And it’s understandable honestly. As many posters have correctly pointed out winning a championship clears out all your shortcomings. I remember when the naysayers were saying Jordan would never win as well. It’s always the same until you do it but it’s never all roses.
Hakeem was on par with Jordan. Different position and style of player but absolutely one of the best players ever. The 93-95 teams were one of the best ever. Big star surrounded with incredible role players who all delivered.
Thanks for proving my point. No one on this planet other than Rockets fans would agree with Hakeem being on par with Jordan.
This wasn't about bashing Harden as much as it was about truly respecting and understanding how great Hakeem is and had to be to lead this franchise to 2 straight championships while being MVP and defensive player of the year.
Only way I would put them in the same sentence is to say "Harden is the best player the Rockets have had since Hakeem." They are not on the same level... yet. Harden can still get there, he just needs to win.
We have Jamed for 4 more years. He will win one. It sucks that James had to compete against an all time great team during this run. If he was 10 years older he wouldve destroyed kobe. I love olajuwon. James and Hakeem are our 2 greatest.
...an accurate way to describe two very different individuals who have played for the Houston Rockets.
Jordan himself put Hakeem into his all time starting 5...same with Kobe..he also put Hakeem as the center on his all time staring 5 https://sports.yahoo.com/michael-jordan-names-four-teammates-d-pick-best-220025617--nba.html?y20=1 https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-kobe-bryant-all-time-starting-five/
Harden has no chance against Kobe.. Kobe was much much more athletic, could adjust in the air when going to the rim like MJ but to a lesser extent..Harden has no adjustment if there is a defender on his path. Kobe showed up in playoffs, Harden choked in most games in playoffs.
Hakeem competed harder & preformed 10x better under pressure. Harden competes for individual awards not championships. It's 100% blasphemous
Lol another one that wasn’t around when these exact same things were said about Dream. They were gonna trade him for Ronny freaking Seikaly!
Nope. Do I think Harden has that killer mentality needed to win it all? Remains to be seen. My point is that it took Hakeem a while and had the Sonics making it tough on them before he was able to win. We also had some great role players making huge plays during those two runs. I’m willing to roll with Harden because I still do believe he can win. Just need the team around him to get it done. That said, I’m not blind, I see through the numbers. He just needs to prove what I believe he can do.
I believed he also was asked at one point which player he feared the most and he said Hakeem. That being said, what do you think he would have said if you asked him who’s the greatest player ever and is it even close?
Their not in the same strasosphere. It took Hakeem awhile but he laid it all out every year win or lose. He competed every play & never took possessions off, for the team's benefit. Harden's the opposite. A stat sheet stuffer who stops competing when the season is on the line. It's so bad it looks like point shaving
LOL. Harden is 29. When Dream was 29, the Rockets did not even make the playoffs. What would OP have said about Dream back then? Probably what a lot of folks were saying. There's a number of reasons he was almost traded and the conventional wisdom around the NBA about the holes in his game and his bad attitude was maybe the biggest reason. You can absolutely talk about Dream and Harden in the same sentence because they are the two best players this franchise has ever had. Yes, I know about Moses and saw him play several times. Harden is better. Dude ran out of gas towards the end of Game 5. So did the rest of the main players. You could see it happen and I knew then we weren't winning the series. It's still a team game and while the Rockets were robbed a lot last year and a little this year, they were not a good enough team this year. We knew it from the beginning of the season. All that's on the coaches and GM, not Harden. When Harden's peak has crested and when there is no longer a freaking all-star cheat team in place, then you can compare playoff legacies. But at least give Harden the same number of years we gave Dream.
I can't even imagine how something like the original Choke City would have been regarded had it happened in today's era.
