I need to address 2 specific talking points about HAKEEM OLAJUWON...

[JohnD]

Why would you think Duncan is better than Hakeem when Duncan hasn't faced any great big men that is equal or better than him when Hakeem schooled every great big man of his era in the playoffs and Finals. Ewing, David Robinson and Shaq. All HOFer's, all considered to be Olajuwon's equal or better. And don't say Duncan has no equal becuz he's that good. We all know it's becuz there are no big men of that level in this day and age.

no one considers Ewing and robinson to be on hakeems level. That's just yall trying to prop him up. Robinson always played worse in the playoffs. sad to say, but its the truth. never could win being the man.

Garnett, Shaq, Amare, Dirk, Wallace bros(best defensive big men combo) = 3MVPs, 2finalsMVPS, 5 champions
Duncan went against all these guys in the playoffs during the championship season and had to guard all of them at one time or another.

not to mention in 2014 when a 38 year old Duncan was guarded by chandler, aldridge, ibaka, bosh and still was 2nd in points, 1st in rebounds, 1st in blocks, 3rd in assists for his team during the playoffs.

 

[JohnD]

how is that being disrespectful? you act like olajuwon was tom gugliotta or sumthin. dude was one of the goats.

which of these points are you prepared to refute?

that olajuwon...

- was better offensively?
- was better defensively, or at worst just as good?
- was just as much of a leader?
- went toe to toe with (and beat) a higher caliber of big men throughout his career?


also keep in mind that duncan walked onto a team that already had david robinson on it, and the team they beat in the finals didn't even have their best player for the series.

olajuwon made it to the finals his 2nd year (when paired with sampson) but lost to the celtics, one of the best teams of all time.

Robinson and Sampsons stats are damn near identical for Duncan and Dreams first few years. It wasn't mvp robinson walking through that door, his back was already bothering him. Pop knew this so he gave the reigns to Duncan first day of training camp in his rookie year.

 

[AlbertPullhoez]

Why would you think Duncan is better than Hakeem when Duncan hasn't faced any great big men that is equal or better than him when Hakeem schooled every great big man of his era in the playoffs and Finals. Ewing, David Robinson and Shaq. All HOFer's, all considered to be Olajuwon's equal or better. And don't say Duncan has no equal becuz he's that good. We all know it's becuz there are no big men of that level in this day and age.

fukk outta here with that. There were/are plenty of great bigs in Duncan's era, it just switched to the PF spot rather than center

Duncan faced Shaq, KG, Dirk and CWebb alone in his conference for a decade plus. That's 4 hall of famers right there


Not including going head up with dudes like Sheed, Ben Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal and Amare who were superstar/All-Star caliber

And in the present day he dealing with guys like Blake, Cousins, Unibrow, Marc Gasol, Lamarcus Aldridge, Z-Bo, etc and STILL making All-NBA teams at 39

 

[Tha_Mac]

no one considers Ewing and robinson to be on hakeems level. That's just yall trying to prop him up. Robinson always played worse in the playoffs. sad to say, but its the truth. never could win being the man.

Garnett, Shaq, Amare, Dirk, Wallace bros(best defensive big men combo) = 3MVPs, 2finalsMVPS, 5 champions
Duncan went against all these guys in the playoffs during the championship season and had to guard all of them at one time or another.

not to mention in 2014 when a 38 year old Duncan was guarded by chandler, aldridge, ibaka, bosh and still was 2nd in points, 1st in rebounds, 1st in blocks, 3rd in assists for his team during the playoffs.

Olajuwon guarded Shaq, Ewing and Robinson at all times bro minus foul trouble.

 

[GoonbergScandal]

• "In his prime, hakeem...."
  
  lets talk about Hakeem's prime. I'll call his prime 87-97. That should HELP him because it negates his biggest fall off seasons and his earliest as he honed his game. This man:
  • Was not elected to the all star game in 91 to kevin duckworth
    
  • Lost in the 1st round 4 years in a row [i'll discuss the health of those teams shortly]
  • was basically .500 until he got don cheney fired, and...
  • missed the playoffs in 92 [the afformentioned blazers with duckworth went to the finals btw]
    
  • won 1 mvp
  • was a perennial defensive 1st teamer and 2x DPOY [definitely deserved]
    
    these are not world beater accolades. these are not wilt chaimberlain, shaq, baylor status achievements.
• Hakeem had no help
  
  sounds good. But lets look at his actual team.
  • The 91 rockets had 3 players that averaged 17ppg [maxwell, thorpe, kenny smith, hakeem] AND a 6th man who averaged 12. And they all were subservient to hakeem's game. They get swept in the 1st rd.
  • 93 rockets have the same team virtually and add horry, lose to seattle who would lose to phoenix
  • the 94 rockets have the same crew, and are still taken to 7 games twice including in the finals to the knicks....the knicks.
  • 95 rockets, a borderline .500 team until they get glide. In the playoffs they go 5, 7, 6 games before facing the 'in over their head' magic. Nobody remembers that, and just waxes poetic about the dream shake.
  • The 96-97 rockets had 3 hall of famers; 33, 33, and 34 years old respectively [this is the same age bracket as the 08-10 celtics, btw]. Barkley averaged 19-13-4 that year. Clyde averaged 18-6-4. Dream 23-9-2blk. Taken to the distance by seattle, and got that work by a jazz team with way less depth, led by a malone and stockton just as old. So, don't talk to me about him being some martyr. He had support.

I fully expect to get gifs and YT videos of hakeem shakin fools; and understandably, he was a phenomenal talent on both ends, but this love affair with hakeem as a top 5 player all time is just ridiculous. He is outstanding but barkley, malone, the sonics, the spurs, used to not just give him a challenge, they beat him...then they'd go and get worked by eastern conference champs...

Lmao you're acting like them 90s Knicks teams were garbage. Pat Ewing, Charles Oakley, Charles Smith, John Starks and Derek Harper were all quality players, and everyone in the media thought the Knicks were winning the championship that year. Knicks were the clear favorites to win it all in 1994.

 

[prophecypro]

I mean I think in that respect Gizz, Hakeem is still properly rated.
Nowadays he tends to be in the lower top 10 and some people lately have left him as Kobe and Lebron have entered the top 10 convos

I think what's really happening is people are saying "Yeah but dont forget about him" cause he was in top 10 convos a decade back and not so much. As you mentioned though a lot of his career can be judged more harshly. I suppose you could see he was playing in a more tougher era especially for centers but then again who's to say this era or ones after werent more tougher.

Really it comes down to if people he's better than Shaq and if Shaq is in people's top ten.

 

[prophecypro]

That 95 Playoff run deserves credit, not sure why its viewed as an Asterix or some shyt.

 

[Liquid]

Theyre not bums, theyre solid role players. He didnt have a legit sidekick like all the other superstar players who were making noise in the playoffs

Malone had stockton
barkley had kj
kemp had payton
Hakeem had kenny smith

You cant name a player in the past 20 years who won a title with less help than hakeem had

The quotes from karl and majerle were typical white man trickery

That's why the 1995 Finals was even more impressive to me over the 1994 finals run.

In 1994 the knicks and rockets were basically the same team, two teams full of role players surrounded by a HOF C. The difference in that series was that Hakeem DESTROYED Ewing, I don't think Ewing shot 40% in that series. If it wasn't for John Starks, Anthony Mason, and Derek Harper stepping up the knicks would have lost that series in 5.

In 1995 I am not buying the youth on Orlando as a weakness...they were clearly the superior team and in no way should have been swept. Losing game 1 was the reason the Magic lost that series IMO, if they won Game 1 I think the Magic would have won that series. Hakeem deserves so much credit in beating a young Shaq and future GOAT Penny

 

[Liquid]

I'll bring up an interesting fact that people will probably look at it like

The Knicks in that 1994 finals scored more points, blocked more shots, got more rebounds, got more assists, shot better from 3 point range, and got more steals over the 7 games and still lost the series and that was because of Hakeem.

 

[Piff Huxtable]

Timmy got thrown in the bushes by Amy and got himself another non-black woman.

fixed