think the shaq/hakeem thing would have been a success?

definitely

 

I recall Dream having an injury at the time. I think it would have been interesting and it's possible that other players might have gone up against each other as well later.

 

why did hakeem back out

 

I'm pretty sure Hakeem backed out because of his Back

 

I didn't get that feeling. I thought that Hakeem really didn't want to do it in the first place. Too much hype, glitz and glamor. The NBA was looking for hype at the time; no Jordan. So they thought up a one-on-one (?) matchup with the two best centers.

Sure, Hakeem had nagging injuries.

But I think the reason for the cancellation (mostly) was his humbleness and shyness of the spotlight that caused him to back out.

He just didn't want to do it.

 

I agree, he wimped out.

 

Dude, that thing was a farce. You had some company like Pizza Hut putting this thing together, and this was not an NBA-sanctioned event.

So, you would have had one of two situations if they held the event:

1) This would have been a joke of a scrimmage with Shaq and Hakeem popping a bunch of fifteen-foot jumpers

or

2) You would have had these guys risking a serious injury, which would in turn cause them to forfeit their contracts since this was not NBA-sanctioned. Subsequent to the event, Hakeem would continue to earn over $60 million, and Shaq would pull down 9 figures. There is no sense in risking that sort of cash to shill for crappy pizza or whatever it was.

Corby

 

The 15 foot jumper thing was what worried me.

Shaq could not hit 15 foot jumpers. So, although Hakeem maybe didn't want to embarrass himself, Shaq might have been the one that it happened to.

Else, Shaq just bowl his way in and cause foul after foul.

The whole thing was hype, rather than about basketball. I mean, one-on-one with centers? Please...it would have been fun to watch for the first 5 minutes. But after that. Boring!

So the "risk" factor was more about a fear created from their respective agents. Not of any real threat of injury. More of a a "what if" than anything.

I mean there's more risk of injury in a single pre-season game than a one-on-one match up. So, the "risk" factor was more fear pushed by agents.

Nevertheless, it would have been a boring match-up. It would have turned into a defensive match-up, rather than display of offensive skills. With Hakeem edging out Shaq because he actually could hit the 15 footer.