Did Hakeem have a top 5 peak of all time?

[SouBeachTalents]

In light of the several different Hakeem threads, most of them terrible, I wanted to see where you guys thought his peak (93-95) ranked all time.

Was it top 5 all time? If not, who you taking over his

[Dr Hawk]

Definitely yes.

Top 5 player all time too.

[Vino24]

Definitely yes.

Top 5 player all time too.
No
Russell
MJ
LeBron
Shaq
Magic
Bird

>>>>

[Dr Hawk]

No
Russell
MJ
LeBron
Shaq
Magic
Bird

>>>>

MJ
Shaq
Hakeem

Top 3 peaks right there.

[Vino24]

MJ
Shaq
Hakeem

Top 3 peaks right there.
Even Barkley had a better peak and he

[Bosnian Sajo]

Shaq 1999-2003
Jordan 1990-1993 & 1995-1998 (peak is your absolute best...Mike's was interrupted)
Kobe 2005-2010
Lebron 2009-2014
KAJ 1970-1974
Bird 1984-1988
Magic 1986-1990
Duncan 1999-2003


It's tough to say man...incredibly hard. It's hard enough to place players based off of their careers, but looking at only peaks? Man they are all up there. I honestly cannot pick 5. I don't think you can go wrong picking any of the above guys plus Hakeem.

I leave off guys like Russell and Wilt because I have no idea what their peaks were. Wilt I guess the seasons he averaged 40+, Russell beats me.

[Vino24]

David Robinson’s peak also was better than Hakeems and he’s also not top 10

[Phoenix]

Wilt 61-63, MJ 91-93, Shaq, 2000-2002, Bron 12-14, Alcindor in 71-73 in any order you want. After that? Hakeem's got probably as much a case as anyone.

[Vino24]

Wilt 61-63, MJ 91-93, Shaq, 2000-2002, Bron 12-14, Alcindor in 71-73 in any order you want. After that? Hakeem's got probably as much a case as anyone.
Barkley had a crazy peak that is underrated

[Phoenix]

Barkley had a crazy peak that is underrated

After the 5 I mentioned it becomes way more clouded. Bird 84-86 is up there too, 3 straight MVPs, two titles and basically a 28/10/7 performer in that period. Actually Bird was probably better in 87 than 84 when he won his first MVP, but people tend to say 84-86 coinciding with team and individual accolades. Hell take it to 88, 30/9/6. That 5 year period for him was insane.

[Vino24]

After the 5 I mentioned it becomes way more clouded. Bird 84-86 is up there too, 3 straight MVPs, two titles and basically a 28/10/7 performer in that period. Actually Bird was probably better in 87 than 84 when he won his first MVP, but people tend to say 84-86 coinciding with team and individual accolades. Hell take it to 88, 30/9/6. That 5 year period for him was insane.
Agree! Going by peak alone this is way up there :cheers:

[Manny98]

LeBron
MJ
Shaq
KD

Then it's between Robinson,Curry,KG,Duncan,Bird, Magic and Hakeem I can't decide

[Phoenix]

Agree! Going by peak alone this is way up there :cheers:

He basically limped his way to 20/9/7 at 36 his final year, so I have no doubts a healthy Bird would have been 25-27/9-10/6-7 up till 1990 if his body didn't fail him.

[Bosnian Sajo]

LeBron
MJ
Shaq
KD

Then it's between Robinson,Curry,KG,Duncan,Bird, Magic and Hakeem I can't decide


It's hilarious to me when Lebron stans leave out Kobe when he obviously belongs in this conversation.


Don't you understand that when you act so blatantly biased, ANYTHING you say isn't taken seriously? You could be explaining to me how and why the sky is blue and I'd still think you were bullshitting.

[Vino24]

Bird had a 29/9/6 season on 50/40/90 shooting :eek:
Barkley in 1988 had a 28/11/3 season on 66% TS with crazy performances against Dominique and MJ

[Manny98]

It's hilarious to me when Lebron stans leave out Kobe when he obviously belongs in this conversation.


Don't you understand that when you act so blatantly biased, ANYTHING you say isn't taken seriously? You could be explaining to me how and why the sky is blue and I'd still think you were bullshitting.
Kobe top 5 peak?

Are you f*cking serious :roll: :roll: :roll:

[Bosnian Sajo]

Kobe top 5 peak?

Are you f*cking serious :roll: :roll: :roll:


He has as much of an argument as anyone else to be top 5....like idk what you imagine Kobe to be, but he was a top 3 player in the NBA for a solid 12 years dude. You can laugh all you want, he played in 7 NBA finals in an 11 year span, winning 5 of them. That's incredible. Not only that, he scored more points during that time span than any other player in the league and was a regular 1st team all nba player and 1st team all defense player.


You don't have to like him, you can hate him if you want. But stop being an idiot.

[Bosnian Sajo]

Talking peak specifically, he absolutely is up there. I put 2005-2010 because of the horrible teams he carried to the playoffs in 05-06 and 06-07, but looking at 2008-2010 alone his peak is GOAT level. 2008 MVP, olympic gold medal, and taking his team to the finals...09 and 10 winning back to back titles, one of them being against the Celtics superteam in an epic 7 game series. Hell, some would argue that his actual peak was while Shaq was still on the team, albeit I believe it to be his (F)MVP years.

Where does this illusion come from that he isnt' among the GOAT's?

[superduper]

Talking peak specifically, he absolutely is up there. I put 2005-2010 because of the horrible teams he carried to the playoffs in 05-06 and 06-07, but looking at 2008-2010 alone his peak is GOAT level. 2008 MVP, olympic gold medal, and taking his team to the finals...09 and 10 winning back to back titles, one of them being against the Celtics superteam in an epic 7 game series. Hell, some would argue that his actual peak was while Shaq was still on the team, albeit I believe it to be his (F)MVP years.

Where does this illusion come from that he isnt' among the GOAT's?

Kids that got into basketball after 2010 and watch basketball on statsheets

[Bosnian Sajo]

Kids that got into basketball after 2010 and watch basketball on statsheets


Even if that were the case, stats and accomplishments alone should tell you "hey, this guy was ****ing incredible".


What it comes from is these agenda driven accounts that devout their time to solely talk down against the players they dislike. Its so cringy.

[Manny98]

Why do people say i hate Kobe when i've constantly said he's in the 8-11 range all time

Peakwise you can make a case that he's top 10 i guess after LeBron,MJ and Shaq they're a bunch of names you can throw in

[NBAGOAT]

mj, shaq, lebron, wilt, kareem for me but hakeem is right there

[ClipperRevival]

It's so subjective but when you consider era, level of comp of not only his direct assignment but the caliber of teams he faced on top of his dominant, 2 way play, it was about as good as it got. It's just legendary stuff what he did in those 2 years.

[tanibanana]

No
Russell
MJ
LeBron
Shaq
Magic
Bird

>>>>

Arguably you can add
Curry
Dr.J (ABA)
Kobe

[Rudeboy3]

No because Giannis is better

[Marchesk]

In no universe does Hakeem have a higher peak than Wilt. Not even the fake Mysterio's 843 one.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

No, but it's debatable. I'd take MJ, Shaq, Bird, Bron, Kareem in some order probably.

[AussieSteve]

Even Barkley had a better peak and he’s not top 10

Peak Barkley was something else.

Over 4 seasons from 88-91 he averaged 27ppg on 16fga!! We're talking prime Kobe scoring numbers on 5 fewer shot attempts per game!!! Also led the league in offensive boards three of these seasons.

GOAT tier peak wasted on a team of scrubs.

[Phoenix]

Barkley was truly incredible in his prime. Nobody that height-challenged compared to the interior players he faced should have been that dominant.

[jayfan]

Yes.



.

[warriorfan]

Barkley was truly incredible in his prime. Nobody that height-challenged compared to the interior players he faced should have been that dominant.

I disagree. When you factor in more importantly Barkley

[ImKobe]

'95 Playoffs Hakeem is arguably the GOAT peak and I'm not talking stats-wise but how he impacted the game. He might have had one or two bad games the entire title run and look at the teams he beat en route to the Finals

60-22 Jazz
59-23 Suns (comeback from down 1-3)
62-20 Spurs (demolishing peak Admiral with 35/13/5 with 4 blocks in WCF)

and he beat athletic peak Shaq on a 57-25 Orlando team in 4 games in the Finals..

Basically ran through every great big man of his era in one year, arguably the toughest competition any player has beat in a single run if we go by average opponent win record and who the best players on those teams were.

[Phoenix]

I disagree. When you factor in more importantly Barkley’s wingspan and standing reach and of course weight, he’s not undersized at all. He is a huge dude with odd proportions.

I didn't say undersized, I said height-challenged. I'm aware of his girth, weight and arm length. It's still amazing that he was able to dominate interior-wise in an era that featured a number of 7 footers who defended the paint.

[AussieSteve]

'95 Playoffs Hakeem is arguably the GOAT peak and I'm not talking stats-wise but how he impacted the game. He might have had one or two bad games the entire title run and look at the teams he beat en route to the Finals

60-22 Jazz
59-23 Suns (comeback from down 1-3)
62-20 Spurs (demolishing peak Admiral with 35/13/5 with 4 blocks in WCF)

and he beat athletic peak Shaq on a 57-25 Orlando team in 4 games in the Finals..

Basically ran through every great big man of his era in one year, arguably the toughest competition any player has beat in a single run if we go by average opponent win record and who the best players on those teams were.

Can't argue with this. That is an incredible playoff run.

In the debate of who was the best big in the mid 90s it was Dream, Shaq, Admiral, Chuck, Mailman. Hakeem was arguably on the worst team of all of them and still beat the lot in one run... convincingly.

I voted no in the poll on this thread, but he has a damn good case.

[tpols]

overrated.

he beat ewing & scrubs by a a literal hair. couldve easily went the other way then what?

and in '95 he had an MVP candidate teammate going off in the playoffs that nobody ever acknowledges. act like it was a carry job.

[tpols]

Barkley was truly incredible in his prime. Nobody that height-challenged compared to the interior players he faced should have been that dominant.


hes also a GOAT athlete to be able to move that fast @ 300 lbs or whatever...

its much better to be freakishly strong and fast then just tall... youd rather be barkley than manute bol

[Phoenix]

hes also a GOAT athlete to be able to move that fast @ 300 lbs or whatever...

its much better to be freakishly strong and fast then just tall... youd rather be barkley than manute bol

Manute Bol is a very extreme outlier. Most of the guys he would have faced in the paint in the 80s/90s would have been more proportionate in terms of size to strength ratio. By size I'm taking it all into account( height, weight, body dimensions etc)....

[Round Mound]

Every body forgets that Hakeem wen't to the finals his 2nd year against the best team of all time in the goat decade in 86. Hakeem was the best player in the game in 94 and 95. Barkley? He had a top 10 all time peak from 89 to 93.

[AussieSteve]

THIS Barkley was better than pretty much anyone outside of Jordan and maybe a couple others in the last 35 years

1989 EC R1 PHI v NYK game 3 - final 5 mins of regulation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgTBizoIwFo)

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

'95 Playoffs Hakeem is arguably the GOAT peak and I'm not talking stats-wise but how he impacted the game. He might have had one or two bad games the entire title run and look at the teams he beat en route to the Finals

60-22 Jazz
59-23 Suns (comeback from down 1-3)
62-20 Spurs (demolishing peak Admiral with 35/13/5 with 4 blocks in WCF)

and he beat athletic peak Shaq on a 57-25 Orlando team in 4 games in the Finals..

Basically ran through every great big man of his era in one year, arguably the toughest competition any player has beat in a single run if we go by average opponent win record and who the best players on those teams were.

he was the underdog in every series too

went up against Karl, Stock, KJ, Chuck, Robinson, Shaq and Penny.......thats like most of the top 10 players in the league at the time and the competition faced is the best ever. Only 11 Dirk really comes close TBH

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

overrated.

he beat ewing & scrubs by a a literal hair. couldve easily went the other way then what?

and in '95 he had an MVP candidate teammate going off in the playoffs that nobody ever acknowledges. act like it was a carry job.

the 94 Knicks are one of the GOAT defenses. Hakeems the one that carried actual scrubs to a title

20/7/5 is MVP play:oldlol: what are u smoking anyone with MVP play:oldlol:

Clyde was a pretty good 2nd option but Hakeem literally revitalized his career like Kobe did for Pau. U know he didnt even make the ASG that year right:oldlol: MVP:oldlol: dude was 14th in MVP votin and had a grand total of 3pts which was barely higher than #15 Ceballos at 1pt:roll:

A man that gets traded from a franchise he was a legend and hero in for Otis Thorpe, Marcelo Nicola and a 1st round pick is an MVP candidate:roll: stop shtposting

[Round Mound]

THIS Barkley was better than pretty much anyone outside of Jordan and maybe a couple others in the last 35 years

1989 EC R1 PHI v NYK game 3 - final 5 mins of regulation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgTBizoIwFo)

:applause:

[ClipperRevival]

'95 Playoffs Hakeem is arguably the GOAT peak and I'm not talking stats-wise but how he impacted the game. He might have had one or two bad games the entire title run and look at the teams he beat en route to the Finals

60-22 Jazz
59-23 Suns (comeback from down 1-3)
62-20 Spurs (demolishing peak Admiral with 35/13/5 with 4 blocks in WCF)

and he beat athletic peak Shaq on a 57-25 Orlando team in 4 games in the Finals..

Basically ran through every great big man of his era in one year, arguably the toughest competition any player has beat in a single run if we go by average opponent win record and who the best players on those teams were.

Absolutely.

[Real14]

No
Russell
MJ
LeBron
Shaq
Magic
Bird

>>>>
Lebron is number 21.

[Real14]

No
Russell
MJ
LeBron
Shaq
Magic
Bird

>>>>
Kobe is way ahead of lebron. Better than Bird and Shaq too.

[Overdrive]

It's hilarious to me when Lebron stans leave out Kobe when he obviously belongs in this conversation.


Don't you understand that when you act so blatantly biased, ANYTHING you say isn't taken seriously? You could be explaining to me how and why the sky is blue and I'd still think you were bullshitting.

His peak didn't correlate with playoff success, that's the biggest issue. Peak doesn't mean 5 or 6 years. It's when a player plays at his clear highest level. 96-98 Jordan isn't peak Jordan.

[72-10]

While I'm fully aware that I just missed most of Hakeem's peak, I'm in equal measure knowing that I know enough to vote yes.

Primes that are legitimately greater than Hakeem's:
MJ (1987-88-1991-92)
Wilt (1961-62-1966-67)
Shaq (1999-00-2001-02)

then I'm pretty sure you could argue Hakeem, although there's also these:

Bird (1983-84-1985-86)
Magic (1986-87-1989-90)

and then there's Barkley in the late 80s but I really don't think it merits much consideration, especially considering that his team missed the playoffs one year, and what exactly do you consider Curry's prime; it's rather ill-defined.