Shaq gets by with his freak size and power. He's poor work ethic and is lazy on defense. He's also the worst leader in the world. He's bad mouthed his teammates when the going got tough. He's never a clutch player as well. Hakeem's not only a great talent. He worked hard to become the best player he can be. He's a great role model to everyone. Give me Hakeem any day.
Ewing was a inside power player. Due to numerous injuries on the knees and ankles, he improved his game by adding the midrange jumper because he doesnt have the lateral movement anymore. Ewing couldnt stop Shaq in the inside but Shaq couldnt stop Ewing on the outside either. Like all teams, Shaq was fouled alot in the inside because he was just too big. Ewing wasn't getting foul because he was taking alot of jumpers.
If he was the worst leader in the world, more than likely LA would not have comeback against Por in Game 7 in the 2000 playoffs. If he was the worst leader in the world, he or Kobe would have been traded in the 2000-2001 season during their midseason "spat". If he was the worst leader in the world, he would have zero rings. Just because Shaq doesn't sugarcoat anything, doesn't make him a bad leader. Leaders do what they can to win. Shaq wins. I bet you consider Chris Webber a good leader, because he rarely badmouths his own teammates, yet they haven't won jack.
Another thing about Hakeem's numbers: He never got respect from the refs. Compare Malone, Jordan, Robinson and Ewing's career free throws attempts. I believe Hakeem took 30+ shots in one game and did not get one free throw attempt. By the way, does it annoy anyone else that Shaq is rarely called for an offensive foul when he runs over the defensive player?
If you're going to turn it around and say "well what if Olajuwon in his 3rd year played Shaq in his prime?" you'd have to give Olajuwon 3 inches more than Shaq, and give him a 40+ pound advantage.. then it could truly be a real hypothetical question.
Probably about the same as a third-year Shaq fared against Hakeem in his prime. Hakeem was no slouch his first few years. He put up 20 and 10 as soon as he left Hofheinz for the Summitt. A second year Hakeem and Ralph Sampson went to the finals and almost took one of the great teams of all time the distance(6 games, right?) Seriously, you're a Rockets fan? Half of your posts are jocking Kobe, and the other half rip the Rockets.
