Kevin Durant vs Hakeem Olajuwon

[Lion's pride]

how about this for an answer, both equally great at heir respective positions... Tie breaker though is Hakeem as I believe Center was and should still be (but isn't) the MVP position..

[72-10]

While Durant certainly has the offensive edge, it's more than made up by Hakeem's impeccable footwork (though it helped more on offense), agility, timing and impact on the defensive end. Still clearly Hakeem.

[Roundball_Rock]

Even that is extremely iffy to me, Hakeem averaged 34/11/5/2/4 in what was a pretty competitive series. Best case scenario Durant matches his scoring while the Rockets have a seismic drop off defensively

Good points. The ceiling is winning one round with KD, maybe they don't even do that. With Hakeem they went all the way.

What KD teams do much worse with Hakeem? GS does the same with Hakeem.

As would Ewing, Malone, D-Rob, Harden etc.

Yeah, this is a rare point of view being expressed. Playoffs=tougher defenses (better teams, teams focus on your team defensively in a series versus playing multiple teams in a given week) and more pressure. If the Clippers lose this game to the Mavs tonight no one will care. The RS doesn't generate much scrutiny outside of a handful of high profile games (e.g., Christmas games), often rivalry games (like the LAL-LAC games this year).

[tpols]

As would Ewing, Malone, D-Rob, Harden etc.

All those guys are truly great players. But the trash bros showed that you could be dominant in a regular season, but ass when it matters in the playoffs.

[Roundball_Rock]

DeRozan and Lowry have never dominated anything. They have a combined 3 all-NBA teams--no first teams and neither was ever a MVP candidate. Being good isn't the same as being dominant.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Hakeem because he's proven to be the tougher player, mentally. Unlike Durant, Hakeem stayed with his organization and took his playoff lumps. Grew with his teams and finally broke through with one of the GOAT postseason runs. Hakeem also did more with less and could anchor a defense while maintaining elite command on O.

Hakeem scores 46 points vs Portland (1994 WC1R GM2)
Hakeem closes out the Jazz - 22/10/6/4/7 (G5 - 1994 WCF)
Hakeem closes out Phoenix - 37/17/5 (G7 - 1994 NBA Playoffs)
Hakeem w/ a 30-point double-double vs Ewing in the Finals. Elimination game to tie the series 3-3

Those performances were all in ONE playoff run. But en-route to a ring. That year, Hakeem also led Houston to the second best defense (behind Robinson's Spurs). Overall was second in blocks behind Mutombo, third in PPG, #4 in box plus minus and #2 in player efficiency. In the postseason, Hakeem was #1 in points, #2 in box plus minus (#1 in defensive box-plus minus), #2 in player efficiency. Again all in one year.

Durant is one of the best scorers ever, but Hakeem had the entire package. And was less prone to fold with everything equal.

Will also add that Hakeem shot 57%TS.

Not bad for someone who didn't take threes. But often took difficult shots

[tontoz]

That... is just total bullshit. Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan would like to have a word with you.

Over the last 40 years a 1 seed has won the title 27 times. During that time frame only 1 team seeded lower than 3 (Rockets in 95) has won a title.

Like i said, history doesn't agree with you.

And of course there were many times that the consensus best team didn't have a 1 seed due to injuries.

[72-10]

Over the last 40 years a 1 seed has won the title 27 times. During that time frame only 1 team seeded lower than 3 (Rockets in 95) has won a title.

Like i said, history doesn't agree with you.

And of course there were many times that the consensus best team didn't have a 1 seed due to injuries.

The eighth-seeded Spurs won the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.

[tontoz]

The eighth-seeded Spurs won the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.

LOL the Spurs were the top seed.

https://www.basketball-reference.com...standings.html

[72-10]

oh rite, thinking of the Knicks my b

anyhow, I think Hakeem would shut down Kevin in a one-on-one.

[tontoz]

oh rite, thinking of the Knicks my b

anyhow, I think Hakeem would shut down Kevin in a one-on-one.

I think Hakeem would do well in this era because he could defend perimeter players on switches. Also the lane is more open for him to operate offensively. Doubt he would ever shoot 3s though.

Great player he just wasn't a guy you could count on to bring it every night. Best college player i ever saw. Watching him in college i was like W T F. Literally nobody talked about taking Jordan number 1 in the draft because Hakeem was so scary.

[72-10]

do you think Hakeem had more, like, raw, untapped potential coming out of college than Mike J?

[tontoz]

do you think Hakeem had more, like, raw, untapped potential coming out of college than Mike J?

That was the perception at the time.

MJ was held back in college by his coach Dean Smith. Jordan was better than anybody knew he just didn't get the chance to show it at UNC. When he played for the Olympic Team after the draft the coach Bobby Knight said Jordan the best player he had ever seen and he wasn't known for hyperbole. If the draft was held after the Olympics then Jordan might have gone number 1.

[HoopsNY]

Honestly... Durant might be better even though he's way less respectable. His shooting and offensive ceiling is GOAT plus defense very good.

actually checking out the playoff splits, hakeem is better. Durant is great but Hakeem's metrics are off the charts good.

Durant and "very good defense" don't go in the same sentence. He is one of the best offensive players ever, sure. But Hakeem could give you 25-27 ppg and is arguably the greatest defensive player, ever. The two are not in the same universe.

[HoopsNY]

A lot of people overlook Hakeem's issues. 4 straight first round exits in his prime. He was widely seen as a black hole that didnt play well with others. Settled for jumpers a lot. Scoring efficiency not that good.

Hakeem was a far better defender but Durant is a far better scorer. Which i would pick depends on the rest of the team.

After losing a HOF level teammate to career ending injuries together with 2 starters and one 6th man to drug abuse. Two of them got banned by the NBA. That is often left out of the conversation. Houston was the dynasty that never was, and none of that was Hakeem's fault.

And I don't know about KD being a "far better" scorer. Hakeem's prime saw him average nearly 24 PPG. KD is still in his prime averaging 27 PPG. And Hakeem played a bulk of his prime in a much more defensive era.

In the playoffs in Hakeem's prime (1985-99), he put up nearly 27 PPG to KD's 29 PPG. So the difference in scoring is not monumental. And again, that's without factoring in a bulk of it coming in a more defensive era.