Mobile enough to shut Lebron down at the rim easily. EASILY... Lebron was consistently baffled by Yao, who was the pillar of some of the nastiest JVG defenses of all time.
Can't believe how similar their stats are. You'd imagine Yao's would look better if Ralph played equal amount of games+ft advantage for Yao. To answer the question, i'd take Yao in the 50s,60s,70s,80s and 90s. I'd take Ralph any time from 2000 to today.
Sampson was one of the most frustrating stars the Rockets ever had. He was often inconsistent, tried to do too much, got goaded into dumb fouls/technicals, etc. He was incredibly talented for his height, but even before his decline his inconsistency would drive people nuts. He was incredible in college, inconsistent in his first couple of years in the league and then injuries basically took the rest of his career. People always used to say he was a 7'4" guy trying to be a guard when he shouldn't be. He wasn't a back-to-the-basket center, but that's what a center was supposed to do in those days. I'm not sure he really enjoyed being under the spotlight in the NBA from what I remember about his interviews and how he got along with reporters. It didn't help that Fitch didn't get along with him from all accounts. Then Hakeem came into the league and well, Ralph was basically second fiddle to the best big man of the era. If they were both healthy, who would I take? I'd take Yao. Before he got hurt, Yao was putting up numbers that were insane. But just like Ralph, his body just couldn't take it. Yao was the more likable of the two to me, at least outwardly. Mostly this is because I loved Yao and his work ethic that he displayed, and Ralph drove me nuts every time he tried to bring the ball up the court and make some dumb pass. Some reading from yesteryear for those of you looking for impartial commentary not clouded by the passing of years : https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...ed-work/11d9f5f1-2cd5-431b-9d66-a5f71144eefe/ https://vault.si.com/vault/1984/01/23/bigger-but-not-necessarily-better One of the articles has this quote from some guy named Rudy about Ralph : "Maybe he'll set a whole new trend for centers, ones with the grace of smaller men and the power of big men. Just hang in there coach. Just wait one more year. You'll get your wish ... in a package delivered from Africa.
Neat hearing yall talk about Ralph. My first basketball shoes were ralphs pumas but was just a bit young to absorb his prime. Yao was great. I dont know if he had the body type to be slim even if he tried.
Ralph should have stopped playing for a year like Kahwai but the 80s, people just kept playing til they broke I'll give it to modern times, the medical is better now
Ralph would have likely stayed healthy if he could have played down in the post, where he was most effective. Dream needed to be down there,.. Ralph's versatility cost him. Assuming health, it's Ralph over Yao every time.
Brother, We know why Yao got his number retired in record time and somehow perfectly timed to get 'MAXIMUM AUDIENCE DURING CHINESE NEW YEAR' Also why is Scrooge McDuck reading about it? Can't he speak from the heart? So what is more important? the season or Yao's retirement or MAXIMUM AUDIENCE? @Air Yordan
So when Yao retired Les was salivating over have a "MAXIMUM AUDIENCE" Why didn't he care about "MAXIMUM AUDIENCE WHEN HAKEEM RETIRED?" @Air Yordan @Reeko @Jontro @Rocket River We all know that Hakeem was more SIGNIFICANT for the Houston Rockets than Yao, so wouldn't he want a MAXIMUM AUDIENCE for Dream's retirement?
Knowing the subsequent health issues of both players, I'd take Yao. If we assume that both players would have a long and relatively healthy career like Hakeem, then the choice is more difficult. Ralph clearly had a higher ceiling in terms of athletic capacity, quicker, more versatile. But he never really settled into a consistent game. After 3 or 4 years in the league, he was still trying to find his role. He might turn out to be a good jack of all trade but nothing really dominant kind of player. By the second year of Hakeem's NBA career, everyone knew that Olajuwon was the better half of the twin towers. Yao was inferior physically. But he had better intangibles. He's smart. He's disciplined. He knew his game and kept working to be better. He had respect from his teammates and coaches. Ralph for all we know did not have that kind of personality.
I think both would not be as good in today's game than in their respective eras but Ralph's agility would certainly help. Looked gud. We knew Yao had a decent shot.
