I dunno, I'd take Hakeem myself. He doesn't have nearly the size that Shaq has, but his game matched up perfectly against Shaqs. The thing with the center position right now is no one can match Shaq point for point, rebound for rebound, or even come close. Hakeem could. Shaq's a big player, and damn near unstoppable on offense when he really tries his best, but I think Hakeem could atleast match Shaq point for point, and rebound for rebound. Hakeem's a better defender then Shaq in my opinion only because he was so quick, and had those long arms. Sure Shaq's put on 40 lbs of muscle since his rookie year, but assuming Hakeem never lost a step in his game, he'd still tear Shaq up, by going around him, and doing his shakes. Shaq would be left flat footed. Rookie or not, that one thing will never change, and that was always one of Hakeem's strengths against any player. In the end, I think Hakeem and Shaq would match against eachother really well. Shaq's never really been in good shape, and if Hakeem would ever draw Shaq around the perimeter with his dream shake, then I give the advantage to Hakeem. Shaq's game has developed a ton since his rookie season, but I couldn't doubt Hakeem in his prime against Shaq in his prime.
-Hakeem's numbers are dragged down by the last few years when he was a shell of his former self. If you want to do an intelligent, thoughtout comparison, you'd compare Hakeem's #'s in his prime years to what Shaq has done his last 3-4 years which are pretty comparable. Overall career stats are obviously skewed. The rings argument is garbage given that Shaq has played with the best guard in the NBA the past several years, which Hakeem never had and also the quality of comp. Hakeem had to face the 86 Celtics, the Knicks, and Shaq himself (who was not 21 when he faced Hakeem, no idea where u got that from) while Shaq has been battling some of the worst championship appearing teams ever (Sixers, Nets who have won the LEAST the past 2 years). Give Hakeem a young Kobe the majority of his career and he wins more rings. Also, one of Hakeem's rings came head to head vs. Shaq.
What is this crap? Shaq was in his 3rd year, and he was 23, not 21. And no, his numbers were not better. What else have you been making up? By the way, Shaq has not had a FG percentage as high as '94-'95 since. That was his second-best shooting year. The year before was his best. He's only had one better ppg year, '99-'00. So there's an argument that he was just as dominant then as he has been anytime since. And Hakeem handled him.
I think Shaq has actually gotten better because of the way Dream used to school him..he would actually teach the guy while sweeping his butt right off the court!!
Good stats freak. Totally agree. Stat wise, Shaq really was quite a better back than. Not looking good for all you Shaq supporters.
It's clear that you either are not a Rockets fan or that you didn't watch the Dream before '97. I don't think anyone has ever played against a player that was supposed to be of the same caliber, and completely destroy him like Hakeem destroyed David Robinson. Shaq certainly hasn't. I know this sounds ridiculous, but the next Shaq vs. Yao matchup will be a measuring stick for Shaq, not just Yao. You're also underestimating the quality of that Orlando team. Penny Hardaway was as good as it got. He was the next MJ right before Grant Hill was. Nick Anderson was a Mobley-type player before those 4 free throws(I'm not talking playing style, but ability to score). Horace Grant was damn near being an all-star player, and Dennis Scott was as good a shooter as there was in the league at the time.
Hakeems's Career stats: 1984 - 1996 (his golden years) 24.11 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 3.05bpg, 2.67apg, 51.56% fg, 72% FT Hakeem had only 4 82-game seasons in his illustrous 17 years in the NBA (i.e. 4 out of the possible 16 seasons because of the Strike Shortened season). If you were wondering about Shaq 82-season - so far he has known in his 10 years in the NBA. It has been reported that Shaq will not be in the NBA for long because of (1) Health issues (2)Desire.
OK, for those who insist on numbers. Here it is. I am comparing Shaq's 3 championship years (his 8th-10th years in the league) with Hakeem's 2 championship years plus the year after that (his 10th-12th years in the league). That should be a very good sampling of their "prime" years. Shaq (220 games in three years) 38.68 mpg; .575 fg%; .529 ft%; 12.42 rpg; 0.56 spg; 2.64 bpg; 28.59 ppg Hakeem (234 games in three years) 38.57 mpg; .525 fg%; .751 ft%; 11.96 rpg; 1.76 spg; 3.76 bpg; 27.05 ppg Shaq has a slight edge on rebounding and scoring, but not much. Shaq has much better fg% but much worse ft%. But the most telling stats are the steals and blocked shots. Hakeem is clearly a much greater force on defense.
Shaq was destroying Patrick Ewing and David Robinson back 6 or 7 years ago, too. I think they still had game back then.
Shaq's team with the Magic had much more talent than the Rocket teams. Penny was the Magic/Jordan hybrid, Shaq was the now Moses Malone, Dennis Scott was the sharpshooter, Horace Grant would be an all-star in the East nowadays, and Nick Anderson would've been a top scorer on any other team. Dream's defense and offense gave the Rockets the confidence their needed to win.
I wouldnt say that Shaq destroyed the Admiral back than. Even if he did, Hakeem still dominated those guys too, and Shaq.
Olajuwon is in the Chamberlain class, Jabbar and Shaq are with Ewing in the next tier. In 95, when Orlando ran the Bulls and then got swept by the Rockets, contrary to all the propaganda, Jordan was NOT retired. Hell, with Olajuwon's anemia and whatnot, he played damn near as many games as Hakeem. Jordan played about half the season. That crap about he wasn't back fully is b.s. He was back about two weeks and dropped 55 on the Knicks. What the hell are you talking about? There is no asterisk by last year? The officials did not give that W.C finals series to the Lakers? There was a lot of uproar at the time, but the truth is the officials have been favoring the Lakers ever since they stopped favoring the Bulls.
pgabriel - you focus only on the offensive stats, where Shaq is better. You totally ignore the defensive (more important) side of the equation, where Hakeem is better. I guess we can agree to disagree (they are both great players). But since you think the Rockets' championship has an asterisk next to it, I am very comfortable with the side of the fence I am on. I don't disagree. Just remember, however, that for the first 12 years of Hakeem's career, 95% of the public outside of Houston thought Patrick was better than Hakeem.
When comparing Shaq's ppg. to Hakeem's ppg. you must take into consideration all the times Shaq has gone to the foul line when he did not deserve to do so, and all the times Hakeem did not go when he did. Longtime fans know what I'm talking about.
Yeah, Dream has a hell of an asterick next to his titles, considering he went through David Robinson (in his prime), Ewing (in his prime) and Shaq to get them. I mean, it's not like he went through Mutombo, MaCullough or Rik Smits. That would be too tough. I mean, those guys are the best at their position. Yeah, Dream waited until the top guys at his position got old or retired to start winning. He's a scrub.........
I know this is way off topic. How in the hell did you amass close to 440 posts since dec 2002? Amazing! This argument could go on forever. It's all opinion. I think Hakeem was better. As someone else posted...most outside of Houston will say Shaq is better. More exposure really helps a lot. Olajuwon was NEVER really loved nation wide. Not even after the championships. About the "*" thing.....(1) Every other team had a chance to win those 2 years(This is why I will not dog SA for theirs...we had our chance) (2)Was Houston not the only team that held a winning record over the Bulls during their championship years?(I remember hearing that...look it up for me someone) Uggggg....this "who is better" question can never b answered. I quit now....too drunk
i watched that highlight video of dream again....and WOW the memories. jesus he was absolutely amazing in his prime. hakeem is hands down a better defensive center than shaq and he is up there with russell as the greatest defensive center ever. if shaq would have stayed in shape like dream did then he might have been able to be up there in that defensive class, but he didn't he is lazy in the offseason and gets fat. shaq has amazing quickness for a man his size, but dream was just flat out insane. i don't know when we will ever see another center making the defensive plays that dream made. on the offensive end shaq is more dominating except for rebounds where him and dream are about equal. shaq is clearly the man who can bull his way down to the basket and get fouled or get 2 points almost everytime. they are about equal passing-wise also. so i'd have to take dream out of respect for his amazing defensive play and plus dream is just so much more breath taking to watch. he is almost like an artist with all of those moves he had. finally, with my opinion being said i think dream, shaq, wilt, russell, and kareem are all in the same class and it is pretty state that one is just flat out better than the other.
