This is simply not true. We heard this all through the 80s and 90s because of the east coast bias and most unexposed fans believed it. Hakeem according to Kobe has the best mid-range post up game of all time. McHale was good, but Hakeem was a little better, a bit more unstoppable, unpredictable. In 80s, he shot over triple teams and made it before he saw the benefit of passing. In the 90s he added passing to his post game.