I was watching the Best Damn Sports Show the other night, and during a segment they call "Rapid Fire", John Salley was asked the following question: Q: Who was the toughest player you ever played against? Sally: Definitely Hakeem Olajuwon, that African was a baller! Considering the era in which the Spiderman played in (you can list all the great centers/pf he played against), I would say that's high praise, and it's not coming from a former Rocket either (Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Kenny Smith, and Mario Elie have all consistently claimed that Dream was the greatest player they ever played with).
great post.. u should post that in the "greatest player to play the game thread"... everybody knows that Hakeem is THE BEST PLAYER TO PLAY THE GAME.. and John Salley is just one of many who said that...
solid, but i hafta say that the greatest argument would come from those who would go with Wilt, Kareem, or Bill. I wish someone had spanned those eras and coulda given us their opinion on who was toughest to play against at both ends..
did he really say African? i was expecting something like... erm... a word with two g's in the middle and ending with A.
Simmons should have added this: (May 13-15, 1994) Two hours after blowing the biggest lead in NBA playoff history, the Rockets flew out of Choke City down 0-2 to the Phoenix Suns. Four days later, the Rockets flew into Clutch City with the series tied 2-2. In Game 1 of the 1994 Western Conference Semifinals, Houston built an 18-point lead but lost. In Game 2, they had a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter but lost in overtime. "I'll never forget getting on the charter flight after Game 2," Rockets television commentator Bill Worrell said. "It was like a morgue." The Rockets didn't rise from the dead until the second half of Game 3 when they found themselves behind 49-41 at halftime. Then Vernon Maxwell got hot, scoring 31 points in the second half as the Rockets won 118-102. Houston finished "Desert Sweep" by winning Game 4, 107-96, to even the series.
I' became a basketball fan because of Hakeem. The number of moves he had for a big man was just ridiculous. He made the guy defending him look ridiculous. Funny... once at a mosque my dad asked for his cell phone (to call my mom from the ladies section), my dad knew he played basketball (because i told him he played) but my dad had no idea how huge a basketball icon he was (we had just moved to Houston). My dad also didn't realize how annoying it probably was for Hakeem to get bugged by people, so don't blame my dad for being annoying ...anyway Hakeem gave the cell phone with a smile and didn't even hesitate. Personally i thought my dad was joking when he told me that he was going to ask him for his cell...but he did it...nice to see that there are some nice athletes still out there...Chris Bosh is another really really cool guy...and i'm not talking about the guy with the username.
whenever they show on nba classics Lakers vs Rockets, watch the old 'Akeem' vs Kareem. Dream didn't have the dreamshake going, but he sure dunked on people really well.
I too have met Hakeem in a mosque numerous times in my childhood, and whenever he would show up there were always a bunch of kids following him around asking him for his autograph, no matter how busy he looked he never once denied a kid for an autograph
No doubt they were both pretty good then. Hakeem was on the rise and Kareem was near the end. So its just hard to say who was greater or how much greater one is than the other based on that head to head competition.
He wasn't even the only Rocket to block the Sky Hook. Bill Willoughby, Hakeem, and Ralph all blocked the Sky Hook. There was a sequence where Hakeem and Ralph stuffed Kareem back-to-back in a game from what I remember. There are probably lots more blocks of the SkyHook than people imagine. I think James Donaldson's even done it. What made Willough's block impressive was that he was only around 6'8". BTW, I just looked it up... Willough's birthday is in 3 days. He'll be 49. Dang.
