Most national media NBA people will rank Shaq ahead of Hakeem. Jack Ramsey has been around forever, and he ranked Shaq ahead of Hakeem as well. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-GreatestCenters You can see the voting at the bottom of the page.
Well I have seen Dream play with my own eyes and I've seen Shaq play and my opinion Shaq was a better player no doubt its very close, but most people here seen to think Shaq wasn't even on Dream level.
Not true at all, You can make a case for both. I'll take Shaq's career because he did more, but you really have to see how dominant Hakeem's peak and prime was to realize how good he was.
True you can make a case for both, and I don't see anything wrong with people saying Dream was better. The only thing I don't get is that people assume I never seen Dream play because I rank Shaq ahead of him.
Wilt The best player of all time. No one before or since could do the stuff he did. No one. Half the rules in the game were made to stop him. He is like a mythological hero. Kareem Won every year he played in high school. Won every year he played in college. Won 6 rings and 6 MVPs. Played at a high level for 20 years. If you were drafting any of these players and could have them on your team for their whole career, Kareem is the correct choice. big drop off Hakeem/Shaq/Russell - all about even Russ won 11 rings in thirteen years, 2 as a player/coach. He also averaged 22.5 rpg for his career. Barkley will tell you that anyone can score, but rebounds are a man's stat. Shaq was dominant (BTW, what is up with people saying someone was a dominate player, learn English please) for longer than Hakeem, but also had the advantage of always playing with an all-star wing. Hakeem at his peak was better than either of these guys, but his peak was shorter. There were too many seasons where he was in the dregs of the league. I just wish the Dream, Clyde, Barkley trio had started sooner (like in 84 when Portland offered their pick and Drexler for Sampson). That had the potential to be a Russell Celts like dynasty.
True, but I would take Hakeem over Shaq based solely on individual talent. My Top 5: 1. Hakeem 2. Shaq 3. Kareem 4. D-Rob 5. Wilt I think any of the players above Wilt could do exactly what he did if they played in his wack ass era. Wilt was a good player, I just don't like how people jump on his back because of his stats.
Shaq had a better career because whenever he won a title, he was playing alongside a HOF talent. Even when his Magic lost against the Rockets, they had Hardaway who was on his way to a HOF career. When the Rockets won their first title, the closest thing to a star on the roster (besides Hakeem) was Otis Thorpe, who was two years removed from his only all-star appearance.
Shaq never came close to putting a stamp on games defensively the way Hakeem did, and Hakeem was never a liability in the closing minutes of a tight game.
Shaq had a better career because he was the greatest inside/power player in the history of the NBA, and it shows in the numbers. He also was much more effective for much longer....even now he can occasionally dominate, at a stage in Olajuwon's career when he was struggling with Greg Ostertag. It wasn't as pretty, but there is no doubting how effective he was.
They do call it money time for a reason. FWIW Hakeem came into the league as an atrocious free throw shooter. Through hard work, he became an average ft shooter, something Shaq has never accomplished.
It helped that during his championship run, he was playing in a weak era of centers. Olajuwon had to go through Robinson, Ewing, and Shaq to earn his titles. Shaq went through....Todd Macculoch, Deke, Rik Smits (in the final year of his career), and Dampier. This goes back to the supporting cast topic that I brought up. For quite a few years, Olajuwon carried the Rockets the entire season. I'm sure that takes its toll on the body. On the other hand, Shaq has had HOF caliber swingmen to help carry the team. In fact, he was known for coming into the season out of shape and playing himself into shape as the season progressed. Simply put, the better a player's supporting cast is, the less wear and tear he'll put on his body.
