Suppose he never got hurt and played to his potential was he ever truly a top 10 center? The top 5 he has no chance of ever touching even if he was healthy. I also think DRob was a much better player. Now moses I never saw play, but I would have to put him above yao due to his accomplishments. Same with George Mikan That leaves two spots. If yao was healthy would he deserve one of those two spots?
What Rick the Ruler had to say...I take his word over anyone else's on this board...yes, even DD XD: “There is no doubt if he stayed healthy, we’d be talking about one of the top centers to ever play the game,” Adelman said. “He’s right there in the top 10. He had such unbelievable scoring touch. He was so dominant.”
I'll give him the pass, but its pretty close. He's definitely not better than: Russell Dream Shaq Jabber Wilt Moses Robinson Ewing Other players include: Elvin Hayes Bill Walton George Mikan
No way he was better than Walton, so number 10 at best. Also when its all said and done, Howard will have had a better career. Howard went to the finals with Hedo as the second best player on the team.
If both players were healthy, and playing in the same era, it would be close. Although, I think that he would barely make it. The other two players on that list aren't stiffs either. The thread is about Yao's status if he was healthy, not who will have a better career so I would still go with Yao over Howard. But if we're talking career, no doubt Howard will have a better one.
Despite the head to head numbers, Dwight has more of an impact on the game. He single handedly makes Orlando a good defensive team. Like I said before, Howard has already been to the finals with a bunch of scrubs, and he has been 1st team all-nba several times.
I would take Yao over Ewing in a heartbeat if were asking about healthy 12-15 yrs of playing I think he would have got atleast 2 chips and maybe a MVP award and Forsure some top 5 voting finishes. It amazes me how under appreciated Yao is around here? There is a reason to be disappointed because of his health but in terms of talent alone mixed with his massive height it would be very had to keep him out of the top 10 all time. His offensive game was so complete and easily tops all but dream, jabar, and maybe wilt if were just talking about te variety of moves in the post and the footwork he had down low he litterlly had 3 or 4 unstoppable go to moves plus he could hit his freethrows better than anyone on that list and also could nail the 17 foot jumper from anywhere. He is a once in a lifetime player and we will never see another player with his set of skill and size he was a great athlete at the center position for his era then u factor in his size and he is the most athletic besides ralph Sampson to suit up at 7"3 or taller. Yao was a grey talent and we all should feel honored to have him retire with the rockets he made us relevant and title contenders for a 3 yr period.
He wouldn't pass these guys even if he stayed healthy. 1) Wilt 2) Jabbar 3) Dream 4) Shaq 5) Russell 6) Moses 7) David Robinson 8) Mikan 9) Patrick Ewing And I didn't even mention guys like Willis Reed, Alonzo Mourning. So the answer is no.
I saw Ewing Play in the NBA in the early 90s that's when I was old enough to really know what was going on while I think Ewing was a very good Player I dont see how u could say his footwork and post moves were on par with yaos and defensively I think it was pretty even. like I said in my other post were talking about Yao having a healthy career an with good health in my opinion he would be top 8 all time maybe even better there's no doubt that one of the premeir wing players in the game would be in a rockets uniform right now. Thus helping yaos cause for championships and higher rankings on the individual accolades that come with being a champion. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion but mine stands that Yao was and great player when on the court and could have been one of the best. He is truly undervalued amongst rockets fans which blows my mind as he's the one guy who made us relevant and had other goo players wanting to come here and talking about us without him we would have had no national exposure.
Many people thought Ewing was equal to or better than Dream until our championship years. Let me give you a stat line. 29 points 11 rebounds 4 blocks 55% fg% 78% ft% for ENTIRE 82 game season. Tell me when Yao was even close to this.
dawg, what are you smoking? At Yao's best in his career, he couldn't touch Ewing. The reason Hakeem is revered as he is was b/c he dominated vs the best center competition the league has seen. That was THE center era. For a 13-year stretch, he put up 20+ points per game. For a 9-year stretch, he put up 20+/10+/2 blocks. And the guy rarely missed games, and was a warrior. Yao isn't even in the discussion with Patrick, and Patrick barely cracks the top 8-9 of all time centers.
10 at best is how I see it. Not certain either. At worst he is top 15 centers all time though, that ain't bad.
Eh, I think with a healthy Yao would've rivaled Dwight at the C position. Lets not pretend that Yao was a complete negative on the defensive end. He was never better than Dwight, but then again Dwight was never better than Yao on the offensive end at his best. But I agree with your "10 at best" assessment. I do have something to say about the "he went to the finals with Hedo as the second best player" line: 1. Shard (back then) and Nelson were a pretty good #3 and #4. Orlando was built like the Pistons in that regard. 2. The East was pretty weak. They beat the Cavs, and that's about it. I know the Cavs were a 60 win team, but in hindsight you wonder how good they were in the post season. The only time they've ever won a series against a legit team was when they beat Detroit. 3. That post season we won more games against the Lakers than the Magic did and our second best player was Aaron Brooks that playoffs.
What? With Yao we were also a good defensive team. And that wasn't just with JVG. Even during the Adelman era the defense was maintained until Yao fell to injury. Howard played extremely well that year...no doubt, but his supporting cast weren't that bad. Turkoglu played fantastic that postseason and Lewis averages 19 points a game. Pietrus also played a big role for that team and we know now Reddick and Gortat are pretty decent players. The "scrubs" that you mentioned were the same scrubs that has played with Yao. Courtney Lee, Bogans, Skip, and Tyronne Lue are all former Rockets. I'm not saying Yao would have been better. But if he continued to improve from where he was from his 2005 form, it would definitely be close.
