Shaq retiring is a sign that I am getting older. He was a symbol of my youth. I wore his shoes in elementary school, had dad rent me the movies Kazaam and Steel, had his Orlando Magic jersey, who could forget the days of he and Penny playing together. Best of luck to him.
Hakeem also played defense, something Shaq was often reluctant to do. You could attack Shaq defensively with the pick and roll. That was not the case at all with Hakeem. Dream also didn't have the glaring weakness at the free throw line that Shaq had.
One of my most memorable moments of Shaq was his first meeting against Yao. It was awesome to see the start of something special against one of the all-time greats. I believe Shaq was a huge motivation for Yao to get as good as he has become. Shaq was also one of the funniest guys ever and he always made people smile, I'm gonna miss you Diesel.
Shaq was the most physically dominant player I've ever seen play. When he was in his prime.....he was UNSTOPPABLE. NOTHING stopped him from going where he wanted to go....even old this was the case. All the strong players today (Dwight, LeBron, etc.) all went backwards when they ran into Shaq. Those that didn't see him in the early 2000's missed a treat.
I hear a lot about how Shaq doesn't play defense, and it may be true, effort wise, but it doesn't really matter in the end. The fact is that Shaq was a huge presence in the paint and that completely changed the ways teams could attack. The Lakers were always a top defense when he was in the game. It was a lot like Mark Eaton on those 80s Jazz teams-- the guy didn't even know how to play basketball (he was an auto mechanic when UCLA decided to give him a try) yet he kept winning DPOY because teams had no idea what to do with a 7'5" wall in the middle of the court. It's true that Shaq had a flawed offensive game but he could also get a super high percentage shot pretty much anytime down the court, which is something only a handful of players in NBA history have ever done. He led the league in efficiency many times. I just can't think of a better player to start a team than prime Shaq. You could surround him with four NBA journeymen and the team will still be a contender.
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If I had the choice to start a team around a prime Hakeem or prime Shaq, I really do not think that there is a wrong answer. I'll be winning/contending either way. I got nothing but respect for Shaq. The guy was physically imposing and I do not think that I have ever seen a player that physically imposing yet that skilled. But that being said, I feel that Hakeem is a better basketball player because I feel that he is just a much better all-around player (just an outstanding all-around athlete in general). The guy had amazing footwork (possibly the best), a wide array of offensive moves (he could fade away, midrange game, down low game, just the ability to bamboozle oppoents), great passer, elite defensively (always in a conversation for the greatest defensive bigmen), high IQ. Dream really had it all. There are not many players that could do the things Dream could do, let alone bigmen. As far as the prime Shaq+jouneymen would contend, that is possible (but there isn't much evidence since prime Shaq was always on a good team). Though Hakeem did win a championship on a team in which he was the only true star (how many NBA teams have there been which you can say that about? I can only think of two, '94 Rockets and '04 Pistons).
If only Shaq had Kobe/Jordan's drive, he would be the best player ever! LeBron does not even come close...
04 Pistons had no stars. 03 Spurs had only Timmy Duncan. Shaq was amazing in his prime. I would say he was more dominant than Hakeem offensively.
The '99 Spurs were pretty much centered around Duncan (they had DRob but he was pretty old at that point). Obviously there's no way to prove it, but I'm pretty sure that if you switched Shaq up for Hakeem during those title runs, the Rockets still would have won. Hakeem had a far more versatile game, but Shaq required more attention.
