to enjoy.
when Lebron James retires then you can compare his "legend" to Hakeem, till then he is just a media hype cause his team consists of some mediocre ball players and him
I really don't think Hakeem gets his dues, i can't stand seeing his name mentioned as an afterthought, like 'he was pretty decent too'. The man is the greatest center of all time, i just keep racking my brain wondering what it was he didn't do to get the respect he deserved on a national level. Did he simply refuse the attention? did the media think he wasn't flashy enough? You combine Shaq's mouth with Hakeem's play and maybe he is recognised as the greatest, but because he was humble, repectful and downright committed to the game he is looked over. While a player well known for being lazy and purposefully out of shape on his franchises dollar receives all the accolades in the world? What was it? Perhaps Jordan did more than dominate his peers on the court, he did it off the court too. Brilliant marketing, a strong image and the backing of the NBA as their posterboy made him everybody's automatic choice as the best. Well maybe it's backfired, years of selling dunks and highlights of Jordan has turned every high schooler in the league into MJ wannabes without realising what made him great in the first place. Perhaps some footage of Hakeem dominating on both ends with sound footwork and defensive timing would result in more fundamentally sound centers? Not 7ft softees who can't even post up small forwards or play defense to save their life. There will never be another center like Dream, and there never was in the first place.
si didn't even want to make a championship issue for the rockets when they won the first ring. that's all we need to know about hakeem and the rocket's status among the greats. you're f#$king right he gets slighted all the time, but we have the memories and that's good enough.
you guys are funny. as a long time SF bay area resident and by default, Golden State Warriors fan, all I can say is - at least you HAD Hakeem! sure, maybe he didn't have all the adoration/recognition as MJ; frankly nobody did (nor does anyone in the current game deserve to be named in the same breath as Hakeem or MJ, except maybe some of the vets like Shaq or Duncan) but at least you guys got to 'witness' (to coin LeBron's campaign) arguably one of the greatest centers of all time night-in and night-out; that's something special Warriors fans? we witnessed Run TMC, which was mildly entertaining but not championship calibre by far and everyone knew that; we got to witness guys named Hill, Seikaly, Tolbert or Bol try to stop Hakeem lol. TRY was the operative word Hakeem's impact on the league and in the game of basketball was felt far more than you guys realize; i agree it's too bad in today's game the trend is to reward potential and occasional flashes of brilliance instead of steady, consistent results Lebron? Legend? Hahah, please. not yet anyway. But give him credit; he has exceeded everyone's initial hype and has come far in a very short time. I'll give him that. I'm more curious to see if his giant frame goes the same route as Shawn 'the Reignman' Kemp as the years wear on him...
The East has been a joke since the early 90's. If you move the bulls into the West and the Rockets in the East, I think you would see a more evenly distributed championship year by year. I think if Jordan had to play against the Jazz, Sonics, Spurs, and Lakers each year; he would have never been able to reach 6 trophies. I mention it because Lebron is in the same situation. No one in the East is even half as good as the top 8 in the West. It's a joke. It's sad that Hakeem will probably turn into an afterthought when thinking of the great years in the 90's for the NBA.
Dream's post-career low-profile has lowered the public's recollection of him. Besides, the psychology is today's is the Greatest; yesterday's was your father's. Except for Michael. Except for Kobe.
Shocking that a current superstar in the league gets more coverage than a guy whose heyday was 12 years ago and now lives overseas.
Dream was great but Jordan is the GOAT. I think its unfair to Lebron that you are comparing him to legends when his career JUST started. It took the Dream 10 years to win the championship. I thought it was a joke when he said his goal early in the season was to contend for a championship but nonetheless he got there and kept his word. Would you put the Lebron the same category as the Dream if he won 2 championships and averaged 30/8/8? NO! because we are Houston fans.
You are so wrong. It took dream 2 years, buddy. Know your history. And Hakeem is as good as jordan ever was.
lol sorry, have to disagree on that because 1) it's MJ. Not I'm-the-greatest-you'll-see-waaah Kobe; not I-tried-but-can't-get-past-1st-round TMAC (sorry TMAC; love ya man but 6 times and out leaves me slightly bitter); it's not Harold 'Baby Jordan' Minor. It's M I'm-going-to-crush-you-no-matter-what-you-throw-at-me J; he would've dominated the West even easier; 2) the west was pathetic and in growth - The Admiral just set sail with guys like Rod Strickland and Sean Elliot; Lakeshow was sans Magic man; Shaq was just a puppy; Clippers/Warriors who? Jazz had Ostertag patrolling the paint? lol; eastern conf finals WAS the finals! (ironically how the West is in today's game); Beasts like Ewing, Oakley, Mason, Starks, Smith were on the same team; Pistons/Nets/Celtics/Cavs bred "Jordan stoppers" every season etc I agree it wouldn't have been 6 trophies if Jordan had been out the West; it would've been more
I think I would rather have the Rockets have 1 title and beating the Bulls than the two we got. I think Hakeem would be more of a legend if that were the case. Anybody else? Oh and LeBron deserves all the hype he gets and Hakeem has been retired for what 5 years.
I know one guy who gives Hakeem props is Dan Patrick.......he puts him in the top 3 all-time. He had a great radio show bit the other day about his conversation wtih Ewing about how he stacked up against other great centers.
I believe it is accepted that MJ is GOAT. I believe it is unarguable that during mid-90s, for a period of 3-4 seasons, Dream > MJ. Dream is in the pantheon of greatest ever 5s, and a legit Top 50. I wish, oh I wish, the stars would have aligned and the '97 Finals would have been Dream instead of Stockton/Malone. I wish...
I'm not only going to disagree with you, but I'm going to STRONGLY disagree with you. But first some minor corrections, Shaq was in the East in his puppy years - not the West. And Magic Johnson's Lakers were the first team Jordan had to face in the Finals - after that he wasn't around, but Jordan would have at least had to get through that Lakers team with James Worthy and others the first year. Now to my case as to how loaded the West was during the reign of Jordan. Examples: The Clyde Drexler led Portland trailblazers: With guys like Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams, Kevin Duckworth, and Clifford Robinson, it's safe to say that this team was SERIOUS. They made the Finals twice. Even towards the end of the 90's when Drexler was long gone, the Blazers roster boasted guys like Rasheed Wallace, Arvydas Sabonis, Damon Stoudamire, Brian Grant, Kenny Anderson, J.R. Rider, Gary Trent, and Walt (when he was still the Wizard) Williams. That team was so deep guys like Kelvin Cato and Jermaine O'neal were rotting on the bench. The Gary Payton/Shawn Kemp led Supersonics: You mentioned a few of the beasts on the Knicks roster - well, scope the Sonics. In Addition to Payton and Kemp, the Seattle roster possessed the likes of Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins, Hersey Hawkins, Ricky Pierce, Nate McMillan, Michael Cage, Sedale Threatt, Dale Ellis, Xavier McDaniel, Craig Ehlo, Terry Cummings, & Eddie Johnson through the years of the Bulls reign. In those years, the Sonics made the Finals once and gave the Olajuwon led Rockets fits. For that reason, I hate every player on that roster (except Eddie Johnson) to this day. The Charles Barkley/Kevin Johnson led Phoenix Suns: Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Mark West, Cedric Ceballos and Danny Ainge rounded out their 92/93 team that went to the NBA finals. In later years they had guys like Michael Finley, Hot Rod Williams, A.C. Green, and Danny Manning in addition to that core of Barkley, Johnson and Majerle. The John Stockton/Karl Malone led Utah Jazz: I know you were laughing about Ostertag manning the middle (but is that really any funnier than Luc friggin' Longley?), but for the first three Bulls championships, Mark Eaton was actually their center - and he was anything but a joke. He was 7'3, 275 pounds and tough as nails. Thurl Bailey, Jeff Hornacek, Antoine Carr and Shandon Anderson also had good years with the Jazz during the reign of Jordan. Those teams, much like the Jazz of today, were mostly manned by system guys and were always tougher than their roster would seem to indicate. The Admiral's Spurs: Yeah, he had Sean Elliot and Rod Strickland, but remember Dominique Wilkins and Dennis Rodman? He had those guys some seasons too. He also had Willie Anderson, Terry Cummings, Avery Johnson, Vinny Del Negro, J.R. Reid, Dale Ellis, Doc Rivers, Chuck Person & Vernon Maxwell. There were a few great players added to those teams and lots of very good ones. Finally, there was the Hakeem Olajuwon led Rockets: In our first championship year we boasted Olajuwon, Otis Thorpe, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Vernon Maxwell, & Mario Elie. In our second, we subtracted Otis Thorpe but added Clyde Drexler. It should also be added that the Rockets were one of the very few teams that gave those Bulls fits during the regular season. We killed them. They had no answer whatsoever for the Dream. Yeah, that Knicks team was solid. They were a really tough match for the Rockets when we met them in the Finals. The Pistons were also a really solid team for the first three Bulls championships but after that? They were the Grant Hill/Allan Houston Pistons. Not so good. The Cav's? Did you seriously list the Cav's? Their three best players were Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance. That's solid, but come on! It doesn't match up to any of the Western teams we've talked about. The Celtics were also a pretty solid team during the first two Bulls championships, even though they were the final two years of Larry Bird's career. After Larry Legend retired they weren't so good though. I won't even talk about the Nets. I'll just pretend you didn't say that. Ok, no I won't. Their best year during the reign of Jordan they had 45 wins. Their best players? Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson. Basically, the Knicks were the only team in the Eastern Conference that was consistently good throughout that whole period. In the early years I'll grant you the Pistons and the Celtics, those were solid teams even if their stars were aging by that point. However, after the first three peat, the most serious team other than the Knicks was the friggin' Indiana Pacers. Yeah. Reggie Miller and Rik Smits. So to wrap up, the Bulls were amazing but the rest of the Eastern Conference basically sucked even back then. The West was far better. And yeah, all in all, I'd take most of those Western Conference teams over those Knicks full of 'beasts'. Especially our Rockets, who showed those beasts who the greater beasts were in the Finals.
FWIW - Worthy was hurt in the Finals (v Portland IIRC) and played, but with a bum foot and thus no explosion. So, he was unworthy and hampered a lot of what the Lakes did. That's not offered as an excuse just a bit of info, again FWIW. Michael was great. Hakeem was great. And they could have been Rox 'mates. Oh, woe be us...
