If the thing you are primarily basing your assessment is how many rings they have then Robert Horry should be one of the greatest players of all time.
The true test. Given a lottery, Hakeem would go higher than some of the players you mention. As Isaiah once said, Hakeem is as good as 2 players since he did it on offense & defense. Some of the players you mention are one sided.
this an obvious statement that you weren't old enough to see the Dream. Also this is straight up treason. Your real name is BenedictArnold+RedCoats=Traitor your views on the 90s Bulls plus your insult to the Dream (who swept your Shaq) shows your true colors. i'm gonna set this thread proper <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CmLR_VgbqAA&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CmLR_VgbqAA&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
BackNthDay, I'm sorry your thread has derailed to a Dream hate fest. Never 'backNthDay' did I see so much hate. Clutchcity.net would never have such a thing. Sorry to the newbs, but this board was built by members who loved the DREAM. lets set it right: <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qWUIZqoNr4Q&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qWUIZqoNr4Q&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
tinman shut down the thread. like i said, he was easily a top 3 2-way player of all time (and a DOMINANT 2-way player).
Who the hell are you to say that I'm not a real Rockets fan? I think you spend too much time on the computer.
Horry has already been cited. Good gauge since he has played with both and he picked Hakeem. But if that doesnt suffice, how about Michael Jordan. When asked to pick a center he chose Hakeem over Shaq (Cigar Afficianado magaizine). Reasoning: Versatility and greater ability to impact on the defensive end. Michael even went on to remind us that Hakeem is a top 10 all time in steals as a center. If a guy who has played with both the players in their prime and the most dominant basketball player of the modern era both pick hakeem over Shaq, I think it far outweighs what some so called NBA experts have to say. As for other people...Well I live in New York and have never been to Houston. A number of Non-Rockets fans I have conversed with think quiet highly of Hakeem and consider him to be one of the most dominating offensive and defenive forces in the game. What hurt Hakeem most was his lack of marketing. Had he played in a major market like NY or LA AND had he not had such a dull personality with a thick foreign accent, his public perception would have been even better. Players knew how dominant he was. Shaq has been one of the marketable athletes in the world and has played for LA market where he won championships. That factors in a lot when you go around asking the public who they think is better.
You've got a good point. But I would argue that when Jordan played (before his second comeback) Shaq wasn't in his prime yet. Definitely not when Hakeem played him in 95 for the NBA Championship.
And you would be going in with a lot of liabilities. With Shaq you would have to live with... a) FT shooting liability b) Lesser versatility on offense. c) Defensive liabilities on pick and roll Hakeem gives you none of those liabilities. Hakeem gives you just as effective offense with the benefit of it being more versatile while he gives you a significantly better defense. He gives you a solid FT%. He gives you pick and roll defense. And he gives you steals from the center spot. So what advantages do you get by picking Shaq over Hakeem? With Kobe playing besides Hakeem I see just as many rings for Lakers, maybe even more. I don't see the 2 rings for Rockets if you replace Hakeem with Shaq. Why? Because he had liabilities which took other great players on his team to cover. Rocket teams had very good/excellent role players but they had no other superstar the caliber of Kobe or Wade which could support Shaq. People seem to forget how Kobe had to finish some of the games for Lakers in the playoffs because Shaq was sitting on bench. Heck, Wade had to practically do everything for his team in the Finals because Dampier was beating up Shaq. For a case study, lets look at the last second shot by John Starks in Game 6 of 94 NBA Finals. If you think Shaq could go all the way to the 3 point line to cover a pick and roll, get faked on the perimeter and then recover quick enough to block Stark's shot, you are delusional. Shaq is well known around the league as a poor pick and roll defender. I certainly cant be delusional because I have seen Hakeem make that play and I have it on tape to prove it. So, you can take a prime Shaq, but I will go with Jordan and Horry's pick which is Hakeem.
go to the Toyota Center and look up at the banners. if you prefer someone else besides #34 or you don't like those NBA Champions Houston Rockets banners, please leave and give your tmac jersey to some homeless guy so he can have something to wear.
Absolutely ridiculous BS. Do you live under a rock? You don't think any in the media, ex-players, etc have Hakeem over Shaq? http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-GreatestCenters 10 of the 20 panelists polled had Hakeem as a top 4 (or higher) C of all time which means one of Shaq, Kareem, Wilt, Russ, was lower. In most NBA fan forums, it's pretty generally accepted that Hakeem and Shaq are very close on the all-time rankings. Maybe Shaq gets slightly more votes, but saying "I can't recall him behind put ahead of Shaq" is absurd. It's pretty obvious the 2 are in the same tier in terms of all-time value and ranking. Jordan, Horry, David Robinson, and Ewing all listed Hakeem as the best C of the eras they played in. So did Karl Malone. Also, if you look at random fan forums on the net, Hakeem DOES usually get in at the bottom of the top 10 all time rankings or very high on the 11-15 rankings, so again you acting like it's some kind of stretch for him to be a top 10 all time player is just wrong. Perhaps it's your opinion, but it's certainly a minority one.
That is true. Once again, testimonials from the competition far outweighs those of editors and such. In fact Karl Malone even said that he is surprised how often Hakeem gets overlooked considering how dominant he was on both ends. Again, had Hakeem been more marketable and did not have such a thick accent, his "ranking" would have been higher by those "experts" I hate Kark Malone but after he said that my hate for him went down from 150 to 149.9 on the hate-0-meter with a scale 1 to 10. (10 being the max)
