As Duncan draws near to end of his career, many pundits including our Charlie Polillo have glorified him as top five center and ranked him above Hakeem. To me this is a travesty. Other than winning more championships, Duncan has no other attributes which is better than Hakeem. By a pure statistic comparison, Hakeem is better on both ends. Same goes on an entertainment value basis . I know this not the best forum to ask but can someone please explain how Duncan can hold a candle next to Dream?
He doesn't hold a candle to Hakeem. Duncan is a PF and hasn't played against many great centers. When Duncan played against the lakers, he didn't guard shaq. Hakeem played head to head in arguably the era that featured the most gifted centers, and he dominated! It wasn't even close. Anyone that has ever consistently seen Duncan and Hakeem play will know that this isn't even up for discussion.
How do we always judge the greatness of players careers... rings. Look, its an honor for any Rocket player to be in the same conversation as Tim Duncan as far as greatness goes much less having a legit argument about who was better. As much as Ive hated Duncan and the Spurs the past 25 years of my life, I've grown to appreciate what he has done throughout his career. He definitely will be one of the greatest big men to ever play the game, and a first ballot HOF'er. As far as talent goes, yes Hakeem was far more talented on both ends of the court. However, its the results at the end of the day that will place him above Hakeem on the list of all time greats because of his accomplishments.
Its basically the Wilt vs Russell argument. Russell might have had more rings/team success but Wilt was the better individual player. Do you pick Wilt/Hakeem or Russell/Duncan to start on your dream team?
Duncan is the best two-way big man ever. One of the best passing bigs(Hakeem didn't learn how to pass until he was 30). Duncan is better rebounder, he got better stats(PER, WS/40) and more accomplished. Duncan never demanded a trade and faked an injury. Hakeem and his 2 year prime was good, but every objective basketball expert will say that Duncan is greater than Hakeem.
Russell didn't have better stats than Wilt while Duncan does have better (advanced) stats, not good comparison. Russell anchored the best defense of all time, Duncan anchored the 2nd best defense of all time. Those Celtics and Spurs teams were average on offense when they won titles.
Best two way big man ever? LOL! Who is the only center to be top 10 in both steals and blocks? Hint he's also the NBA blocks leader in history.
Playing against week competition will inflate stats. Just about every single C and PF from Hakeem's era would be tops today. Dwight is the the best center now, would be average back then.
duncan has had a greater career, and has been better over longer time. however olajuwon in his prime 90-96 was a better player than duncan in his prime.
Hakeem was the best two way C ever and its not even close. Duncan is the 2nd best. In terms of longevity + accolades Duncan has the advantage. In terms of prime Hakeem has the advantage. Duncan was put in the ideal situation which allowed him to win more rings and extend his career. Both carried their teams to a ring(03 Duncan, 94 Hakeem). The fact of the matter is though that the Spurs were a much better franchsie than the Rockets. Better coach, better FO, etc.
he is the best PF ever... not top 5 center... i will give him credit that he is a great center in todays nba atmosphere of small ball... but he is not the center hakeem was...
Duncan is great, and amazingly under-rated. But Dream was a better player. They're rebounding was basically the same, so was they're defense. But prime dream was much better as a post option than duncan. An then there is the issue of competition. Dream had to deal with Shaq, Robinson, Ewing, Mourning, Daugherty, McHale. Duncan has had basically Shaq, Robinson handled the heavy lifting at C until he retired. Both top 15 players, but dream was better, although Duncan has been more consistent. Duncan is certaintly the greatest PF of all-time.
First of all, f**k you x100 for coming on ClutchFans and posting this. Second, only one person is in the top 10 in steals, blocks (#1, I might add), and rebounds- and it ain't Duncan. Third, Akeem led his team to an NBA Finals Appearance in his 2nd year - AND THEY KNOCKED OFF THE REIGNING CHAMPS THE LAKERS TO DO IT! And they took one of the greatest teams of all time to 6 games. Now, if you think that Tim Duncan's 1999 Spurs would have beat the 1986 Celtics, or that Hakeem's 1986 Rockets would have lost to the 1999 Knicks, well, that makes you an idiot on top of an ass.
I think this falls outside of your 2-year prime, idiot: "Olajuwon averaged 23.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game during his second pro season (1985–86).[17] The Rockets finished 51–31,[16] and advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals where they faced the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets won the series fairly easily, four games to one, shocking the sports world and landing Olajuwon on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Olajuwon scored 75 points in victories in games three and four, and after the series Lakers coach Pat Riley remarked "We tried everything. We put four bodies on him. We helped from different angles. He's just a great player."[18] The Rockets advanced to the 1986 NBA Finals where they succumbed in six games to the Boston Celtics, whose 1986 team is often considered one of the best teams in NBA history."
