I just got my new issue & was surprised when I saw Kobe #12 & Hakeem #13. Hakeem should be in front of Kobe, right? Kobe - 3 Rings, 11 All-star games, 2 scoring titles Hakeem - Back2Back titles, 12 All star selections, Alltime shot block record, 2 finals MVPs, 2 Defensive POY, most steals in Rocket history & 94' League MVP
Kobe is a great scoring shooting guard and good defender. But, for him to be over an all time great center is downright sacrilege. He doesn't have nearly the impact on the game a center, like Dream would. I am not being a homer or Kobe hater, but he isn't as good Olajuwon who defeated much better teams with lesser talent, possibly. Olajuwon has defeated (in his playoff career) the Showtime Lakers, the Ewing Knicks, Malone and Stockton Jazz (x2), Shaq's Magic, The Admiral's Spurs, and the Supersonics. Who has Kobe beaten in the playoffs (without Shaq)?
i stopped subscribing to slam years ago when i got bored of their magazine being 90% advertisement plus 10% hype
I respect the Dream and I hate Kobe so much ( I want the Magic to win the chip this year) but wow you guys are huge homers. I mean cmon, Dream>Kobe Kobe is just a better player than Hakeem. I mean Hakeem was magnificent and definitely the best skilled center in the history of the NBA but in terms of domination, skill, influence, achievements, and respect from all players of the game, I guarantee Kobe would get it over Hakeem. Ask any casual fan, bball analyst, critics, historians, Magic, Jordan, hell even Hakeem himself, I'm sure he would say Kobe accomplished more than him. Don't give me that excuse saying Hakeem dominated the game more than Kobe, being DPOY, MVP, #1 in blocks, #7 in steals, because everybody will tell you the most dominating big man in the history of the game is Shaq. Refute that fact and you are a fool. Yes all of CF knows Hakeem murdered Shaq in the 95 finals but that was in Shaqs 3rd or 4th year and Hakeems' 9th or 10th. Kobe has 'potential' to be top 10 player. And i said potential. It might not happen but it is possible. Hakeem's career is done and judging by his career, no way is he top 10 best in the history. Seriously, it is okay to be a fan but don't be ludicrous and biased about it.
I don't know where to start or end with this post. The only thing that remotely makes sense is this: "Kobe has 'potential' to be top 10 player. And I said potential. It might not happen but it is possible. Hakeem's career is done ... " What can I say about the rest of your post?
Under the rules as they existed when Hakeem played, Hakeem was more valuable. Under today's pro-swing man, anti-big man rules, Kobe is more valuable. I don't think there's a decent argument to be made either way about who was "better." I loved Hakeem, but he blew up a championship team because he didn't think the ball was going through him enough. Kobe did probably worse by not finding a way to get along with Shaq. And Shaq was nowhere near as dominant an individual player as Wilt was early in his career. For seven straight years, Wilt averaged over 33 points and 22 rebounds/game. In 61/62 he averaged 50 points and 25 rebound per game. Do you think Shaq was ever more dominating than that. What would have happened if Shaq and Wilt went head to head is anyone's guess. But I'm willing to bet that Wilt would not have been shoved around that easily.
Yea, but Wilt would not average 50 points and 25 rebounds a game now. Those are ridiculous stats and it should be taken with a grain of salt. Shaq dominated the league for more years than Dream, but during our championship run, Dream put together the two most dominating seasons ever by any player.
if you are going to come out and post crap like this you better be able to back it up with something.
Seconded. On topic, when it's all said and done, Kobe will probably have more career points than Hakeem, but that's about it. Hakeem is one of the top 3 centers that's ever played this game, and you can't say the same about Kobe.
Hakeem Olajuwon could block shots, get steals, run the court, dunk over people, cross over people, hit fadeaway shots, shoot free throws well and post up. How much more versatile of a player would you want??? The ONLY thing he couldn't do was shoot 3's. THe only centers better than Hakeem (both sides of the court) are Kareem, Wilt, and Shaq. THats it. Kobe is not even clearly better than Lebron right now. He hasn't really separated himself from Wade either. Earlier in the decade some considered Tmac to be a better/equal player than Kobe until injuries took away much of Tmac's game. Also Kobe has been OVERRATED on D for a few years now. Dream was a top notch defender for 13 years in the league. Let me ask you this? What did Kobe do with a mediocre lineup and no other all star next to him? Lost in the 1st round or didn't make it to the playoffs. What did Hakeem do? Led his team to a 15-0 start. Won the Defensive Player of the Year, Won the MVP, and Won the Finals MVP. Sure Kobe has 3 titles, but he had Shaq (who won all 3 Finals MVP's for their title). You think Kobe takes Thorpe, Horry, Maxwell, Cassell, and Smith to a title or even past the 1st round for that matter in a MUCH more physical era where he won't get touch calls?? I don't think so. This is an insult to the Dream. I'm not being a homer here. In my opinion Jordan Magic Kareem Wilt Shaq Bird Russell (wasn't much offensively but 11 titles!) Dream Tim Duncan Jerry West Karl Malone are all before Kobe, Lebron, and Dwade at this point. RIGHT now, they are more comparable to Clyde Drexler, John Havliceck, Rick Barry, Isiah Thomas, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Charles Barkley The fact that Kobe is already 30 in year 13 of his career, I don't think he can jump that many spots on this list. Lebron and Dwade's youth is to their advantage right now. I think Lebron can challenge Tim Duncan and Dream and maybe even Bird. He would have to do A LOT to get any closer in my opinion. No way Kobe is better than Dream. Dream just had much more impact on a game on both sides of the court.
I'm still trying to figure out how is Kobe better than Dream? Dream is superior in almost every single aspect of statistics, intangibles, ability, and accomplishments, except scoring. Accomplishment-wise - Dream is still the winner for the really important ones. 2x Finals MVP, 1x MVP, 2x DPOY (2x Runner up), 3x Block Shot leader, 2x rebounding leader, 12 double-double seasons (average), career .512% FG and I'd much rather have Hakeem as teammate over Kobe for the cancer factor. Defeated teams with these players on them: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy...Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson, Dan Marjerle...Karl Malone, John Stockton... Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley...David Robinson, Dennis Rodman...Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp...Shaquille O'Neal. (Much tougher competition) Lead the lowest seeded team ever to an NBA Finals victory. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/olajuha01.html Kobe 0 Finals MVP, 1x MVP, 0x DPOY, assist numbers are very low compared to both MJs, Bird, Oscar, 2x Scoring titles, and that's about it as far as major awards are concerned. To Kobe Kids, 82 is not a record, 100 is still the mark. It is impressive, but it is still not the record. Defeated....what great teams have the Lakers beaten in the last 10 years, besides Portland Trailblazers, San Antonio Spurs, and a decent Minnesota Timberwolves. Kobe's team has been beaten 3x in the Finals, by two teams that most people expect them to beat. Also, Kobe's numbers drop in the Finals compared to Dream's. If you replaced Kobe with Olajuwon (in his prime) on any team that team would significantly improve.
He didn't like cassell jacking up so many shots. I don't know if you can consider that blowing it up.
As noted above, Hakeem didn't like Cassell, who was instrumental on both championships. So the Rockets got rid of Cassell, Horry, and Chucky Brown for Barkley. Insisting on getting rid of two key players on a championship team, in my opinion, is the same as blowing up the team. Maybe I'd have a different opinion if the Barkley trade had worked out. I thought it was a bad move at the time, and I still do. And it's one that makes me question Hakeem's judgment about how a team works. Cassell was far better than anything we have had since at point guard. And Horry was amazing at the post entry pass. The Rockets suffered badly in both areas immediately after the trade and it hurt the team.
