I wondered how MJ knew that Hakeem was in the all time NBA Top 10 in points, rebounds, steals, blocks, and shooting %. Was it scripted? Nonetheless, I have a new-found respect for MJ since he mentioned Hakeem. I just don't know about the Worthy inclusion. Magic and Pippen makes sense but shouldn't Bird be in there?
MJ always mentions that stat about Hakeem, he had it before in several different quotes a while ago. Worthy took Michael under his wing during his school years so they have that deep connection.
In 2005, he did a interview for Cigar Afficianado magazine and he mentions his top 5 team as: Magic MJ Pippen Bird Hakeem Guess he swings between Bird and Worthy... http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/6189/p/5 "But if I had to pick a center, I would take Olajuwon. That leaves out Shaq, Patrick Ewing. It leaves out Wilt Chamberlain. It leaves out a lot of people. And the reason I would take Olajuwon is very simple: he is so versatile because of what he can give you from that position. It's not just his scoring, not just his rebounding or not just his blocked shots. People don't realize he was in the top seven in steals. He always made great decisions on the court. For all facets of the game, I have to give it to him. Power forward: There's James Worthy, whom I love, and he is a North Carolina guy. Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, whom I adore and is a good friend, and Charles Oakley. But in terms again of versatility, it has to be Larry Bird. The things he could provide to you all around: his demeanor, his work ethic and his versatility once again."
MJ always had love for Dream, Shaq too. When your peers crown you as the greatest, especially when they took the brunt of your wrath, its more than what ever analyst can argue.
Unless NBA.com is wrong, he actually isn't top 10 in all of those, he's #12 in rebounding, and I can't find where he ranks in FG%, but he isn't in the top 30. That is if he is talking about all time, if he is talking about a single season, he was almost definitely in the top 10 in all of those. http://www.nba.com/statistics/default_all_time_leaders/AllTimeLeadersFGPQuery.html?topic=4&stat=4
Centers, which means you take out Garnett and Malone. Let's see Jordan or guy on ClutchFans, who's probably going to be right? Stay humble my friends.
about basketball statistics? probably a guy on Clutchfans. hakeem was top 10 in rebounds when he retired. he now isn't so jordan probably just remembers the old stat.
MJ is an idiot when it comes to evaluating talent. He just has his favorites. Still cool that he picked Hakeem though.
fg%? Where did he get that? He was 70th all-time in fg% when he retired, outside of top 100 right now.
I think the interview mentioned what 5 MJ would pick for a pickup game, so Worthy over Bird in pickup games but not on best 5 team? BTW I think I remember once that MJ talked to the Dream about his footwork and how he did it after one of their all-star events together (think 95?). I just can't remember where I saw the article or video. The article was about how MJ was always looking to improve his game every season and he went to talk to Olajuwon about how he did his stuff.
hakeem was the man wish we could have watched our teams w Hakeem against Jordans bulls in finals i think we would win
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Magic Jordan Pippen Bird Worthy Wilt Chamberlain Those 2 can be subs or replace Worthy (no disrespect) Hakeem