The 5 Greatest Centers in History

[mehyaM24]

about hakeem. we know he won TWO rings after turning 31 (one of which was against shaq and the other against patrick ****ing ewing). would you guys consider that his peak?

its kinda weird seeing somebody play at his best...in his 30s

[Hands of Iron]

about hakeem. we know he won TWO rings after turning 31 (one of which was against shaq and the other against patrick ****ing ewing). would you guys consider that his peak?

its kinda weird seeing somebody play at his best...in his 30s

Don't forget he absolutely ruined David Robinson in the WCF who was the MVP that season in addition to All-D 1st Team and a former DPOY himself. It was one of the greatest playoff series in NBA history.

To address the other part of your post, a big reason for that was due to Don Chaney failing to properly utilize the immense individual talent he had in Olajuwon in favor of offensive balance even if Houston didn't have the pieces to run it effectively. Way too many outside shots from their perimeter players and too many possessions on the offensive end not involving Hakeem. Rudy Tomjonavich changed this Immediately upon taking over, ran the offense through Olajuwon and allowed him to carry them and let his skills flourish. For his part, Olajuwon rededicated himself as a leader, teammate and player coming out reinvigorated in 1992-93 after a tumultuous season the previous year in which he was injured and fought publicly with the Rockets front office; he made marked improvements in his passing as well and Houston was finally putting effective shooters around him that he could pass out of doubles to.

[Demitri98]

Kareem
Russell
Wilt
Shaq
Hakeem

in that order.

[COLOR="White"]Duncan is still a PF on all time lists tho[/COLOR]

[stalkerforlife]

1. Kareem
2. Shaq
3. Hakeem
4. Walton
5. Malone

[GimmeThat]

1. kareem- insane prime, goat longevity, most unstoppable shot in nba history
2. russell- greatest winner, defender and genius in team sports
3. shaq- most dominant player ever, arguably the best peak in league history
4. wilt- greatest regular season player ever
5. duncan- unselfish, maybe the greatest system player ever

who are your top 5?

considering both ends of the court as well as career

Kareem/Russell
Duncan
Shaq
Wilt/Hakeem


Russell retired after about 11-12 seasons, so Kareem definitely gets the nod here. I don't know Russell's style of play would have permitted him to average rebounds in the 20s once more and more younger players entered into the league. However, Kareem on the offensive end was something that could always do your team some good.

Duncan gets the nod over Shaq because without ever having another shot blocker much in his career, he's been effective in stopping forwards from their dribble penetration. Not so much guards who's had the agility to dribble pull up and shoot. i.e. why I think Kobe has been more effective against him, than the likes of Durant/Lebron.

I think Shaq got discounted here because he sort of switched teams quite too often later on in his career. While later on in his stint with the Lakers, teams "may" have figured out an effective way to stop him. (i.e. they 3 peated, then had another 2 years which they didn't win) But I think that by switching teams, he never really gave teams much of an opportunity to help build the front court around him to counter what the league is doing in terms of stopping him. I wouldn't count getting Zo out of retirement as "building" around him nessecarily, since Zo is a great player in his own right. But when you think of a big who's been more effective without having another elite big for their career. It's hard not to let Duncan's 5 rings trump Shaq.



my list will probably get scrutinized for placing too much emphasis on winning the last game of the season.

[Ass Dan]

2 of the top 5 in one pic

Big C*nt Tree

[dubeta]

Centers are the most stacked position, 5 of the top 10 all time are Centers.

Heck when you look at the top 10, its 5 Centers, 1 PF, 2 SF, 1 SG, 1 PG

Really shows that size wins championships above everything

Fun fact, Jordan is the shortest player in the top 10 at 6'6

[GimmeThat]

Centers are the most stacked position, 5 of the top 10 all time are Centers.

Heck when you look at the top 10, its 5 Centers, 1 PF, 2 SF, 1 SG, 1 PG

Really shows that size wins championships above everything

Fun fact, Jordan is the shortest player in the top 10 at 6'6

and people say I overrate AI because of his ability to win without a dominant offensive big.

[Hands of Iron]

Centers are the most stacked position, 5 of the top 10 all time are Centers.

Heck when you look at the top 10, its 5 Centers, 1 PF, 2 SF, 1 SG, 1 PG

Really shows that size wins championships above everything

Fun fact, Jordan is the shortest player in the top 10 at 6'6

Even the lone PG was a 6'9 phenom with freakish athletic abilities and the PF could be confused for a 5. Jordan did more at 2-guard than anybody in NBA history has any business doing.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

1. Russell
2. Kareem
3. Wilt
4. Shaq
5. Hakeem

[T_L_P]

1. Kareem
2. Russell
3. Shaq
4. Hakeem
5. Wilt

[GimmeThat]

Even the lone PG was a 6'9 phenom with freakish athletic abilities and the PF could be confused for a 5. Jordan did more at 2-guard than anybody in NBA history has any business doing.

name me another 6'6 player in history that was more athletic and stronger than Jordan.

[LAZERUSS]

No other center dominated his HOF peers, in both the regular season, and POST-SEASON, as much as Wilt dominated his. And a PRIME Chamberlain was LIGHT YEARS better than his HOF peers (Bellamy, Reed, Thurmond, and Russell.)

[GimmeThat]

No other center dominated his HOF peers, in both the regular season, and POST-SEASON, as much as Wilt dominated his. And a PRIME Chamberlain was LIGHT YEARS better than his HOF peers (Bellamy, Reed, Thurmond, and Russell.)

true.

I wonder if Wilt's opposing team components that of outside the Center position was really scared of going up against him though.

[LAZERUSS]

true.

I wonder if Wilt's opposing team components that of outside the Center position was really scared of going up against him though.

They must have been, since most all of them were swarming him throughout his career. Even Russell's TEAMMATES have acknowledged that they were using their entire TEAM to stop him.