I do remember Jordan going for a 3 to win a game against the Rockets during the 4th quarter at the Summit back in the day and you guessed it, Hakeem was right there to block him and then catch the ball and slam it on the court as the game ended.
Well now you're just rubbing it in I'd give anything to get these clips, make them into a short and put it on youtube.
We've seen John Salley on Best Damn Sports Show...He also hosts a radio show here in L.A. on the hip hop station. It really wouldnt surprise me too much if he wanted to say that instead of African lol. I'll say, that for anyone else he would have but since there's so much respect for Hakeem he spoke better for him I'll go on the Most Complete Center to ever play title. How many times will these stats be mentioned but they're still amazing- #1 Total Blocks (i know, the old timers...) #9 Total Points, #12 Total Rebounds. #8 ALL TIME TOTAL STEALS. There's hardly even a forward in the top 40 let alone a center in a guard's stat. No center, no PLAYER even can boast that. Speaking of the old timers, gonna have to point out Bill Russell's career free throw percentage (56.1%). That's just marginally better than Shaq and Wilt. It's hard to argue against Russell, Wilt and Kareem's impact to the game though. Or their individual and team accomplishments. Not gonna use the "if __ woulda played in ___ era" cuz that's not fair. So with the all-around stats, Hakeem wins out
That's such bs....Hakeem got no respect when he played....would they have negated a quadruple-double due to a "statistical error" if MJ, Shaq, Kobe and/or Lebron had done it....Every once in a while I also wonder how many bogus goaltending calls were made against the Dream and how many more blocks Hakeem he would have if those errors were ever corrected...I don't think anybody would ever supplant him as the all-time leading shot blocker in nba history. http://www.nba.com/rockets/hakeem_tribute/main.html
I'm just tired of the implied asterix placed next Hakeems name anytime his status as all tim leader of blocked shots is mentioned. Ditto for his championships. Read the sig.
You're tired of people pointing out the obvious, that Hakeem is the record holder in blocked shots only because the record was not kept prior to 1974? Why? Hakeem was still a great shotblocker, it is just that there were others who were greater. Do you think people should falsely claim that Dream actually blocked more shots than anyone else in NBA history. It is nice fir Hakeem fans that he is listed as the all time leader in blocked shots, but there is no reason to get upset if people correctly point out that he would likely not be if the record had been kept since the NBA began. There is no reason that the Rockets championships should be valued any lower than any other NBA championship though. Just because Jordan was retired for one of them and "rusty" for the other one is no reason to take anything from the winners. Jordan should have been gambling and then he wouldn't have "decided" to go play minor league baseball. While I am on the subject, the Spurs title in 1999 should also not be denegrated. Just because the season was only 50 games does not mean that the Spurs had a better chance to win than any other team. All the teams played a 50 game schedule and all of them had the same opportunity to win. I hate it when people try to take away accomplishments just because they don't like the outcome: SOUR GRAPES.
See the post below yours for a more complete discussion, but most of those guys are in the HOF because Russell carried them there on his back. Wilt was on a team with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, a team that was widely regarded as the single greatest collection of talent on the planet. They lost to the Celtics. Puff, puff, give! Seriously, the single biggest measure of an athlete is championships. Russell won championships with lots of different guys as both a player and as a player/coach. No other player was on all 11 of those championship teams and no other player has even come close to winning the same number of rings that Russell won (as a player). Was Russell the most athletic player of all time? probably not Was he the most dominant player of all time? nope Was he the best offensive player out there? absolutely not However, the overall best player of all time would have to have translated all of his abilities into wins, specifically wins in the postseason (11 rings). He would have to make his teammates better (5 teammates in the HOF because of Russell). He would have to be able to impose his will on the greatest players in the game (Wilt) and inspire his team to win when they were sorely outmatched (1969 Finals against the Lakers). You could make a case for Jordan, but leaving Russell out of the debate for best player ever would be silly.
So I guess Steve Kerr is better than Olajuwon and Zan Tabak is better than Charles Barkley. I think Bill Russell can be argued as the greatest player of all time, but your sole argument cant just be the number of championships he won. The single biggest measure of a TEAM is the amount championships they won. Some great players are just unlucky.
No, because you are not measuring Kerr or Tabak as "The Man" or (in the case of Tabak) even as a vital piece on any of the teams they were on. Like it or not, the measure of an athlete is the championships they win. Will this measure keep Barkley or Ewing out of the HOF? Of course not. However, neither of those guys will ever be regarded as the best player ever. BTW, the number of championships was not my "sole" argument, it is just, IMO, the most important measure. In addition to championships, Russell averaged over 22 rebounds, 15 points, and 4 assists over his career. It can be argued that he was one of the biggest reasons that five different guys made it into the HOF (proving that he made his teammates better). He won Olympic gold, was MVP of the NBA five different times and was a 12 time all-star. However, 11 championships in 13 years says it all. Russell did that, not alone, but a large part of it was the pure force of his will. He changed the game and defined the "defensive center" role. He is my vote for "best NBA player ever."
Man, watching those Dream highlights, it's amazing how high he got up in college... some of those blocks are incredible! That block on Jordan was great... he just took it from MJ. I kept looking for the O-rebound slam in the Knicks series... did I miss it or was it not in there?
