Agreed. "Yao vs Hakeem" threads rank right up there with "I hate Steve Francis" and "Fire JVG" as the worst threads that ever pop up on the board. It's an unfair comparison to make and invariably Hakeem fans start ripping up on Yao because of other people's unrealistic expectations. Maybe in ten years people will be able to have a mature and balanced discussion about such a topic, but certainly not now.
The 9 people voted for Yao are from China, Yao only fans or both. The could also be under the age of 14.
Given what we know about the two of them so far and how their careers played out, I think the answer is obvious. I suppose we'll see who ends up being the better player when Yao finishes his career. Just to level the playing field a little, let's assume we don't have any knowledge about their prospective NBA careers. Hakeem would still be the better choice. The college competition Hakeem faced in the early 80s was on a much higher level than the current Chinese Basketball Association. The Hakeem right out of college wasn't a polished offensive player, but had by far the most awesome defensive prowess you'd ever seen. Just to put things in perspective, Emeka Okafor was a defensive beast in his 2003-2004 NCAA season. Hakeem was much better. Hindsight is always 20/20, but the general consensus back in 1984 was that Hakeem would be the no-brainer pick at #1. This was a draft that included names like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Otis Thorpe, John Stockton, Kevin Willis, Sam Perkins, and Jerome Kersey. It's widely regarded as the most talented and deep draft class of all time. In contrast, Yao Ming wasn't even universally agreed to go #1 pick in his own draft. A lot of sports journalists and guys like Dick Vitale were arguing that Jay Williams should've been taken first. Bottom line: Any way you look at it, Hakeem would (and should) be anyone's choice.
I have a feeling if you asked people in LA if they had the #1 pick and both KOBE n JORDAN was avaible who they would pick That Kobe would win
You know, if I had wanted to be annoyed, I'd pop in a Carpenters CD. I just came here to read some Rockets stuff and I get this. "Don't you remember you told me you loved me baby?" AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!
Wow, it's nice to know that we have a such a large percentage who are members of the BBS from China. That's kool.
I'd take Moses Malone... I kid. Dream hands down. And I like Yao a lot. If those of you that voted Yao had a chance to watch Dream every nightin his prime this poll would be 100% in Dreams favor. That said I'm looking forward to a break out year from Yao. Better stats, stamina and leadership. This is the year of the Yao.
Actually from a purely financial standpoint, I would pick Yao. If you think about, it's a lot more profitable for the organization to have someone like Yao who has a huge global presence and marketing power. And although I think he's no Hakeem, I still feel like he has the skills to eventually win a title for Houston...it might just take a little bit longer.
i would love to see yao do a dream shake, followed by an up an under, and end up swatting a for-sure layup by sprinting the length of the court.....
if yao were to become everything we could possibly hope for than he'd be exactly what dream already was. that's best case scenario for yao. i see yao averaging 20, 10 for the the bulk of the rest of his career and being the best center in the league during that time, but the question is a joke. hakeem is a top 10 arguably top 5 player of all time.
