I was reading this article about Isiah Thomas making the Hall of Fame from ESPN.com and was quite surprised by some of the things I read. http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/may/815661.html I will be the first to agree that Isiah was one of my favorite players to watch growing up. There was nothing this guy couldn't do. I'll never forget him almost winning a championship by himself with just one leg. But when I read the following quote, I was more than a little shocked. "But that same zeal and fervor also came to work against him and made him as controversial as he was competitive. How else to explain why he was inexcusably absent from Dream Team I, a snub that was so obviously personal as to be laughable? On talent alone, he merited a spot right next to Michael Jordan in the starting backcourt. But politics won out and he had to watch players such as Chris Mullin, Christian Laettner and Clyde Drexler collect gold in Barcelona." Yeah, Isiah should have been on Dream Team I. No questions about it. But if I was to single out who I shouldn't have made the team over him, I would choose Laettner and Mullin. Sure I might be showing a little, ok a lot of, bias to Clyde, but at least he is one of the 50 Greatest NBA players of all time. I don't know where the writer gets off at taking a swipe at Clyde like that. I know that there were politics involved with the selection (like having to have a college kid on the team) and I know that Isiah ruffeled a few feathers when he froze MJ out of the All-Star game at Magic's request. But the fact remains I don't think that anyone should be upset or mad that Clyde the Glide made Dream Team I and Zeke didn't. I guess it's just another case of one of our own not getting his due again. ------------------
It was between Shaq and Laettner that year, as to who they would select to take to Barcelona. I didn't care much for Laettner in college, and he had a hell of a good team around him. LSU had nothing to help Shaq out. Don't get me wrong here, I am a Shaq hater, but I don't think they should have sent a college player at all. ------------------ There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
So does that make Laetner a better college player than SHAQ because he won in college? Does that mean L8 was a better player in college than Hakeem since he didn't win anything until the NBA? IMHO, I believe Shaq was a better player then and he dang sure is now. What has old Laetner done in the big league with the big boys? Not too much. Also I am not a SHAQ follower or anything either, I just believe that SHAQ deserved to be on that Dream Team. ------------------ Rockets Season Ticket Holder
The writer of the article is WAY out of line. Clyde is one of the 50 greatest players of all time, and deservengly so, not like that biatch Pippen. I still remember fondly how great a duel it was the finals between the Bulls and the Blazers. No one could play one on one with Jordan as well as Drexler did then. I love Drexler as a person, and as a player. A role model and a nice guy overall. He sure as hell deserved to be on that dream team. And no, say what you will, but until last year, all that Shaq was is a BIG TIME disappointment. He never cared about the defensive end of his game until last season. he never showed the desire, and was a lazy bum. It sure was fun seeing HAkkem schooling him in the finals. That being said, Laetnner shouldn´t have been there at all. ------------------ By moonlight, we RIDE ten THOUSAND side by side...!
Like it really mattered whether L8 or Shaq was on the team. Actually as I remember, L8 played pretty well during that summer. Too bad he was a big bust in the NBA. He got alot of hype at the time. I'm not sure Zeke deserved to be on that team. The Pistons had disintegrated by 1992-93. Tim Hardaway may have been the better PG by then. And Mullin was the bomb back in the day. He scored seemingly at will. I suppose you could argue that Isiah should have taken Stockton's spot - I certainly wouldn't argue with you (except that maybe we already had too many scorers). ------------------
Shaq had Stanley Roberts and Chris Jackson on that LSU team. The talent was there, the knowledge of how to win was not. cato13, we are talking about what laettner and Shaq did in college, not the NBA. Laettner did everything from scoring to passing to playing defense. Shaq could dunk, woopee. To answer your question, Laettner was a way better college player than Shaq was, by a long ways I might add. ------------------ In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things: 1. Don't tell everything you know.
Didn't Christian outscore Shaq in a head-to-head match up that year? I seem to remember an LSU-Duke matchup in which Shaq got outplayed ... but my memory could be foggy ... ------------------
*, the difference between that tiger team and that blue devil team was "K" vs. "F". That's K as in Coach K and "F" as in the job Dale Brown did with that team. it's unbelievable how poorly he coached that team. i have yet to understand why he insisted on starting roberts over shaq. that twin tower combo, along with one of the gr8est college guards ever (jackson), in college would have been unstoppable. ------------------ Essentially the top two players to come out of college the last couple of years are Duncan, Carter, and Francis. - vince
LSU and Duke did indeed play... Shaq ate Laettner's lunch that day... I think he had like 35 or so... But Duke won by like 10 or so thanks to having Grant Hill and Boby Hurley as cohorts... Stanley Roberts and Chris Jackson were there when he was a freshman... I don't recall Laetner doing too much his freshman year... Laettner was the 3rd best player in college that year behind Shaq and Alonzo Mourning... There is no comparison between who was better in terms of Shaq and Laet... Laet had the benefit of playing on a better team... With this logic, I guess Will Perdue is much much better than Karl Malone when you look at the rings... ------------------
Why did Magic want Zeke to freeze out Jordan ? Did he want the spotlight to himself ? I think that is ridiculous and says what kind of people some NBA players are. ------------------ "It's not a matter of if we will win the NL central, it's by how many games." Barry Larkin
First thing I've agreed with all day. Karl Malone is a flopping, dirty, redneck, no-good sunnova gun who will retire without a ring. I'd much rather have Will Perdue on my team. ------------------
I think i heard that magic wanted to freeze out Jordan because of nothing more than petty jealousy. You have to remember that back in the 80's the NBA was still to a large extent the Magic-Larry show. And i'm sure he was a little threatned by this flashy new guy or something. ------------------
Desi, I guess he had reason to feel threatened. I'm not a big Jordan fan, and I never was a huge Magic or Zeke fan. This explains why. BTW, I remember Magic and Zeke always kissing each other on the cheek before each game of the finals, did they ever do that in a regular game ? Or was that just for the cameras ? ------------------ "It's not a matter of if we will win the NL central, it's by how many games." Barry Larkin
my opinion that dream team should have had hakeem, glyde, take away pip and slide in zeke...jordan and a few others....what's the dream team without "the dream" anyways.... ------------------ "Wahooo"-homer
Mullin deserved to be on that team. That was some of his best basketball. Taking a college athlete that year was silly. Especially since they chose Laettner over others like namely Shaq. I don't know, I think Isiah deserved to be on that team too. But I will back the decision to put Mullin on that team also. ------------------ There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Laettner was a MUCH better college player than Shaq was. Shaq never won ANYTHING until last year!!! How do you explain that? ------------------ In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things: 1. Don't tell everything you know.
first of all i have never been a fan of either of those players(shaq and laetner), however why the bashing. first everyone thought that laetner was the chosen one, and he may well have been, BUT, you all forget that he almost died in a car crash after his last year of school. also remember back in the day who's name came to everyones mind when you mentioned collage basketball. it was those crazy dukies. shaq only got a little press on sports center. they were that suprise, come out of nowhere team, with a highlight real that was more often the fodder for jokes. he was a giant, and had like no skills. all raw athletic ability. now looking back, of cource shaq is the man, but none of you guys knew who he was untill he started breaking back boards on espn every night. his rookie year is what got shaqs name out there. ok nuff of that. the reason i assume he mentioned drexler is because he is a guard, and those other guys were not guards, so he figures it would be best to mention the "worst" guard on the team and i might add that the "worst" guard among the top 5 in history is pretty damn good. *PEACE ------------------
Mullin was very deserving. He was top 3 in the league at about that time. And I'm talking about overall game. Including Steals Blocks, and Rebounds. Clyde was at his best that year. He was averaging like 24 ppg and had just come off a 27 ppg season. he was playing at a very high level. He should have been part of the first 10. Not the additional 2. He was in the Top 5 or 6 players easy. ------------------ humble, but hungry.
