After the '99 first round series, someone asked Shaq about surpassing Dream, and he just said something about knowing all his moves because he'd looked up to him for so long. Can't recall him being that gracious about any other center he's played against.
I think this is a common misconception about Hakeem that he only had great years during the championship runs.. He might have averaged a point or two higher than normal but his all around game including defense and rebounding was unstoppable for the majority of the mid to late 80s. His teams (except for 86) were just sub par. Think KG in twolves days
Hakeem was simply one of the greatest players of all time. He was consistently clutch, and he was at his best against the other "great" centers. NOBODY can deny his greatness, and even MJ can't blame the Rockets for drafting The Dream ahead of him
Oh yes, he was truly ordinary in 88-89 when he averaged 25 ppg and led the NBA in rebounding. And he was barely decent in 89-90 when he averaged 24 ppg and led the NBA in both rebounding and blocks while adding over 2 steals per game. Not to mention 86-87 when he he was only able to snag 1st Team All-NBA. And he was barely holding his spot on the Rockets in his second year when he was named to the second team All-NBA in 85-86. Dream had 12 straight seasons where he averaged a double-double. Within those 12 years, he topped 2 spg 5 times and 3 bpg 9 times. He had 8 seasons where he averaged more ppg than in 96-97, which you suggest is one of his five "great" years. Don't diss the Dream... give him his due. He definitely had more than 5 great years. For someone who has "Rockets" in their name to denigrate Dream on a Rockets board is just plain sad.
I've read that Shaq most likely invented that incident to serve as motivation against David Robinson. Shaq graduated from high school before Robinson started playing in San Antonio.
i might actually pick prime shaq over hakeem. he was so beastly, you couldnt stop him. theyre about even imo
If you guys think the 1988-89 version of Hakeem was just a good as the 1994-95 version, then lay off the weed. Hakeem peaked between 93-97. 84-85 ---- good 85-86 ---- great 86-87 ---- great 87-88 ---- really good 88-89 ---- good 89-90 ---- good 90-91 ---- good 91-92 ---- good 92-93 ---- great 93-94 ---- best (mvp) 94-95 ---- best 95-96 ---- best (even MJ said so) 96-97 ---- great 97-98 ---- sharp decline, decent 98-99 ---- decent 99-00 ---- bad 00-01 ---- bad 01-02 ---- bad
What's really sad is to think that, just because I have the word Rockets in my moniker, that I apparently have no choice, according to you, but to praise every part of Dream's career on this forum, as opposed to giving my actual opinion. I'll give him 8 great seasons. 86, 87, 88, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97 He's also the best center of all time IMO.
yep....off by 3. Point being, you could see a difference in Hakeem's overall game from 93-97. Even in the 80s, he did not have the perimeter game the way he did in the mid 90s. Hakeem's best years were 93-97.
