Would Hakeem Olajuwon be the best player in the league today?

[Shorty K]

Ralph Sampson is in the hall of fame due to his college career he only had about 3 productive nba seasons and even then he didn’t come close to what he was projected to be, stop with the jive

Sure bro.

 

[nieman]

no lol. because of rule changes and play style, big men who aren't perimeter scorers can't be the best players in the league. he would need a point guard to help set him up. he'd be in the 3-5 range though

and which hakeem are we talking about? the title years or the middle years(most of his career) when he was getting knocked out of the playoffs? A lot of people forget dude was immature as hell and a head case

Dream was a perimeter scorer. He could pretty much score from anywhere on the court. And he could play defense from anywhere on the court. He was getting knocked out of the playoffs, because they had trouble with Sonics. But they could easily handle the Suns, which most modern teams play like.

 

[SlurRty]

Or has the game evolved too much?

HALF THESE BIG MEN SHOOT 3'S.. YOU THINK HAKEEM STAYING WITH BOYS AT THE 3 POINT LINE? THINGS HAVE CHANGED TOO MUCH.. HED BE AN ABOVE AVERAGE PLAYER I THINK

 

[nieman]

HALF THESE BIG MEN SHOOT 3'S.. YOU THINK HAKEEM STAYING WITH BOYS AT THE 3 POINT LINE? THINGS HAVE CHANGED TOO MUCH.. HED BE AN ABOVE AVERAGE PLAYER I THINK

Perhaps you have Dream confused with Mutumbo. Hakeem could defend out on the perimeter. He would step out and guard the PG/SG and still recover back to his man. Hell, he defended 2 of the greatest jump shooting C's in Ewing & Admiral.

 

[NoHalfWay]

Hakeem played with Ralph Sampson too. They played with the same amount of HoFs throughout their career.

Now can you tell the people at home what Hakeem did in the 1993-1994 season and how many Hall of Famers did he play with that year?

 

[Shorty K]

Now can you tell the people at home what Hakeem did in the 1993-1994 season and how many Hall of Famers did he play with that year?

1 less than Curry played with in 2015, except he didn't do it when LeBron retired to play baseball. Curry actually went through his generations GOAT.

 

[NoHalfWay]

1 less than Curry played with in 2015, except he didn't do it when LeBron retired to play baseball. Curry actually went through his generations GOAT.

Exactly, none.

And there’s only 1 GOAT and it ain’t LeBron. Hakeem faced superior teams and players in the 80’s and 90’s, that undermanned Cavs squad wasn’t shyt

 

[ISO]

Hakeem had shooters when he won the chip (they was first in three point makes in '94 and '95), it ain't always about HoF's or big names next to you he did have Clyde Drexler in '95

It's not like D-Rob or Ewing had multiple All-Stars and HoF'ers when he faced them. @TrebleMan made a post the other day about D-Rob's lack of shooters and supporting cast against Hakeem.

Rockets had spacing they could just play inside out through the post. Hakeem gets double teamed kick it out to shooters, he would anchor them on both ends.

Them role players (Cassell, Elie, Horry, Smith) were clutch as hell it was called Clutch City for a reason, a lot of guys weren't fortunate to have teammates step up in games or hit shots like this...

 

[Shorty K]

Exactly, none.

And there’s only 1 GOAT and it ain’t LeBron. Hakeem faced superior teams and players in the 80’s and 90’s, that undermanned Cavs squad wasn’t shyt

The Western Conference nowadays is way better than the West was in the 80's and 90's

 

[NoHalfWay]

Hakeem had a great cast of role players who spaced the floor for him, but he was able to bring them home. Kinda similar to the ‘09 Magic. Even after they acquired Drexler in the ‘95 trade deadline they struggled, and were underdogs

Those Spurs, Utah Jazz teams the Rockets went up against won 60+ games nobody saw them getting smoked like they did

 

[SlurRty]

Perhaps you have Dream confused with Mutumbo. Hakeem could defend out on the perimeter. He would step out and guard the PG/SG and still recover back to his man. Hell, he defended 2 of the greatest jump shooting C's in Ewing & Admiral.

the thing is he can't guard today's guards.. athletes are way more athletic now than they were back then.. it's facts.. steph curry would make him look stupid.. so would a russell westbrook.. imagine the dream guarding dame. come on .

 

[Jplaya2023]

The Western Conference nowadays is way better than the West was in the 80's and 90's

the 80s yes as a whole, but not the 90s. go back to youtube or talk to one of your OGs

 

[NoHalfWay]

The Western Conference nowadays is way better than the West was in the 80's and 90's

Maybe in the 80’s. By the early to mid 90’s the West was tough as shyt and would mop the floor with all of the recent Western Conference except for GSW, maybe last years Rockets team, and a healthy Spurs squad from a couple years back with Kawhi

All I know is the Showtime Lakers dynasty of the 80’s was a team Hakeem was able to get past despite being an underdog

 

[Lord Beasley]

unless he started shooting threes, no. its a different game

 

[Shorty K]

Maybe in the 80’s. By the early to mid 90’s the West was tough as shyt and would mop the floor with all of the recent Western Conference except for GSW, maybe last years Rockets team, and a healthy Spurs squad from a couple years back with Kawhi

All I know is the Showtime Lakers dynasty of the 80’s was a team Hakeem was able to get past despite being an underdog

Nah that's nostalgia. The talent spread was very even during the 90s and both conferences were very well balanced while it was heavily tilted to the West during the 10s until this year. The Western Conference Curry had to go through was a damn bloodbath bro