GOAT is/GOATs are all but impossible to quantify. Heck, the e'er introspective and highly articulate great from Power Memorial stated much on this recently. Suffice it to say. Hakeem's biggest argument is that he was the 90's GOAT er GOAN! No one played basketball better than he from @'93--'97. More interesting to me would be a positional GOAT team.
Prime Hakeem is one of the most perfect basketball players ever but let's not forget that Hakeem's world dominance campaign was only for a handful of years compared to Lebron's decade plus of being arguably the best in the league. I'm the biggest Hakeem fan but Lebron is the GOAT by a wide margin while Hakeem is the GCOAT (greatest center of all time) - let's not confuse the GOAT with the G-COAT.
I don't have an issue with people always arguing about guards & wings for the GOAT. The NBA is a ball-handler's game. A center will never handle the ball on the perimeter even if they do have the skills of a guard (Hakeem) --- so by the same logic they will never dominate usage metrics (and thereby - the narratives that fans care about). Hakeem's greatness is art and subtlety. It isn't flash and quantity. Guards and wings should be graded differently than big men. Big men's shots and stats are dependent on the play of other players more than any other position - where do they get the ball on the floor, when, and how. Let the masses have their opinion, it doesn't affect the truth. Both players are extremely skilled for their size and position; there is no need to elect a #1 between apples and oranges. Centers can't be held to the same standards as a point-guard or point-forward, and the fact that the word "GOAT" is used so commonly now shows that the GOAT conversation is pretty worthless. At the end of the day what matters is if you're building an all-time team, you could select either Lebron or Hakeem and win it all depending on how you build the rest of the roster.
Technically, everyone is a championship chaser. If you're not putting yourself in a position where you can compete for a championship, then that's not being an NBA player. Everyone rags on LeBron for joining up with Wade and Bosh. To some extent, I see that. But chemistry wasn't established - while they were great individual talents, it was hard to predict how it was going to go. It could have gone the way it did, or it could have gone the way of the '04 Lakers, where Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton didn't work out. Regarding joining up with Love and Kyrie...how were those two players, on their respective teams, before LeBron came back to Cleveland? I don't believe the Love-led Wolves nor the Irving-led Cavs ever even sniffed the playoffs. And when LeBron came back, Cleveland went from bottom-feeder to a Finals mainstay. It's not as easy as "LeBron joined up with two all-stars, end of story." Hakeem is a winner, sure. There's no disputing that. But the level of competition of which the mid-90s Rockets face en route to B-2-B titles was pretty different than what the Cavs faced. Of the '11 Mavs, '12 Thunder, '13-'14 Spurs and '15-'18 Warriors, how many of these teams were worse than the '94 Knicks or the '95 Magic? tl;dr While a true statement, it's not as easy as saying "LeBron joined up with two all-stars in order to win."
you can play the dream in this era of basketball and i bet he'd still be as dominant, if not better. Imo lebron is a stat padder just like westbrick, and is worshipped by the media so much that everyone of this generation blindly agrees with. Of course he is a great, but he's overrated to a degree. I always hear that he should've won mvp every year for the last decade just because he's the best in the world? Foh
I am going to assume by this comment that you were too young in the mid 90's to watch NBA basketball. The Western Conference in the mid 90's was ****ing amazing. The East was weak sauce (other than the Jordan Bulls and maybe the Pacers) just like it is now...
What does being a "winner" even mean will Lebron's team be up 100 pts and suddenly they will lose because he isn't a winner? This is just BS spouted out by people who hate Lebron dude has 5 MVPs and 3 rings, 1 ring more than Hakeem if Hakeem is a winner then Lebron is also a winner how can he have 1 more ring but not be a winner while the other dude has less rings but be a winner? LOL logic please. Being a closer isn't everything the game is 4 Quarters long not 10 secs long. Lebron has gaudy pts and stats because he has been playing 15 years and STILL the best player in the NBA even Jordan has to take a break every three peat Bron has been doing this non stop for 15 freaking years so give the guy some credit wtf.
Morey is not pure. Steve Patterson >>>>>>> Daryl Morey. 99ers and pure Rockets fans know & appreciate how great Hakeem was. Daryl grew up in Ohio. Cavs were his favorite team. This is not surprising he would name a Cavalier. I know tinman, most 99ers and PURE Rockets fans agree.
Only 3 championships despite chasing talent and getting together with super all star players. I still put Jordan way ahead of him. Jordan wouldn't have lost to Nowitzki's Mavs or the in Miami.
Only a homer like you would believe otherwise. We're all Hakeem fans here, but it's OK to take of the Red blinders, and see reality.
