Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon: Most Complete Center Ever.

[ClipperRevival]

Is anyone going to dispute that Olajuwon was the most complete center ever?

Some were more dominant down low (Shaq, Wilt) but who had Olajuwon's complete arsenal? How many bigs could face you up from 15-17 feet and take you off the dribble? And of course, his post up game is legendary. His footwork was off the charts. So good, Kobe, LeBron and a host of others learned from him. Imagine that. A center teacher wing players footwork. He had amazing touch. He could hit the 15-17 footer facing you up or via the turnaround. There wasn't one thing he couldn't do on offense as a big.

On the defensive end, he was about as good as it gets. With his amazing foot speed, mobility and fluidity, he could guard wing players in spots and defend P&R with ease. He could cover so much ground and erase teammate's mistakes. He also ran the floor like a gazelle.

I have never seen a big (6'11" or above) with his lower body fluidity. He was able to contort and twist his body with such ease, grace and speed. His spin moves were literally embarrassing the league. If you were to draw up the perfect, prototypical center, you would have Hakeem.

Thoughts?

[ButterFace]

I'd agree that he is the most complete. Not the best, but most complete.

[ClipperRevival]

I know i'll get a lot of slack for this but if you gave me the option to take any center in history to start a team, I just might take Hakeem. The only other guy I might take over him is Jabbar. But everyone else, I'm perfectly fine with taking Hakeem.

This guy dominated other great bigs in one of the most stacked eras in history for bigs. Some of his playoff performances were legendary. When Jordan retired for a couple of years, we saw who was the 2nd best player of this era. Hakeem carried two teams to championships.

If I'm not mistaken, the only player to ever win NBA MVP, DPOY and finals MVP in the same season. Wow.

[Demitri98]

A perfect center?

Hakeem's skillset and timing in Wilt's body but with Walton's passing.

[navy]

Interestingly enough, he didnt become this way until late in his career.

[ClipperRevival]

Also, the true mark of a legend is the ability to elevate your level of play in the playoffs. He averaged 22 ppg in the regular season but 26 ppg in the playoffs. The type of stuff Michael Jordan did. MJ averaged 30 ppg in the regular season, which is the highest ever already and one would think how is it possible to improve on that right? Well, MJ's career playoff average is 33 ppg.

That is in contrast to someone like Wilt. Who averaged only 22 ppg in the playoffs but averaged 30 ppg in the regular season.

[Lebron23]

He was a very skilled Center. For a 6'10-6'11" he had the agility, and quickness of a guard/small forward.

[Harison]

Hakeem is indeed the most complete center ever, in big part because he worked his ass off to become one. Dream came to the NBA very raw, dominant but raw. With each season he perfected his skillset more and more, and peaked quite late in his career.

[Taller than CP3]

I'd pick Hakeem in a one on one game vs Jordan

[LAZERUSS]

Also, the true mark of a legend is the ability to elevate your level of play in the playoffs. He averaged 22 ppg in the regular season but 26 ppg in the playoffs. The type of stuff Michael Jordan did. MJ averaged 30 ppg in the regular season, which is the highest ever already and one would think how is it possible to improve on that right? Well, MJ's career playoff average is 33 ppg.

That is in contrast to someone like Wilt. Who averaged only 22 ppg in the playoffs but averaged 30 ppg in the regular season.

Chamberlain didn't have the "good fortune" to get blown out eight times in the first round, either.

And give me the list of centers that Hakeem faced in his '94 playoff run, as well.

Furthermore, a "scoring" Chamberlain averaged 33 ppg in his post-seasons, and 60% of those 52 games were against RUSSELL.

How many times was Hakeem outrebounded in playoff series in his career, including TEAMMATES (see Thorpe and Barkley.)

How many times did Hakeem shoot poorly in playoff series, and in an era of .480+ eFG%'s?

[LeBird]

B-b-but, what about Wilt? You know, the guy who owned Kareem who owned Olajuwon? #stats

In before LAZERUSS

EDIT: LOL, he literally beat me to it by a few seconds.

[jlip]

I respect Hakeem's greatness as a top ~10 ish player of all time, but I do think that sometimes we get too caught up in the aesthetics of his post moves. Yes, he is definitely in the "most complete center" conversation, but I don't believe he is. I believe that there is a good case for Kareem being more complete than Hakeem. Kareem had arguably the most unstoppable offensive move in history. For an entire decade he was a top five rebounder. He actually led the league in blocks more times than Hakeem, and was very good defensively in his prime. In addition to that he seemed to be a slightly better passer than Hakeem.

[LAZERUSS]

B-b-but, what about Wilt? You know, the guy who owned Kareem who owned Olajuwon? #stats

In before LAZERUSS

EDIT: LOL, he literally beat me to it by a few seconds.

Hakeem was good enough to take a few teams to 50+ wins. And he was good enough to get them crushed in the first round in over HALF of his post-season career, too. He was also good enough to win a title in a year in which the MJ-less Bulls went 55-27, and lost a close seven game series against a 56-26 Knick team that would lose a close seven game series against Hakeem's 58-24 Rockets (and actually outscored them in that series.)

And without his TEAMMATES in the '95 Finals, in a series in which a young Shaq basically crushed him, and he would have lost yet another
ring.

[Fudge]

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

In that order

[Harison]

I respect Hakeem's greatness as a top ~10 ish player of all time, but I do think that sometimes we get too caught up in the aesthetics of his post moves. Yes, he is definitely in the "most complete center" conversation, but I don't believe he is. I believe that there is a good case for Kareem being more complete than Hakeem. Kareem had arguably the most unstoppable offensive move in history. For an entire decade he was a top five rebounder. He actually led the league in blocks more times than Hakeem, and was very good defensively in his prime. In addition to that he seemed to be a slightly better passer than Hakeem.

Good post, but IMO "the most complete center" also includes the most post moves and defending 1-5, and Dream has handily beat Kareem there. If we would speak which center is more dominant - Kareem definitely has a case over Dream, Shaq enters convo too.

Another good example - Garnett is definitely the most complete PF ever, but as the most dominant? Timmy and Mailman have a few things to say.