Ya know we can speculate about passing up Ming for a Williams or a Dunleavy. But you can't predict the future. It is all a gamble. Nobody knew Michael Jordan would turn out to be the best NBA player to ever play the game and win 6 rings. But, any regrets on choosing the Dream? I honetly am happy the way things went. It took Olajuwon over 10 years and an absence of Jordan for him to win 2 rings, but it sure was worth it. I don't know what would have been if Jordan was picked for the Rockets instead of the Bulls, nobody does. I'm not going to ponder the unknown. So I say draft Ming, ya have nothing to lose. A "big guy" only comes around once in a while and a lot of people say it's a fact that you need a "big guy" to win in the NBA. I think Jordan was just too damn special to make that a true statement, but the Bulls still had a bit of meat in the middle with that British center, Wilmington I think. There will be plenty of Jay Williams in the future, college and high school players are so skilled these days with raw talent. 7'5" ball players with finese, ability and skills don't come around too often. There should be no regrets choosing Olajuwon and should ne none if The Rockets choose the "big guy" of the future, Ming.
absolutely no regrets, who's to say jordan would have won 6 rings in houston? you never know, it worked out great for both teams though. btw jordan was playing when we won our second championship, he just got beat by a better team.
None. Our hometown hero brought the title to Houston! And how sweet was bringing Drexler back to unite with him for another. These are the stories that live on.
I always put it this way. Say that Chicago drafts Hakeem, and Houston drafts Jordan. There's a reason Hakeem went 10 years without winning a championship. If not for a coach he trusted (Rudy T), and trading for Elie and Thorpe, and drafting Horry and Cassell, Hakeem is in the same boat as Malone. Having MVP years without the help to get him over the hump. And Jordan, he went 7 years without a ring. If not for a coach he trusted (Phil Jackson), and trading for Pippen and Cartwright, and drafting Grant he likely is in the same boat as Mitch Richmond was, a superstar player stuck on a team just good enough to crack the playoffs but nothing more. It was more then a team drafting them, it took luck and proper coaching and being in the right place at the right time for them to win a title. Barkley was drafted by Philadelphia, but didn't make the Finals until he went to Phoenix. If he gets drafted by Phoenix he might have won a ring. Right place at the right time.
Dream took us to the finals in his 2nd year with 40 point games in the playoffs against the Lakers. Dream was definitely as close to a sure thing as there was besides Bird, Magic and Wilt.
Forgot to mention Phil Jackson's Bulls were playoff contenders even without Jordan. Do you think any of our Rocket teams would have even made the playoffs without Dream. Nothing against Rudy, but I have no doubt Dream would have won six titles if Phil was running the show.
The only thing most people regret is that they didn't deal Sampson to Portland that year. The Rockets were offered the pick, and possibly the pick + Drexler for Sampson. It might've been Olajuwon, Drexler, and Jordan together all those years...
No regrets. I like my two championships and Hakeem as much as the Bulls like Jordan and their six championships.
I just want to say that everyone knows the rockets were the only team to have a winning record against Jordan and I'm willing to bet Jordan will tell you ,the big man in our middle was the difference.That's why we need a Center in my opinion instead of a player that we know for sure won't be a Jordan(I"m referring to Odom), so why not take the guy(Ming) who we don't know for sure could be Dream like.
It took Jordan 7yrs to get to the big game, before then even when his team was making the playofs, they were under .500 in 84-85 and 85-86.. In Dreams 2nd season we were playing the Celts for the trophy led by Hakeem and Ralph. I believe sometimes things happen for a reason. What if Lew Lloyd, Wiggins, and Lucas wouldn't have had drug problems? What if Ralph wouldn't have had his knees go bad. You really can't sow me a team in the 80's for that duration that could match the depth and athleticism that team had. 2 fluid big that ran the court like guards, a consumate pg in lucas and a big smooth 2 guard along with a 3 tool player at the 3 in McCray. It doesn't stop there, the bench was very,very deep with Peterson,Wiggins,Level,and Robert Reid. They could go big backcourt with Reid 6'8 and Lloyd at 6'6 or they could go defensive and quickness with Level and Wiggins who was very quick at 6'5. I felt cheated when that teamwas broke up because that was a very good young team. I know i jumped off subject, but its hard to argue against taking Hakeem when he's a top 50 maybe even top 15 of alltime. Now if it was Sam Bowie or what Dallas did in 85 when all indications were they were going to take K. Malone and got real smart and take Schremp, thats another story. Detlef was a very good player, but Malone is the best 4 in the history of the game. I don't regret it at all.
i regret more turning down the bulls offer of the 3rd pick for sampson jordan and dream as teamates from their rookie and sophmore years. thats nice stuff. then passing up on drexeler in '83 when we had the third pick we took rodney mccray. we could have had dream jordan and glyde for 15 years!! we would have been able to beat the larry bird C's and the magic/kareem lakers. we would be the best pro sports team in history, winning more championships than the bill russell C's. now im upset
You would be a fool if you could go back right now to the draft and still select Olajuwon over Jordan. Jordan is the greatest player of all time... an icon. I'm happy with the draft because we got one of the best centers of all time and a couple of championships to boot. I still however consider Olajuwon a consolation prize to Jordan.
If Houston takes Jordan, Portland takes Hakeem over Bowie and the Blazers with Drexler, Hakeem, Porter, etc. would be a dynasty. Would Jordan have won a title with Horry, Cassell, Thorpe, etc instead of Pippen and Grant? We'll never know. Personally, I think Jordan had a significantly better supporting cast for the majority of his career than Hakeem did . The 84 draft might have been the best of alltime: Jordan, Hakeem, Stockton, Barkley, Perkins, Thorpe...
All this speculation is moot. Different teams. Different players. Different circumstances. Who's to say Jordan would have become what he did with Ralph Sampson clogging the lane? Who's to say Hakeem would have become what he did without Fonde Rec and Moses Malone? Two championships+greatest center(and if not for his recently tarnished legacy arguably the greatest player)=no regrets.
If Hakeem had Pippen in his prime for most of his career, he would be the one with more than 5 rings. No Rockets fan should regret that decision. Exactly.
I would TRADE Olajuwon for Jordan. As much as I love Dream, he wasn't better than Jordan...except for about 3 years. But regrets? Nope. Dream got me to love basketball. I wouldn't love b-ball if it wasn't for Dream.
Hakeem was the Best of the two. Hell as much as i hate the guy, Kobe is already better than Jordan. Difference, Nike's multibillion dollar marketing machine that made the kids worship his Airness and made him bigger than he was. If you switch the markets they played in, it would be a different story now. Imagine Jordan in a small market like portland and Clyde in Chicago or NY. WHo do you think we will be talking about? who was the best ever, Magic. The man could play all five positions on the floor and be an all star in any of them.
you gotta be joking? jordan at 23 years of age ,was avge 37 points per game and a incrdible 7 boards per game. what the hell is kobe doing?
