I had the privilege to watch Hakeem's whole career here in Houston. To me he's the greatest center of all time. I also got a chance to meet him too at In-N-Out Burger. 🍔 He let me get a picture of him. What a great player and the nicest guy too. 🏀👍💪🏆
Hakeem has a strong argument at being the greatest two way player of all time. Also he would have no problem totally dominating on defense in today's nba too because he could also definitely defend on the perimeter if needed, he was very quick and agile for a big man.
You just hit the sweet spot for me. Hakeem is my all-time favorite player. Few players were as dominant as he was on both ends of the floor like him. He also did it on the highest of stages and dominated all-time great centers. And thanks to an illegal pick by Malone, we were robbed of a Houston vs. Chicago finals.
Hakeem was incredible: big, strong, balanced, incredibly athletic, humble and grounded. My brother and I watched the Rockets-Magic finals. Rockets were down 3 toward the end of game 1 when Nick Anderson got fouled and missed both, got the rebound, got fouled again, missed both again, then Kenny Smith hit a huge 3 to send the game into overtime and the Rockets swept them.
I said it once, and I'll say it again: Hakeem was the very first TRUE stretch position player! He will always be in my Top 10 players of all time! The man was a nut!!! This is the footage Lebron's fans will NOT watch because it proves just how skilled Jordan's era was. Let em stay on TikTok and dream a lie...lol
Didn't LeBron himself go to Hakeem in an effort to learn how to post and improve his footwork? But then irony and hypocrites go together like fish and water. They also need to avoid Hakeem though because he was once asked to compare MJ with LeBron and Hakeem said MJ was a much more skilled player, lol.
Loved the dream even though he also denied Charles Barkley TWICE in back to back years. Dude was such a dual threat obviously on both sides of the ball. Crazy athletic, amazing footwork, and a true ambassador of the game. Charles tried to grab that ring but then Stockton killed him. That “pick” that Malone set was more like a bear hug tho lol. Definitely freed up Stockton to advance in 98. Damn man your vids are phenomenal but also bittersweet as reopening some of my childhood wounds lol! Seriously tho great vid/content as always!
And if I had to go with an all-time line-up, mine would be a bit different: PG - Penny Hardaway SG- Michael Jordan SF - Grant Hill PF - David Robinson (people forget how fast he was on the break) C - Hakeem Olajuwan
Whoa, your starting 5 !!!! All those guys could have big ego’s but playing together they would play their roles, be unselfish and play as a tight unit in my opinion. Nice 5 🤙🏼
@@TheRealMindCrime no I meant the entire series in 95. I just looked it up, 33 ppg, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Shaq got his too of course but some of the moves he put on shaq in the paint were ridiculous. And he forced shaq into 5 and a half turnovers per game in the sweep
10:45 Kenny Smith told the story during an Open Court episode that Hakeem used to tell in a pick and roll situation that when the guard is recovering from pick, Hakeem would say that he can take on the roll man for some time just so that the guard can recovers. As the guard recovers, Hakeem would then swiftly go back to his man and then recover in time to play defence. Thats how versatile he was that you could leave him on an island with a point guard and still hold his own.
I was like seven during the 94 finals and all the OJ stuff. I was also a big rockets fan. As a kid I just couldn’t imagine why they’d cut away from the game to watch a stupid white Bronco
Olajuwon is top 5 all time. 83-84 Houston 29-53, after drafting Olajuwon never below .500 for the next 15 seasons. 99-00, Olajuwon was 37, single losing season he was part of. Him and MJ had the least all star help compared to other greats, Sampson (3x), Thorpe (1x), 32 to 35 yo Drexler (2x), 33 to 36 yo Barkley (1x), VC (1x) in his last season, that's it. 93 to 96 had a streak of 11 playoff series as leading scorer, ahead of Kobe(10), KAJ(9), Malone(9), LBJ(8), Baylor(8), Mikan(8), AI(8), Wilt(7), Moses(7)... second only to MJ(36) in NBA/ABA history
That’s a good starting 5. That you mentioned. No one is beating that team. MJ’s starting five is Him, Pippen, James Worthy, Magic Johnson, and Hakeem Olajuwon
I’ve considered who I’d have in my all time starting 5. It would be superstars in their prime. My original 5 was: Olajuwon, Duncan, Bird, MJ, Magic. Then I considered a possible 5 of: Shaq, Olajuwon, Bird, MJ, Magic. Hakeem is one of my all time favorites, has to be in it. But he’s so underrated.
PG-MJ SG-Kobe SF-Hakeem PF-Duncan C-KAJ. Guard any backcourt combinaison well. Lockdown LBJ put Hakeem on him. Shaq i got Duncan or Hakeem proven match ups. Wilt i got KAJ good match up. Bird i put Hakeem or Duncan on him. Switching is futile!
I don't like the "what if" game much, but imagine portland picked MJ and he still developed the way he did, that would have gave him a better partner than Pippin in Drixler early in his carear.
He's not a legit 7 footer, 6"11 at best. Robinson is easily 2 inches taller than him for example. But yeah he's definitely top5 center of all time at the very least.
@@hakeemolajuwon4352He definitely have an argument at be the best ever, unilke the other usual suspects he had less great teammates around throughout his career. He wasn't without weakness anyway, for example he got better at reading double teams only through the 90's.
@@sergioa.9695 I disagree. He got more confident at trusting his teammates to make their shots over the years when he finally got some halfway decent shooters
Unfortunately a lot of these clips are from physically declining Hakeem. He was more explosive(effortless double jumps), fast twitch recoveries. Lateral foot speed to defend on the perimeter. He was far less offensively polished, and rushed into difficult shots, but his defense was always elite of elite from day 1. By the time he polished his offensive game, he started to be more of a traditional shot blocking big (still with quick hadns as well)as he lost the versatility with the declining athletic ability in his mid 30s
Good pick on do'n it on Hakeem...Safe to say, the 90's was the end of REAL BBall... :) The Dream was likely the most athletic big man, with the skills to back all of it up, what a true stud- I like Shaq, and all the newby's and Hype train warriors will be against it, but The Dream was better than Shaq, by a lot... Had Mike stuck around, and the two champ teams from the rockets got it on for the championships, it would have been incredible... You channel is bomb bro ( "Jungle ball" how we miss those days!!!) - Perfect all time team!! Love it!!!!!!!!
Thank you! I like to say 2010 is when thr nba died. We still had guys like duncan, kg, and kobe out there playing right. But the signs were there that the dream is coming to an end
@@TheRealMindCrime You are probably correct, I checked out around the final dance, watched a little untill he league started tanking refs for the LAkers, then I was out ( look at that deal now!!)... I was a Lakers fan too... :) Go figure! Keep up the great job!! Timmy was the truth, The best power foreword ever in my opinion...
I had the privilege to watch Hakeem's whole career here in Houston. To me he's the greatest center of all time. I also got a chance to meet him too at In-N-Out Burger. 🍔 He let me get a picture of him. What a great player and the nicest guy too. 🏀👍💪🏆
Oh thats so cool!! And yeah i feel ya, when i make my all time starting 5 he's always either my center or power forward
Hakeem has a strong argument at being the greatest two way player of all time. Also he would have no problem totally dominating on defense in today's nba too because he could also definitely defend on the perimeter if needed, he was very quick and agile for a big man.
I only wonder how he would have handled Wilt. In my mind those are the two best big men of all time along with Tim Duncan.
I agree. He's like the big man version of Jordan
You just hit the sweet spot for me. Hakeem is my all-time favorite player. Few players were as dominant as he was on both ends of the floor like him. He also did it on the highest of stages and dominated all-time great centers. And thanks to an illegal pick by Malone, we were robbed of a Houston vs. Chicago finals.
I wish we got that rockets bulls matchup. Wouldve been a battle
Hakeem was a beast
1 of a kind
Hakeem had a season where he had over 200 steals and he had multiple seasons over 150 steals and he was a center.
Yeah he was special
Hakeem was incredible: big, strong, balanced, incredibly athletic, humble and grounded. My brother and I watched the Rockets-Magic finals. Rockets were down 3 toward the end of game 1 when Nick Anderson got fouled and missed both, got the rebound, got fouled again, missed both again, then Kenny Smith hit a huge 3 to send the game into overtime and the Rockets swept them.
Oh man, yeah Nick never recovered from that. He lost all his confidence
His moves tranformed the post up mj still dunked on him tear up leflake
MJ and Hakeem have the best post moves ever
I said it once, and I'll say it again: Hakeem was the very first TRUE stretch position player! He will always be in my Top 10 players of all time! The man was a nut!!!
This is the footage Lebron's fans will NOT watch because it proves just how skilled Jordan's era was. Let em stay on TikTok and dream a lie...lol
Didn't LeBron himself go to Hakeem in an effort to learn how to post and improve his footwork? But then irony and hypocrites go together like fish and water.
They also need to avoid Hakeem though because he was once asked to compare MJ with LeBron and Hakeem said MJ was a much more skilled player, lol.
He's in my top 10 too. He was amazing
@megavolt67 and Lebron still moves like a robot. Hakeem himself said the ONLY player to truly apply what he taught was: Kobe Bryant.
@@wizmanballin8498 because Kobe was a true student of the game and dedicated himself to getting better...
Loved the dream even though he also denied Charles Barkley TWICE in back to back years. Dude was such a dual threat obviously on both sides of the ball. Crazy athletic, amazing footwork, and a true ambassador of the game. Charles tried to grab that ring but then Stockton killed him. That “pick” that Malone set was more like a bear hug tho lol. Definitely freed up Stockton to advance in 98. Damn man your vids are phenomenal but also bittersweet as reopening some of my childhood wounds lol! Seriously tho great vid/content as always!
Yeah those Rockets were our cryptonite back then. No matter how good we were they were better by a hair. Same with thr spurs during the nash era.
And if I had to go with an all-time line-up, mine would be a bit different:
PG - Penny Hardaway
SG- Michael Jordan
SF - Grant Hill
PF - David Robinson (people forget how fast he was on the break)
C - Hakeem Olajuwan
Nice list!
Whoa, your starting 5 !!!! All those guys could have big ego’s but playing together they would play their roles, be unselfish and play as a tight unit in my opinion. Nice 5 🤙🏼
Thabk you!
Hes like the center version of mj
Seriously! Perfect way to put it
The finals when Hakeem took Shaq's lunch money is a great watch too
I searched for it but couldn't find it. Sounds like a good watch
@@TheRealMindCrime no I meant the entire series in 95. I just looked it up, 33 ppg, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Shaq got his too of course but some of the moves he put on shaq in the paint were ridiculous. And he forced shaq into 5 and a half turnovers per game in the sweep
10:45 Kenny Smith told the story during an Open Court episode that Hakeem used to tell in a pick and roll situation that when the guard is recovering from pick, Hakeem would say that he can take on the roll man for some time just so that the guard can recovers. As the guard recovers, Hakeem would then swiftly go back to his man and then recover in time to play defence. Thats how versatile he was that you could leave him on an island with a point guard and still hold his own.
My 5 would be
Mine would be
Magic
Jordan
Bird
Duncan
Hakeem
Exact same list that I I have! These players cover everything!
Nice! Duncan and dream will do some damage together
Best big man ever sorry footwork
8:26 thats a near 7ft center playing the passing lanes. Unreal.
yeah. most big dudes won't get down there and put pressure on those knees
I was like seven during the 94 finals and all the OJ stuff. I was also a big rockets fan. As a kid I just couldn’t imagine why they’d cut away from the game to watch a stupid white Bronco
Hahaha. I get it. I was around 15 at the time so we understood but also we wanted to watch the finals!
Olajuwon is top 5 all time. 83-84 Houston 29-53, after drafting Olajuwon never below .500 for the next 15 seasons. 99-00, Olajuwon was 37, single losing season he was part of. Him and MJ had the least all star help compared to other greats, Sampson (3x), Thorpe (1x), 32 to 35 yo Drexler (2x), 33 to 36 yo Barkley (1x), VC (1x) in his last season, that's it. 93 to 96 had a streak of 11 playoff series as leading scorer, ahead of Kobe(10), KAJ(9), Malone(9), LBJ(8), Baylor(8), Mikan(8), AI(8), Wilt(7), Moses(7)... second only to MJ(36) in NBA/ABA history
Hakeem the Dream was a Monster.
An absolute beast
That’s a good starting 5. That you mentioned. No one is beating that team. MJ’s starting five is Him, Pippen, James Worthy, Magic Johnson, and Hakeem Olajuwon
Yup. MJ is going with the guys he trusts.
80s Hakeem and MJ looked like video game characters out there... They were quicker, more explosive, and bouncier than anyone else on the court..
They really were. I wish we got to see the 3 of them play together
I’ve considered who I’d have in my all time starting 5. It would be superstars in their prime. My original 5 was: Olajuwon, Duncan, Bird, MJ, Magic. Then I considered a possible 5 of: Shaq, Olajuwon, Bird, MJ, Magic. Hakeem is one of my all time favorites, has to be in it. But he’s so underrated.
Yup. Hakeem has to be in it imo. It gets hard though because between shaq, duncan, kobe one of them has to miss out lol
PG-MJ SG-Kobe SF-Hakeem PF-Duncan C-KAJ. Guard any backcourt combinaison well. Lockdown LBJ put Hakeem on him. Shaq i got Duncan or Hakeem proven match ups. Wilt i got KAJ good match up. Bird i put Hakeem or Duncan on him. Switching is futile!
Crazy we never got to see MJ vs Hakeem in the finals.
I know! If MJ didn't retire we would have.
this is truly incredible
Hakeem was a beast
Shaq is a liar, Olajuwon was crushing him and Shaq scored the majority of his points on 38y old Charles Jones
Fair enough. Yeah hakeem really dominated him in those finals.
The call under the basket didn't exist in the 90s!
“Try to beat that team”
Okay… 👌
Pg: Oscar
Sg: Mj
Sf: Bird
Pf: Hakem
C: Kareem
Good team man. Would love to see it play out lol
PG: Pippen
SG: MJ
SF: KG
PF: Duncan
C: Hakeem
no one is scoring against that team...
I don't like the "what if" game much, but imagine portland picked MJ and he still developed the way he did, that would have gave him a better partner than Pippin in Drixler early in his carear.
Only problem is they both played SG. But MJ could've switched to PG easily and they would've dominated from day 1 together.
Hakeem defense isn't really underrated but it is insane
Young peeps have no idea how good he was on D lol
Correct height 7'0" i have Hakeem in top 5 centers of all-time
Who's better than Olajuwon? To think there are 4 better centers in NBA history is crazy
He's not a legit 7 footer, 6"11 at best. Robinson is easily 2 inches taller than him for example. But yeah he's definitely top5 center of all time at the very least.
@@hakeemolajuwon4352He definitely have an argument at be the best ever, unilke the other usual suspects he had less great teammates around throughout his career. He wasn't without weakness anyway, for example he got better at reading double teams only through the 90's.
@@sergioa.9695 I disagree. He got more confident at trusting his teammates to make their shots over the years when he finally got some halfway decent shooters
100% top 5 centers
React bill russell art of blocking, that's a great video
Will do!
15:38 It was Sean Elliot
Thank you!
He could guard pg
As i said: hakeem at 5. Period.
Great if it were not for him my Knicks would've been champs
Definitely! You happened to run into peak Dream
Yo RealMindChime, you have to watch the live from Michael Jordan Fans are the best, they had Gilbert Arenas on there. Gilbert Arenas got cooked😂
Dude! I literally just watched thr AOH vid on it. I'm gonna have the check out the full stream lol
Hakeem the African Dream. I think he‘s Top 10 in Blocks and Steals right?
Oh yeah. The dream was no joke
do kawahi leonard please
Good call
Why wasn't he picked for the dream team he was still playing?
He was in dream team 2 in 96. In 92 robinson and ewing were the guys. Thoufh i would've replaced Ewing with hakeem probably
Definitely insight brother u got it
Unfortunately a lot of these clips are from physically declining Hakeem. He was more explosive(effortless double jumps), fast twitch recoveries. Lateral foot speed to defend on the perimeter. He was far less offensively polished, and rushed into difficult shots, but his defense was always elite of elite from day 1. By the time he polished his offensive game, he started to be more of a traditional shot blocking big (still with quick hadns as well)as he lost the versatility with the declining athletic ability in his mid 30s
Good pick on do'n it on Hakeem...Safe to say, the 90's was the end of REAL BBall... :) The Dream was likely the most athletic big man, with the skills to back all of it up, what a true stud- I like Shaq, and all the newby's and Hype train warriors will be against it, but The Dream was better than Shaq, by a lot... Had Mike stuck around, and the two champ teams from the rockets got it on for the championships, it would have been incredible... You channel is bomb bro ( "Jungle ball" how we miss those days!!!) - Perfect all time team!! Love it!!!!!!!!
Thank you! I like to say 2010 is when thr nba died. We still had guys like duncan, kg, and kobe out there playing right. But the signs were there that the dream is coming to an end
@@TheRealMindCrime You are probably correct, I checked out around the final dance, watched a little untill he league started tanking refs for the LAkers, then I was out ( look at that deal now!!)... I was a Lakers fan too... :) Go figure! Keep up the great job!! Timmy was the truth, The best power foreword ever in my opinion...