Never, EVER, have I seen a player's career receive as much revisionism as much as Akeem. Stat-padder galore, ball-hog supreme diva that cries in the Olympics or in-games when he doesn't get his touches, his numbers. Got EXTREMELY lucky to even have any titles due to Jordan's suspension. Olajuwon's team failures before and after his short little reign on top, were NEVER his fault, yet he gets ALL the credit for his team winning those two championships. Before these titles, he was pretty much another Kevin Garnett, going about .500 every other year besides. Yet now we have people claiming:
He's a Top 10 player all-time
His peak is the GOAT of 5's
He's better than Kobe
He destroyed Shaq in the '95 Finals, and would've gotten at least one ring from Chicago
ONE MVP (in a season in which MJ did not play...oh, and not coincidently, Hakeem eked out a ring.),
ONE second place finish in the MVP balloting.
TWO other Top-FOUR's.
So, FOUR Top-4's in the MVP balloting, in his 18 seasons.
Oh, and BTW, NINE FIRST ROUND playoff exits, and he was getting ROUTED nearly every time
How about Hakeem in his THREE Finals? He was NEVER the leading shooter in ANY of them. Hakeem was not only outrebounded by his OPPOSING CENTER in TWO of them, he was outrebounded by a TEAMMATE in one, and was only the THIRD best rebounder in one series, and the FOURTH best rebounder in the other.. Hell, he wasn't even the leading shooter on his own team in ANY of them. He was only the FIFTH best shooter in his '86 Finals (and SIXTH if you include Walton and his .621 off the bench), at .479. He had a TEAMMATE who shot .588 (McCray.)
How about '94? He shot a Finals' high, for him, .500, and finished behind his TEAMMATE, Otis Thorpe (and BTW, Thorpe shot .572 in the entire post-season.), only shot well in the losses, and likely go on to lose that series if it wasn't for that three by Cassell.
How about that Shaq Finals? Interesting. Shaq not only outshot Hakeem by an unfathomable .595 to .483 margin whose teammates badly outplayed Shaq's teammates in the '95 Finals, havin' one guy average 17 ppg and 10 rpg in that Finals, another who was at 21.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg, and yet another teammate who averaged 16.3 ppg, on get this... .629 shooting? And whose teammates outshot Shaq's by HUGE margins from the field and the arc...and then outscored them by 50 points from the line.
Meanwhile, Hakeem only battled a starting HOF center in 35 of his 145 playoff games, including a 39 year old Kareem in six, the same Kareem who, in TEN STRAIGHT GAMES...AVERAGED 33 ppg on .630 shooting? Who had THREE games of 40+? And in his 46 point game, it came in only 37 minutes, and on 21-30 shooting?
Look, I respect Olajuwon and his game, and his accomplishments, but this incessant dikkriding of him's gotta stop. He's not even a top 5 center all-time, and he's barely even a top-20 player all-time, IF that. The same way some nikkas feel it's stupid and redundant tryna compare Iverson and Wade, or LeBron/Kobe to Jordan, it's the same thing with Hakeem, comparing and even putting him NEAR Duncan and/or Shaq, letting alone ranking him over either of them. I mean, this is the same guy that was tied with KENNY fukkIN' SMITH in MVP voting one year
He's a Top 10 player all-time
His peak is the GOAT of 5's
He's better than Kobe
He destroyed Shaq in the '95 Finals, and would've gotten at least one ring from Chicago
ONE MVP (in a season in which MJ did not play...oh, and not coincidently, Hakeem eked out a ring.),
ONE second place finish in the MVP balloting.
TWO other Top-FOUR's.
So, FOUR Top-4's in the MVP balloting, in his 18 seasons.
Oh, and BTW, NINE FIRST ROUND playoff exits, and he was getting ROUTED nearly every time
How about Hakeem in his THREE Finals? He was NEVER the leading shooter in ANY of them. Hakeem was not only outrebounded by his OPPOSING CENTER in TWO of them, he was outrebounded by a TEAMMATE in one, and was only the THIRD best rebounder in one series, and the FOURTH best rebounder in the other.. Hell, he wasn't even the leading shooter on his own team in ANY of them. He was only the FIFTH best shooter in his '86 Finals (and SIXTH if you include Walton and his .621 off the bench), at .479. He had a TEAMMATE who shot .588 (McCray.)
How about '94? He shot a Finals' high, for him, .500, and finished behind his TEAMMATE, Otis Thorpe (and BTW, Thorpe shot .572 in the entire post-season.), only shot well in the losses, and likely go on to lose that series if it wasn't for that three by Cassell.
How about that Shaq Finals? Interesting. Shaq not only outshot Hakeem by an unfathomable .595 to .483 margin whose teammates badly outplayed Shaq's teammates in the '95 Finals, havin' one guy average 17 ppg and 10 rpg in that Finals, another who was at 21.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg, and yet another teammate who averaged 16.3 ppg, on get this... .629 shooting? And whose teammates outshot Shaq's by HUGE margins from the field and the arc...and then outscored them by 50 points from the line.
Meanwhile, Hakeem only battled a starting HOF center in 35 of his 145 playoff games, including a 39 year old Kareem in six, the same Kareem who, in TEN STRAIGHT GAMES...AVERAGED 33 ppg on .630 shooting? Who had THREE games of 40+? And in his 46 point game, it came in only 37 minutes, and on 21-30 shooting?
Look, I respect Olajuwon and his game, and his accomplishments, but this incessant dikkriding of him's gotta stop. He's not even a top 5 center all-time, and he's barely even a top-20 player all-time, IF that. The same way some nikkas feel it's stupid and redundant tryna compare Iverson and Wade, or LeBron/Kobe to Jordan, it's the same thing with Hakeem, comparing and even putting him NEAR Duncan and/or Shaq, letting alone ranking him over either of them. I mean, this is the same guy that was tied with KENNY fukkIN' SMITH in MVP voting one year
after first 3 responses TS may be onto something
