Where does Hakeem Olajuwon rank among Centers of all-time?

If only we could have seen Shaq and Hakeem play each other in some type of a meaningful series. Man that would sure be useful.



How many blocks and steals does shaq have? Cause Dream has quite a few last time I checked.

 

There are no 'top 5 centers'.

There is Yao, and then there's the rest.

 

If Shaq is better than Hakeem then you man have lost your mind.

 

Dream is top 4 easy, arguably top 3 but look at the results.

I realize where I am as I type this, but we are homers, aren't we.

Just remember, as homers, the vote would look the same if Dream's name was replace by Yao. Now how do ya feel?

 

it should be russell,wilt,akeem,shaq,abdul-jabbar

 

It's impossible to objectively compare great centers from different eras. There are too many things that change about the game over time.

That said, I'll say this about Dream. He is the complete package and his game is portable throughout time. He was a wonderful combination of power, size, speed, quickness, and skill. He was a stronger and more dominant KG. He could guard giant centers and mobile power forwards. He could score facing up and back to the basket. He had major stealing abilities...no other center has his steals numbers.

So combine all of his abilities and you could see that Dream could dominate in any era. That's part of why he was so special.

 

I would hesitate to put an asterisk next to Wilt's accomplishments. Lebron is clearly a couple of generations ahead of his competition athletically, but it's not fair to hold that against him.

 

Hakeem is probably one of my favorite players of all time with that being said.

I don't think he ranks in the top 2 very easily, because of Wilt and Kareem. Even Russell, who people like to say is overrated. Even though, the Celtics wouldn't have won that many titles with a lesser center.

People always point to Wilt playing against inferior competition, but here is how things are. Against other type flight players, he played very well against them and times dominated, like a player should. He played very well against Jabbar, Thurmond, Lanier and others, which mostly came after he was way past his prime.

If Wilt came into the league right now or in the last 20 years, he still be one of the greatest players in sports history. He might not average 40 to 50 ppg in one season, but he still pretty dominated. Easily be the best center of 2000s and average over 30 a game. Remember, Wilt isn't nearly as slow as Yao Ming or Shaq, and look at how they can dominate opponents on some nights. If you have teams, like Memphis and Golden State playing small ball...he would get 40-30 easily against those teams. The 90s would be little more up for grabs. I think he would easily be better than Ewing and Robinson. Slightly better or on par with Shaq and Dream.

Wilt weighed any where from 275 to 300+ in his prime with a build more similar to a Dwight Howard or an big NFL receiver/TE than he was to Shaq. He was also fitness freak, constantly running in marathons and lots of weightlifting. He was such great shape that in the mid-80s there was serious talk of him coming back to NBA to play for NJ Nets at almost 50 years old. I will even say that he probably had receiver running speed in his prime.

Most people like to compare Wilt to Shaq and Dwight Howard, because they are both big, strong, and poor free throw shooters. I laugh every time people do it. Thing is Wilt was far greater in Shaq (and Dwight will never touch the surface of Wilt) in almost every aspect of the game. I can't find one area where Shaq or Dwight Howard is greater than or equal to Wilt. They are alot of personal accounts that point out that Wilt was most likely the strongest player in the NBA of all time and could easily press over 500 pounds. Also, he's agility and speed was off the charts, as he was great track star in high school who also jumped 6`6 in high school. Wilt had a jump shot and much wider shooting range than Shaq has ever had in his career.

I also have to say that he was most skilled offensively, ever. Not only, because of his dominate scoring...but his passing skills. I have to say he might have been greatest passing center in the history of basketball, if he were a willing passer for the early part of his career. He might have been the first 40 - 20 - 10 player ever basketball. Wilt is the only center in NBA history to average over 6 assists in one season. 7.8, 8.6 from 66 - 67, 67-68. For the rest of his career, he averaged over 4.0 per season until he retired.

Wilt's assists totals and passing numbers are better than great wings, like Baylor, Gervin, Bernard King, and many other high scoring guards and wings. I even laugh at Kobe fans, sometimes when I point out Kobe's career assists totals are much closer to Wilt's than they are to Jordan. Kobe's only averaging .2 assists more than Wilt and he's never had too many great assists season as even being a guard. When people say Kobe is better than Wilt, I simply laugh at them. Kobe isn't even better than the centers of the 80s and 90s.

If Wilt really wanted to, he could be lesser intangible type player, like in his later years, unlike many high scoring guards and forwards. People just associate Mr. 20,000 with scoring (on the court and off the court) and big numbers, no championships. But, this guy was beast under the basket, he just wasn't taller and bigger than everyone....he was also quicker and more athletic. I promise if you put Wilt against Dwight Howard or David Robinson in different track and field events . . . Wilt would win most contest.

If they ever were a Superman in basketball, it would either be Michael Jordan or Wilt Chamberlain.

 

Those that are picking Hakeem over Wilt just don’t understood how great Wilt was. Wilt’s records should be able to show how dominant he was, but some people have a myopic vision, because of biased opinions. A couple of people mentioned that he was taller than everyone else, which gave him a better advantage, but that is not the whole story. Wilt participated in track and field at a collegiate level. He ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds and won the high jump championships. He also did well in the shot put. He was faster, stronger and could jump higher than Hakeem. When you look at his physical ability and take into consideration that players of that era didn’t use weights, it is even more astonishing. Hakeem is a great player, but Wilt was the best.

 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Wilt Chamberlain
Hakeem Olajuwon

 

not sure what GOAT center means, but i assume it's a good thing haha

 

yao, by far, is one of the most skilled big man in basketball history. he won't go down as one of the best until he wins some rings, but you can't argue with his skill for his size and lack of athleticism. at 7'6" it ain't easy to move around, if he ever learns to use his size more to his advantage he'll be up there in the talk of the bests

 

You can't say he's the best. You can't say that any of those guys are the best.

There are the five greatest centers to ever play:
Hakeem
Russell
Chamberlain
Kareem
Shaq

Then, there is everyone else.
You can't truly rank one over the other..

 

I would have a hard time with anyone who doesn't agree this guy is the best center of all time....



If you limit it to basketball, I'd go with Dream.

 

You can't go wrong with either players. I think Shaq is a little better.

Career Stats
Shaq
PPG 24.9
Rebound 11.3
FG% .581
Blocks 2.4
Assists 2.6
Championships 4

Hakeem
PPG 21.8
Rebounds 11.1
FG% .512
Blocks 3.1
Assists 2.5
Championships 2



Shaq vs Hakeem (Head to Head
FG% Shaq 544%
FG% Hakeem 447%

PPG Shaq 18.4
PPG 22.1

RPG Shaq 12.4
RPG Hakeem 9.1

 

Hakeem affected games defensively in ways Shaq could only Dream. There's a reason you don't see too many people dunking on Shaq, and it's not because he was a great shot blocker...

Is Hakeem the only dominant big man to have won at least one championship without an elite sidekick?

 

The only way to compare players in different eras is to ask how much that player dominated the competition.

Wilt averaged 50 points for a season. Wilt decided to be a better team player and try get his teammates involved, and Wilt led the league in assists.

Comparing Shaq to Hakeem is a tough one. They are such completely different types of players.

I would rank them like this-

1. Wilt
2. Kareem
tie 3- Hakeem
tie 3- Hakeem
5. Moses Malone.

I don't know how big Mo is left out of the conversation. There is a legitimate debate as to who is the greatest Rocket center ever.

Moses is the best rebounder and scorer that the Rockets have ever had at the center position. In my opinion, Moses > Russell (though it may be an uneducated opinion due to the fact I am in my mid 40s).

 

Corrected.

 

so Russell was on A TEAM that won a bunch of titles? where does Horry rank

 

1. Kareem
2. Russell
3. Shaq
4. Wilt
5. Hareem

Wasn't Shaq just in his 3rd season at 22years of age?