The 31-year-old Dream who destroyed the Knicks in '94 was definitely better than Yao is now, and may well be better than Yao will ever be. However, I think there is an excellent chance that Yao will end up with more rings. Teamwork wins championships. Though Hakeem knew this intellectually, as it is something every basketball player is taught, he was 28 or 29 before he really started believing that individual excellence alone wasn't going to cut it, and started really sharing the ball. Hakeem had always been an intelligent player and a pretty good passer, but he was individually so good that it took him a long time to realize that he really needed his teammates. So he ended up with only 2 championships. Which is a shame, because he deserved more. In contrast, Yao has always been a strong believer in teamwork, and has been exceptionally good at it from the beginning of his career. People around the league can see how much he improves his teammates, which is why JVG and T-Mac couldn't wait to come over, why Deke is taking much less than he is worth to stay, and why Stro and DA are coming here for far below market value. It's also why Kevin Garnett was talking so wistfully last season about the Rockets' chemistry: because he knew the chemistry on his own team -- and therefore his championship hopes -- was was going down in flames. The Rockets have become nearly championship caliber so early in Yao's career that 3, 4, maybe even 5 championships would not be out of the question for him.
Excellent points. The counterpoint is that if you have to pick one person build around, it's much riskier to pick Yao over Hakeem simply because the team building process leaves too much to chance (e.g., what if Orlando wasn't run by morons, what if Jerry West gave Stromile his extension last year, etc. etc.), whereas Hakeem brings the whole package (offense, defense, leadership, clutch plays) that you can surround scrubs with, and he'll still take you to the promise land. Yao is in an excellent position to win more championships than the Dream, but so much of that was due to pure luck. And it's also not foregone conclusion that even if we do win multiple championships, Yao won't be viewed as a Pippen to T-Mac's Jordan-role. But there will (hopefully) be no denying that Yao had a catalytic role in us being able to put this team together.
PLEASE CLOSE THIS IDIOTIC THREAD! The fact that this moron is asking this question proves to me that this is no longer a Rockets board but a I love Yao and Yao is better than any other player in the past or present NBA board. Just ask Bull fans who would they draft if Jordan and Ben Gordon were in the same draft.
Due to injuries, Ralph Sampson was a tremendous let down for me. I think he could've been a great one. If it were'nt for the 27 knee operations.......... I'll take Hakeem Over Yao.He was a little rough in the begining but he carried a team to championship like nobody i ever seen in any sport. I dont know if Yao can do that.
It was not just pure luck. Yao is a high profile player and brings a lot of attention to the team. He's also known as a nice guy and teammate. There's a reason that we constantly heard players want to play with him rather than other stars like Amare. He is willing to share the spotlight rather than making others his "supporting cast". In fact, as a rookie Yao is on par with Hakeem in the championship years in attracting stars. Imagine if Hakeem was able to attract Barkeley/Clyde when they were 25 years old. Yao's the main catalyst for breaking the Wink/Cat old Rockets and putting our current team together. Basically with Yao Rockets are hitting two birds with one stone. We dont even need him to be a top 5 player. That's how easy to build around a unique player like Yao.
If I had to build a team from scratch around Hakeem or Yao, I am not sure the choice is so clear. Like you, I am inclined to pick Hakeem, but am I being influenced by my knowedge of how he would develop? I don't know. I think the main bit of luck was winning Yao in the lottery. snowmt01 made a good point: Yao attracts people to him, while Amare intimidates them and sometimes drives them away (Joe Johnson).
Dream was always a good teamate especially on the defensive end. Hakeem even had better assists numbers than Yao early on.
With threads like these, you are part of the problem. Except for YOFs and people who didn't see enough of Hakeem, the question is a no-brainer.
Wow! Excluding ppl who didn't see enough of Hakeem, less than 15% of posters here are YOF. What a relief !
I don't understand why people can't either a) just answer his question and be done with it b) not respond PLEASE CLOSE THIS IDIOTIC THREAD! rarely gets threads closed... I know, I know... even with all those capital letters in there. Now if you had thrown in about 5 more exclamation points... !!!!!! There's nothing really wrong with this thread. You can think it's silly, but calling the guy an idiot I really don't get. If it's silly, then move on to some other thread. While I think anyone that believes Yao now is better than Hakeem is completely off their rocker, it'd be kind of interesting to see why they think so.
This thread doesn't deserve anything other than moronic statements, and with that, im out of this thread, i made my own thread, do pay a visit
You just can't compare people from different eras. If Yao brings us 3 titles would everyone choose him 10 years from now? Or would T-Mac have a little something to do with that? I just don't see any good that comes from these type of threads.
