Who Has a Better History of Big Men? LA Lakers or Houston Rockets

LOL @ the homers thinking Moses>Kareem.

Again,

not close at all. Hakeem is better than Shaq, arguably better than Kareem, but Kareem and Shaq together?

Then add Wilt?

No chance.

Moses Malone ain't beating that.

 

The Lakers, it's not even close. 3 of the top 5 centers in league history. End of discussion.

If you're considering Baylor a big man it's even more lopsided, putting him behind Barkley and Hayes is SEVERELY underrating him. Baylor averaged more points and rebounds than any guy on this list except Wilt. Easily a top 15 player of all time.

Look, Dream is great and I'll take his side over Shaq any day. But if you're comparing Kareem, Wilt and Baylor to Moses, Hayes, and Barkley and saying that's a toss-up that's just ridiculous.

 

I think Olajuwon is arguably the greatest center ever.

But even I will admit the Lakers have the better history of big men, with 3 of the top 5 winning titles with them.

 

I think lakers fans have more respect for the rockets legends than some people here

 

Olajuwon had more talent as a rookie than Shaq ever did. Shaq's game was ALWAYS based on size advantage and brute force rather than skill, of which he never really had that much. Slow feet, small vertical. Shaq had size and power, Dream had speed, quickness, fast-twitch leaper, was always among the steals leaders, all-time blocks leader due to his superior leaping ability and timing, shooting range, the Dream-shake fallaway, which turned into about as unstoppable a shot as the sky hook, etc.... Arguing with any of this is ridiculous because these are ALL real and factual advantages Dream had throughout his career. Oh, and he could hit an unguarded shot from 15 feet around 80% of the time. Shaq actually got worse at this as his career progressed, or at least continued.

 

I don't believe it is possible to truly compare greats from different eras, the games are just TOO different from then to now. Much more skill and size in this era, we have 6'9" PGs in the league today, average centers were not even that tall during the time that a lot of these Laker greats were ruling the basketball universe. Different eras offer impossible comparisons and can never yield true answers. Endless arguments ensue, no one gets anywhere. Ill still take Olajuwon over all of them

 

I don't see what Gasol, Bynum and Thorpe are doing on this list. I'm not saying they're bad players, but they don't really belong in the same group with franchise players like Dream or Shaq or Chamberlain.

 

Thank you, I was hoping someone would have found this grave error in basketball history before I posted something.

 

Actually, your wrong.

 

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I'll take Jabbar over Olajuwon any time, man.

 

80s Moses was arguably better than 80s Kareem - and clearly better in direct matchups. He was definitely Kareem's kryptonite at Kareem's older age, just physically too overpowering.
But was prime Moses better than prime Kareem at his athletic peak? I'd lean no but it would be an interesting topic.

By the way... I saw you kind of dismissing the Lakers' Wilt in some posts. But he played young Kareem very evenly and often outplayed him. Kareem was already MVP and arguably in his prime or very close to it.
If you give props for the Rockets players in comparable situations, you have to give props to Lakers' Wilt too.

Also, I don't see much point in looking at Kareem-Hakeem playoffs matchup which is referred to so often in this thread. There's really no glory in allowing a 38 year old Kareem average almost 30 points a game against you. If Hakeem was in his prime, I could see it as an argument against Hakeem, but he wasn't in his prime yet, so... In the big picture that matchup tells nothing.

As for 1995, Hakeem outplayed Shaq in the sense that he made a lot of clutch plays late in games. IIRC, one of those games was also an early blowout thanks to Hakeem's performance. But Shaq was clearly very good and held his own most of the time, just got beat by the old smart master at the end of games. In his prime, with more experience, it might go differently.

 

wow,
the 99ers rise up for this thread.

we defend the pride of the rockets cause we joined on pure reasons.

thanks brother!

 

Ralph Sampson
Elvin Hayes
Hakeem Olajuwon
Yao Ming
Otis Thorpe
Charles Barkley
Moses Malone
Dikembe Mutombo
...
Zan Tabak

I give the edge to Houston but it's close

 

Listen guys, I'm as big a Rockets fan as anyone. And Dream is my favorite player of all time. But Shaq was a BETTER player than Dream. Dream's footwork and shot blocking is unmatched, but so was Shaq's dominance in the modern NBA as far as big men are concerned.

During Shaq's prime, he was bigger, stronger, faster, and quicker than nearly anyone who went up against him. He had a TEN SEASON STRETCH where posted no less than 26 pts and 10 rbs, on 55+% shooting. In his best season he averaged 29.7 pts, 13.6 rbs, 3.8 asts, and 3 blks A GAME. He lead the league in scoring three times, all while shooting free throws at < 53% for his career. If Shaq would've ever learned to shoot free throws, he could've be in the conversation for GOAT. Shaq f'n DOMINATED the league in a way that hadn't been seen since Wilt.

No doubt, head to head, Dream gave Shaq all he could handle. But the same can be said in reverse. And when you evaluate thier careers, OBJECTIVELY, there's no way you can say that Dream was better than Shaq. Superior skill doesn't equate to a superior player.

 

The Lakers win hands down, but u ranked Wilt over Dr34m, and u lose all credibility for doing so.... Not being a homer (I'm generally a realist, without pessimism or optimism), but ranking Wilt above dream is laughable.

 

Hayes, Ming, even Malone aren't in the same tier as Olujawon, Shaq, Kareem and Chamberlain.

Just having 3 top 10 players of all times trumps everything the Rockets had outside of Olujawon.

Don't be a homer smh.

I don't know a single person, outside of Houston, that would rate Moses above Kareem.

 

That is why I hit the ignore button..lol...Like u stated Shaq was just a bully out there...He would lower that shoulder into the chest of his opponent knocking them out of the way and then dunk...Dude who in their right mind want to take that kid of abuse for 48 long long minutes...Dream on the other hand was special, each year he improved. When he started knocking down that mid range J,,I was like oh boi its a wrap..Championship City here we come. #Unbeatable......com