Dream never eliminated the greatest player of all time if you want to put it like that. And then went on to lose in 4 to dream
Hakeem needed someone to get him the ball also. It's not like was dribbling the ball down the court. Of course, he had a more diversified offensive game. He had the midrange jumper. He had some beautiful face up, isolation moves. But Shaq's dominance on the offensive end was a level above, in my opinion. He was a more prolific scorer. He was a more efficient scorer. He was less turnover prone. He was just as good a passer. He was more devastating in transition. It was virtually impossible to keep him from establishing position where he wanted to. The individual offensive stats are obviously in Shaq's favor. You could also look at the offensive efficiency ranking of their respective teams their first 14 seasons: Code: [B]Year Hakeem Shaq[/B] 1 13/23 14/27 2 5/23 4/27 3 15/23 2/27 4 13/23 3/27 5 19/25 9/29 6 21/27 2/29 7 15/27 2/29 8 20/27 6/29 9 6/27 2/29 10 16/27 3/29 11 8/27 4/29 12 12/29 6/29 13 8/29 5/30 14 10/29 7/30
Its also IMPOSSIBLE to win if you hack a shaq. Get your team into foul trouble and even if Shaq got all his points at the line he would still be more efficient than any perimiter player. GOING 2/4 from the FT line is the same as going 1/2 from the field. Saying hes a horrible foul shooter is all you guys will ever have on him.
I thought the argument was settled in 95 when Hakeem swept Shaq in the NBA finals for the championship. As I recall, Dream was the MVP of that series. Has their been another NBA finals since that had two all world centers as the star of their respective teams? BTW, its the only time Shaq has played in a finals and lost.
Eh... that's not really a fair comparison though. That was Hakeem in his prime and Shaq really just starting to come into his own. I don't think you can base your selection of the better center on who played better in that series or on Shaq saying Hakeem was the best... back when Hakeem WAS the best. We're talking Shaq in his prime and Hakeem in his prime. ...I still think Hakeem has a slight edge. And also, a young Kobe Bryant was still an amazing player. I'd take Kobe Bryant from like 2002 (or whenever during the Lakers' championship runs) over Clyde Drexler from 96.
