If Hakeem is not on the list, I am not interested in the list. He was certainly one the greatest athletes of all time. I still don't accept that Dominique Wilkins is not one of the top fifty basketball players. Hey, SI is significant but their not God.
Cesar^Geronimo: "Dale Earnhart ? I thought this was supposed to be athletes." And Seabiscuit? Oh, wait, last 25 years ... War Emblem? Seriously, lists like this have nothing to do with merit. They're for selling magazines, that's it. If it makes you feel better, write to them and tell them they're idiots. Then ignore them. I mean, seriously ... Mike Tyson??
could you tell what that top 10 was for? b/c i was having trouble. initially i thought it was going to be top 10 greatest playoff runs (by a #1 pick), as in taking an entire championship run together. but then they would just show one game so i wasn't sure if it was top 10 greatest playoff games by a #1, or if it was top 10 greatest runs and they were just using a game for each to represent the entire run. if it was games, why the hell did they not pick one from the WCF, like game 6 where hakeem went for 39/17/5. and if it was overall runs then hakeem at #8 is beyond ridiculous (even more ridiculous than StupidMoniker calling jim jackson a better offensive option than francis). i may be a hakeem homer on some things, but not that 95 playoff run. if i had been an outside observer my jaw would have been on the floor the entire time wondering how anyone could ever stop this guy and i would have just been amazed at what he was doing. those last two series were for the ages and the first two weren't too shabby either. Bird Jordan Magic Wilt were in a different level then everyone else well hakeem's better than bird, and maybe magic, so we can shrink that list and duncan definitely has a lot longer to go (though he's off to a good start) before he gets to be up there with dream. and i think hakeem and shaq are tied in mvp's for what it's worth (1 to 1).
A prime Hakeem would school anyone in the league today. Only person who comes close to his quickness for a big man is KG.
Do we really have to go through the NASCAR and athletes thing again? I'm sick of having to defend it. Oh, and Duncan above Hakeem? Not at this point, definately.
Top 25 atheletes of all time ... Hakeem Olajuwon Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy Nolan Ryan Clyde Drexler Earl Campbell Billy Doran Glen Davis Jose Cruz Ernest Givens Warren Moon Blain Bishop Rudy T Mike Scott Charlie Kerfeld Elvin Hayes Moses Malone Steve Francis Yao Ming Cat Mobley Jeff Bagwell Craig Biggio David Carr Domanic Davis Bruce Matthews Mike Munchak Talk amongst yourselves.
Steve Francis Yao Ming Cat Mobley David Carr Domanic Davis It's a lillte early to say that about them .
Well if I were gonna pull current Rockets & Texans, I at least wanted to pull guys who spent their entire career in Houston.
Charlie Kerfield? Billy Doran? Man you gotta be a Houston Homer and an Astro Homer at that. BTW you forgot Kevin Bass. Loved those Sammy Davis Jr impressions
The absence of Nolan Ryan is as glaring as the absence of Hakeem. About half of that list is valid, the rest are just recent.
ESPN is all about ratings and trying to sound outrageous. Listen to them on fastbreak with their analysis of any team. With the Rockets it's the usual, "They don't defer to Yao enough. Yao's not agressive enough. Steve and Cat are ballhogs," with the usual Steve Francis highlights, or Cato alley oop jams. It's about what appeals most on tv. It's all about who's the flavor of the month. In this case it's the Knicks. Forget that they're a sub .500 team, are old, small, and weak on the frontcourt, and have one of the highest payrolls in the game. It's because they're in a marketable city, and because they traded for a flashy guy, and on tv, fancy crossovers, acrobatic layups sale. Even moreso if your a team from LA, or NY. That's simply how it works. Hakeem was never much of flashy guy. Aside from his earlier career where he would pop people in the jaw if they ever pushed him the wrong way, his career was mostly peaceful. His game was based a number of versatile moves. Sometimes dunks, but not enough style to warrant a "TOP 10 Nominee." If Hakeem was younger and a rookie now, and had that same angst to knock people's lights out, he'd be the center of media attention. Whatever the case is, he wasn't that marketable a player, and thus doesn't receive the same media recognition as guys who's careers weren't as good, but were more under the spotlight. If Hakeem played for LA, NY, or Boston his whole career you could bet he'd probably be in the top 3 of that list.
AMEN! Hakeem will always be underrated because he did not have a big Nike or Gatorade contract. He just went about his work and did it in a quiet manner. He might not be the best scorer of all time, but he is one of the top three all-round players and the best defensive player of all time. If Hakeem had a second star (Jordan had Pippen, Magic had Kareem and Worthy, Bird had Mchale, Isiah had Dumars) he would have definitely won about 3-4 championships. Hakeem is and always will be the greatest in my eyes.
Not a good time to ask perhaps, but where is Kareem? If we consider the top 5 basketball players, there is no way Duncan being in the list. It's just too early to tell, not even close.
carl lewis 1st lance armstrong 2nd michael jordan 3rd i agree....dale ernhardt....sports legend YES, athlete FKK NO!
Hakeem was an athlete like no other, he was unique. His abilities and technique were unmatched by any big man. He was a clean player and a pure sportsman.If you watched every game he played you wouldn't be thinking the same way!!
Yeah, yeah, and you were supposed to leave the board forever. Not to go into this again, but Olajuwon gets all the respect he deserves. It is unfortunate that HE chose to be disloyal, and leave (many of) the fans with a bad taste in their mouths. If they knew the way it would play out, the Raptors would never have done that deal. Besides, time has proven that Olajuwon SHOULD have walked away after that tremendous goodbye in the Compaq Center.
Xenogears: "Yeah there's really no debate. Nascar and auto-racing aren't sports." I'm willing to agree to racing being a sport, but not to drivers being athletes. Jockeys, maybe.... BTW I got a reply back from ESPN. They're reviewing my opinion. Wow, I expect them to change the list real soon now to include Olajuwon!
