Is Olajuwon the second greatest basketball player of all time?

[last stand]

what would be a more worthy thread is the question if Dwight howard would even be a top 5 center in the 90s

which the answer is no. but it'd make for more interesting discussion than this.

[Bruno87]

there are plenty of players who consider Dream the greatest C to play the game. Both Jordan and Bryant share this view-point.

Jordans words were very respectful towards Dream, I liked reading that.

[juggla53]

he is not even the second greatest center of all time, people say he dominated kareem in shaq are for some reason ignoring the fact that kareem had already been in the NBA for 15 years or that shaq was still very young. thats not to take anything away from him as he was a GREAT player but i just dont see the argument for 2nd best ever.

[MichaelJordan23]

there are plenty of players who consider Dream the greatest C to play the game. Both Jordan and Bryant share this view-point.

Jordans words were very respectful towards Dream, I liked reading that.

Yup, I read a couple days ago Jordan was asked who he would want to play with and he picked Hakeem because he said Hakeem could do it all, had the skill set of a guard etc. I believe at one point Jordan even called Hakeem the greatest player on the earth.

[MichaelJordan23]

what would be a more worthy thread is the question if Dwight howard would even be a top 5 center in the 90s

which the answer is no. but it'd make for more interesting discussion than this.

I wish we could have seen Dwight in the 90s .. I guarantee he wouldn't have won 3 (probably soon to be 4) defensive player of the year awards. I wonder what he would average against all the great big men and if he would still have such a soft playful care free attitude that he has today. He never had that killer instinct that say Shaq had when it was truly needed. Shaq's Finals MVP numbers speak for themself.

[ACanadian]

I always thought Wilt Chamberlain was the best besides MJ...

[conway429]

My opinion is

1. Jordan
2. Magic
3. Hakeem
4. Kareem
5. Shaq
6. Bird

Then I have no idea.

[last stand]

I wish we could have seen Dwight in the 90s .. I guarantee he wouldn't have won 3 (probably soon to be 4) defensive player of the year awards. I wonder what he would average against all the great big men and if he would still have such a soft playful care free attitude that he has today. He never had that killer instinct that say Shaq had when it was truly needed. Shaq's Finals MVP numbers speak for themself.

its funny because dwight wouldn't even be a top 5 center IMO. 5 centers in the 90s averaged more blocks and equal or more rebounds than dwight.

dwight wouldn't have won 1 DPOY award in the 90s

[Bruno87]

is anyone surprised that MJ and Bryant consider Dream to be the #1 center of all-time? i'm not.

IMO, this is because of his work ethic, dedication to fundamentals, and his championship drive. bryant and MJ both respect a guy who was a total defensive work-horse, even if he wasn't being 'fed' on offense. As they say, 'big dog' protected the house no matter what, and he didn't let ego get in the way of that like several other all time greats at Center. as the two greatest SG's in NBA history, it shouldn't be surprising at all to see them favor a C with those characteristics, considering their games, considering their egos.

[Shlumpledink]

Thank you Jordan for backing me up. I've been saying it for years that Olajuwon is the most complete big man. He could dominate a game on both ends of the court, which you can't really say about other bigmen that have played before him or since. Offensively he was like tim duncan, but better and more agile. Defensively he was like kevin garnett and dwight howard combined

[astrosmaniac]

he is not even the second greatest center of all time, people say he dominated kareem in shaq are for some reason ignoring the fact that kareem had already been in the NBA for 15 years or that shaq was still very young. thats not to take anything away from him as he was a GREAT player but i just dont see the argument for 2nd best ever.

im a huge hakeem fan but i dont know if he's #2 all time. great arguments for a lot of players.

i do think however that its unfortunate that shaq played when he did. When he hit his prime and just completely dominated with the lakers, who were the other great centers (in their primes) he had to compete with? i'd have loved to see a prime shaq against prime hakeem, ewing, robinson, etc

[Hellcrooner]

make a case? of course.

be considered by someone? Of course.


win the case? no, not really.

Its easier to argue him as not top 10 than to argue him as second.
Both things can be done.
None would be accurate imo.

[theducksmuggler]

i don"t care if i get bashed ridiculously hard on this but I consider Wilt Chamberlain the greatest player of all time with MJ behind him, Wilt would literally choose what category he wanted to lead the league in on a given year points, rebounds, assists it didn't matter...he actually led the entire league in assists one year, it didn't matter he was that dominate, he averaged 50 points a game one season! and averaged 22.9 rebounds a game for his career, and don"t bring up oh it was a different time I guarantee he would DOMINATE! in today's game...and once again bash me all you wont this is just my singular opinion just like everyone on this website has extreme biased opinions this is mine, so back on topic no at best his is number 3 all time...

[Bruno87]

i don"t care if i get bashed ridiculously hard on this but I consider Wilt Chamberlain the greatest player of all time with MJ behind him, Wilt would literally choose what category he wanted to lead the league in on a given year points, rebounds, assists it didn't matter...he actually led the entire league in assists one year, it didn't matter he was that dominate, he averaged 50 points a game one season! and averaged 22.9 rebounds a game for his career, and don"t bring up oh it was a different time I guarantee he would DOMINATE! in today's game...and once again bash me all you wont this is just my singular opinion just like everyone on this website has extreme biased opinions this is mine, so back on topic no at best his is number 3 all time...

some people considered Wilt the GOAT before MJ. Wilt would have no doubt dominated in any era, but he wouldn't have averaged 50 points in the modern era. the pace simply wouldn't have allowed it.

Pace Factor (available since the 1973-74 season in the NBA); the formula is 48 * ((Tm Poss + Opp Poss) / (2 * (Tm MP / 5))). Pace factor is an estimate of the number of possessions per 48 minutes by a team. (Note: 40 minutes is used in the calculation for the WNBA.)

His points would have maintained similar per game impact, but as far as how they registered in a point per game perspective, his best years would have likley been between 34-39. I doubt his prime self would have averaged 40+ from 1980 or later, simply because the game slowed down, and there less possessions per game. Less possessions equates to less points. But again, the points would have carried the same impact; they'd only differ on a counting per game average.

[theducksmuggler]

some people considered Wilt the GOAT before MJ. Wilt would have no doubt dominated in any era, but he wouldn't have averaged 50 points in the modern era. the pace simply wouldn't have allowed it.



His points would have maintained similar per game impact, but as far as how they registered in a point per game perspective, his best years would have likley been between 34-39. I doubt his prime self would have averaged 40+ from 1980 or later, simply because the game slowed down, and there less possessions per game. Less possessions equates to less points. But again, the points would have carried the same impact; they'd only differ on a counting per game average.

i understand he wouldnt average 50 a game but 34-39 points a game using highend statistics proves to me that he would of DOMINATED todays game and with todays centers i think he would be averaging 50 points a game ahahah