To add on to this... IMO, I don't think Karl Malone would be as great a player if he didn't have Stockton. Though there's no data I know of to support this...This could be just because I'm a Jazz-hating Rockets fan who thinks Karl Malone is a dirty b*stard... But look at the jump that Phoenix made when they acquired Charles Barkley...They were a good team that made the 2nd Round but lost in 5 games, to losing against MJ and the Bulls in the Finals.
I agree with Payton/MJ/Pippen and Hakeem in the equation. Only thing that makes those teams better imo would be a twin tower approach, as Hakeem had a serviceable jump shot and was athletic and skilled enough. Add Robinson and you have two bigs that don't need to stay in the paint and are able to beast on both ends. Makes the team better than with Barkley or Melone imo. Maybe: Payton Jordan Pippen Robinson Hakeem
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Penny Jordan Nique Barkley Shaq I'm fine with Pippen and Hakeem too, I like Nique and Shaq more, but many of their most memorable years and playoff runs are in 80s or 2000s.
Shaq was prime in Orlando. He posted some of his best numbers there. People just assume since he was young, he couldn't be prime yet. I'm not arguing whose 90's numbers were better between he and Olajuwon, just saying Shaq was prime very early into his career.
Glove MJ Pippen Charles Dream. I don't think any team constructed between 2000-2015 would beat that team in a real game, either.
Payton Jordan Pippen Malone Olajuwon It would be nearly impossible to score against that team, and any player outside of Payton is capable of going for 30+ points any given night
Shaq put up monster numbers starting his rookie season, but from the standpoint of playing winning basketball and maturity, he didn't really get there until around 1996 or maybe the year before he got traded to the Lakers. And after he met Phil Jackson, that's when he became the best player in the league and the most dominant center since Wilt Chamberlain. From a numbers standpoint in the 1990's, nobody put up better stats than Shaq from the center position. If you want to compare Hakeem, you also have to take his regressed years from 1997-2000, but even so, Hakeem was never the offensive force that Shaq was.
shaq's 90's 1 first team, 1 2nd team, 3 3rd teams, no defensive teams, rookie of the year, no rings hakeem's 90's 3 first teams, 2 2nd teams, 3 3rd teams, 3 defensive first teams, 3 defensive 2nd teams, 2 dpoys, 1 mvp, 2 championships, 2 finals mvps Sure that looks similar, could give it to either one
Shaq's offensive brilliance was especially great when he was routinely benched late in games due to his crap FTing. He was never the defensive force Hakeem was and the discrepancy between the 2 doesn't favor Shaq. O'Neal and his fans just need to be happy the center position weakened in the late 90's and beyond and he was blessed with great teammates and coaching throughout his career. Nice, don't forget Hakeem's 2 Rebounding Titles vs Shaq's 0
I'm not sure Hakeem was a better defender than Shaq. Both were dominant but Shaq was a lot bigger and teams were very tentative about bringing the ball into the lane when he was in the game. To me, it is pretty amazing that Shaq was able to put up such huge scoring numbers being that he was such a terrible free throw shooter. Even though his form was horrible, he was actually a lot better than Deandre or Dwight. All the Kobe haters say that his first three titles don't count because Shaq carried him, but then there's you who thinks that Shaq is limited because he couldn't shoot free throws in crunchtime. So do you admit that Kobe had something to do with those first three titles? I personally think that Kobe and Shaq were the best duo in the history of the NBA and, for those three titles they won together, the Lakers were the greatest team of all time. The 90's Bulls and the 80's Lakers would have had tons of trouble with Shaq's inside presence with Kobe on the wing.
I've never said Kobe deserves zero credit for the 3-peat, but Shaq was the lead dog on those teams. Shaq could never defend the pick and roll and played against lesser C competition overall than Hakeem.
Then you have not watched Shaq play. Shaq's pick and role defense was weak. That was always a question mark wit him and teams exploited it. He was no where as mobile as Hakeem on the perimeter. Hakeem was also a better shot blocker and had much better steal numbers.
In seriousness Payton Jordan Pippen Dream D. Robinson Team full of top top notch defenders. Multiple DPOY's and all defensive teams with plenty of scoring. I bet you will struggle to put together a rest of NBA team to match this team's defense. I doubt you can. I have Payton as a top 2 defender from PG, in fact he could be 1 depending on how people rate Walt Frazier Jordan as #1 from SG Pippen as #1 from SF Dream obviously is the #1 defensive big D Rob is close behind Dream, maybe Russell ahead of DRob but I have no idea about Russell
Shaq's presence deferred people from driving in, going inside, etc...but how many DPOY awards has he won? He was limited in terms of skill, IMO. Hakeem on the other hand, his quickness (lateral and straight line) allowed him to guard 1-2s off switches on PnR or chase down blocks: Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x3-64I6zp7k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> and... Spoiler And btw, Shaq hasn't won any DPOYs. Dream has two.
My list: PG: Stockton (That little dirty hack, but one heck of a competitor, clutch as *****) SG: Jordan, who else can it be ? SF: Pippen, that perimeter D & underrated court vision PF: Robinson, as David it is, yeah cheating, but he doesn't have back to basket offense anyway, pretty decent outside jumper, and great mobility in the perimeter defensively, so i think it is fair C: The Dream, the one and only
