Was Hakeem ever considered better/ greater than MJ?

[iamgine]

Thanks for saving my time with your shitty response.

great opinion!

[kennethgriffin]

ummmmm


1994-95


hakeem = 28/11/4 on 52%

nba finals mvp

1994-95

Jordan = 27/6/5 on 41%

bounced by a team that got swept by hakeem

[SamuraiSWISH]

1994-95

Jordan = 27/6/5 on 41%

bounced by a team that got swept by hakeem

That's 17 games of MJ coming out of retirement from baseball. Rusty, and working himself back into shape gradually. Less minutes too.

Here is his actual playoff numbers from '94 - '95 rounded up ... where once again he shows why he's the GOAT to ever lace them up.

32 ppg (48%) 7 rpg, 5 apg

MJ perpetually raising his numbers SIGNIFICANTLY for the more competitive, higher intensity levels of the playoffs.

[G-train]

That's 17 games of MJ coming out of retirement from baseball. Rusty, and working himself back into shape gradually. Less minutes too.

Here is his actual playoff numbers from '94 - '95 rounded up ... where once again he shows why he's the GOAT to ever lace them up.

32 ppg (48%) 7 rpg, 5 apg

MJ perpetually raising his numbers SIGNIFICANTLY for the more competitive, higher intensity levels of the playoffs.

There were reasons for it, but Hakeem was still better. And that's what the OP asked.

[Ancient Legend]

Hakeem wasn't, but his Rockets after b2b chips were considered possibly equal to the previous Bulls 3-peat team by some analysts.

[kennethgriffin]

That's 17 games of MJ coming out of retirement from baseball. Rusty, and working himself back into shape gradually. Less minutes too.

Here is his actual playoff numbers from '94 - '95 rounded up ... where once again he shows why he's the GOAT to ever lace them up.

32 ppg (48%) 7 rpg, 5 apg

MJ perpetually raising his numbers SIGNIFICANTLY for the more competitive, higher intensity levels of the playoffs.

absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence

fact remains... whether he had bad stats or no stats. he didn't have better stats and didn't do sh*t

so how could he be better than the leagues finals mvp who had better numbers. and beat the piss out of a team jordan couldnt beat

[NugzHeat3]

Yes, Hakeem was considered = or > than Jordan in years such as 1993, 1995 and 1996.

But it depends whether you're asking if it was ever a consensus opinion, an opinion shared by the majority of people or a rather small vocal group of people?

In that case, I will say the Hakeem backers were mostly in the minority.

1995 was the only year where I would say Hakeem had the majority over Jordan and he was considered the best player in basketball largely due to what he had achieved over the past two seasons and questions regarding whether Jordan could ever return to his pre-retirement form.

As for 1993 and 1996, here are a few quotes that give assurance to the belief that Hakeem was considered equal or better than Jordan by some people:

1993:

Palm Beach Post - Dec 9, 1993
Many think Olajuwon was the best player in the league, before Michael Jordan retired. Detroit Pistons coach Don Chaney, who coached the Rockets from 1988-89 and 1991- 92, said Olajuwon is, ``a better player than he's ever been. He's doing it all. That team is average without him.''

^South Florida sportswriter saying this.

"Hakeem is as good as anyone in the entire league right now," says Sacramento coach Garry St. Jean.

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...d=1993_1120399

Nobody in the league dominates the game on both ends of the floor like Hakeem," says Sacramento King center-forward Wayman Tisdale.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...7516/index.htm

"He has played so well all year long," Portland coach Rick Adelman said. "He's just doing everything for them. He's very unselfish and just having a phenomenal year.

"People are noticing him more now only because they're winning. He's always been one of the best, if not the best in the league," Adelman said.

How good is Olajuwon?

"Lets put it this way," Adelman said. There's nobody better.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id...+blazers&hl=en

^Coming from the coach that saw Jordan destroy his team in the finals in 1992.

Dallas Morning News - Mar 14, 1993
"I think it's between him and Charles Barkley for MVP,' Miami center Rony Seikaly said. "I'd have to flip a coin. Hakeem is as good as anybody.

But this season, he stormed back to become the N.B.A.'s most dominating player. Look up and down the Rockets' roster: there's no reason, outside of Hakeem, for Houston to have won its division.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/03/sp...ewanted=2&src=

[QUOTE] Ellensburg Daily Record

[Force]

I watched Akeem his whole career. Lol at comparing to MJ. I'll say this, I can't think of one player in NBA history who had their reputation grow after retirement than Akeem. Not sure why that is. He was a really good player and very unique, moved well on defense for sure. I hated that he took so many bad shots though, his FG percent was always low because he shot so many long jumpers, he sort of had this sideways fadeaway. It astonishes me that people try to throw his name in the top 10 all time.

No doubt he was a rare player, only 6'9 and played center with dazzling creative moves, but he wasn't nearly as good as you would think by hearing what people say about him these days.

I think his legend has grown partly because he didn't even play basketball until he was a teenager, so it's a safe assumption that he could have been better than he was.

People always point to the sweep of the magic and try to say he was greater than Shaq. Seriously this is one of the dumbest things that get repeated on this board so much. Watch that serious and see how Shaq got tripled on nearly every touch and how Akeem hardly drew double teams. I promise y'all I watched him from the start I'm one of the older guys on this board. He was a great player but his legend has grown out of control these days. He wasn't as big of a headache on the offensive end as people would like to make you think. Is he greater than a prime Yao? Yes overall, but Yao is easily better offensively and more dominant than Akeem was on offense. Akeem's gift was how different he was than other players.

[jlip]

Yes, Hakeem was considered = or > than Jordan in years such as 1993, 1995 and 1996.

But it depends whether you're asking if it was ever a consensus opinion, an opinion shared by the majority of people or a rather small vocal group of people?

In that case, I will say the Hakeem backers were mostly in the minority.

1995 was the only year where I would say Hakeem had the majority over Jordan and he was considered the best player in basketball largely due to what he had achieved over the past two seasons and questions regarding whether Jordan could ever return to his pre-retirement form.

As for 1993 and 1996, here are a few quotes that give assurance to the belief that Hakeem was considered equal or better than Jordan by some people:

1993:

^South Florida sportswriter saying this.

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...d=1993_1120399

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...7516/index.htm
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id...+blazers&hl=en

^Coming from the coach that saw Jordan destroy his team in the finals in 1992.



http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/03/sp...ewanted=2&src=

http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=3983,4767629

Keep in mind the Olajuwon support is even more impressive in context because of a few reasons:

- Hakeem had a fairly low reputation coming into the 1992-93 season. He had 0 MVP votes in 1992 and didn't crack the All-NBA third team with Houston missing the playoffs. This was a period where he critical of the Rockets for not surrounding him with the right pieces, was feuding with the management and had been accused of a faking a hamstring injury as a means of a contract ploy. This impacted his reputation in the 1992-93 season because it takes awhile for you to rebuild yourself in the eyes of fans, media, the league ect especially considering how little exposure he had this year compared to somebody like Jordan or Barkley. Houston only had 1 nationally televised game this year so people weren't getting to see Hakeem play much unless he was coming to town.
- Jordan was already established as the best player in the game being a back to back MVP, finals MVP and champ. There's no reason for somebody to come out and say said player is Jordan unless proven otherwise because Jordan is already at the top so for someone to say Hakeem is = or > is even more impressive.
- Hakeem was actually voted the MVP of the league by coach's in 1993 as well.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1...ey-sidney-lowe

Moving on to 1996, as I said earlier, coming into this season, Hakeem had established himself as the consensus best in the game but Jordan would reclaim that title during the year but Hakeem still had people going for him based on what he had achieved in the last two playoff runs. Here's a best player in the league poll conducted by USA Today and answered by coaches, players, trainers ect from April 1996 after the season was over that still shows Hakeem getting support over Jordan albeit it's a minority:

Note: Even though it says, 301 ballots were returned, I believe that's for the overall survey as they had quite a few other categories as well such as dirtiest player, toughest arena, favorite to win the title ect. In this particular poll, it's sample size of 193 people (you can add up all the player votes) but its good enough to base a conclusion on. Also, keep in mind, more than 25 people could've thought Hakeem was better than Jordan since we don't know who these voters voted as the second best player. This is just a best player survey, it's certainly possible the people who voted Pippen over Jordan or Shaq over Jordan might've gone with Hakeem over Jordan as well.

I can give you a few other opinions as well but it's always better to have a larger sample of people to base a conclusion off of than a single person account since you'll obviously find one or two guys saying outlandish things.

[KOBE143]

Jordan was considered better because his team was better but if Hakeem was in Jordan team, I think no one will choose MJ over Hakeem.. Sometimes its the team that makes the players looks good just like some heat player..

[Psileas]

Pretty much exactly ... writers were tired of giving it to Jordan. Hell, the guy should've won the MVP in '89, and '90. Hakeem was by no means a better player than Jordan in '93. Hakeem wasn't even the undisputed best player in the league the years MJ wasn't there in '94 and '95. I also think MJ came 2nd in voting that season for DPOY iirc in 1993.

I'd like to see the case for any other player.
After the 1994 season was over, Hakeem was seen as pretty convincingly the best. He didn't end up high in the MVP race for the 1995 season (partially due to the expectations for his team having become so high, although the Rockets definitely overachieved in 1994), but the 1995 playoffs exposed any voter who ripped him. By the end the '95 playoffs were over, any mention apart from Hakeem as the best player in the world was seen as a joke, and I'm talking on behalf of the European media, as well, and the European media were even more Jordan-centered than American media, when it came to the NBA.

And, yes, Jordan came 2nd in '93, along with Robinson, each winning 9 first place votes...to Hakeem's 73.

[chosen_wun]

ummmmm


1994-95


hakeem = 28/11/4 on 52%

nba finals mvp

1994-95

Jordan = 27/6/5 on 41%

bounced by a team that got swept by hakeem

Jordan shot 41% in the finals

[jzek]

No

Hakeem couldn't even get into the Finals pre-Jordan retirement and post-retirement. The only times Hakeem got into the Finals was...surprise, surprise... when Jordan was MIA from the NBA. I think he was very lucky Jordan was not in the NBA during those two years otherwise he probably wouldn't have won any title.

[jzek]

bounced by a team that got swept by hakeem

You do realize Jordan just came back from a TWO YEAR RETIREMENT MIDWAY THROUGH THAT SEASON, right? Wanna know what happened in the following year?:

* nba title
* 72-10 record in the regular season
* 15-3 record in the playoffs
* all-star mvp, regular season mvp, and finals mvp in jordan
* jordan's 30.4 ppg led the league (was 3rd in steals at 2.2)
* jordan was named to the 1st team all nba team
* jordan was named to the 1st team all defensive team


Oh, and that team that bounced Jordan in the playoffs... the team you're referring to (ORL)? Jordan swept them the following year as payback.

Notice the difference between coming back midway through a season after two years off from the game and a full season? Makes you appreciate more why Jordan is considered by many as the GOAT.

[KOBE143]

No

Hakeem couldn't even get into the Finals pre-Jordan retirement and post-retirement. The only times Hakeem got into the Finals was...surprise, surprise... when Jordan was MIA from the NBA. I think he was very lucky Jordan was not in the NBA during those two years otherwise he probably wouldn't have won any title.

Bullshit..

Compare Jordan team to Hakeem team.. MJ teams wins hands down.. The most stacked team in the 90s and probably one of the most stacked team of all time.. Hakeem best teammate was Sam Cassel the Alien while Jordan was ****ing Pippen, GOAT perimeter defensive player and a top 3 player in the 90s.. Give Hakeem a Pippen and Hakeem would had won all the championship in the 90s..