Who was the consensus "best Big man"in the late 80s-mid90s?

[JohnnySic]

Making the finals in your 2nd season = buried on bad teams. Only at ISH

Yes, he made the finals in '86, but at that point it was Sampson that was getting more of the limelight.

From '87 to '92 Hakeem's teams were bad. That a six season stretch, pretty significant. And it was during that time that Ewing, and then Robinson, were generally considered the best centers. Hakeem was in the background and overlooked, as is often the case with players on bad teams.

If you were around at that time you'd get it. Which you probably weren't.

[houston]

hakeem

[ButterFace]

By mid-90s, it was Olajuwon, closely followed by Robinson, and Shaq gaining steam.

[julizaver]

Hakeem, Malone, Barkley, Robinson, Ewing, Shaq

It's crazy how quality the Big men were back then. I'm too young to know, but who was the undeniable Number 1?

There was no consensus "best Big man" at the time, but after 1995 it was clear that Hakeem was the best big man of his generation. He was strong playoff performer and outplayed decisively Robinson and Ewing, and outplayed young O'Neal (Shaq held his own, but admitted that Hakeem outplayed him in 1995 Finals).

[Soundwave]

It was probably David Robinson, he had the most hype/accolades in the early part of the 90s.

But Hakeem seized the throne by taking him to school in the playoffs in the mid-90s.

[julizaver]

No consensus there, some amazing players in that era: Hakeem, Barkley, Robinson, Malone, followed by Ewing, McHale, Mourning... Parish and Jabbar were still presence in the game in late 80s, but past their peaks... Rodman was just starting to be rebounding force... And then 'Next string'' players: Mutombo, Oakley, Willis, Divac, Kemp., Thorpe..

In the 1986 All-Star game:
EAST bigs:
Parish
Ewing
Moses Malone

WEST bigs:
K. A. Jabbar
Hakeem
Gilmore
Sampson

[RoseCity07]

I remember when I was like 6 o 7. I asked for a Shaq jersey. Got it for Christmas. This was when he was in Orlando. If that is an sort of metric for how big of a deal he was.