Hakeem is WAY better than you think

Picking Hakeem to be his Center
https://youtube.com/shorts/txuIqQjBs3c?feature=share

All time, who would MJ take not counting himself




Damn. I wanted to close out this post with Michael bumping into Hakeem in the garage of the arena, i think just as Mike made his surprise arrival to the NBA 75th in Cleveland and Hakeem had just gotten there too and they were so excited to see each other and hugged. You can tell the admiration and ultimate respect they have for each other. It was a very warm greeting. Can someone please help find that clip?

 

i remember that. Wish he would update it for today and see how it's changed. Doubt LeBron moved up considering they're not weighted for stat totals, but maybe Giannis, Embiid, Steph, KD etc get up there? Come to think of it, Harden probably gets huge boosts based on his formula

 

I take issue with ranking bigs. The way the sport is played heavily favors guards and f's, but it doesn't mean there aren't bigs who didn't have to rely on star guards and F's. The traditional bigs required guards to really be effective. Just standing there in position at the mercy of another player to get them the ball exactly where they need it. Of all the C's, only Hakeem, Robinson, Jokic and Embiid on an all time level don't necessarily require others to set them up. Now, Hakeem played like that as that was the style of play, but he showed he could create for himself more so than Kareem or Shaq or Wilt or Russell, same with Admiral. These guys could fit in today more so than Kareem, or Shaq or Wilt having to post up and not liking to set picks or roll to the basket or pick and pop. Those traditional bigs are fit into a box that relies too heavily on play style of era and being set up to succeed with star perimeter players.

At the big forward sports, it's similar. I've always seen Duncan as a traditional Center in a 2x Center lineup be it with Robinson, or Nesterovich or Nazr, just like our own twin towers. Ralph wasn't a PF. We ran a two center lineup. Duncan was a Center, idc what Pop sold the world b/c as a Center he wouldn't have claim on goat of his position and the NBA just forced players to fit into traditional positions. Even so, counting Duncan as C, he showed in his youth he was actually quite mobile and could create for himself, to a smaller extent than the guys above.
So when you look at PF spot. Karl needed the 2 man game with his star guard and his post ups, and he made a killing in transition as one of the best floor running PF's ever. Chuck on the other hand despite being the reason for back to the basket rule change, could absolutely create for himself and others. KG could. Dirk could. AD can. Kemp could. Bosh could. The Malones, the McHales, the 60s and 70s greats and all the real "Power" forward blue collar guys, all of them relied on others in the team.

I believe not having to rely on another should give major points over someone who did rely. Hell, on an all time level, i think even Bill Walton relied less on others than Kareem, Shaq and Wilt.

When you look at it that way, it's no wonder Kareem only won with goats, Oscar and Magic and Worthy. Without them, Bill Walton cooked him in his prime and swept him. Kareem would be a 1 hit wonder with a goat in Oscar next to him and tons of accolades and MVPs without Magic. On an unrelated note-LeBron would be very, very similar if he didn't cheat the competitive world of sports and start the team up culture. Stat totals, mvps, and maybe 1 ring if that.
It's no wonder Shaq only succeeded with some of the greatest star guards of all time. 3 of them. It's no wonder Wilt was the loser until he got a star guards in Greer and then later in Jerry West. It's no wonder game changing bigs who don't really contribute much to offense outside of moving the ball and rebounding and great defense and can dominate when surrounded by star guards/f's(Russell, McHale,Draymond and even Rodman who couldn't win next to a prime MVP David Robinson).