OT: Hakkem Olajuwan at Age 52 Vine
- Thread starter Smashcat
- Start date
Hakeem, in his prime years, was a bad ass. I still remember the utter domination he had on David Robinson the year he felt slighted when Robinson was given the MVP. Hakeem embarrassed him.
Best footwork of any big man in history and the secret to his success , of course he could shoot but the separation he could create via footwork was his primary weapon . Combine that with his effective shot fake for the total package , how many times did defenders fall for a Dream fake ? My favorite center to watch , he made the game look pretty .
I agree he was my favorite to watch as well. Another thing that made Hakeem so special was his unmatched stamina. He could virtually run non stop all night. His early years as a soccer player really enhanced his stamina and footwork. He truly was a sight to watch in his hey day.
Michael Jordan's foot work as a guard was always outstanding i thought. Olajuwan's low post spin moves were so dang impressive and devastating.
Talking about footwork, Kevin McHale had unreal footwork. Nobody could guard him one on one on the low block. He had so many moves, drop steps, up and unders, jump hooks you name it. He wasn't the player Hakeem was, but any low post player would be well served to study his post moves.
Hakeem in his prime should be in the discussion of best center of all-time.
Playing soccer for so many years really was a boon for his basketball career. Another reason why kids shouldn't be forced into single-sport specialization.
You sure that wasn't Joel Embiid? lol
I get a good chuckle when I hear people compare him to The Dream. Hakeem at 52 would eat his ass up on the court.
I get a good chuckle when I hear people compare him to The Dream. Hakeem at 52 would eat his ass up on the court.
I watched the replay this afternoon. Hakeem's agility and foot work were still amazing. It brought back so many memories of him spinning, faking and shaking his way to so many baskets. He struggled a bit end to end but in the half court he could play some situational or mop up minutes lol.
It was also nice to see Mutombo block a shot and alter a couple others.
It was also nice to see Mutombo block a shot and alter a couple others.
Hakeem dominated Shaq and Ewing when they played him in the NBA finals. The guy was a stud. It was a shame he never won a title in college with those very good Houston teams...but was really awesome that he got to play pro ball in Houston and win back to back titles there, including one with imported Clyde Drexler from Portland.
I echo what others have said about him being my favorite center to watch of all time, and I also think the most underrated of the all time great centers.
Dude was absolutely dominant on BOTH sides of the ball, he was an incredible defensive player (the NBA's all time shotblock leader and had more steals than any other big man in history) AND an incredible offensive player with better footwork than just about any other big in history other than perhaps Kevin McHale. The most all around skilled center I've ever seen.
Dude was absolutely dominant on BOTH sides of the ball, he was an incredible defensive player (the NBA's all time shotblock leader and had more steals than any other big man in history) AND an incredible offensive player with better footwork than just about any other big in history other than perhaps Kevin McHale. The most all around skilled center I've ever seen.
A good portion of Rafter's finest put him behind David Robinson. If thats not a sign that you are stupid about basketball then idk what is.
If that's true, then it's a testament to how sadly stupid a good portion of our posters are. The Admiral did not measure up to the Dream as an overall player.
FWIW, perhaps my favorite Hakeem stat is one that rarely gets mentioned: his steals numbers. Now normally you think of the all time great ball thiefs being lightning quick guards/wings, and that's basically true except for one glaring exception. Here's the NBA top 10 all time steal list:
1. John Stockton* 3265
2. Jason Kidd 2684
3. Michael Jordan* 2514
4. Gary Payton* 2445
5. Maurice Cheeks 2310
6. Scottie Pippen* 2307
7. Julius Erving* 2272
8. Clyde Drexler* 2207
9. Hakeem Olajuwon* 2162
10. Alvin Robertson 2112
Gee, one of these things is not like the others ...one big center squeezed in amongst all those lightning quick little guys. To get that many steals from the center position is just astonishing.
And consider that on top of that he's also the No. 1 all time shotblocker in the sport's history, perhaps the most skilled low post scoring center in the game's history, one of the greatest post defenders in the game's history, led the league in rebounding a few years, and I think It's more than fair to rank him as the single most skilled center in the game's history.
Last edited:
I watched the majority of both Robinson's and Hakeem's career. IMHO Hakeem was the more dominant and better all around player. He had the agility of an elite guard and insane foot speed/coordination for a big man. He also had baby soft hands and was explosive block to block/end to end.
Dont get me wrong, I loved to watch David Robinson play. Even with his accomplishments, bulky stats and squeaky clean image he still falls well short of Hakeem in the skill department.
Dont get me wrong, I loved to watch David Robinson play. Even with his accomplishments, bulky stats and squeaky clean image he still falls well short of Hakeem in the skill department.
They're actually almost identical in per game averages with Hakeem edging him out. Robinson beats him out in the advanced stats department. Hakeem did win 2 titles as the best player and have a longer career though which counts for a ton.
Hakeem: 21.8 points per game, 11.1 rebounds per game, 3.1 blocks per game, 1.7 steals per game. .513 efg%, 108 offensive rating, 98 defensive rating, 27.1 usage%, 23.6 PER, 5.4 block%, 2.4 steal%, 162.8 win shares, 4.9 box plus minus,77.1 value over replacement, 1 MVP, 2 NBA titles(best player on both), 17th all time MVP award shares.
Robinson: 21.1 points per game, 10.6 rebounds per game, 3 blocks per game, 1.4 steals per game .519 efg% 116 offensive rating, 96 defensive rating(4th all time), 26.2 usage %, 26.2 PER, 5.7 block %, 2.1 steal %, 178.7 win shares, 7.4 box plus minus, 80.9 value over replacement , 1 MVP, 2 NBA titles, 12th all time MVP award shares(surprised me he was higher here).
This series told me all I needed to know about the Hakeem vs. Robinson question. Mind you this was Robinson at his absolute apex (his MVP season), and with a supporting cast that had given the Spurs the best record in the league, yet he got utterly destroyed and humiliated by Hakeem in that series.
That was another thing about Hakeem was the way he seemed to relish matchups against the other top centers. Whenever he had a series against someone like Robinson, Ewing or Shaq he stepped up in a way that left no doubt at the end of the series as to who was the better center.
That was another thing about Hakeem was the way he seemed to relish matchups against the other top centers. Whenever he had a series against someone like Robinson, Ewing or Shaq he stepped up in a way that left no doubt at the end of the series as to who was the better center.
Last edited:
His footwork was second to none. A very unique center for sure. A lot of big men will work with him on their post games during the summer. Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler, Javale McGee are notable ones. Per Grantland he charges 15k a week up to 100k a month for his services.
Yea AD is already what a top 3-4 player? He's still learning too, which is scary. NBA can't get here soon enough. Really excited to see if he and Gentry can get the Pelicans one of the 7/8 seeds this year.
Javale McGee needs to work with jesus as The Dream is not a miracle worker
Thanks for posting the advanced numbers I was a bit surprised that Robinson's PER was higher than Hakeem's.
The statistics are clearly close. But from what I saw of both (a lot lol) Hakeem was the superior player in the skill dept.
The statistics are clearly close. But from what I saw of both (a lot lol) Hakeem was the superior player in the skill dept.
Similar threads
