I picked Shaq over Hakeem in this thread, but I have to admit reading that put a big smile on my face. Of course, he's referring to centers specifically of his era. Shaq's best years came after 1998.
He only picked players from his era. That pretty much eliminates Wilt, Kareem, and Russell from his choices, and they are maybe the three best centers of all time, certainly 3 of the top six.
Man, what are you smoking?? Even the analysts who are pro-Shaq will agree that Hakeem dominated him. They'll use the excuse that Shaq was not yet in his prime and Hakeem was...but not that they were about equal at the time. Come on...
Why would we bring the athletes we are arguing about opinions into the topic? You would be a ****ty media head
Remember when they were planning a "one on one" game on Pay-Per-View after the 1995 season? I was so hyped up for that, but it never happened for some reason. Damn, that was dissapointing. I wish players of today did something like that (of course, keep it on basic cable so everyone can watch).
No, because he said that 10 years ago. Asked right now, I don't think Shaq would say Hakeem had a better career than he has had.
I believe Dream pulled out with an unjury, but i could be wrong. I was hyped for that too. If i had the $$, i'd set up a one-one tourney every all star weekend and get the big names to play each other.
I actually have a basketball card that hypes that up. It has a picture of Hakeem and a picture of Shaq, and it says 1 on 1. Too bad it never happened. You think it's worth something on ebay?
Quick statistical comparison of Hakeem and Shaq in the 1995 Finals, including an overall rating (GS/g): Code: [COLOR=Navy]min/g pts/g reb/g ast/g blk/g [B]GS/g[/B][/COLOR] Hakeem 44.8 32.8 11.5 5.5 2.0 [B]24.5[/B] Shaq 45.0 28.0 12.5 6.3 2.5 [B]21.8[/B] Hakeem had a great serieis, statistically, but Shaq was no slouch either. Yeah, Hakeem outplayed him, but it's a stretch to say Shaq was "dominated".
I think the ultimate compliment to Hakeem is that no one............I MEAN NO ONE......... even argues the fact that Hakeem was selected over Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft because that would have been moronic. Selecting Michael would have served no purpose because we would never have attracted Doug Collins, Phil Jackson, Scott Pippen or Horace Grant (maybe Rodman) to H-town. Scott Pippen was not happy in Houston and didn't even last a complete season here. There would have never been a Tex Winter to institute the triangle offense and under those circumstances MJ would have been just another NBA great without a title. In addition Chicago paid MJ $30 mil a year his final 2 seasons,............would Charlie Thomas or for that matter Les Alexander done the same? If you think otherwise you are neither realistic or have a living brain cell. I feel I am as realistic as anyone in reminding myself that we were very fortunate to have witnessed the evolution of arguably the best center in NBA history. A scrawny Nigerian kid with more futbol (soccor) and handball skills than hoop game. An angry obnoxious kid who eventually learned that humility and the heart of a warrior will take you far in life. A young man who wanted a title more for this city than for himself. The second title I think was more for himself, to prove the first was no fluke with or without Jordan. It wasn't Hakeems fault that MJ decided to retire. Do you honestly think that the other 29 teams played less intense because MJ was out of the league? Obviuosly it's extremely difficult to compare Hakeen to what some people say are two better centers (Russell and Chamberlain) since they were different eras. But if I were a betting man and had extra cash I'd put money that Hakeem would have more than held his own against those two in their prime. And if no one believes that you've cemented the idea that the one brain cell you DO have is providing life functions and can not be used for deductive reasoning. I know I'm coming off a little biased but I feel like showing respect to a man who chose to be here instead of bolting like many other players for greener pastures and not endure the ups and downs of building and rebuilding franchises (Shaq i.e. and others). Maybe I am a little biased but I chose to appreciate a guy who gave me everything he had every time he went to work and without the attitude.
Then he'd be lying. Robert Horry, David Robinson, Pat Ewing, and John Salley have all said Hakeem was better than O'Neal. Robinson faced both in their primes. When Robert Horry, a guy who played with both at their absolute peaks, picks Olajuwon over O'Neal, that really tells you all you need to know. It's always the hype artists like the media who annoint Shaq as MDE. Name me one NBA player who has ever said he thought Oneal was better than Olajuwon. There just aren't any. Who better to assess players then their peers. If Hakeem played his whole career with 2 guards the caliber of Wade, Bryant, and Penny and coaches like Phil Jackson and Pat Riley he CERTAINLY wins more than 2 rings. Without a doubt. What great C has Shaq ever dominated head to head? His battles with Duncan were basically a draw everytime....Hakeem killed his main comp (ewing, oneal, drob)
People who understand the game and wouldn't be biased by personal relationships with said players? Also, for players there's often a bias towards the older, more experienced player when they make comparisons. It has to do with respecting those that came before you, and all that nonsense. Witness Charles Barkley and him picking Dennis Johnson over Kobe Bryant in his top 60 list during the allstar break. Ridiculous. Actually, there was an interesting stat that in this playoffs for the very first time an opposing center got more points and rebounds than Shaq in a game. It's not Shaq's fault that all the other great centers disappeared four or five years into his career. I don't know how you're defining "killed" or "basically a draw". If you want to compare Shaq and Duncan's numbers in head to head matchups during the playoffs, Shaq has a small edge. But they probably weren't guarding eachother most of the time, so I'm not sure what that proves. BTW, there's no shame in playing Duncan to a draw. He's arguably the great PF of all time. Shaq vs Duncan in playoffs (20 games) Code: [COLOR=Navy] min/g pts/g reb/g ast/g blk/g to/g [B]GS/g GS/40m[/B][/COLOR] Shaq 39.6 24.5 13.8 2.3 2.8 3.1 [B]20.2 20.4[/B] Duncan 41.9 25.0 11.8 4.0 2.2 3.9 [B]19.6 18.7[/B] And there's no point in reading too much into the head to head matchups of Shaq and Hakeem, since their peaks as players were about 6-8 years apart.
hakeem was an extraordinary athlete. as a huge futbol fan as well, i made a comment to my brothers a few days ago how it wouldve been absolutely terrifying to face a 7-footer w/cat-like reflexes standing in the goal. and thats before he spread out his arms and legs to defend the goal. sheesh
Shaq has been pretty humble when it came to Hakeem, but really...who did Shaq have to play in the finals? Hakeem played in their prime: 1986 Boston Celtics w/ Bird and McHale and Parish 1994 Barkley/Malone/ Ewing in his prime 1995 Barkley Malone (in prime)/ Robinson (in prime) / Shaq (early) In the finals, Shaq beat: Pacers: Rik Smits?? C'mon 76'ers: Mutombo on the decline and a very weak finals team. It was just AI and thats all. NJ Nets: I don't even remember who their center was? Jarron Collins? To get to the finals they started beating Utah after they were over the hill and then had Portland and Sacramento choke game seven's to get to the finals. I think the mid-1990's had some great competition and only this year has the level of play really gotten better in the league. Though Shaq has always had a top 5 running mate (Penny/Kobe/Wade) on his three teams in the finals, we have to admit he helped make those players into top guards and his impact is amazing on the game. But to compare his competition and championships against Hakeem's is silly.
Shaq dominated on the offensive end. Yet Hakeem's defense was undeniably better. He had better coverage, was quick enough to jump out on the perimeter and switch to defend a guard, he was a better shot blocker, and is the only center on the all time steals list. Furthermore Hakeem was more clutch than Shaq as has already been mentioned. But he was clutch in whatever way the team needed him. It could be clutch on the offensive end, as well as key blocks, and stops on the defensive end. His skill set was more versatile, and more skilled, and I think because of all of this and Hakeem's clutch factor he was more valuable of a player during his career than Shaq.
