Nice try, numnuts, but this isn't a Utah Jazz fan site. It's about jazz music! Check out the rest of the board and you'll see.
The top 3 centers should be, in no particular order, Hakeem, Wilt, and Kareem. Shaq's free-throw shooting made him a liability on the court in close games. There is no such thing as a "greatest ever" who was a liability. Bill Russell's Celtics were all HOF's, so it makes it more difficult to judge his offensive game, but he couldn't shoot free throws either. And that nonsense about him "stopping Wilt" is a bunch of crap. He never "stopped" Wilt. Virtually every game played where those two faced off was a bunch of HOF's vs. Wilt and four other guys. Hakeem, Wilt, Kareem. No other centers come close.
Shaq is the Bill Clinton of basketball... enormous talent, tremendous accomplishments, but no doubt his personality and lack of self-discipline prevented him from reaching his highest potential. He showed up to training camps out of shape, he was a liability at the free throw line, he was terrible defending the pick and roll and yet he was an awesome force for a long time. I think ultimately he is Number 5 on the Center list but he had the potential and the talent to be in the argument for Number 1. It kind of saddens me to see him retire because he is the last real link to the Rockets' Championship era and he started at the tail end of the period of basketball that I think was the best ever.
You forgot his relentlessly taste in dirty groupies; his general overconfidence at times (and foot n mouth moments), and poor interpretation of a Hollywood actor.
Bill Russell is debatable because people are fascinated by all the championships. Wilt Chamberlain is debatable because of all the scoring records. Kareem is debatable because he was just that damn good. Shaq? I'm sorry, but Hakeem was way better than Shaq. Personally, I think the only one of them that should be considered in Hakeem's class was Kareem. But no way in hell was Shaq as good as Hakeem. And for the Jeff van Gundy overs here, remember that he actually claims that Tim Duncan was even better than Hakeem................
While I agree Hakeem is one of the all-timers, quoting Bob Costas from a Finals broadcast isn't strong evidence. Every year, announcers at the Finals make more and more outlandish statements. Breen calls Nowitzki one of the greatest shooters of all time (fair enough) but then switches to calling him "one of the all-time greats" mid-broadcast. Hyperbole is a TV announcer's best friend. Better proof might be pointing to an interview from Shaq himself in 2008: NBA.com: Who is your all-time starting five? Shaq: Hakeem Olajuwon at the center; Barkley at the small forward; Karl Malone at the power forward; Pistol Pete and Mike Jordan at guards. http://www.nba.com/news/shaq_qa_081008.html He doesn't even put himself in the all-time list. He instead puts himself in the "current" top players: NBA.com: And your starting five today? Shaq: Kobe, D-Wade, LeBron, Amare and me at the five. And we all know that Shaq hardly improved after 2008.
Also, am I the only person who isn't that impressed by the Russell's championships? The league had 8 teams in the 1950's, finally added one team in 1961, and expanded to 14 by 1968. The league remained at 14 in 1969. How hard is it to dominate a 8 team league and then rule over a bunch of expansion franchises? Color me less than impressed. Yeah I'll give credit for some, but his 11 championships do not equal 11 today for me.
First, great post. Repped. And didn't Jordan pick Hakeem to play center on his all-time starting five too?
Take away Chamberlain's scoring numbers, still first ballot HOF. You are one of those young posters or casual NBA fans, that don't realize he has most of rebounding records and field goal% records, most likely have block shots record. Yeah, I've heard stories from old players; teammates; old writers; and coaches, he was kind of good a defense, too, maybe even the best ever. I don't know what I am talking about I guess. He also lead the league in assists and was in the top 10 another year, no other center in history has done that.
Jackie Macmullan worked for Sports Illustrated from 1995-2000. Hakeem had some "kind words" for SI in 1994 when they did not make a Rockets tribute issue.
Is this a poll that's limited to 5 choices? If so, I can see Hakeem being left out if they're forced to have a "someone else" choice. I do believe the list of top centers basically gets cut off at 5, the four in the poll plus Hakeem. But among these 5, Hakeem's on-paper argument is by far the worst. Kareem was a Laker and all-time scoring leader. Russell was the guy with more rings than fingers. Wilt's the 100 scorer and generally had the most insane averages in NBA history. Shaq was the most dominant center in recent NBA(post Jordan). Hakeem? He won two tainted titles(public perception) when Jordan was playing baseball. And no one really know him beyond that. I don't know why people still get so upset when things like this happen. It's pretty logical.
Wilt should be number one, debatable after that. I never liked Kareem, Elvin Hayes dominated him in the Dome. No poll without Hakeem in the top five is worth reading and Moses should not be far behind.
It's logical if you're extremely lazy and r****ded. If you're a sportswriter for ESPN I'm thinking you should probably know Hakeem Olajuwon for more than two tainted titles.
