Hakeem Olajuwon is definitely the best center of all-time. Often times, fans use inaccurate measures of evaluating individual players, including subjective awards like MVPs and all-star teams. Once we put all of these factors in context, it will become clear that the only center in Hakeem's conversation is Bill Russell. Not Kareem, not Wilt, not Shaq. Hakeem is vastly superior to all of them, and still superior to Russell in my opinion. Let's break down Hakeem's biggest competition for the GOAT center crown, and we'll finish off this article with a list of Hakeem's greatest individual accomplishments that cement his status as the best center.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Next, for Kareem's MVPs. All but one of Kareem's MVPs (1980) came during one of the weakest talent pools for individual MVP competition. In the 1970s, Wilt and Willis Reed were on their way to retirement, finishing their careers in 1973. There was no other legit MVP candidate until the late 70s when Moses Malone came around, winning his first MVP in 1979. For the rest of the 70s, Kareem's fellow MVP winners were Dave Cowens, Bob Mcadoo, and Bill Walton. None of these guys are even top 40 players of all-time. Dr. J was in the league, but he didn't reach his best years in the NBA until 1979/80.
On top of that, Kareem's 1976 MVP came when he "led" the Lakers to a losing 40-42 record and missed the playoffs. The 1970s MVP competition was so weak, that the best player in the league couldn't even make the playoffs. No wonder Kareem had so many MVPs. When Kareem finally won the 1980 MVP against legit competition like Dr. J, Magic, and Bird, he wasn't even in the building when the Lakers clinched the 1980 title without him. Kareem was the MVP of the league, yet the Lakers still won the title without their supposedly most "valuable" player.
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| Kareem in his prime had much easier MVP and team competition than Hakeem, while playing on the most stacked teams |
In 1975, Kareem missed the playoffs upon Oscar's retirement despite having a very good 2nd option in Bob Dandridge averaging 20-7-3 on 47% with 1.5 SPG. Kareem did miss games, but this was due to a self-inflicted injury. Kareem punched the stanchion out of frustration during a preseason game, putting him out of commission for the early part of the season. Any struggles the Bucks had in Kareem's absence is his own fault, since his own inability to keep his emotions in check is what put the Bucks at a disadvantage in the first place.
In 1976, Kareem again missed the playoffs while having another good 2nd option in Gail Goodrich with 20-3-6 on 44%.
Even with Hall of Famers Dantley and Wilkes in 1978 and 1979, Kareem was 1-2 in playoff series those 2 years. In the 1979 Playoffs, Kareem had stacked help
- Jamaal Wilkes - 18-9-2-2 on 48%
- Adrian Dantley - 18-4-1 on 56%
- Norm Nixon - 15-4-12 on 47%
and still failed to reach the WCF.
As soon as Magic came, Kareem averaged his career high FG%, increased his scoring after his scoring had decreased in each of the previous 4 seasons, and the Lakers won the title without Kareem in Game 6. So even Kareem's 1980 MVP comes with a huge asterisk next to it. We'll get back to Kareem's over-dependence on the 2 best PGs of all-time
Now compare this with Hakeem's stacked MVP competition. Hakeem had to compete against prime Bird, prime Magic, and prime Jordan, all of whom are pretty much unanimously considered top 10 players of all-time, and Jordan as the most common GOAT candidate. Kareem never competed against one MVP candidate of Bird, Jordan, and Magic's caliber in the 70s, let alone 3. And this is without factoring in that Hakeem's supporting casts were much worse compared to Magic, Bird, and Jordan's, whereas Kareem had the 2 best PGs of all-time for all but 2 of his MVP seasons (one of those seasons in which Kareem missed the playoffs with a sub-500 record), in one of the weakest MVP talent pools in league history.
Even the second-tier MVP competition of Hakeem's era, Robinson, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Ewing, Drexler, Shaq, Isiah, etc. vastly outclassed the first-tier MVP competition of the 70s like Cowens and Mcadoo.
A player like Kevin Johnson was only a 3-time all star in the stacked 90s, yet he was superior than the majority of Kareem's 70s MVP competition. That shows how much harder it was for Hakeem to win an MVP in his era.
Kevin Johnson's accomplishments
Only player with Oscar and Isiah to - average 20+ ppg 10+ apg for 3 straight years - Magic also did this in 3 different years, but not consecutive - KJ almost tied Oscar and Isiah for a record 4th straight year of 20-10, but averaged 19.7 ppg in 1991/92
only player with Magic and Isiah to
- average 20+ ppg 12+ apg in a season
only player with Magic Johnson to
- average 20+ ppg 12+ apg on 50% in a season
- average 20+ ppg 10+ apg on 50% in 2 seasons
-- KJ almost had a record 3rd season of 20-10 on 50% but shot 49.9% in 1989/90
only player with Magic Johnson to
- average 23+ ppg 12+ apg in a playoff run past the first round (1989)
- and the only one to do it past the 2nd round, as Magic lost in the 1990 WCSF when he averaged 25.2 ppg and 12.8 apg
only player with Magic Johnson to
- average 20+ ppg 10+ apg in 3 playoff runs past the first round (1989, 1990, 1992)
- Magic did it a record 4 times (1986, 1987, 1990, 1991)
only player with Magic Johnson to
- average 20+ ppg 10+ apg in 3 playoff runs past the first round (1989, 1990, 1992)
- Magic did it a record 4 times (1986, 1987, 1990, 1991)
only player in NBA History to
- average 23+ ppg 11+ apg in multiple playoffs past the first round
- KJ did this in the 1989 and 1992 Playoff runs, and as we saw earlier, he should have done it a third time, but was injured in the first and last game of the 1990 Playoffs
Only player to average 24+ ppg, 9+ apg in 2 playoff runs past the 1st round
- Kevin Johnson x2 (1994, 1995), an NBA record
only player in NBA History to
- average 20+ ppg 9+ apg in 5 different playoff runs, an NBA record
And in all 5 of his 20-9 Playoff runs, he lost to a team that went on to the Finals (1989 Lakers, 1990 and 1992 Blazers) or won it all (1994 and 1995 Rockets), so he also put up those historic numbers against the best competition. In fact, in 6 out of 9 of KJ's years as a starter, he lost to a team that went on to either make the Finals or win it all, the 6th being the 1993 Bulls.
In his 9 years as a starter (1988/89 to 1996/97)
- KJ averaged 19.8 ppg 10.0 apg on 49.7%
- just short of 20 ppg 10 apg on 50% for his career as a starter
- for his entire 9 years as a starter, KJ nearly averaged what only he and Magic have done in multiple seasons, 20 ppg and 10 apg on 50%
In KJ's career as a starter, the Suns were 0-3 in playoff games that he missed (1993) or played less than 15 minutes due to injury (1990 x2). The only PG of the 70s that was better than 90s' 3x all-star Kevin Johnson was the one on Kareem's Bucks team, and you can make a strong case that prime, healthy KJ was better than Oscar. Oscar may be better than KJ all-time simply because KJ's career was cut short by injuries, limiting his potential.
On top of that, when Barkley, Robinson, and Malone won MVPs over Hakeem, they all had far superior supporting casts. Those three won a combined 4 MVPs, yet Hakeem outplayed all of them in all of his playoff meetings against them, aside from 1998 against Malone following knee surgery. Hakeem was also playing with the inferior supporting cast in all of their playoff meetings. This is further proof that regular season MVPs don't always accurately determine who the best player in the league is, and that counting MVPs is a very poor method of determining who the better player is.
Hakeem may have been the best player in 1993 as well, better even than Jordan, when he led the Rockets in 5/5 categories for both the first and second round, shutting down Shawn Kemp in 6 out of 7 games, only for his teammate Maxwell to miss the game-winning shot in Game 7, and his team still somehow lose with Hakeem carrying the team in literally every aspect. Again, subjective regular season MVPs are not an accurate barometer for comparing players individually, especially considering Kareem's team advantages over Hakeem's, in a weaker 70s era.
Hakeem may have been the best player in 1993 as well, better even than Jordan, when he led the Rockets in 5/5 categories for both the first and second round, shutting down Shawn Kemp in 6 out of 7 games, only for his teammate Maxwell to miss the game-winning shot in Game 7, and his team still somehow lose with Hakeem carrying the team in literally every aspect. Again, subjective regular season MVPs are not an accurate barometer for comparing players individually, especially considering Kareem's team advantages over Hakeem's, in a weaker 70s era.
Now for Kareem's 6 rings. Kareem won more rings than Hakeem because he played on much more stacked teams, and against weaker competition compared to Hakeem. In the 1970s, Kareem only had to win 2 rounds to make the 1971 and 1974 Finals, as well as the 1980, 1982, and 1983 Finals. This was while playing alongside Magic and Oscar, and with the Lakers having the likes of Wilkes, Mcadoo, and HoF coach Pat Riley. Magic also averaged a combined 18-10-10-3 on 50% through his first 4 playoff appearances which resulted in 2 rings and a 3rd Finals appearance. In 1987, the Western Conference path to the Finals was so weak that the Lakers beat two losing teams and a 42-40 Warriors team, and while having the likes of DPOY Cooper, Worthy, Coach Riley, and the best PG of all-time. If Hakeem play such easy competition on the stacked Lakers team, he would sweep the Western Conference every year.
Kareem only beat 3 50+ win teams in one playoff run, in 1980 when Magic clinched the title and Finals MVP without him, and never beat 2 60+ winters in a playoff run. Kareem beat 0 50+ win teams in the 1971 title run, including a barely 0.500 42-40 Bullets team in the Finals. Kareem also had the luxury of beating 0 50+ win teams to make the 1971, 1982, 1984, and 1987 Finals. Hakeem on the other hand had to beat 3 50+ win teams in the 1994 title run and 4 57+ win teams (and 2 60+ win teams) in the 1995 title run, which has never been done before or since. Hakeem had much greater competition than Kareem, and while playing with much worse teams, hence the ring disparity.
Kareem only beat 3 50+ win teams in one playoff run, in 1980 when Magic clinched the title and Finals MVP without him, and never beat 2 60+ winters in a playoff run. Kareem beat 0 50+ win teams in the 1971 title run, including a barely 0.500 42-40 Bullets team in the Finals. Kareem also had the luxury of beating 0 50+ win teams to make the 1971, 1982, 1984, and 1987 Finals. Hakeem on the other hand had to beat 3 50+ win teams in the 1994 title run and 4 57+ win teams (and 2 60+ win teams) in the 1995 title run, which has never been done before or since. Hakeem had much greater competition than Kareem, and while playing with much worse teams, hence the ring disparity.
Hakeem had to play some of the most stacked competition of all-time on the way to his Finals. In 1986 he eliminated the defending champion Showtime Lakers with Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Cooper, Scott, Riley, etc. while leading his team, and Kareem, in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. And this was while playing on a far inferior team. Ralph Sampson was Hakeem's only notable teammate, and he never made the playoffs without Hakeem. (1989 doesn't count, as Sampson played 0 minutes in the first round). The only reason Sampson is relevant and in the Hall of Fame is because of Hakeem. But on the contrary, the only reason Kareem won so many rings and won his only 2 scoring titles is because of his heavy dependence on Magic and Oscar.
For example, the 1986 Rockets were only 7-7 without Hakeem, and their starting guard John Lucas did not play in the playoffs due to cocaine suspension. Even with Lucas out of commission and Sampson ejected in Game 5, Hakeem carried that bum team to 6 games against a top 5 all-time team in the 1986 Celtics. Never did Kareem show a capability of carrying a mediocre team like this. In 5 prime seasons without Oscar/Magic, he missed the playoffs twice and never won 2 consecutive rounds.
From 1987 to 1994, Hakeem played with one of the worst supporting casts of all-time as Sampson was injured in 1987 and left soon after. In 1987 Hakeem lost to the Sonics in the WCSF despite putting up 30-13 with 4 bpg on 60%. In 1988 he put up 2000 Finals MVP Shaq-type numbers with 38-17-2-2-3 on 57% yet his garbage team couldn't get him out the first round. In 1989 he put up 25-12-3-3-3 on 52% yet that wasn't enough to get his trash team out the first round.
In 1990 Hakeem played injured with something on his knee, and despite struggling offensively (18.5 ppg 11.5 rpg 2.0 apg on 44%) had 2.5 spg and 5.8 bpg. Nobody else has even averaged 2.5 spg and 4.0 bpg in a playoffs, Hakeem almost made it 2.5 and 6.0 bpg. In 1991 Hakeem led his wack team to 52 wins in a stacked Western Conference and put up 22-15-2-1-3 on 58% in the playoffs, but his team still couldn't handle Magic's Lakers. In 1992 Hakeem missed 12 games, and the Rockets went 2-10 in those 12 games causing them to miss the playoffs, they were 40-30 when Hakeem played. This further shows how nearly impossible it was for Hakeem to win MVPs on such a trash team compared to his stacked MVP competition on better teams, and on a team so horrible he could put up legendary Finals MVP-type numbers only for him to still lose. The 1993 run as we showed is a great example.
In 1994, Hakeem had the greatest playoff run of all-time. He became the only player to lead a championship team in 5/5 categories, and the only one to win with 0 all-stars/0 HoFs. Thorpe was an all-star only in 1992 when he led the Rockets to a 2-10 record and missed playoffs when Hakeem was out. Hakeem put up 2 of the greatest Game 7 performances of all-time against the stacked KJ/Barkley Suns and Ewing/Oakley/Mason Knicks, and faced stacked overall competition in the Stockton/Malone Jazz and even Drexler's Blazers in the first round.
In the Finals, Hakeem shut down Ewing to 36% FG, but it still took them 7 games to beat the Knicks with their best player playing terrible. Why was that? Because Hakeem's supporting cast was terrible in that series. Top scorer Vernon Maxwell had 13 ppg on 37%. The next scorer, Horry, had 10 ppg on 32%. The third scorer after Hakeem, rookie Sam Cassell, had 10 ppg on 42%. This is the only team since the 1961 Celtics to win the title with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th scoring options all shooting under 43%. Hakeem's supporting casts were vastly inferior to Kareem's. And despite having a much worse team, he still carried them to the title and multiple Finals. Kareem played with 2 Hall of Famers in Dantley and Wilkes in 78 and 79 and was only 1 for 3 in playoff series, proving that even with such stacked help he couldn't get it done without Oscar or Magic.
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| Kareem had 5 prime seasons to prove that he could carry a team like Hakeem, but failed horribly without Oscar/Magic, missing the playoffs twice in his prime. Even when he had Hall of Famers Dantley and Wilkes on his team, Kareem only went 1-2 in playoff series on that stacked squad. If Kareem was in Hakeem's position, he would be stuck losing in the 2nd round at best each year |
In Kareem's first season with Oscar, the Bucks won the 1971 title, and he won the first and only 2 scoring titles of his career in his first 2 seasons with Oscar, more proof of his dependence on a top-2 PG for success. In his last season with Oscar, they lost in Game 7 of the 1974 Finals (we will get to this). Then he had 5 prime seasons of doing nothing in the playoffs without Oscar/Magic. In his first season with Magic, he averaged career high FG% and the Lakers won the title without him in Game 6. In his last season with Magic, they made the Finals as the Lakers lost with Magic injured. Kareem was heavily dependent on the 2 best PGs of all-time for his scoring titles and playoff success, even missing the playoffs twice in his prime without them.
The fact that Kareem only had 2 Finals MVPs in 20 years shows how dependent he was on his teammates to win for him, not for him to lead the team to the win Even in Kareem's 1985 Finals MVP, you can make a very strong case that Magic deserved it, as he averaged 18-7-14 on 49% with 2 spg. Magic' 14 apg is an NBA Finals record. In fact, Magic is the only player in history to average 12+ apg in even one NBA Finals, and he did it 6 times. More proof of how stacked Kareem's help was compared to Hakeem's. Only once was Kareem the clear and undisputed best player on his championship teams in 1971.
In 1980, Magic clinched the title without him, after Kareem spent 5 prime years missing the playoffs twice and having a 2-3 playoff series record without Oscar/Magic. In 1980, 1982, 1987, and 1988 Kareem didn't win Finals MVP. In 1985 Kareem won Finals MVP, but Magic averaged an NBA Finals record 14 apg and created offense for everyone on the Lakers as he always did. Magic also averaged an NBA record 15.2 apg in the 1985 Title run, followed by 15.1 apg in the 1986 WCF run. These are the only 2 times anyone averaged 15+ apg in a playoff run past the first round (Stockton had 15.0 apg in the 1990 First round and lost against the Suns).
Seeing as a prime Kareem struggled so bad without Oscar/Magic, I doubt he would have come close to winning the 1985 ring at age 38 without Magic holding everything together on the team and getting record-setting assist averages. Lastly, Kareem "earned" his 6th ring by averaging 13-4-1 on 41% in the 1988 Finals. Compare this with the incredible outputs Hakeem had in his playoff shortcomings, along with Hakeem playing much, much better defense, and it's clear Kareem was blessed with much more help.
In 1980, Magic clinched the title without him, after Kareem spent 5 prime years missing the playoffs twice and having a 2-3 playoff series record without Oscar/Magic. In 1980, 1982, 1987, and 1988 Kareem didn't win Finals MVP. In 1985 Kareem won Finals MVP, but Magic averaged an NBA Finals record 14 apg and created offense for everyone on the Lakers as he always did. Magic also averaged an NBA record 15.2 apg in the 1985 Title run, followed by 15.1 apg in the 1986 WCF run. These are the only 2 times anyone averaged 15+ apg in a playoff run past the first round (Stockton had 15.0 apg in the 1990 First round and lost against the Suns).
Seeing as a prime Kareem struggled so bad without Oscar/Magic, I doubt he would have come close to winning the 1985 ring at age 38 without Magic holding everything together on the team and getting record-setting assist averages. Lastly, Kareem "earned" his 6th ring by averaging 13-4-1 on 41% in the 1988 Finals. Compare this with the incredible outputs Hakeem had in his playoff shortcomings, along with Hakeem playing much, much better defense, and it's clear Kareem was blessed with much more help.
Meanwhile Hakeem beasted and took a team of 0 all-stars and 0 Hall of Famers to the title while leading them in every category (points rebounds assists steals blocks). Nobody else has won a title without a HoF/all-star, nor led a title team in 5/5 categories. Hakeem did both at the same time while shutting down Ewing in the Finals, and making the 1994 Rockets the only team since the 1961 Celtics to win the Finals with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th options all shooting under 43%.
Hakeem also took a team that went 3-7 without him in 1994/95 to a championship, and without their starting guard Vernon Maxwell, who was kicked off the team after Game 1 of the 1995 Playoffs. The Rockets also went 1-9 without Hakeem in 1995/96 the year after winning back to back titles. Even with Drexler joining the 1995 team, he only played well because of Hakeem's presence. Drexler shot 42.8% with Portland in 95, but 50.6% with Hakeem's Rockets in the 95 season. This 50.6% mark ties the highest that Drexler ever shot in a full season (87/88). Hakeem carried that team as the only 6-seed to win the title, beating
- 60-22 Jazz with Stockton/Malone
- 59-23 Suns (Barkley and KJ missed a combined 49 games)
- 62-20 Spurs (Rodman missed 33 games, they were 40-9 when he played which is a 67-15 pace) with Robinson
- 57-25 Magic with Shaq and Penny
And remember, after winning back to back titles, the 96 Rockets team was 1-9 in the 10 games that Hakeem missed. Proof of how his teammates only put up big numbers and had success because of Hakeem. Hakeem was such a beast that he led two teams to the Finals (1986 and 1995) without his starting guard (Lucas and Maxwell), and he had no all-stars or HoFs in his 1994 run.
Had KJ and Barkley not missed 49 combined games in 1994/95, this would have made Hakeem the only player to lead a team past three 60+ win teams in one playoffs. Kareem never faced that much overall competition in one title run, and especially not that many quality big men. In the 80s, Kareem's Lakers beat a grand total of 0 all-time great big men before playing against the Celtics with Parish in the Finals. And the only reason Parish is relevant is because of Bird, Parish never even led a team to the playoffs.
Hakeem has the most seasons of all-time leading a team in 4/5 categories (minimum 50 games) with 9. He did this 8 straight years from 1985/86 to 1992/93, and again in 1994/95. He didn't do it in the 1993/94 season, but made it up by becoming the only player to lead a title team in 5/5 categories for the playoffs. Kareem has never even led a team in 4/5 for a single season. More proof of how much more Hakeem had to do for his team, and why he is the vastly superior individual player.
Kareem also struggled against the majority of the big man competition he played against in the playoffs, whereas the opposite was true for Hakeem. Keep in mind, Kareem was playing on a stacked Bucks/Lakers team with Oscar/Magic and company in almost all of these examples, whereas Hakeem was playing with mediocre teams, including the 95 team that only played well because of Hakeem's presence. It's no coincidence that Robert Horry had the best series of his life playing next to Hakeem in the 1995 Finals (18-10-4-3-2 on 43%). Nor is it a coincidence that Drexler had great stats in the 1995 Finals after playing sub-par in the 1992/93 and 1993/94 seasons without Hakeem, along with his huge spike in FG% after being traded to Houston. Mario Elie also had 16-4-3-2 on 65% in the 1995 Finals, but show me when he ever put up those type of numbers playing alongside someone besides Hakeem.
Kareem against big men
1970 rookie playoffs
Kareem allowed Willis Reed to average 28 ppg when he never averaged 22 ppg in a season as the Bucks lost
1971 Finals
Kareem totally outplayed and beat Wes Unseld. This is the only time Kareem beat a great big man without any caveats. In his first season with Oscar, Kareem won his first scoring title and ring. Kareem did beat Wilt on the way to this ring, but it comes with an asterisk as Jerry West did not play in that series due to injury. West came back the next year and Kareem was sent home packing.
1972 Playoffs
Kareem's dependence on Oscar was evident as Kareem was shut down from 35 ppg on 57% in the season to 23 ppg on 41% in the playoffs against Thurmond. Thurmond was never a great offensive center, yet he outscored Kareem with 25 ppg on a more efficient 43%, after Kareem's best scoring season.
Thanks to Oscar's facilitation, Bob Dandridge was the leading scorer for the Bucks as Oscar carried Kareem and spared him from Thurmond's humiliation. In the regular season, this was the 2nd and last time that Kareem had a scoring title, and it was of course with the 2nd best PG of all-time feeding him. In the next round, Oscar played injured and Kareem shot much less efficiently against Wilt compared to his usual average, and Kareem lost as expected without Oscar there to carry him, and with West back in the lineup.
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| Getting show up by great big men in the playoffs was a problem for Kareem. That wasn't the case for Hakeem. |
1973 Playoffs
Kareem was once again locked down by Thurmond, held to 23 ppg on 43%. This time, Oscar couldn't bail him out after carrying Kareem the last time Thurmond locked him down, and the 1-seed Bucks were upset in the first round. Kareem was once again schooled when he played an all-time great big man
1974 Finals, Game 7
In his last season with Oscar, Kareem's Bucks made the 1974 Finals. But in Game 7, Kareem was outscored and outrebounded by Dave Cowens as the Celtics won the title. Kareem once again came up short against a Hall of Fame big man. After Oscar retired, Kareem missed the playoffs the next 2 years in his prime
1977 Playoffs
Kareem met Bill Walton after only playing 1 round to reach the WCF, and got swept. Once again, Kareem can't handle Hall of Fame big men. Even after adding Hall of Famers Dantley and Wilkes, Kareem lost in the first round in 1978 and the WCSF in 1979 to Jack Sikma, Gus Williams, and Dennis Johnson's Sonics with that stacked team helping him out. Magic then came to save Kareem's career in 1980. The 80s Lakers did not beat any notable big man aside from Parish (who is only relevant because of Bird) in any of their playoff series.
1981 Playoffs and 1983 Finals
Kareem was outscored and outrebounded by Moses Malone in both of these series, and lost both times. In 1981, the Rockets were a 40-42 team whereas the Lakers were defending champs, yet Kareem still got schooled and sent home by Moses. In 1983 Kareem got swept by Moses in the Finals. Hakeem would be the last great big man that Kareem played in the 1986 WCF, and the 80s Lakers once again succumbed to their weakness, a team with a legit big man to school Kareem and send him home. The 80s Lakers were 2-10 in their 12 playoff games against Moses (1981, 1983) and Hakeem (1986).
Now let's check how Hakeem did against teams with great big men
1986 WCF vs Kareem
Hakeem outperformed Kareem in 4/5 categories, as well as leading his team in 4/5 and sent the Lakers home without his starting guard John Lucas, suspended for cocaine.
1993 WCSF vs Shawn Kemp
Hakeem led the team in 5/5 categories and shut down Shawn Kemp in 6/7 games as we explained before, yet Hakeem's team was so bad that they still couldn't win.
Karl Malone, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998
After averaging between 50% to 54% shooting in the 4 regular seasons before meeting Hakeem in the playoffs, Malone shot lower than 50% on 14 different occasions in 21 playoff meetings - or in 2/3 of his meetings with Hakeem. Hakeem also sent Malone packing in the 1994 and 1995 Playoffs. In 1997, Hakeem became the oldest person to lead a team in 4/5 categories for a playoff series, but his team couldn't get the job done against the Jazz. in 1998, Hakeem had a knee injury that made him a shell of himself and he had no hope of getting out the first round following that injury.
Charles Barkley, 1994, 1995
After averaging 49% to 50% in both regular seasons before running into Olajuwon in the playoffs, Barkley shot lower than 49% on 9 different occasions in 14 playoff meetings against Hakeem. And Hakeem sent the Suns home both times with amazing Game 7 performances both years.
1994 Finals vs Ewing
Hakeem shut down Ewing in 6 out of 7 games, 36% for the series, and carried the Rockets to the title as they became the only team since the 1961 Celtics to win with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th scoring options all shooting under 43%.
1995 WCF vs Robinson and Rodman
Hakeem destroyed two top 10 defenders of all-time at the same time in this series, and shut down Robinson, who only had 2 good games in the whole series.
1995 Finals vs Shaq
Shaq averaged 1 more rebound, and less than 1 more block and less than 1 more assist. Hakeem scored 5 more ppg than Shaq (outscored him every game - even though Shaq was the regular season scoring champ) and in the entire Finals had 8 steals to Shaq's 1 steal. Shaq also had twice as many turnovers as Hakeem. Shaq barely squeezed by Hakeem in those categories but Hakeem destroyed him in the rest
the only place where Shaq is better by a lot is 59% FG to 48% FG, but FG% by itself doesnt matter
LeBron is a good example, aside from his 2015 Finals when he shot a very poor sub-40%.
2014 Finals - 57% on 18 shots a game, lost
2011 Finals - 48% on 15 shots a game, lost
2012 Finals - 47% on 21+ shots a game, win
2013 Finals - 45% on 21+ shots a game, win
Hakeem shot a lower % but took more shots and taking more shots while shooting a respectable percentage is better than taking less shots and shooting a higher%. Hakeem didnt destroy Shaq but he definitely outplayed him, especially considering the game-winning tip in Game 1 and the sealing assist in Game 3 to go up 3-0. Hakeem also held Shaq to 1 point in OT during that game, outplaying him in the clutch.
In Game 2, Shaq only had 10 points on 3/10 (30%) FG at halftime, and the Rockets had a 22-point lead entering the 2nd half, and a 19-point lead entering the 4th quarter. Hakeem locked him down in the first half, and Shaq padded his stats in the 2nd half after getting blown out (Ã la LeBron 2014), and further showing why box score stats aren't always the most accurate.
the only place where Shaq is better by a lot is 59% FG to 48% FG, but FG% by itself doesnt matter
LeBron is a good example, aside from his 2015 Finals when he shot a very poor sub-40%.
2014 Finals - 57% on 18 shots a game, lost
2011 Finals - 48% on 15 shots a game, lost
2012 Finals - 47% on 21+ shots a game, win
2013 Finals - 45% on 21+ shots a game, win
Hakeem shot a lower % but took more shots and taking more shots while shooting a respectable percentage is better than taking less shots and shooting a higher%. Hakeem didnt destroy Shaq but he definitely outplayed him, especially considering the game-winning tip in Game 1 and the sealing assist in Game 3 to go up 3-0. Hakeem also held Shaq to 1 point in OT during that game, outplaying him in the clutch.
In Game 2, Shaq only had 10 points on 3/10 (30%) FG at halftime, and the Rockets had a 22-point lead entering the 2nd half, and a 19-point lead entering the 4th quarter. Hakeem locked him down in the first half, and Shaq padded his stats in the 2nd half after getting blown out (Ã la LeBron 2014), and further showing why box score stats aren't always the most accurate.
Allen Iverson in the 2001 Playoffs is another example.
before the Finals against the undefeated Lakers
The Sixers in the playoffs were
7-2 when Iverson took 30+ shots
4-5 when Iverson took less than 30 shots
and in the 2001 Finals
Iverson took 41 shots in the one game the Sixers won
and 0-4 in the 4 games he took 29 to 32 shots.
Then you also have to consider the intangible of Hakeem elevating the team around him to a higher degree than Shaq. The Rockets were 3-7 without Hakeem in 95 and 1-9 without him in 96, whereas the 96 Magic were 20-8 without Shaq. The players around Hakeem played so well in the 1995 Finals because of Hakeem's presence. It's no coincidence that Robert Horry had the best series of his life playing next to Hakeem in the 1995 Finals (18-10-4-3-2 on 43%). Nor is it a coincidence that Drexler had great stats in the 1995 Finals after playing sub-par in the 1992/93 and 1993/94 seasons without Hakeem, along with his huge spike in FG% after being traded to Houston. Mario Elie also had 16-4-3-2 on 65% in the 1995 Finals, but show me when he ever put up those type of numbers playing alongside someone besides Hakeem.
1996 WCSF
This is the only time that Hakeem had a poor playoff series in his healthy career as he was outplayed by Shawn Kemp. However, remember that the 96 Rockets were only 1-9 without Hakeem this year, so his team was once again depending on him entirely. Shawn Kemp was also playing out of his mind in the 1996 run, people tend to forget this because of how quickly Kemp's career fizzled out. In the 1996 WCF, he dropped 20-10 on 69% against Malone. Even Shaq has never shot 69% in a playoff series. Then in the 1996 Finals he dropped 23-10-2-1-2 on 55% against the best team of all-time in the 1996 Bulls. For Hakeem to have just one blip on his healthy playoff resume against a beast like 1996 Kemp is not a big deal, especially compared to Kareem who got whooped by Thurmond, Moses, Cowens, Reed, etc. multiple times.
1997 WCSF
Kemp's stats look good in the overall series, but Hakeem shut him down when he was on him like Game 4 and the 2nd half of Game 7. Most of Kemp's stats weren't on Hakeem.
Kareem is not even in the same universe as Hakeem when it comes to defense, Hakeem shut down or slowed down almost every big man matchup he came across, whereas Kareem was lit up or got locked down by almost every big man he played in the playoffs.
As we can see, Hakeem was only once in his career outplayed by a big man during a playoff series, whereas Kareem had this happen to him repeatedly, most of the time while having Magic and Oscar to carry him as well. Kareem played on the much, MUCH more stacked teams, against weaker overall competition (the 80s Celtics and Sixers were great, but Kareem didn't beat any really great team in the 70s or in the 80s West, and he had Magic and Oscar carrying him each time. Also, Kareem was a non-factor in the series against the Pistons).
Kareem was helpless in his 5 prime seasons without Oscar/Magic, whereas Hakeem carried 3 wack teams to the Finals and also made the most that anyone could have out of the wack 1987 and 1993 Rockets, and took 3 mediocre teams to the Finals, winning twice, and with 2 of those teams not having their starting guard (Lucas 86 + Maxwell 95). The 1994 team is the only one to win with 0 all-stars/HoFs, and the only championship team where the best player led them in 5/5 categories, more proof of Hakeem beasting and carrying the load. Whereas the Rockets fell apart each time Hakeem missed games, the Lakers clinched the 1980 title without Kareem in Game 6 and Magic made the Finals without Kareem in 1991.
Give Hakeem
- Oscar and Magic
- Wilkes
- Worthy
- McAdoo
- DPOY Cooper
- Riley
- an 80s Lakers team that never had to beat a great center in 5 title runs (and Hakeem would have crushed Moses in 1981 and 1983, unlike Kareem)
and it would be unimaginable what he could do
Give Kareem Hakeem's 1994 cast
- 0 HoF
- 0 All stars
- No HoF coach
- no DPOY
- a Rockets team that had to beat multiple HoF bigs in 94 and 95 to win titles
and he won't win 2nd rounds, won't lock down any great big, won't beat any great big, and will miss multiple playoffs - all of which are proven by what happened without Oscar/Magic in 6 seasons, 5 of which were prime seasons, 2 of them with Hall of Famers Dantley/Wilkes. So it's not like the cherry-picked Jordan seasons without Pippen, where MJ was a rookie, injured his 2nd year, and had drug addicts like Woolridge and Dailey kicked off the 87 team, and then injured halfway through his first year in Washington at age 38. Kareem was in his absolute prime and failing to get it done, even with stacked teams in 78 and 79. Kareem is the only supposed GOAT candidate to miss the playoffs twice in his prime, and wasn't even the best player on half his championships. That alone excludes him from being in Hakeem's league.
- Oscar and Magic
- Wilkes
- Worthy
- McAdoo
- DPOY Cooper
- Riley
- an 80s Lakers team that never had to beat a great center in 5 title runs (and Hakeem would have crushed Moses in 1981 and 1983, unlike Kareem)
and it would be unimaginable what he could do
Give Kareem Hakeem's 1994 cast
- 0 HoF
- 0 All stars
- No HoF coach
- no DPOY
- a Rockets team that had to beat multiple HoF bigs in 94 and 95 to win titles
and he won't win 2nd rounds, won't lock down any great big, won't beat any great big, and will miss multiple playoffs - all of which are proven by what happened without Oscar/Magic in 6 seasons, 5 of which were prime seasons, 2 of them with Hall of Famers Dantley/Wilkes. So it's not like the cherry-picked Jordan seasons without Pippen, where MJ was a rookie, injured his 2nd year, and had drug addicts like Woolridge and Dailey kicked off the 87 team, and then injured halfway through his first year in Washington at age 38. Kareem was in his absolute prime and failing to get it done, even with stacked teams in 78 and 79. Kareem is the only supposed GOAT candidate to miss the playoffs twice in his prime, and wasn't even the best player on half his championships. That alone excludes him from being in Hakeem's league.
Hakeem is vastly superior defensively, way better at making his teammates better (whereas Oscar and Magic made Kareem better, not vice-versa), took much worse teams to higher heights against better overall competition, and was more clutch. Hakeem schooled almost every big man that was in his path, whereas Kareem got schooled by almost every big man in his path, even with better supporting casts. Kareem had the much, MUCH, better teams, but Hakeem was the vastly superior individual player. Not just superior, but vastly superior.
Part 1 - Kareem faced weak competition
Kareem's fellow MVP winners were the likes of Cowens, Walton, and McAdoo. This was incredibly easy competition for MVPs and not at all comparable to future MVP competition like Magic, Bird, Moses, Jordan, Isiah, Kevin Johnson, Hakeem, Karl Malone, Barkley, Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, LeBron, Nash, Wade, Durant, Curry, and many more.
Bob McAdoo in 1975 was the only pre-1996 MVP to not make the 50 Greatest List. Since 1996, Derrick Rose is likely the only other MVP who would not make the 50 Greatest. In 1976, Kareem became the only MVP to miss the playoffs. When the best player in league can't make playoffs - tells a lot about the league's quality. Likewise, when the best player of that decade in Kareem missed the playoffs twice, something no other consensus top 10 player has done, that further confirms the weakness of the league's quality
The 1970s is the only post-infancy decade with no great dynasty
1960s - Celtics
1980s - Lakers and Celtics
1990s - Bulls
2000s - Lakers and Spurs
2010s - Warriors
There was no 60+ win team in 5 of 10 seasons in the 1970s. From 1980 to 2017 that only happened once in 38 years (2000/01). Even in 2001, the Lakers became one of only two teams (2010 Lakers) to beat 4 50+ win teams in one playoffs, so the competition was still of far superior overall quality.
Kareem did not have to face many of the best players of the 1970s for several years
The ABA diluted the NBA by removing the best competition and placing them in a separate league
Rick Barry - 1969-1972
Artis Gilmore - 1972-1976
Billy Cunningham - 1973-1974
George Gervin - 1973-1976
Julius Erving - 1972-1976
David Thompson - 1976
Sub-50 Win Finals Teams from 1960-present
1965 Lakers - 49-31 - 80 game season
1977 Blazers - 49-33
2003 Nets - 49-33 - the last sub-50 team to make the NBA Finals
1964 Warriors - 48-32 - 80 game season
1969 Celtics - 48-34
1972 Knicks - 48-34
1975 Warriors - 48-34
1978 Sonics - 47-35
1995 Rockets - 47-35
1970 Lakers - 46-36
1966 Lakers - 45-35 - 80 game season
1967 Warriors - 44-37 - 81 game season
1978 Bullets - 44-38
1999 Knicks - 44-38 - win% adjusted for 82 games (27-23)
1971 Bullets - 42-40
1976 Suns - 42-40
1981 Rockets - 40-42 - only losing Finals team since 1959
8 of the 17 sub-50 win teams to make the Finals from 1960-present came in the weak 1970s.
1-seeds that had under 50 wins, 79+ game seasons only (1961-present)
1964 Warriors - 48-32
1965 Lakers - 49-31
1966 Lakers - 45-35
1967 Warriors - 44-37
1970 Hawks - 48-34
1975 Warriors - 48-34
In 79+ game seasons (1961-present), the 1960s and 1970s are the only decades to produce conferences with no 50+ win teams.
5 worst-record Finals teams (1960-present)
1999 Knicks - 44-38 (adj. for 82)
1978 Bullets - 44-38
1971 Bullets - 42-40
1976 Suns - 42-40
1981 Rockets - 40-42
The 1978 NBA Finals is the only time since 1958 that both Finals teams had under 50 wins, and the 1958 season only lasted 72 games. Record-wise, three of the five worst Finals teams from 1960-present were in the 1970s.
In the only championship that Kareem was the best player, the 1971 Bucks had one of the weakest paths to title of all-time
41-41 Warriors
48-34 Lakers (no Jerry West)
42-40 Bullets (Gus Johnson out 2 of 4 games)
The Bucks' opponents were a combined 131-115 (0.533), the worst collective playoff opponent win% of any title team after 1957, and that's before taking West and Johnson's injuries into account.
When Jerry West returned in 1972, the Lakers beat the Bucks on the way to the 1972 title.
Conclusion - Kareem played in weakest 1960s-present decade for almost all his prime. This made it significantly easier for him statistically and accolade-wise compared to future players.
In the 1980s, Kareem continued to benefit from easy competition.
Finals teams who faced 0 50+ win teams in pre-Finals rounds
Kareem's Bucks/Lakers 4 times (1971, 1982, 1984, 1987)
Since then, only happened 3 times (1989 Pistons, 2002 Nets, 2013 Heat)
The 1984 and 1987 Lakers are the last teams before 2007 Cavs to face two 0.500 or worse teams to make the Finals.
Part 2 - Kareem heavily depended on Magic / Oscar
Kareem = 2 scoring titles with Oscar
Kareem = 0 scoring titles without Oscar
The NBA's leading all-time scorer couldn't lead the NBA in scoring without being set up by Oscar Robertson, probably the second-best playmaker of all-time after Magic Johnson
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1971-1974 with Oscar
30.9 ppg on 56%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1975-1979 post-Oscar pre-Magic
26.6 ppg on 55%
-4.3 ppg decrease
Every year from the 1975 to 1979 season, Kareem's scoring continually decreased without Oscar Robertson by his side. This was not because Kareem had passed his prime, since Kareem was 27-31 during those years. In 1980, when Magic Johnson became a Laker, Kareem's scoring finally increased again at age 32 and he shot the highest FG% of his career.
Kareem = 3 seasons of 30+ ppg in 4 seasons with Oscar
Kareem = 0 seasons of 30+ ppg in any season without Oscar
Kareem came close with 29.98 PPG in the 1975 season, but even this came under anomalous circumstances. Firstly, the Bucks still missed the playoffs with Kareem, making his numbers empty stats a-la Demarcus Cousins with the Kings or Anthony Davis with the Pelicans. Kareem did miss games, but this was due to a self-inflicted injury. Kareem punched the stanchion out of frustration during a preseason game, putting him out of commission for the early part of the season. Any struggles the Bucks had in Kareem's absence is his own fault, since his own inability to keep his emotions in check is what put the Bucks at a disadvantage in the first place.
Secondly, the 1975 Western Conference was one of 6 times in a 79+ game season (1961-present) that a conference failed to produce a 50+ win team. This means that Kareem's numbers came under incredibly easy circumstances, even for the already weak standards of the 1970s. Lastly, Kareem shot the worst FG% of his career in the 1975 season (excluding his very last season at age 41) despite those favorable circumstances, so his high volume came at a high cost without Oscar.
The Bucks made the 1971 and 1974 Finals when Oscar led the playoffs in APG, but failed to make the Finals in 1972 and 1973 when Oscar did not lead the playoffs in APG, losing in 1 or 2 rounds. So without Oscar leading the playoffs in APG or having the all-time regular season and playoff leader in APG in Magic Johnson by his side, Kareem had no chance of making the Finals even under his very favorable circumstances. Without the two best playmakers of all-time playing at an extremely high level, Kareem's teams were going nowhere in the playoffs.
All players with 10+ APG in a Finals run
Bob Cousy 1 time (1959 - only lasted 2 rounds)
Magic Johnson 7 times, 6 of which Kareem benefited from
1974 Bucks with Oscar = Game 7 of the NBA Finals
1975 Bucks without Oscar = missed playoffs
1975 Bucks with Kareem = 38-44
1976 Bucks without Kareem = 38-44
Kareem became the only consensus top 10 player to miss the playoffs twice in prime without Oscar or Magic in 1975 and 1976. Kareem beat ZERO (0) 50+ win teams in the playoffs in 6 seasons without Oscar/Magic, 5 of which were prime seasons.
After struggling without Oscar, Kareem lucks out and is gifted Magic Johnson, the all-time leader in regular season and playoff APG, to set up his points like Oscar did.
In the 1980, 1981, and 1982 seasons, Kareem had more PPG with Magic than in the 1979 season without Magic, despite his minutes continuing to decrease each of those years and being ages 32-34. Kareem's 3 highest and 5 of his 6 highest FG% seasons came with Magic Johnson despite being ages 32-37 in those years with Magic. This is quite clearly because of Magic's passing.
Excluding Kareem's last season at age 41,
Kareem's 3 worst FG% seasons were non-Oscar/Magic years
1976 - 53%
1970 - 52%
1975 - 51%
2 of which were prime seasons
These statistics and facts with context clearly show that Kareem heavily depended on Magic and Oscar's passing to set him up. His best PPG and FG% years were with Oscar and Magic respectively, even when playing with Magic at ages 32-37. Yet Kareem's 3 worst FG% seasons, excluding his very last year at age 41, were in non-Magic/Oscar years, even when in his prime at age 27 and 28.
Part 3 - Kareem was not even the best player in 5 of 6 championships
Kareem only won 2 Finals MVPs out of 6 titles, and his second Finals MVP was undeserved. Kareem's 1971 Finals MVP came after one of the weakest roads to the title of all time as listed earlier.
41-41 Warriors
48-34 Lakers (no Jerry West)
42-40 Bullets (Gus Johnson out 2 of 4 games)
The Bucks' opponents were a combined 131-115 (0.533), the worst collective playoff opponent win% of any title team after 1957, and that's before taking West and Johnson's injuries into account.
1980 Playoffs
Kareem averaged 33-14-3 on 55% with 4.6 bpg for the 5 games he played in the NBA Finals, incredible averages. Magic put up great numbers as well, flirting with triple double averages of 22-11-9 on 57% along with 2.7 spg. Magic was 0.6 apg from averaging a triple double for the entire 1980 Playoffs. Even so, looking only at box score stats it still looks as if Kareem has the edge.
However, Magic's intangibles and his keys to the Lakers' success, even as a rookie, cannot be understated. In the 5 prime seasons that Kareem played after Oscar and before Magic (1974/75 to 1978/79), he missed the playoffs twice in his prime and never won more than one playoff series in any year, despite playing with good players such as Goodrich, Dantley, Norm Nixon, and Wilkes.
In 1979/1980 Kareem's first season next to Magic's playmaking, he shot a career high 60% FG and won consecutive playoff series for the first time since the 1974 Bucks' Finals run. Kareem also increased his scoring in 1979/80 compared to the previous year, while his scoring decreased every from from 1974/75 to 1978/79. Kareem's 3 highest and 5 of his 6 highest FG% seasons came with Magic Johnson despite being ages 32-37 in those years with Magic. This is quite clearly because of Magic's passing. Magic's playmaking was clearly essential for Kareem, and the rest of the Lakers, to play at such an efficient level and in order for the Lakers to have success as a team.
Lastly, Magic proved that he could get it done without Kareem, clinching Game 6 of the Finals on the road against the Sixers with a monster stat-line of 42-15-7-3-1 while Kareem nursed his ankle injury. Magic was fully capable of putting up even greater stats than he normally did when necessary, but as the greatest playmaker of all-time he was content with making sure his teammates were playing great, while sacrificing his own stats for team success. That key intangible was the reason Magic Johnson was the best player on each of his 5 championships, regardless of who won Finals MVP.
1982 Playoffs
Magic Johnson
17.4 ppg - 11.3 rpg - 9.3 apg on 53% and 2.9 spg
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
20.4 ppg - 8.5 rpg - 3.6 apg on 52% and 3.2 bpg
Magic was 0.7 apg from averaging a playoff triple double and was clearly the best Laker in their second 80s title as well.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1982 Finals
18.0 ppg 7.7 rpg 3.8 apg on 53% FG - 54% FT
Vlade Divac 1991 Finals
18.2 ppg 8.2 rpg 2.0 apg on 57% FG - 100% FT
1985 Playoffs
Kareem didn't deserve the 1985 Finals MVP at all. Magic averaged a playoff record 15.2 apg and a Finals record 14.0 apg in 1985. Kareem and the other Lakers' scoring heavily benefited from Magic having the best passing and playmaking series in NBA Finals history. So simply copy pasting Kareem's stats and comparing them with Magic is not fair. Kareem's scoring, especially at that age, only looked so good because of the passing of Magic Johnson himself, by far the greatest playmaker and point guard of all-time.
When you factor in that Magic's 14.0 apg in the Finals translates to at least 28.0 ppg (at least 2 points per assist) Magic accounted for at least 46 ppg in the Finals, far higher than anyone else in those Finals. So Magic's 18-7-14 on 56% is clearly better than Kareem's 26-9-5 on 60% when you put Magic's apg in statistical context, not to mention the context of Magic's intangibles as mentioned earlier. Magic had by far the greatest passing NBA Finals series of all-time (nobody besides Magic has even reached 11.5 apg in the Finals) and should have been the clear-cut 1985 Finals MVP, without a doubt. For the playoffs as a whole, Magic accounted for at least 47.9 PPG if all assists are 2 points, which once again was far higher than any other Laker in the 1985 Playoffs. No other Laker would have accounted for 30 ppg in the playoffs if all assists counted as 2 points.
1987 Playoffs
Magic Johnson
21.8 ppg - 7.7 rpg - 12.2 apg on 54%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
19.2 ppg - 6.8 rpg - 2.0 apg on 53%
Pau Gasol 2010 Title run
19.6 ppg - 11.1 rpg - 3.5 apg on 54%
1988 Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
14.1 ppg - 5.5 rpg - 1.5 apg on 46%
Kareem was a role player that was just along for the ride in his last ring
Conclusion - Kareem's rings are not at all comparable to the likes of Jordan, Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq, Magic, Bird etc. Kareem was a follower, not a leader, except in the case of 1971 against incredibly weak competition.
Part 4 - Kareem was a mediocre defender
Willis Reed = 0 seasons of 22 ppg
Willis Reed = 27.8 ppg vs Kareem in 1970 EDF
Wilt Chamberlain (Age 34)
20.7 ppg on 55% in the season
22.0 ppg (FG% N/A) vs Kareem in 1971 WCF
1972 season
Kareem = 34.8 ppg on 57%
Thurmond = 21.4 ppg on 43%
1972 WCSF
Kareem = 22.8 ppg on 41%
Thurmond = 25.4 ppg (FG% N/A)
The Bucks still won thanks to Oscar carrying Kareem. With Kareem struggling, Oscar redirected the offense through Bob Dandridge, who outscored Kareem 24 to 23 ppg. Kareem shot a poor 64% FT in the 1972 WCSF
1973
Kareem = 30.2 ppg on 55% in the season
Kareem = 22.8 ppg on 43% in WCSF vs Thurmond
Oscar = 21-5-8 on 50% FG - 91% FT, but the Bucks still lost despite Kareem having such stacked help.
Kareem also shot a poor 53% FT in the 1973 WCSF
1974
Cowens = 19 ppg on 44% in the season
Cowens = 23 ppg on 44% in Finals vs Kareem
1974 Finals Game 7
Cowens = 28-14-4-2-1 on 52% FG - 100% FT
Kareem = 26-13-4-0-0 on 48% FG - 55% FT
Cowens outperformed Kareem in every statistic except for tying him in assists.
1975 and 1976
Kareem became only consensus top 10 player to miss 2 playoffs in his prime
1977
Walton = 18.6 ppg 14.4 rpg 3.8 apg on 53% in the season
Walton = 19.3 ppg 14.8 rpg 5.8 apg on 50% in WCF vs Kareem
Walton's PPG, RPG, and APG all increased against Kareem with a slight dip in FG%
1978
Jack Sikma = 10.7 ppg on 46% in his rookie season
Jack Sikma = 18.3 ppg (N/A FG%) vs Kareem in 1st round win
1980
Darryl Dawkins = 14.7 ppg on 52% in the season
Darryl Dawkins = 21.4 ppg on 52% in 1980 Finals Games 1-5
Game 6 is excluded because Kareem did not play
Interestingly, Dawkins only had 14 points on Game 6 when Kareem did not play after scoring over 20 in 4 consecutive games when Kareem played in Games 2-5 .
1981 1st Rd (FG% N/A)
Moses Malone - 31.3 ppg
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 26.7 ppg
Moses beat Kareem with a 40-42 team
1982
Dave Corzine - 10-8 on 52% in the season
Dave Corzine - 16-11 on 47% in WCF vs Kareem
1983 Finals
Moses Malone - 25.8 ppg 18.0 rpg on 51%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 23.5 ppg 7.5 rpg on 55%
Moses' PPG, RPG, and FG% all increased compared to the regular season
1983
Artis Gilmore - 18-12 on 63% in the season
Artis Gilmore - 20-14 on 60% vs Kareem in 1983 WCF
In 1984 Kareem turned 36, so we won't look at his mediocre defense from that point on.
Conclusion - Kareem was a mediocre defender who often got lit up and exposed against other big men.
Part 1 - Kareem faced weak competition
Kareem's fellow MVP winners were the likes of Cowens, Walton, and McAdoo. This was incredibly easy competition for MVPs and not at all comparable to future MVP competition like Magic, Bird, Moses, Jordan, Isiah, Kevin Johnson, Hakeem, Karl Malone, Barkley, Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, LeBron, Nash, Wade, Durant, Curry, and many more.
Bob McAdoo in 1975 was the only pre-1996 MVP to not make the 50 Greatest List. Since 1996, Derrick Rose is likely the only other MVP who would not make the 50 Greatest. In 1976, Kareem became the only MVP to miss the playoffs. When the best player in league can't make playoffs - tells a lot about the league's quality. Likewise, when the best player of that decade in Kareem missed the playoffs twice, something no other consensus top 10 player has done, that further confirms the weakness of the league's quality
The 1970s is the only post-infancy decade with no great dynasty
1960s - Celtics
1980s - Lakers and Celtics
1990s - Bulls
2000s - Lakers and Spurs
2010s - Warriors
There was no 60+ win team in 5 of 10 seasons in the 1970s. From 1980 to 2017 that only happened once in 38 years (2000/01). Even in 2001, the Lakers became one of only two teams (2010 Lakers) to beat 4 50+ win teams in one playoffs, so the competition was still of far superior overall quality.
Kareem did not have to face many of the best players of the 1970s for several years
The ABA diluted the NBA by removing the best competition and placing them in a separate league
Rick Barry - 1969-1972
Artis Gilmore - 1972-1976
Billy Cunningham - 1973-1974
George Gervin - 1973-1976
Julius Erving - 1972-1976
David Thompson - 1976
Sub-50 Win Finals Teams from 1960-present
1965 Lakers - 49-31 - 80 game season
1977 Blazers - 49-33
2003 Nets - 49-33 - the last sub-50 team to make the NBA Finals
1964 Warriors - 48-32 - 80 game season
1969 Celtics - 48-34
1972 Knicks - 48-34
1975 Warriors - 48-34
1978 Sonics - 47-35
1995 Rockets - 47-35
1970 Lakers - 46-36
1966 Lakers - 45-35 - 80 game season
1967 Warriors - 44-37 - 81 game season
1978 Bullets - 44-38
1999 Knicks - 44-38 - win% adjusted for 82 games (27-23)
1971 Bullets - 42-40
1976 Suns - 42-40
1981 Rockets - 40-42 - only losing Finals team since 1959
8 of the 17 sub-50 win teams to make the Finals from 1960-present came in the weak 1970s.
1-seeds that had under 50 wins, 79+ game seasons only (1961-present)
1964 Warriors - 48-32
1965 Lakers - 49-31
1966 Lakers - 45-35
1967 Warriors - 44-37
1970 Hawks - 48-34
1975 Warriors - 48-34
In 79+ game seasons (1961-present), the 1960s and 1970s are the only decades to produce conferences with no 50+ win teams.
5 worst-record Finals teams (1960-present)
1999 Knicks - 44-38 (adj. for 82)
1978 Bullets - 44-38
1971 Bullets - 42-40
1976 Suns - 42-40
1981 Rockets - 40-42
The 1978 NBA Finals is the only time since 1958 that both Finals teams had under 50 wins, and the 1958 season only lasted 72 games. Record-wise, three of the five worst Finals teams from 1960-present were in the 1970s.
In the only championship that Kareem was the best player, the 1971 Bucks had one of the weakest paths to title of all-time
41-41 Warriors
48-34 Lakers (no Jerry West)
42-40 Bullets (Gus Johnson out 2 of 4 games)
The Bucks' opponents were a combined 131-115 (0.533), the worst collective playoff opponent win% of any title team after 1957, and that's before taking West and Johnson's injuries into account.
When Jerry West returned in 1972, the Lakers beat the Bucks on the way to the 1972 title.
Conclusion - Kareem played in weakest 1960s-present decade for almost all his prime. This made it significantly easier for him statistically and accolade-wise compared to future players.
In the 1980s, Kareem continued to benefit from easy competition.
Finals teams who faced 0 50+ win teams in pre-Finals rounds
Kareem's Bucks/Lakers 4 times (1971, 1982, 1984, 1987)
Since then, only happened 3 times (1989 Pistons, 2002 Nets, 2013 Heat)
The 1984 and 1987 Lakers are the last teams before 2007 Cavs to face two 0.500 or worse teams to make the Finals.
Part 2 - Kareem heavily depended on Magic / Oscar
Kareem = 2 scoring titles with Oscar
Kareem = 0 scoring titles without Oscar
The NBA's leading all-time scorer couldn't lead the NBA in scoring without being set up by Oscar Robertson, probably the second-best playmaker of all-time after Magic Johnson
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1971-1974 with Oscar
30.9 ppg on 56%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1975-1979 post-Oscar pre-Magic
26.6 ppg on 55%
-4.3 ppg decrease
Every year from the 1975 to 1979 season, Kareem's scoring continually decreased without Oscar Robertson by his side. This was not because Kareem had passed his prime, since Kareem was 27-31 during those years. In 1980, when Magic Johnson became a Laker, Kareem's scoring finally increased again at age 32 and he shot the highest FG% of his career.
Kareem = 3 seasons of 30+ ppg in 4 seasons with Oscar
Kareem = 0 seasons of 30+ ppg in any season without Oscar
Kareem came close with 29.98 PPG in the 1975 season, but even this came under anomalous circumstances. Firstly, the Bucks still missed the playoffs with Kareem, making his numbers empty stats a-la Demarcus Cousins with the Kings or Anthony Davis with the Pelicans. Kareem did miss games, but this was due to a self-inflicted injury. Kareem punched the stanchion out of frustration during a preseason game, putting him out of commission for the early part of the season. Any struggles the Bucks had in Kareem's absence is his own fault, since his own inability to keep his emotions in check is what put the Bucks at a disadvantage in the first place.
Secondly, the 1975 Western Conference was one of 6 times in a 79+ game season (1961-present) that a conference failed to produce a 50+ win team. This means that Kareem's numbers came under incredibly easy circumstances, even for the already weak standards of the 1970s. Lastly, Kareem shot the worst FG% of his career in the 1975 season (excluding his very last season at age 41) despite those favorable circumstances, so his high volume came at a high cost without Oscar.
The Bucks made the 1971 and 1974 Finals when Oscar led the playoffs in APG, but failed to make the Finals in 1972 and 1973 when Oscar did not lead the playoffs in APG, losing in 1 or 2 rounds. So without Oscar leading the playoffs in APG or having the all-time regular season and playoff leader in APG in Magic Johnson by his side, Kareem had no chance of making the Finals even under his very favorable circumstances. Without the two best playmakers of all-time playing at an extremely high level, Kareem's teams were going nowhere in the playoffs.
All players with 10+ APG in a Finals run
Bob Cousy 1 time (1959 - only lasted 2 rounds)
Magic Johnson 7 times, 6 of which Kareem benefited from
1974 Bucks with Oscar = Game 7 of the NBA Finals
1975 Bucks without Oscar = missed playoffs
1975 Bucks with Kareem = 38-44
1976 Bucks without Kareem = 38-44
Kareem became the only consensus top 10 player to miss the playoffs twice in prime without Oscar or Magic in 1975 and 1976. Kareem beat ZERO (0) 50+ win teams in the playoffs in 6 seasons without Oscar/Magic, 5 of which were prime seasons.
After struggling without Oscar, Kareem lucks out and is gifted Magic Johnson, the all-time leader in regular season and playoff APG, to set up his points like Oscar did.
In the 1980, 1981, and 1982 seasons, Kareem had more PPG with Magic than in the 1979 season without Magic, despite his minutes continuing to decrease each of those years and being ages 32-34. Kareem's 3 highest and 5 of his 6 highest FG% seasons came with Magic Johnson despite being ages 32-37 in those years with Magic. This is quite clearly because of Magic's passing.
Excluding Kareem's last season at age 41,
Kareem's 3 worst FG% seasons were non-Oscar/Magic years
1976 - 53%
1970 - 52%
1975 - 51%
2 of which were prime seasons
These statistics and facts with context clearly show that Kareem heavily depended on Magic and Oscar's passing to set him up. His best PPG and FG% years were with Oscar and Magic respectively, even when playing with Magic at ages 32-37. Yet Kareem's 3 worst FG% seasons, excluding his very last year at age 41, were in non-Magic/Oscar years, even when in his prime at age 27 and 28.
Part 3 - Kareem was not even the best player in 5 of 6 championships
Kareem only won 2 Finals MVPs out of 6 titles, and his second Finals MVP was undeserved. Kareem's 1971 Finals MVP came after one of the weakest roads to the title of all time as listed earlier.
41-41 Warriors
48-34 Lakers (no Jerry West)
42-40 Bullets (Gus Johnson out 2 of 4 games)
The Bucks' opponents were a combined 131-115 (0.533), the worst collective playoff opponent win% of any title team after 1957, and that's before taking West and Johnson's injuries into account.
1980 Playoffs
Kareem averaged 33-14-3 on 55% with 4.6 bpg for the 5 games he played in the NBA Finals, incredible averages. Magic put up great numbers as well, flirting with triple double averages of 22-11-9 on 57% along with 2.7 spg. Magic was 0.6 apg from averaging a triple double for the entire 1980 Playoffs. Even so, looking only at box score stats it still looks as if Kareem has the edge.
However, Magic's intangibles and his keys to the Lakers' success, even as a rookie, cannot be understated. In the 5 prime seasons that Kareem played after Oscar and before Magic (1974/75 to 1978/79), he missed the playoffs twice in his prime and never won more than one playoff series in any year, despite playing with good players such as Goodrich, Dantley, Norm Nixon, and Wilkes.
In 1979/1980 Kareem's first season next to Magic's playmaking, he shot a career high 60% FG and won consecutive playoff series for the first time since the 1974 Bucks' Finals run. Kareem also increased his scoring in 1979/80 compared to the previous year, while his scoring decreased every from from 1974/75 to 1978/79. Kareem's 3 highest and 5 of his 6 highest FG% seasons came with Magic Johnson despite being ages 32-37 in those years with Magic. This is quite clearly because of Magic's passing. Magic's playmaking was clearly essential for Kareem, and the rest of the Lakers, to play at such an efficient level and in order for the Lakers to have success as a team.
Lastly, Magic proved that he could get it done without Kareem, clinching Game 6 of the Finals on the road against the Sixers with a monster stat-line of 42-15-7-3-1 while Kareem nursed his ankle injury. Magic was fully capable of putting up even greater stats than he normally did when necessary, but as the greatest playmaker of all-time he was content with making sure his teammates were playing great, while sacrificing his own stats for team success. That key intangible was the reason Magic Johnson was the best player on each of his 5 championships, regardless of who won Finals MVP.
1982 Playoffs
Magic Johnson
17.4 ppg - 11.3 rpg - 9.3 apg on 53% and 2.9 spg
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
20.4 ppg - 8.5 rpg - 3.6 apg on 52% and 3.2 bpg
Magic was 0.7 apg from averaging a playoff triple double and was clearly the best Laker in their second 80s title as well.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1982 Finals
18.0 ppg 7.7 rpg 3.8 apg on 53% FG - 54% FT
Vlade Divac 1991 Finals
18.2 ppg 8.2 rpg 2.0 apg on 57% FG - 100% FT
1985 Playoffs
Kareem didn't deserve the 1985 Finals MVP at all. Magic averaged a playoff record 15.2 apg and a Finals record 14.0 apg in 1985. Kareem and the other Lakers' scoring heavily benefited from Magic having the best passing and playmaking series in NBA Finals history. So simply copy pasting Kareem's stats and comparing them with Magic is not fair. Kareem's scoring, especially at that age, only looked so good because of the passing of Magic Johnson himself, by far the greatest playmaker and point guard of all-time.
When you factor in that Magic's 14.0 apg in the Finals translates to at least 28.0 ppg (at least 2 points per assist) Magic accounted for at least 46 ppg in the Finals, far higher than anyone else in those Finals. So Magic's 18-7-14 on 56% is clearly better than Kareem's 26-9-5 on 60% when you put Magic's apg in statistical context, not to mention the context of Magic's intangibles as mentioned earlier. Magic had by far the greatest passing NBA Finals series of all-time (nobody besides Magic has even reached 11.5 apg in the Finals) and should have been the clear-cut 1985 Finals MVP, without a doubt. For the playoffs as a whole, Magic accounted for at least 47.9 PPG if all assists are 2 points, which once again was far higher than any other Laker in the 1985 Playoffs. No other Laker would have accounted for 30 ppg in the playoffs if all assists counted as 2 points.
1987 Playoffs
Magic Johnson
21.8 ppg - 7.7 rpg - 12.2 apg on 54%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
19.2 ppg - 6.8 rpg - 2.0 apg on 53%
Pau Gasol 2010 Title run
19.6 ppg - 11.1 rpg - 3.5 apg on 54%
1988 Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
14.1 ppg - 5.5 rpg - 1.5 apg on 46%
Kareem was a role player that was just along for the ride in his last ring
Conclusion - Kareem's rings are not at all comparable to the likes of Jordan, Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq, Magic, Bird etc. Kareem was a follower, not a leader, except in the case of 1971 against incredibly weak competition.
Part 4 - Kareem was a mediocre defender
Willis Reed = 0 seasons of 22 ppg
Willis Reed = 27.8 ppg vs Kareem in 1970 EDF
Wilt Chamberlain (Age 34)
20.7 ppg on 55% in the season
22.0 ppg (FG% N/A) vs Kareem in 1971 WCF
1972 season
Kareem = 34.8 ppg on 57%
Thurmond = 21.4 ppg on 43%
1972 WCSF
Kareem = 22.8 ppg on 41%
Thurmond = 25.4 ppg (FG% N/A)
The Bucks still won thanks to Oscar carrying Kareem. With Kareem struggling, Oscar redirected the offense through Bob Dandridge, who outscored Kareem 24 to 23 ppg. Kareem shot a poor 64% FT in the 1972 WCSF
1973
Kareem = 30.2 ppg on 55% in the season
Kareem = 22.8 ppg on 43% in WCSF vs Thurmond
Oscar = 21-5-8 on 50% FG - 91% FT, but the Bucks still lost despite Kareem having such stacked help.
Kareem also shot a poor 53% FT in the 1973 WCSF
1974
Cowens = 19 ppg on 44% in the season
Cowens = 23 ppg on 44% in Finals vs Kareem
1974 Finals Game 7
Cowens = 28-14-4-2-1 on 52% FG - 100% FT
Kareem = 26-13-4-0-0 on 48% FG - 55% FT
Cowens outperformed Kareem in every statistic except for tying him in assists.
1975 and 1976
Kareem became only consensus top 10 player to miss 2 playoffs in his prime
1977
Walton = 18.6 ppg 14.4 rpg 3.8 apg on 53% in the season
Walton = 19.3 ppg 14.8 rpg 5.8 apg on 50% in WCF vs Kareem
Walton's PPG, RPG, and APG all increased against Kareem with a slight dip in FG%
1978
Jack Sikma = 10.7 ppg on 46% in his rookie season
Jack Sikma = 18.3 ppg (N/A FG%) vs Kareem in 1st round win
1980
Darryl Dawkins = 14.7 ppg on 52% in the season
Darryl Dawkins = 21.4 ppg on 52% in 1980 Finals Games 1-5
Game 6 is excluded because Kareem did not play
Interestingly, Dawkins only had 14 points on Game 6 when Kareem did not play after scoring over 20 in 4 consecutive games when Kareem played in Games 2-5 .
1981 1st Rd (FG% N/A)
Moses Malone - 31.3 ppg
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 26.7 ppg
Moses beat Kareem with a 40-42 team
1982
Dave Corzine - 10-8 on 52% in the season
Dave Corzine - 16-11 on 47% in WCF vs Kareem
1983 Finals
Moses Malone - 25.8 ppg 18.0 rpg on 51%
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 23.5 ppg 7.5 rpg on 55%
Moses' PPG, RPG, and FG% all increased compared to the regular season
1983
Artis Gilmore - 18-12 on 63% in the season
Artis Gilmore - 20-14 on 60% vs Kareem in 1983 WCF
In 1984 Kareem turned 36, so we won't look at his mediocre defense from that point on.
Conclusion - Kareem was a mediocre defender who often got lit up and exposed against other big men.
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaq is also not on Hakeem's level. Shaq, like Kareem, was not as impressive when he went against teams with great big men, and had vastly superior supporting casts against weaker competition when he did most of his damage and made his name. Lets show why Shaq, as great as he is, can't touch Hakeem.
First off, Shaq played on way, way better teams. He played with Penny Hardaway, Kobe, and Wade, 2 of those will be Hall of Famers and the only reason Penny isn't is because of injuries. Penny averaged 26-5-8 on 50% in his first and only Finals at age 23, which are basically Wade and Kobe-type numbers. In the 90s, Shaq's teams were 56-31 (0.644 win%) without him, whereas we saw how Hakeem's teams fell apart without him. The 96 Magic were 20-8 without Shaq and won 60 games with Shaq missing 28 games. Even with a stacked Magic team, Shaq couldn't get it done.
In 1998/99, Shaq and the Lakers acquired Dennis Rodman, and the Lakers were 17-6 with Rodman which would be on pace to tie the Spurs and Jazz for the best record in the league. But without Rodman, Shaq and the Lakers were barely 0.500 at 14-13, and Shaq got swept in the WCSF. Let's not forget that Rodman schooled and destroyed Shaq every time they matched up, whereas Hakeem destroyed prime Robinson and Rodman at the same time in the 1995 WCF. Shaq couldn't handle the real 90s competition even with his stacked teams, and in 1999 the Lakers were an average team without Rodman.
Despite playing on great teams in the 90s, Shaq had 0 MVPs, 0 rings, 0 defense teams, and 5 sweeps in that era. It wasn't until the 2000s when Shaq had almost no big man competition that he started winning rings and accolades. And the few times that Shaq did beat a team with a great big men, he was outscored by Wade or Kobe in almost all those series.
2001, 2002, 2004 Spurs (Duncan/Robinson)
 |
| Without a dominant guard to shoulder the scoring load against his top big man competition, Shaq was unable to get it done in the playoffs |
2001 Kings (Chris Webber)
2003, 2004 Wolves (Kevin Garnett)
2006 Pistons (Ben Wallace)
2006 Mavs (Dirk Nowitzki)
The exceptions are the 2001 Sixers with Mutombo and the 2000 and 2002 Kings with Chris Webber. Meanwhile Hakeem beat Malone x2, Barkley x2, Rodman/Robinson, Kemp, Ewing, and Kareem, all as the number 1 scorer and clear number 1 option. We can't say the same for Shaq when he played most of his great big man competition. When going against guys like Rik Smits and Todd Mccullogh in the Finals, Shaq had no problem dropping 33+ ppg and winning Finals MVP, but against the real big man competition and his toughest opponents, Shaq couldn't deliver.
Hell, Shaq was even outscored by 40 year old Karl Malone when they beat Yao Ming and the 2004 Rockets. Shaq and 40-year old Malone's overall production was pretty much equal in the first round against the Rockets
Malone - 18-10-3 on 49% with 2 spg and 59% FT
Shaq - 16-11-4 on 52% with 3 bpg and 30% FT
Malone had 16 fouls, Shaq had 22 fouls
Both had 11 turnovers
When Shaq didn't have Wade or Kobe shouldering the scoring load against teams with good big men, he was
0-4 against Hakeems 1995 Rockets (outscored every game by Hakeem)
0-4 against Rodman's 1996 Bulls (and shut down every time Rodman switched on him)
1-4 against Malone's 1997 Jazz (shot under 50%)
0-4 against Malone's 1998 Jazz
0-4 against Duncan/Robinson's 1999 Spurs (shot under 50%)
2003, 2004 Wolves (Kevin Garnett)
2006 Pistons (Ben Wallace)
2006 Mavs (Dirk Nowitzki)
The exceptions are the 2001 Sixers with Mutombo and the 2000 and 2002 Kings with Chris Webber. Meanwhile Hakeem beat Malone x2, Barkley x2, Rodman/Robinson, Kemp, Ewing, and Kareem, all as the number 1 scorer and clear number 1 option. We can't say the same for Shaq when he played most of his great big man competition. When going against guys like Rik Smits and Todd Mccullogh in the Finals, Shaq had no problem dropping 33+ ppg and winning Finals MVP, but against the real big man competition and his toughest opponents, Shaq couldn't deliver.
Hell, Shaq was even outscored by 40 year old Karl Malone when they beat Yao Ming and the 2004 Rockets. Shaq and 40-year old Malone's overall production was pretty much equal in the first round against the Rockets
Malone - 18-10-3 on 49% with 2 spg and 59% FT
Shaq - 16-11-4 on 52% with 3 bpg and 30% FT
Malone had 16 fouls, Shaq had 22 fouls
Both had 11 turnovers
When Shaq didn't have Wade or Kobe shouldering the scoring load against teams with good big men, he was
0-4 against Hakeems 1995 Rockets (outscored every game by Hakeem)
0-4 against Rodman's 1996 Bulls (and shut down every time Rodman switched on him)
1-4 against Malone's 1997 Jazz (shot under 50%)
0-4 against Malone's 1998 Jazz
0-4 against Duncan/Robinson's 1999 Spurs (shot under 50%)
Shaq's performances against teams with great big men is quite underwhelming, considering Shaq is often considered the most dominant player ever. Then you have to consider that in Game 7 of the 2000 WCF, in Shaq's MVP and 2nd place in DPOY season, he disappeared and allowed Kobe to lead the team in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks to save the Lakers from blowing a 3-1 lead against Portland. Hakeem never shrunk like that in any of his Game 7 performances, and was way more clutch than Shaq. As far as I know, Shaq has never had a game-winning/tying play in the Finals, whereas Hakeem had at least one in each of his 3 Finals appearances, on either offense or defense.
1986 Finals, Game 3
- forced Parish to miss the game-winner
- forced Parish out of bounds on the next possession to clinch the game
1994 Finals, Game 6
- series-saving block on John Starks
1995 Finals, Game 1
- game-winning tip-in (Shaq only had 1 point in OT this game)
Shaq was young in the 1995 Finals, and we went over this in the Kareem section, but let's just do a quick recap anyway. Shaq averaged 1 more rebound, and less than 1 more block and less than 1 more assist. Hakeem scored 5 more ppg than Shaq (outscored him every game - even though Shaq was the regular season scoring champ) and in the entire Finals had 8 steals to Shaq's 1 steal. Shaq also had twice as many turnovers as Hakeem. Shaq barely squeezed by Hakeem in those categories but Hakeem destroyed him in the rest
In Game 2, Shaq only had 10 points on 3/10 (30%) FG at halftime, and the Rockets had a 22-point lead entering the 2nd half, and a 19-point lead entering the 4th quarter. Hakeem locked him down in the first half, and Shaq padded his stats in the 2nd half after getting blown out (Ã la LeBron 2014), and further showing why box score stats aren't always the most accurate.
In Game 2, Shaq only had 10 points on 3/10 (30%) FG at halftime, and the Rockets had a 22-point lead entering the 2nd half, and a 19-point lead entering the 4th quarter. Hakeem locked him down in the first half, and Shaq padded his stats in the 2nd half after getting blown out (Ã la LeBron 2014), and further showing why box score stats aren't always the most accurate.
the only place where Shaq is better by a lot is 59% FG to 48% FG, but FG% by itself doesnt matter
LeBron is a good example, aside from his 2015 Finals when he shot a very poor sub-40%.
2014 Finals - 57% on 18 shots a game, lost
2011 Finals - 48% on 15 shots a game, lost
2012 Finals - 47% on 21+ shots a game, win
2013 Finals - 45% on 21+ shots a game, win
Hakeem shot a lower % but took more shots and taking more shots while shooting a respectable percentage is better than taking less shots and shooting a higher%. Hakeem didnt destroy Shaq but he definitely outplayed him, especially considering the game-winning tip in Game 1 and the sealing assist in Game 3 to go up 3-0.
Allen Iverson in the 2001 Playoffs is another example.
before the Finals against the undefeated Lakers
The Sixers in the playoffs were
7-2 when Iverson took 30+ shots
4-5 when Iverson took less than 30 shots
and in the 2001 Finals
Iverson took 41 shots in the one game the Sixers won
and 0-4 in the 4 games he took 29 to 32 shots.
Then you also have to consider the intangible of Hakeem elevating the team around him to a higher degree than Shaq. The Rockets were 3-7 without Hakeem in 95 and 1-9 without him in 96, whereas the 96 Magic were 20-8 without Shaq.
Yet another shocking fact of Shaq's career is that he never led a team in 4/5 categories in any single playoff series, let alone a whole season or playoff run. He was nowhere near as well-rounded as Hakeem. Granted, the triangle makes it much harder to lead a team in 4/5 categories as it takes away your assist opportunities (Jordan led a team in 4/5 categories for a regular season in 84/85 and 87/88, but never under the triangle, though he did do it in several playoff series under the triangle, including some near 5/5 series), but it still shows Shaq is not on Hakeem's level in terms of being an all-around player. It should be expected that Shaq would have much less seasons or playoff series leading a team in 4/5 categories, but for it to be a grand total of 0 is quite surprising.
Not only is Hakeem number 1 all-time in seasons leading the team in averaging 4/5 categories (minimum 50 games) with 9, but he led an entire team in 5/5 categories for the entire 1994 title run, Shaq can't even do 4/5 for a single playoff series. Hakeem at age 34 became the oldest player to lead a team in 4/5 for a playoff series in the 1997 WCF yet Shaq couldn't do it once. In 1988, Hakeem averaged 38-17-2-2-3 on 57% in the playoffs, but lost in the first round because his team was so bad. Shaq put up 38-17-2-1-3 on 61% in the 2000 Finals and got Finals MVP for it. More proof of how much rougher Hakeem had it.
And defensively, oh my God, Hakeem crushes Shaq on defense. Defense teams are not the end-all be-all of evaluating defense, but it does say something that Shaq never made a single first-team defense even with the great lack of paint defenders in his era compared to Hakeem's. Hakeem as we showed in the Kareem section, locked down Kemp, Ewing, Robinson, Malone, and Barkley in many playoff series. Who has Shaq locked down in the playoffs? Even weak offensive players like Mutombo, Ben Wallace, Rodman, etc all increased their scoring production against Shaq in playoff matchups.
In 2005, Shaq was voted 2nd place in MVP, but this was proven to be a farce during the 2005 Playoffs. In the 2005 Playoffs, Wade was 2-0 when Shaq did not play in the ECSF, but Shaq was 0-1 without Wade in Game 6 of the 2005 ECF with a chance to go to the Finals. Without Wade to carry him against a team with a great big like Ben Wallace, Shaq failed to deliver the win as expected. Meanwhile Hakeem took a team with 0 all-stars/HoFs to the 1994 title while leading them in 5/5 categories, then in 1995 took a past prime Drexler from a 42.8% shooter to a 50.6% shooter in the regular season and carried him to a ring as well. Hakeem also made 2 NBA Finals without one of his starting guards, the 1986 run without John Lucas and the 1995 run without Vernon Maxwell who got kicked off the team at the start of the 1995 Playoffs.
Hakeem is easily better than Shaq. Like Kareem, Shaq had a much more stacked supporting cast, against easier competition. Hakeem was way more clutch and better on defense, and did much more with less. Shaq played on more stacked teams and still couldn't dominate nearly as much when facing a great big man, getting outscored by Kobe and Wade nearly every time in order to beat them. Hakeem carried some of the weakest teams of all-time (read this in detail in the Kareem section if you haven't, there's no point in writing that all over again) against competition more stacked than Shaq can dream of. Replacing Shaq with Hakeem on the Lakers, Magic, Heat, and Suns would give Hakeem more rings than Bill Russell, whereas putting Shaq on the Rockets would just make us hope that Shaq can even reach the Finals. Hakeem is vastly superior than Shaq as an individual player. Not just superior, but vastly superior.
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain was a great player, but he was also not on Hakeem's level. Section 10 breaks down some of the myths around Wilt. One of the many problems with Wilt was his obsession with chasing stats rather than helping his team win. This puts a huge asterisk next to Wilt's statistical feats, one of them being his assists title.
"Wilt is a very goal-oriented person, and and under Alex (Hannum) he wanted to win a title and become the first center to lead the league in assists. He liked to pass to Hal Greer or myself, because we just caught it and shot it. Chet Walker usually caught the ball, took a dribble or two and then shot it - no assist for Wilt (under the assist rules of that time). So Wilt preferred to give the ball to us.
- Billy Cunningham
Wilt went out of his way to chase his assist stats - going as far as to AVOID passing to Hall of Fame teammate Chet Walker because he would most likely not get an assist from Walker under the format of recording assist statistics at the time.
Wilt went out of his way to chase his assist stats - going as far as to AVOID passing to Hall of Fame teammate Chet Walker because he would most likely not get an assist from Walker under the format of recording assist statistics at the time.
"He said in training camp that he wanted to lead the league in assists. He thought that would be cool. Of course, we all thought that would be cool too. But he didn't want us to run. He wouldn't throw outlet passes off rebounds. Only Billy or Chet were allowed to run out and score on the fastbreak if they got long rebounds.
"Wilt wanted to be involved in every half-court play, so he stood there in the middle and all of us would run around him and he tried to pile up his assists. You've got to remember that assists were kept much more strictly back then. There was none of this stuff like today where you can take three dribbles and a head-fake and it counts. You got assists if you caught the pass and made the shot. So that meant Wilt would only pass it to guys who could catch and shoot -- Luke, Billy sometimes, Wali, Hal and me. In my case, he'd try to get me to just go backdoor for a layup, because he didn't trust me to do much else. And he'd never pass it to Chet Walker, because Chet always had to be pump-faking or use a dribble and take away the assist.
- Matt Guokas
"Wilts greatest idiosyncrasy was not fouling out. He had never fouled out of a high school, college or professional game and that was the one record he was determined to protect. When he got that fourth foul, his game would change. I don't know how any potential victories he may have cheated his team out of by not really playing after he got into foul trouble"
- John Havlicek
Ask yourself why Russell has 11 championship rings and Wilt has only two. Wilt will say that Russell had great players around him. He did. But the players would leave, new ones would come in and Boston would still win. The one constant was Russell. He would adjust to any situation. The difference between Russell and Wilt was this. Russell would ask, 'What do i need to do to make my teammates better?' Then he'd do it. Wilt honestly thought the best way for his team to win was for him to be in the best possible setting. He'd ask, 'What's the best situation for me?"
- Butch Van Breda Kolff - coach of the 1968 and 1969 Lakers
"I'll say what most players feel, which is that Wilt is a loser...He is terrible in big games. He knows he is going to lose and be blamed for the loss, so he dreads it, and you can see it in his eyes; and anyone who has ever played with him will agree with me, regardless of whether they would admit it publicly. When it comes down to the closing minutes of a tough game, an important game, he doesn't want the ball, he doesn't want any part of the pressure. It is at these times that greatness is determined and Wilt doesn't have it. There is no way you can compare him to a pro like a Bill Russell or a Jerry West...these are clutch competitors."
- Rick Barry
"I have the impression that Wilt might have been more secure with losing. In defeat, after carefully covering himself with allusions to his accomplishments, he could be magnanimous."
"Wilt played the game as if he had to prove himself to someone who had never seen basketball. He pointed to his statistical achievements as specific measurements of his basketball ability, and they were; but to someone who knows basketball they are, if not irrelevant certainly nonessential. The point of the game is not how the individual does, but rather the team wins."
"He got a stat sheet at half time and he'd come over and question whether or not he got enough rebounds"
- Chick Hearn
"It wasn't a matter of Wilt vs. Russell with Bill. It was a matter of who won."
- John Havlicek
- Matt Guokas
"Wilt's incessant search for individual records indicated to me that he never really understood how the game should be played. Russell had much more intensity than Wilt, and skills that were better-suited to basketball. Russell made us better players. Wilt, in my opinion, had the opposite effect."
- Bob Cousy
- Bob Cousy
"Wilts greatest idiosyncrasy was not fouling out. He had never fouled out of a high school, college or professional game and that was the one record he was determined to protect. When he got that fourth foul, his game would change. I don't know how any potential victories he may have cheated his team out of by not really playing after he got into foul trouble"
- John Havlicek
Ask yourself why Russell has 11 championship rings and Wilt has only two. Wilt will say that Russell had great players around him. He did. But the players would leave, new ones would come in and Boston would still win. The one constant was Russell. He would adjust to any situation. The difference between Russell and Wilt was this. Russell would ask, 'What do i need to do to make my teammates better?' Then he'd do it. Wilt honestly thought the best way for his team to win was for him to be in the best possible setting. He'd ask, 'What's the best situation for me?"
- Butch Van Breda Kolff - coach of the 1968 and 1969 Lakers
"I'll say what most players feel, which is that Wilt is a loser...He is terrible in big games. He knows he is going to lose and be blamed for the loss, so he dreads it, and you can see it in his eyes; and anyone who has ever played with him will agree with me, regardless of whether they would admit it publicly. When it comes down to the closing minutes of a tough game, an important game, he doesn't want the ball, he doesn't want any part of the pressure. It is at these times that greatness is determined and Wilt doesn't have it. There is no way you can compare him to a pro like a Bill Russell or a Jerry West...these are clutch competitors."
- Rick Barry
"I have the impression that Wilt might have been more secure with losing. In defeat, after carefully covering himself with allusions to his accomplishments, he could be magnanimous."
- Bill Bradley
"To Bill (Russell), every game ... was a challenge, a test to his manhood. He took the game so seriously that he threw up in the locker room before almost every game. But I tend to look at basketball as a game, not a life or death struggle. I don't need scoring titles or NBA championships to prove that I'm a man. There are too many other beautiful things in life ... to get that emotionally wrapped up in basketball. I think Bill knew I felt that way, and I think he both envied and resented my attitude. On the one hand, I think he wished he could learn to take things easier, too; on the other hand, I think he may have felt that with my natural ability and willingness to work hard, my teams could have won an NBA championship every year if I was as totally committed to victory as he was. I wish I had won all those championships, but I really think I grew more as a man in defeat than Russell did in victory."
- Wilt Chamberlain in his autobiography, Wilt. In so many words, Wilt admitted he didn't care about winning nearly as much as Russell
"To Bill (Russell), every game ... was a challenge, a test to his manhood. He took the game so seriously that he threw up in the locker room before almost every game. But I tend to look at basketball as a game, not a life or death struggle. I don't need scoring titles or NBA championships to prove that I'm a man. There are too many other beautiful things in life ... to get that emotionally wrapped up in basketball. I think Bill knew I felt that way, and I think he both envied and resented my attitude. On the one hand, I think he wished he could learn to take things easier, too; on the other hand, I think he may have felt that with my natural ability and willingness to work hard, my teams could have won an NBA championship every year if I was as totally committed to victory as he was. I wish I had won all those championships, but I really think I grew more as a man in defeat than Russell did in victory."
- Wilt Chamberlain in his autobiography, Wilt. In so many words, Wilt admitted he didn't care about winning nearly as much as Russell
The following quotes can be seen in this video
"If he had one third of Russell's intensity, God, he would have been even more awesome than he was"
- Bob Cousy
- Bob Cousy
"Chamberlain was concerned about Chamberlain. He was in love with his stats."
- Red Auerbach - who coached Russell's Celtics"He got a stat sheet at half time and he'd come over and question whether or not he got enough rebounds"
- Chick Hearn
"It wasn't a matter of Wilt vs. Russell with Bill. It was a matter of who won."
- John Havlicek
"Bill Russell understood how to make his team better. I don't think Wilt ever really understood that"
- Paul Westphal
Wilt also played on much more stacked teams compared to Hakeem, Wilt had many Hall of Famers by his side - Jerry West, Goodrich, Greer, Cunningham, Elgin Baylor, Thurmond, Guy Rodgers, Chet Walker, etc. Hakeem's best teammates of Ralph Sampson, who never made the playoffs without Hakeem, and Drexler who as shown above only played well in 95 because of Hakeem's presence, do not compare at all to Wilt's best teammates.
Wilt's production also fell when he went against two of his toughest big man competition, Bill Russell and Willis Reed. Wilt is 1-7 in his playoff career against Russell and 0-2 against Reed. Wilt's 2nd ring came against a Knicks team without their best player Willis Reed, putting a huge asterisk next to Wilt's 2nd ring as the Knicks were 2-0 against Wilt with Reed in the lineup. Wilt, along with LeBron, is the only 4x MVP with a losing record in the Finals, both being 2-4 apiece. Despite having to play far fewer rounds to make the Finals than Hakeem, Wilt couldn't win more often with a much more stacked team in more favorable circumstances compared to Hakeem.
Let us first start off with Wilt's struggles against Bill Russell
 |
| Wilt's scoring production always decreased in the playoffs against Russell, whereas Russell increased his scoring against Wilt on multiple occasions |
In all playoff meetings between Russell and Chamberlain, Wilt's scoring went down each time
Wilt = 37.6 ppg in 1959/60 season
Wilt = 30.5 ppg vs Russell in 1960 EDF
(- 7.1 ppg)
Wilt = 50.4 ppg in 1961/62 season
Wilt = 33.6 ppg vs Russell in 1962 EDF
(- 16.8 ppg)
Wilt = 36.9 ppg in 1963/64 season
Wilt = 29.2 ppg vs Russell in 1964 Finals
(- 7.7 ppg)
Wilt = 34.7 ppg in 1964/65 season
Wilt = 30.1 ppg vs Russell in 1965 EDF
(- 4.6 ppg)
Wilt = 33.5 ppg in 1965/66 season
Wilt = 28.0 ppg vs Russell in 1966 EDF
(- 5.5 ppg)
Wilt = 24.1 ppg in 1966/67 season
Wilt = 21.6 ppg vs Russell in 1967 EDF
(- 2.5 ppg the only time he beat Russell)
Wilt = 24.3 ppg in 1967/68 season
Wilt = 22.1 ppg vs Russell in 1968 EDF
(- 2.2 ppg)
Wilt = 20.5 ppg in 1968/69 season
Wilt = 11.7 ppg vs Russell in 1969 Finals
(- 8.8 ppg)
And this is without factoring in that Wilt did a lot of stat-padding in blowout situations, documented evidence from the 1962 EDF further supports Wilt's stat-padding tendencies. Wilt's numbers would look even lower if he didn't pad his stats.
Wilt = 37.6 ppg in 1959/60 season
Wilt = 30.5 ppg vs Russell in 1960 EDF
(- 7.1 ppg)
Wilt = 50.4 ppg in 1961/62 season
Wilt = 33.6 ppg vs Russell in 1962 EDF
(- 16.8 ppg)
Wilt = 36.9 ppg in 1963/64 season
Wilt = 29.2 ppg vs Russell in 1964 Finals
(- 7.7 ppg)
Wilt = 34.7 ppg in 1964/65 season
Wilt = 30.1 ppg vs Russell in 1965 EDF
(- 4.6 ppg)
Wilt = 33.5 ppg in 1965/66 season
Wilt = 28.0 ppg vs Russell in 1966 EDF
(- 5.5 ppg)
Wilt = 24.1 ppg in 1966/67 season
Wilt = 21.6 ppg vs Russell in 1967 EDF
(- 2.5 ppg the only time he beat Russell)
Wilt = 24.3 ppg in 1967/68 season
Wilt = 22.1 ppg vs Russell in 1968 EDF
(- 2.2 ppg)
Wilt = 20.5 ppg in 1968/69 season
Wilt = 11.7 ppg vs Russell in 1969 Finals
(- 8.8 ppg)
And this is without factoring in that Wilt did a lot of stat-padding in blowout situations, documented evidence from the 1962 EDF further supports Wilt's stat-padding tendencies. Wilt's numbers would look even lower if he didn't pad his stats.
Game 1 - Wilt held in check; Celts Cop
- "With Russell doing a defensive masterpiece on Wilt Chamberlain...Boston settled the contest early as it launched the defense of its world title. Russell, a picture of coordinated movement rising to the Chamberlain challenge held Wilt to 12 points in the first half. Chamberlain wound up high scorer with 33 points only after the issue was no longer in doubt."
Game 3 - Boston Clinches Contest Early (Russell Outplays Wilt, Celtics Take 2-1 Edge)
- "Bill Russell stole Wilt Chamberlain's thunder... Russell outscored and out rebounded scoring king Chamberlain in the crucial first half after being outplayed Wilt in Philadelphia Tuesday night. Though the 7-2 Chamberlain wound up leading all scorers with 35, most of them came too late for the visitors. Russell tallied 21 points to Wilt's 13 in the opening half and grabbed 14 rebounds to Chamberlain's 11. The big Celt finished up with 31 points. A typically brilliant play by Bob Cousy and Russell enabled the Celtics to open up their big spread before the first half ended...That gave Boston a 13 point bulge, 62-49, and the Celts proceeded to run the Warriors ragged the remaining four minutes. Boston led by 21 at intermission, 76-55."
- Pay special attention to this part - "Russell outscored and out rebounded scoring king Chamberlain in the crucial first half"
- Wilt was the 1961/62 regular season scoring and rebounding champion (50-26), but Russell outdid him in both categories when it mattered most
Game 5 - Fights Mark 119-104 Triump by Champions (Celtics put clamp on Chamberlain; Gain 3-2 Lead in East NBA Playoffs)
- "Bill Russell put the clamps on Wilt Chamberlain... Russell scored 29 points to Chamberlain's 30. Bill blanketed Wilt so well that the NBA scoring king had only four of 13 field goal tries, 11 points and outrebounded 11-9 by his tormentor in the first half. Russell also contributed numerous blocked shots and assists to the decision...When Philadelphia closed the gap to eight points at the start of the second period, the Celtics turned on a burst in which they outscored the Warriors 17-4"
- Once again - "Russell scored 29 points to Chamberlain's 30. Bill blanketed Wilt so well that the NBA scoring king had only four of 13 field goal tries, 11 points and outrebounded 11-9 by his tormentor in the first half."
- Russell delivered the points and rebounds when it mattered, unlike regular season scoring/rebound champ Wilt Chamberlain
Game 7 - Jones Sinks Winning Two For Celtics
- "Jones fired the winning basket over giant Wilt Chamberlain with two seconds left for the 109-107 victory Thursday night...Russell, 6-10 center whose spectacular blocks of shots and passes in the fourth quarter helped Boston's comeback, agreed (with Auerbach). "Toughest series I've ever had to play in," said Russell...Though Russell held Chamberlain to 22 points and had the rebounding edge 22-21, Wilt was outstanding defensively...while rookie Tom Meschery took scoring honors with 32 points
- ONCE AGAIN - "Russell held Chamberlain to 22 points and had the rebounding edge 22-21...rookie Tom Meschery took scoring honors with 32 points"
- Where is the regular season scoring/rebounding champ's numbers when it actually matters, in the must-win Game 7 of the 1962 EDF?
- The only thing that carried over from Wilt's 1961/62 regular season to Game 7 was his poor defense. After "leading" his 1961-62 team to the absolute worst opponent's ppg in the league, he had the game-winning and season-ending shot nailed in his face by Sam Jones, a perfect way to begin a string of 4 consecutive Game 7s in which Sam Jones outscored Wilt all 4 times (1962, 1965, 1968, 1969), with Wilt losing all 4 times.
Whereas Wilt's scoring decreased in all playoff meetings against Russell, Russell's actually increased in 1960 and 1962 as he averaged over 20 ppg both times, despite never averaging 20 ppg in a regular season. Wilt was not on Hakeem's level defensively, as he allowed an underrated, but not primarily offensive player in Bill Russell to increase his offensive production multiple times. As emphasized in the Kareem and Shaq sections, almost every big man was locked down in their matchups against Hakeem. Willis Reed also schooled Wilt's defense in the Finals.
Through his first 4 healthy games in the 1970 Finals, Willis Reed averaged 32 ppg on Wilt's defense before his Game 5 injury. Willis Reed never averaged 22 ppg in a regular season. In Games 1-4 when Willis was healthy, Wilt averaged only 19 ppg. With Willis Reed injured and missing Game 6, Wilt finally takes advantage and has 45 points and 27 rebounds to tie the series 3-3. Of course, the 45 points only show up when the Knicks' best player and interior defender is injured and not playing
What happens in Game 7? Willis comes back in Game 7, fights through his injury, and hits the first 2 buckets to inspire the Knicks on to a blowout win in Game 7 to the title as Wilt loses in yet another Game 7 of his career, and Willis Reed gets the Finals MVP. With Willis Reed's 27 minutes in Game 5, he only scored 4 points but his defensive presence shut down Wilt to 4 points on 2/7 (29%) FG and 4 turnovers when Willis Reed guarded him in Game 7. Wilt finished with 21 points, but most of his points came without Reed on him, or when the game was already over - just like we saw in 1962 EDF Games 1-3-5. Willis on one leg locked down Wilt, right after Wilt had a 45-27 outburst with no Willis Reed in Game 6.
 |
| Only when Reed was injured did Wilt dominate the Knicks with Finals MVPs and 45-27 games. When Reed was there, Wilt couldn't get it done |
In 1973, Wilt and the Lakers have a chance to prove that their victory over the Reed-less Knicks in 1972 was not a fluke. But what happens? With Willis Reed back in the lineup, his interior defense and presence contains Wilt to 12 ppg + 19 rpg on 52% for the entire 1973 Finals after he averaged 19 ppg + 23 rpg on 60% in his Finals MVP performance against the Reed-less 1972 Knicks.
With Willis Reed's interior presence and defense returning, he also helped decrease Wilt's regular season FG% from 73% (NBA regular season record) to only 52% in the 1973 Finals - a 21% decrease. Incredible defense. On the other hand, however, Willis Reed in the 1973 NBA Finals averaged 16-9-3 on 49% after only averaging 11-9-2 on 47% in the regular season for his 2nd Finals MVP, and 2nd Finals victory over Wilt in as many meetings to retire him.
Wilt underpormed repeatedly against Russell and Reed, on both ends, whereas Hakeem almost always overperformed against the top competition as shown above. Wilt was also unable to handle the offensive and defensive load at the same time. In Wilt's 2 best scoring seasons, his teams allowed the most points in the league in 1962 and 1963, despite Wilt's responsibility as a 7-1 rim protector.
Hakeem had no problem carrying the team in all aspects of offense and defense at the same time, when he carried the 1994 Rockets (far worse than any of Wilt's playoff teams) in 5/5 categories and played arguably the best defense of all-time, being that Hakeem and Russell are the 2 best defensive centers ever. Wilt had to change his game to dominate in different areas, whereas Hakeem could dominate almost every area at the same time, evidenced by leading his team in averaging 4/5 categories for a record 9 seasons. Wilt even missed the playoffs in his prime in 1963, whereas Hakeem only missed the playoffs in 1992 due to him missing 12 games in which the team went 2-10. Wilt didn't have what it takes to carry mediocre teams like Hakeem did.
All in all, there were way too many times that Wilt didn't get the job done despite playing on much more stacked teams compared to Hakeem. You also have to consider that in a smaller league, Wilt played the weakest teams time and time again, making it easier for his team to pad their record. For example, Wilt was 10-0 against the league-worst 1962 Packers with an 18-62 record. Read Section 10 for a detailed explanation of Wilt's playoff shortcomings.
Wilt's scoring was detrimental to the team as they had a 22-30 playoff record and 0 rings in his 7 scoring title seasons. By no coincidence, they won the title in the first season that Hannum forced Wilt to change his role.
Wilt underpormed repeatedly against Russell and Reed, on both ends, whereas Hakeem almost always overperformed against the top competition as shown above. Wilt was also unable to handle the offensive and defensive load at the same time. In Wilt's 2 best scoring seasons, his teams allowed the most points in the league in 1962 and 1963, despite Wilt's responsibility as a 7-1 rim protector.
Hakeem had no problem carrying the team in all aspects of offense and defense at the same time, when he carried the 1994 Rockets (far worse than any of Wilt's playoff teams) in 5/5 categories and played arguably the best defense of all-time, being that Hakeem and Russell are the 2 best defensive centers ever. Wilt had to change his game to dominate in different areas, whereas Hakeem could dominate almost every area at the same time, evidenced by leading his team in averaging 4/5 categories for a record 9 seasons. Wilt even missed the playoffs in his prime in 1963, whereas Hakeem only missed the playoffs in 1992 due to him missing 12 games in which the team went 2-10. Wilt didn't have what it takes to carry mediocre teams like Hakeem did.
All in all, there were way too many times that Wilt didn't get the job done despite playing on much more stacked teams compared to Hakeem. You also have to consider that in a smaller league, Wilt played the weakest teams time and time again, making it easier for his team to pad their record. For example, Wilt was 10-0 against the league-worst 1962 Packers with an 18-62 record. Read Section 10 for a detailed explanation of Wilt's playoff shortcomings.
A quicker recap of Wilt's playoff career
- Wilt has 2 NBA titles (one with Reed injured, 0-2 when Reed played in 1970 and 1973)
- All 7 scoring title regular seasons, as well as his regular season assist record, resulted in playoff failures for Wilt. Wilt only led the playoffs in ppg once, and he lost in 5 games to the Celtics that year in 1964
- Wilt = 47% FT career FT shooter in the playoffs. Imagine how many of those close playoff games Wilt's teams could have won if he delivered the points at the line?
- Wilt FT in the NBA Finals = 124/326, a 38% shooter. Once again, imagine how many close games in the Finals Wilt's bricking cost him?
And when Wilt's teams needed him to score, he failed to deliver when it mattered
All Game 7s vs Celtics (Wilt 0-4 record, outscored by Sam Jones in all 4 games)
Sam Jones averaged 28 ppg to Wilt's 21 ppg in these Game 7s
Sam Jones averaged 28 ppg to Wilt's 21 ppg in these Game 7s
- 1962 = Wilt 22 pts, Sam Jones had 28 pts + game winner in Wilt's face
- 1965 = Wilt 30 pts, Sam Jones 37 pts, Russell 15-29-8 + unofficial 6 blocks
- 1968 = Wilt 14 pts, Sam Jones 22 pts
- 1969 = Wilt 18 pts, Sam Jones 24 pts - Wilt lost even with West's 43-13-12
1960 playoff series between Russell and Chamberlain, Russell dropped games of 19, 26, 17, and 25 points. Russell never averaged 19 ppg in a regular season of his career.
- Game 1 - Wilt drops 44, but goes 8/14 from the FT line. Celtics win by 6 as Wilt misses 6 FTs
- Game 4 - must win game with Celtics already up 2-1. The regular season scoring champ (38 ppg) only puts up 24 in the must-win game, with 6/11 (55%) FT as Celtics win by 8 and take a 3-1 lead
- Game 6 - once again, the 1959/60 scoring champ (38 ppg) only drops 26 points, 10/16 (63%) from FT line, and the Celtics win by 2 with Wilt's huge scoring dropoff and 6 missed FTs
In 1961 Wilt got swept in the first round 3-0 by the Syracuse Nationals and only shot 47%, the Nationals were a losing team as well.
- Game 2 - Wilt does good scoring with 32 points, but goes 6/10 (60%) FT and the Nats win by ONE point while Wilt misses FOUR FREE THROWS
- Game 3 - Wilt drops 33, but another brickfest at the FT line 7/14 (50%). Nats only win by 3 while Chamberlain costs his team 7 free points.
In 1962 (50 ppg 25 rpg) Wilt won the scoring + rebound titles, yet he lost the 1962 Game 7 to the Celtics and got outscored by Sam Jones, with the game winner in his face.
1963 - 45-24 averages, but missed playoffs and wins the scoring/rebounding title at the cost of making his team have the absolute worst defense in the league
1964 Finals vs Celtics - In a must-win Game 4 and the Warriors trailing 1-2
Game 4 - Wilt goes 3/8 (38%) from FT line, Warriors only lose by 3, fall behind 3-1 and eventually lose the series
1965 EDF vs Celtics
Game 7 - Wilt 6-13 (46%) at the FT line, and the Celtics won by just 1 point as Havlicek stole the ball. Outscored by Sam Jones for 2nd consecutive Game 7
1966 EDF vs Celtics, Celtics up 2-1, must-win Game 4
Game 4 - 33.5 ppg regular season scoring champ has 15 pts and 1-4 (25%) FT as Celts win by only 6. Good job delivering the points when they matter. Celts up 3-1 now.
Game 5 - Wilt has 46 points, but Wilt shot 8/25 (32%) from the line. 17 free points that were lost in a game decided by 8 points
1967 - Wilt's Sixers won the championship after he stopped jacking up shots to win scoring titles. Wilt NEVER won a championship in a scoring title season, or as the number 1 scorer in the Finals (Number 5 option in 1967, Number 3 option in 1972). The only time Wilt was the number 1 scoring option in the Finals (1964), his team lost in 5 games.
In the 1967 Finals
Wilt's 15.0 ppg in the 4 wins
Wilt = 23.0 ppg in the 2 losses
Wilt's scoring was detrimental to the team as they had a 22-30 playoff record and 0 rings in his 7 scoring title seasons. By no coincidence, they won the title in the first season that Hannum forced Wilt to change his role.
1968, Wilt's defending champ Sixers up 3-1 on the Celtics. Wilt blows the 3-1 lead, Celtics win 3 straight, including 2 on Wilt's homecourt, and drops 14 in Game 7, and once again outscored by Sam Jones for the 3rd straight Game 7 meeting between them.
1968 Game 7 vs Celtics - Wilt 6-15 (40%) at the FT line - Celtics won by 4 pts and Wilt missed 9 FTs
1969 Finals vs Celtics - Wilt blows it again even with teammate Jerry West dropping 38-5-7 in the series
1969 Game 6, Lakers up 3-2
Wilt 8 pts to Russell and Sam Jones' 9 apiece, Lakers lost, series tied 3-3
1969 Game 7
- West drops 43-13-12 and still loses
- Game 7 vs Celtics in 1969= Wilt 4-13 (30%) at the FT line, Celtics win by 2
With Wilt off the court, the Lakers cut the 102-96 lead to 103-102 before losing by only 2 points. Wilt's 9 missed free throws came back to hurt them.
In 1968 (3-1 lead) and 1969 (3-2 lead) alone, Wilt was 0-5 vs Bill Russell in closeout games
1970 Finals vs Knicks - Lesson at Willis Reed University
- Through his first 4 healthy games, Willis averaged 32 ppg on Wilt's defense before the Game 5 injury, Wilt was contained to 19 ppg in those games by Reed
- With Willis' injury and missing Game 6, Wilt has 45 points to tie the series 3-3
- Willis comes back in Game 7, fights through his injury unlike Wilt in Game 7 of 1969, and hits the first 2 buckets to spur the Knicks on to a blowout as Wilt loses in yet another Game 7 of his career, and helps contain Wilt to 21 points.
Wilt's Lakers lost to Bucks in 1971 - West missed the whole series and couldn't carry Wilt like 1969
Lakers beat Bucks in 1972 when West returns and with injuries to Oscar. In 1972, however, Wilt only won his 2nd ring because Willis Reed wasn't there in the 1972 Finals due to injury. Without Reed's interior presence, Wilt's 2nd ring was handed to him on a silver platter by Willis' injury and he dropped 19 ppg and 23 rpg on 60% to win Finals MVP.
Willis Reed returned in 1973 and what happened to Wilt when he once again met the Willis-lead Knicks in the Finals? He had a much more humane 12 ppg and 19 rpg on 52% as Willis dispatched him in 5 games and won his 2nd Finals MVP at Wilt's expense, giving him a 2-0 playoff record over Wilt, and ultimately retired Chamberlain.
So there are several things to recap
So there are several things to recap
- Wilt had to change his game by sacrificing his scoring to be good as a distributor or defender, whereas Hakeem could do it all at the same time, leading 4/5 categories the majority of his career pre-98 knee injury, and even 5/5 categories in the playoffs multiple times
- Wilt played on much more stacked teams with much more Hall of Famers, and less playoff rounds, and failed to win consistently, and even his 2nd ring came when the Knicks' best player wasn't playing
- Hakeem, with much less, against tougher competition, won twice and had more deep playoff runs, while playing better individually and not padding his stats
- Wilt's game shrunk against Reed and Russell whereas Hakeem's almost always rose against Kemp, Kareem, Malone, Barkley, Ewing, Robinson, Rodman, Shaq etc.
- Wilt also missed the playoffs in a full prime season in 1963, the only time pre-injury Hakeem missed the playoffs was when the Rockets went 2-10 in 12 games Hakeem missed
- Hakeem was much better defensively, locking down almost all his matchups whereas Wilt allowed Reed and Russell to score more against him
- Hakeem was also way more clutch, Wilt was outscored in 4 Game 7s by Sam Jones and had many free throw brickfests that cost his team in crucial games
- as Bob Cousy said, Wilt had the opposite effect that Russell did in making his team better, Hakeem belongs with the latter as proven in the Kareem section.
Hakeem is clearly superior to Wilt on both ends, especially with intangibles such as Wilt padding his stats instead of helping his team win, Hakeem being more clutch, and Hakeem elevating his teammates to a much higher degree. Hakeem is not just superior to Wilt, but vastly superior.
Bill Russell
Bill Russell is the only center that deserves to be in the discussion with Hakeem. I actually can see a case that Russell could be greater than Hakeem, though I have more reasons to pick Hakeem over Russell. Why is Russell so great? Because he could adapt his game to his team's needs in order to make them win
Many bring up Russell's low regular season FG% and ppg, but Russell changed his role as needed to win for his team. His regular season low FG% and low scoring is irrelevant, because he adapted his game when it mattered and won the Finals while playing multiple different roles
1962 Finals - Russell dropped 23-27-6 on 54%, led his team in pts/rebs
1963 Finals - Russell dropped 20-26-5 on 47%
1965 Finals - Russell dropped 18-25-6 on 70%, NBA Finals record for FG%
1966 Finals - Russell dropped 24-24-4 on 54%, led his team in pts/rebs
1962 Finals - Russell dropped 23-27-6 on 54%, led his team in pts/rebs
1963 Finals - Russell dropped 20-26-5 on 47%
1965 Finals - Russell dropped 18-25-6 on 70%, NBA Finals record for FG%
1966 Finals - Russell dropped 24-24-4 on 54%, led his team in pts/rebs
Russell could be the best scorer, defender, rebounder, blocker, and even passer (1969 Finals) when he had to. Along with Hakeem, Russell is the only center to lead a title team in scoring (1962) and assists (1965), though Hakeem did both at the same time in 1994. He was a complete player and he has 11 rings to show for it. He also was amazing at making his teammates better, the Celtics lost in the 1958 Finals when Russell was injured and 11-0 when he was healthy. Only once in his career did a healthy Bill Russell lose in the playoffs against Wilt in 1967.
But there are a few reasons to pick Hakeem over Russell
1. Hakeem still had a larger load to carry, his teams were much worse than Russell's and Hakeem had to lead his team in averaging 4/5 categories for a record 9 seasons. Russell had no such load to carry, and could relax on offense many times whereas Hakeem was never afforded that luxury until his post-98 knee injury years. Hakeem had to be supremely dominant on both offense and defense for his entire pre-injury career, Russell didn't have to dominate offensively nearly as much or as often.
2. Russell could adapt his game as needed, but Hakeem could fill all of those roles at the same time. Whereas Russell could choose to be the playmaker, scorer, or pure defender, Hakeem could and had to take on all of those roles, at the same time. Russell didn't show that he could lead a team as both the leader in both points and assists like Hakeem did, on top of every other role. As we have said, Hakeem is the only player to lead a team in 5/5 categories for a title run.
3. Russell also had it easier in getting his rings. Before 1966, Russell only had to play 1 round to reach the NBA Finals, and his first 2 rings came against teams with losing records in the Finals, the 1957 Hawks and 1959 Lakers. In fact, the entire 1957 Western Conference had a losing record. Factor in that Russell had better supporting casts than Hakeem and it's clear Russell's path to the ring was much easier than Hakeem's against overall inferior competition, and in less playoff rounds.
Hakeem had to beat four 57-win teams in the 1995 Playoffs alone to win his ring, and had KJ and Barkley not missed 49 combined games the Rockets would be the only team to beat 3 60-win teams in one playoffs. And Hakeem had to play much more overall big man competition in the playoffs (Kareem, Robinson, Rodman, Shaq, Kemp, Malone, Barkley, Ewing, etc.) whereas Russell's was mostly limited to Wilt, Thurmond, and Pettit. Having to play less rounds and easier competition also applies to Wilt as well as Russell. Wilt also had much better teams than Hakeem under more favorable circumstances, just like Russell. But individually, Hakeem was superior to both.
Hakeem Olajuwon's Accomplishments
Here are the accomplishments that separate Hakeem from the rest of the pack
Hakeem has the record for most seasons leading a team in averaging 4/5 categories (minimum 50 games) with 9, including 8 in a row from 1985/86 to 1992/93 and one more in 1994/95
- As far as I know, the only other player with more than 3 seasons doing this is Kevin Garnett with 7, including the 98/99 lockout season in which only 50 games were available, with Garnett playing 47 - Marbury (18) and Brandon (21) did not play enough games
- However, Garnett only led his team once out the first round in a season that he led a team in 4/5 categories (2003/04). Which shows that Garnett could carry that load in a regular season, but not nearly as much in the playoffs.
- In 4 seasons that Hakeem led the team in averaging 4/5 categories, he led them out the first round (1986, 1987, 1993, 1995) including 2 NBA Finals runs and a title
- As far as I know, nobody else has led a team in averaging 4/5 for more than 3 total seasons, yet there were 4 times alone that Hakeem led a team out the first round after leading 4/5 in the regular season, to go with 9 total seasons leading a team in averaging 4/5
- This also makes it impossible to fault Hakeem for his countless playoff failures, as he had by far the largest load to carry for the longest period of time compared to any other legend. The only player to come close is Garnett, and he only made it out the first round once under those harsh conditions. To fault Hakeem for his team's playoff losses when no other player had anywhere near that much a load to carry, and the closest one to him only had one year of playoff success under those cirumstances, is ludicrous
Hakeem is the only player in history to win a title with 0 all-stars and 0 Hall of Famers (1994)
- Rick Barry had Hall of Famer Jamaal Wilkes in 1975, though Wilkes was a rookie so maybe Barry could qualify. Even then, Barry only played 3 playoff rounds in 1975, so Hakeem is the only one to do it for 4 playoff rounds, and he did it while beating a Hall of Famer in every round.
- Bill Walton also came close, but he had All-star Maurice Lucas in 1977, and Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay. Rudy Tomjanovich never coached a non-Hakeem-led team to the playoffs
- The fact that it took Hakeem a long time to win with 0 all-stars/HoFs when no one else in history could do that even once speaks volumes, and doesn't take away from his struggles post-Sampson and pre-1994. If no one else could do it even once, how can Hakeem be discredited for being the only one to do it, regardless of how long it took? This is the same principle as the Garnett example of leading a team in averaging 4/5 for so long.
- And because Hakeem is the only one to win with so little, you have to imagine how much he would win alongside a West/Baylor, Cunningham/Greer, Oscar/Magic, Penny/Wade/Kobe/Nash, Wade/Bosh/Allen, Pippen/Rodman etc.
- Hakeem only had 4 seasons where his 2nd option in Sampson/Drexler played at least 60 games in a season (although Drexler spent half the 95 season in Portland).
- The first season was his rookie season when he took the 29-win Rockets to 48-wins.
- The 2nd season was when he carried the 1986 team to the Finals without starting guard John Lucas past Magic/Kareem's defending champ Lakers and took the 1986 Celtics to 6 games with Sampson ejected in Game 5
- The 3rd season was when he took the 1995 Rockets to the title past 4 teams with at least 57-wins, never been done before or since
- The 4th season, he took the 1997 Rockets to the WCF and became the oldest person to lead a team in 4/5 categories for a playoff series at age 34
- So if he had these guys for all of his prime, they would definitely be bringing in championships left and right. 1995 was the only prime season that Hakeem had a healthy 2nd option, and he got them the ring.
Hakeem's supporting casts were almost always nothing without him, and he had the intangible of making his teammates better
- Sampson did not make the playoffs in 1984 until rookie Hakeem took over, and never made the playoffs in his career without Hakeem
- Drexler shot 42.8% with Portland in 94/95, shot 50.6% with Hakeem, which ties his career high FG% for a full season in 87/88
- Thorpe, Smith, Maxwell, Sampson only had team success while playing with Hakeem
- Horry and Elie's success all started with Hakeem and only continued when they joined other stacked squads like the Spurs/Lakers
- The 1986 team that Hakeem led to the Finals was only 7-7 without Hakeem and their starting guard John Lucas did not play in the playoffs due to cocaine suspension. Hakeem also took them to 6 games against a top 5 all-time team in the 1986 Celtics and with Sampson ejected in Game 5
- The 1992 team went 2-10 in the 12 games Hakeem missed, causing them to miss the playoffs
- Hakeem led the 1993 team in 5/5 categories for both playoff rounds and shut down Shawn Kemp in 6/7 games, but the Rockets still lost with Maxwell missing the Game 7 game winner.
- The 1994 team is the only title team since 1961 to win the Finals with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th scorers shooting under 43%, and Hakeem carried them in 5/5 categories for the title run
- The 1995 team was 3-7 without Hakeem, the 1996 team as 2x defending champs were 1-9 without Hakeem
- In the 1998 season where Hakeem's knee injury essentially finished him off, the Rockets were 26-21 with Hakeem at age 34-35 and 15-20 without him. They were on pace for 45 wins with Hakeem and 35 without him. Even at that late and hobbled state of his career, Hakeem could turn a mediocre team into a playoff team.
The 1991 Rockets are the only team from 1984 to 1998 that had a winning record without Hakeem, they went 16-10 without him for 26 games. However, they benefited from an easy schedule in those 16 wins. Here are their 16 wins.
Hakeem is the only player in history to lead a title team in 5/5 categories
- Nov 13, 1990 - 29-53 Wolves
- Jan 5, 1991 - 41-41 Pacers
- Jan 10, 1991 - 20-62 Nuggets
- Jan 19, 1991 - 31-51 Clippers
- Jan 24, 1991 - 29-53 Wolves
- Jan 26, 1991 - 33-49 Cavs
- Jan 29, 1991 - 55-27 Spurs
- Feb 2, 1991 - 55-27 Spurs
- Feb 3, 1991 - 44-38 Warriors
- Feb 6, 1991 - 48-34 Bucks
- Feb 7, 1991 - 33-49 Cavs
- Feb 14, 1991 - 30-52 Bullets
- Feb 16, 1991 - 55-27 Suns
- Feb 21, 1991 - 48-34 Bucks
- Feb 24, 1991 - 29-53 Wolves
- Feb 26, 1991 - 20-62 Nuggets
Only 6 of their wins were against winning teams, and 9 of their wins, over half, came against sub-35 win teams. They were only 6-7 against winning teams in that stretch (0.462 win%), so their record was protected and inflated from a an easy stretch in the schedule. Their 7 losses to winning teams were the Blazers (Jan 8), Suns (Jan 11), Lakers (Jan 13), Pistons (Jan 17), Warriors (Jan 22), Jazz (Feb 12), and Lakers again (Feb 19). They were by no means a respectable team without Hakeem, they simply had a fortunate schedule in the stretch he was out.
Hakeem is the only player in history to lead a title team in 5/5 categories
- Think about that for a second. Hakeem won the title as the best scorer, rebounder, passer/playmaker, stealer, shot-blocker, and overall defender on his team (and arguably the best defender ever). Nobody else can say they did that much for their team.
Hakeem played and beat some of the most stacked competition of all-time in spite of his obstacles
- In 1986 Hakeem beat the defending champion Lakers with Magic/Kareem and took the top 5 all-time 1986 Celtics to 6 games with Sampson ejected in Game 5, and with starting guard John Lucas out of commission for the whole playoffs
- In 1994 and 1995 he beat Drexler's Blazers, Stockton/Malone's Jazz twice, KJ/Barkley's Suns twice, Shaq/Penny's Magic, and Rodman/Robinson's Spurs
- Had KJ and Barkley not missed a combined 49 games in 1995 when the Suns got 59 wins, this would have made the 1995 Rockets the only team to beat 3 60-win teams in one playoff run. As it is, they are the only team to beat 4 teams with at least 57-wins in one playoff run
- In 1996 he lost to a Sonics team that locked down almost every Hall of Famer they came across in the playoffs (Jordan, Pippen, Hakeem, Stockton, Malone) and with Shawn Kemp playing out of his mind
- In 1997 he beat that Sonics team and fell to Stockton/Malone's Jazz
- Hakeem might have beaten the most Hall of Fame big men in the playoffs out of anyone in Kareem, Malone x2, Barkley x2, Rodman, Robinson, Ewing, and Shaq. Kemp was also a Hall of Fame level player but his career fizzled out.
Hakeem is easily the most well-rounded/complete player of all-time
- Hakeem is the only center to lead a title team in both scoring and assists during the playoffs (along with 5/5 categories)
- Only player to lead a title team in 5/5 categories, can't get any more complete than that
- Has the most seasons leading a team in averaging 4/5 categories with 9
- Garnett is the only one who's close with 7, nobody else has done more than 3
- The closest in history to achieving a quintuple double
- 38-17-6-7-12 and 28-19-9-5-11
- All-time leader in 5-by-5s with 6
- Came the closest to recording the only playoff 5-by-5 in NBA history. He was 1 steal short on 4 occasions
- Game 1 vs 1987 Blazers
- Game 4 vs 1987 Blazers
- Game 1 vs 1993 Clippers
- Game 5 vs 1994 Jazz
- and 1 assist shy on another occasion
- Game 1 vs 1986 Nuggets
- Hakeem is also the all-time leader in playoff 5-by-4s (at least 4 each in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks). Hakeem did this 8 times, Ben Wallace is the only other person to do this multiple times, and he only did it twice.
- Game 1 vs 1986 Nuggets (1 assist short of a five-by-five)
- Game 1 vs 1987 Blazers (1 steal short of a five-by-five)
- Game 4 vs 1987 Blazers (1 steal short of a five-by-five)
- Game 1 vs 1993 Clippers (1 steal short of a five-by-five)
- Game 2 vs 1994 Blazers
- Game 3 vs 1994 Jazz
- Game 5 vs 1994 Jazz (1 steal short of a five-by-five)
- Game 2 vs 1997 Wolves
- Arguably the best defensive player of all-time along with Bill Russell and prime Dennis Rodman - evidenced by how Hakeem almost always locked down his difficult matchups in the playoffs
- Incredibly clutch, both with Finals game-winning plays and Game 7/elimination game performances.
- and as shown above, makes his teammates better to a high degree
- He is the only player who is top 15 in 4/5 categories, Garnett is the only other player who is top 20 in 4/5 categories.
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| Even at age 35 and missing half the season from knee surgery, Hakeem still cut the Jazz's scoring by almost 10 ppg when it was playoff time. |
The only reason Hakeem Olajuwon is not the greatest of all-time, is due to the fact that playing on weaker teams for the majority of his career held back his individual dominance. Had he been blessed with a legit 2nd and 3rd option for the majority of his career, like Shaq, Kareem, Wilt, etc. he'd have more rings than Bill Russell, especially if he was playing in an era with less playoff rounds (60/70s early 80s), an 80s Western conference with no center competition besides Moses in 1981, and a post-90s era with far less big man and overall competition.
- Looking at how the Jordan Era players had an easier time in the modern era
- Looking at how a 38-40 year old Jordan himself schooled the 2000s defenders
SECTION 3 - Jordan's "Weak" Defensive Competition Compared to Lebron/Kobe's "Advanced" Competition
- Proving the vast superiority of individual defenders of Jordan's era compared to the 2000s
- Destroying the myth that Jordan never played zone defense
- Proof that 80s/90s players would still have success guarding 2000s players without the 80s/90s rules
- Looking at how Jordan did against the 80s teams and why expansion did not make it easier to win championships
- Proof that Jordan's Competition was 80s-quality and far better than the 2000s era
- Looking at the truth of how the Bulls did without Jordan, and how other great teams did without their stars.
- Did Jordan really get any more special treatment than other superstars? Nope.
- Exposing the myths behind the great, but misunderstood, Wilt Chamberlain
- Looking at how Lebron got locked down by defenders of the 2000s era and comparing them to the vastly superior 80s/90s
- Destroying one of the media's biggest misconceptions regarding Lebron's solid but vastly overrated defense
- Lebron fans think no player in history could succeed if their teammates don't step up, and that Lebron is the only one who has carried a team on his back. Is that really the case?
- The real Jordan vs Lebron comparison
- The real Jordan vs Kobe comparison
- Kareem is great, but he is not even the greatest center of all-time, let alone the greatest of all-time.
- The full context behind Jordan's struggles without Pippen
- A look at how Jordan turned the Wizards around before his knee injury caught up to him
- Looking at Jordan's defensive impact in detail, both as a team player and 1 on 1 defender
- Looking at the strong evidence supporting that Jordan would have achieved more than what LeBron has in Cleveland and Miami
SECTION 21 - Hakeem Olajuwon: The Greatest Center of All-Time
- Hakeem Olajuwon is the best center of all-time, and there is strong evidence to prove it
SECTION 22 - Chris Paul: The Most Overrated Point Guard Of All-Time
- Chris Paul is an extremely overrated playoff performer and defender, and isn't even a top 5 PG of his own era, let alone all-time
SECTION 23 - Kevin Johnson: The Most Underrated Point Guard Of All-Time
- Kevin Johnson is an extremely underrated and under-appreciated point guard, who should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer and considered a top-10 point guard of all-time
SECTION 24 - The Three Greatest Playoff Runs of All-Time
- Analyzing the three greatest individual playoff runs in NBA history
SECTION 25 - The Worst Finals Performances of All-Time
- Analyzing the worst performances in NBA Finals history
SECTION 26 - Jordan vs Russell
- Comparing the two players who won the most championships as the best player on their team
SECTION 27 - The Five Greatest Coaches of All-Time
- Taking a look at the greatest coaches in NBA history
SECTION 28 - The Least Deserving Finals MVPs of All-Time
- Taking a look at the players who least deserved to win their Finals MVPs
SECTION 29 - Refuting 10 Myths About Michael Jordan
- Refuting certain myths about Jordan, as well as abridging of some of the main points in earlier sections for easier reference.
SECTION 30 - The 20 Greatest Conference Finals Runs of All-Time
- Ranking the 20 greatest playoff runs in which a player played 3 rounds before losing prior to the NBA Finals
SECTION 31 - The 1970s: The Weakest Decade of the NBA's Post-Infancy
- Why the 1970s was the weakest decade of any era from 1960-present
SECTION 32 - The 10 Worst Supporting Casts on NBA Finals Teams (1960-Present)
- Examining the worst supporting casts on teams that reached the NBA Finals
SECTION 33 - The 10 Greatest Rookie Playoff Runs of All-Time
- The most impressive playoff runs in which rookies led their team to at least one series win
SECTION 21 - Hakeem Olajuwon: The Greatest Center of All-Time
- Hakeem Olajuwon is the best center of all-time, and there is strong evidence to prove it
SECTION 22 - Chris Paul: The Most Overrated Point Guard Of All-Time
- Chris Paul is an extremely overrated playoff performer and defender, and isn't even a top 5 PG of his own era, let alone all-time
SECTION 23 - Kevin Johnson: The Most Underrated Point Guard Of All-Time
- Kevin Johnson is an extremely underrated and under-appreciated point guard, who should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer and considered a top-10 point guard of all-time
SECTION 24 - The Three Greatest Playoff Runs of All-Time
- Analyzing the three greatest individual playoff runs in NBA history
SECTION 25 - The Worst Finals Performances of All-Time
- Analyzing the worst performances in NBA Finals history
SECTION 26 - Jordan vs Russell
- Comparing the two players who won the most championships as the best player on their team
SECTION 27 - The Five Greatest Coaches of All-Time
- Taking a look at the greatest coaches in NBA history
SECTION 28 - The Least Deserving Finals MVPs of All-Time
- Taking a look at the players who least deserved to win their Finals MVPs
SECTION 29 - Refuting 10 Myths About Michael Jordan
- Refuting certain myths about Jordan, as well as abridging of some of the main points in earlier sections for easier reference.
SECTION 30 - The 20 Greatest Conference Finals Runs of All-Time
- Ranking the 20 greatest playoff runs in which a player played 3 rounds before losing prior to the NBA Finals
SECTION 31 - The 1970s: The Weakest Decade of the NBA's Post-Infancy
- Why the 1970s was the weakest decade of any era from 1960-present
SECTION 32 - The 10 Worst Supporting Casts on NBA Finals Teams (1960-Present)
- Examining the worst supporting casts on teams that reached the NBA Finals
SECTION 33 - The 10 Greatest Rookie Playoff Runs of All-Time
- The most impressive playoff runs in which rookies led their team to at least one series win
Seriously surprised there were no comments here.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what that Shaq fanboy on YouTube would say about all this data.
Probably come up with another excuse...
Amazing work
ReplyDeleteAs far as Hakeem having help from anyone, Sampson played miserably in the 1986 Finals. Sampson had two decent seasons with Hakeem as he only played half the third season due to injuries and was traded away in the first part of his fourth season with Hakeem. If you go back to the 1986 Finals you'll see he did have 24 points and 22 rebounds in the game 3, 2 point victory and 25 points and 9 assists in game 4 where the Rockets only lost by 3 points. BUT, not including the game 5 ejection in the stats, he only averaged 15.4 points, 1 assist, and 1 steal for the series. He scored 2 points on 1 of 13 fgs in game 1 and was kicked out of game 5. Now remove the one game he did well where the Rockets won and his rebounds drop from 10.8 to 8 per game, and his points drop to 13.25 per game. The biggest series of his life and he plays well in 2 of the 6 games. If you go watch the tapes you will see how his poor play is supported by these stats.
ReplyDeleteFrom the 1986-1987 through the 1987-1988 seasons he had no support and some pretty bad coaches and executives running the front office. Drafting Rodney McCray over Drexler, trading first and third round picks for Cedric Maxwell who was at the end of his career, drafting Steve Harris and then not trading him for Dale Ellis when they had the chance, Purvis Short for a first rounder and Dave Feitl, using a first rounders for Derrick “the Band-Aid Man” Chievous and Buck Johnson, and it goes on and on.
You should also add that in 86 olajuwon's backup pg broke his wrist and was out. Then the next year two of his best contributors during that playoff run were banned from basketball for 2 years
ReplyDeleteI genuinly think that you should kill yourself. This is so fucking stupid. The 90s were so fucking weak. Kareem is the greatest player ever by far. Jordan is not even top 10 imo.
ReplyDelete