Hakeem still makes good money teaching footwork to NBA players today. Everyone from Lebron downwards has taken lessons from him.





Hakeem was a beast in a era when folks could argue you had the best collection of big men.

Also, from that video, I wish the NBA would still hand out the MVP during the season/playoffs. It was always cool to see the recipient get the trophy at center court deep into the playoffs.












It would set up lots of drama as what you saw with Olajuwon as typically the MVP always came from a good team that went deep in the playoffs, who would face off against another good team that likely had MVP candidates. The competitive spirit made things tense and many times the MVP recipient or the other guy would have record performances.




^ Iverson 52 Points vs Toronto

History has a funny way of writing things. When the Dream Team formed on 92, even though Hakeem wasn't eligible, he was considered the least of the big three centres, Ewing was by far and away considered the best, followed by Robinson.

Shaq made it big four when drafted, and Mourning was considered best if next tier, after Smits, Parish, Daugherty, Duckworth and Seikaly probably last of 'good' centres.

Hakeem had a reputation of racking up stats against weak opposition and choosing stat padding vs winning, well until 94 anyway.

I think Wilt, Russell, Kareem and Shaq are undisputed as best four. That fifth is a hard decision.

Reed?
Gilmore?
Walton?
Moses Malone?

That's a conversation that will never end.

Hakeem was a finesse center, lost artform if anything. While Robinson was good, Hakeem was great.

(06-12-2017 05:48 AM)underboss Wrote:  Hakeem was a finesse center, lost artform if anything. While Robinson was good, Hakeem was great.

Hakeem was too nice a guy to be an athlete.

Amazing skills for a big man. Being a soccer goalie when he was young didn't hurt.

He just didn't have that killer hate for his opponents that marks a champion, that basketball is everything, and anything to win mentality.

Jordan:



Bryant:



Bird:



Hakeem:





Look at that face! I want to give him a hug and a mug of cocoa!



In the 90's people were getting killed for their shoes in the U.S.

He was the first athlete to endorse a pair of shoes that were cheap enough so poorer kids could afford them, in an effort to stop this. Just 34.99 folks:



https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2...r-killings

Quote:“How can a poor working mother with three boys buy Nikes or Reeboks that cost $120?” Olajuwon said upon their release in 1995. “She can’t. So kids steal these shoes from stores and from other kids. Sometimes they kill for them.”

He will never be classed with all those dudes for whom basketball was life.

Bet he's got a life to be proud of though.

Hakeem and Julius Irving, two of my all time basketball favorites. (I think Dr. J. is one of my favorite athletes of all time along with Wayne Gretzky and Joe Montana).

(06-12-2017 01:52 PM)doc holliday Wrote:  Hakeem and Julius Irving, two of my all time basketball favorites. (I think Dr. J. is one of my favorite athletes of all time along with Wayne Gretzky and Joe Montana).

There is no doubt there are better dunkers today than in the past. We may argue which teams from which eras might have beat each other, but the dunks of today are on another level.

That said, I did like all of the gliding swooping dunks of the seventies, which might have been less athletic than today's ones, but had a grace of their own:





People dunk like this as a matter of course today. When J. did it, it was literally inconceivable to the fans. Like a magic show:





Listen to how freaked out the announcers get. The dunk at 1:30 is to me the iconic 70's dunk. He looks like an exotic bird, just taking flight and swooping.





Clyde Drexler was pretty sweet too. He would take flight and just tuck his legs up like landing gear at the beginning of a long flight:





If anyone from back then came close to the dunkers of today, it was Dominique (The Human Highlight Film) Wilkins. Not too shabby>





I still like the smooth gliding dunks the best.

I'm fairly sure MJ is still the only to have ever dunked from the FT line with a live dribble all the way.

(06-12-2017 04:05 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:  I'm fairly sure MJ is still the only to have ever dunked from the FT line with a live dribble all the way.

His foot was on the line. Heh.

This dude dribbled and went off two feet:





This kid didn't dribble, but I mean, come on:





I'm telling you, today's dunkers are miles ahead of the past, even the white boys. (This guy is 6' 1')

I'm so sick of seeing Durant's mother! At least he finally mentioned his father post game. #GoldenStateMamasBoys

GSW did it at home. 129-120
Durant is the finals MVP. 39 points in game 5. A fairytale first season for KD.
Le Ego got 41 points. So this guy now has played in 8 finals, including 7 consecutively. He's won 3, and been swept once.

https://streamable.com/c17xi

Cavs should have been feeding JR, dude was in the zone.

I think Klay Thompson will be on the Celtics next season.

(06-12-2017 11:18 PM)brick tamland Wrote:  GSW did it at home. 129-120
Durant is the finals MVP. 39 points in game 5. A fairytale first season for KD.
Le Ego got 41 points. So this guy now has played in 8 finals, including 7 consecutively. He's won 3, and been swept once.

All GS fans should be happy. For LBJ haters, this win does not negate the non sweep this year and choke last year. LBJ is 3-5 in the finals when in reality should be 2-6 at best.

Part of me wishes it would have been a sweep. All the non-sweep did be both Lebron's ego; it would have been better for the league to just throw gas on the flames of this season and let it burn down in a big rush.

This season has gone down as one of the worst in modern history where you had a useless regular season with teams taking games off, resting and pulling overall funny business, just to rest up for the playoffs to attempt to challenge GSW and Cleveland. Well, Playoffs turn into a joke where blowouts where a plenty every night and none of the elite teams are tested.

Finals then turn into a joke in itself with a sweep almost a certainty as GSW firepower is simply too much to overcome.

It would have been best to let the NBA end this season with an embarrassing sweep so it would be forced to look in the mirror and maybe tweak things to get some competitive flow going. I don't dislike dominance in sports; I just dislike where there is no challenge to those who are at the top. Everyone this season looked the other way because we all assumed we would get some good playoffs and at least a classic finals. None turned out to come to fruition, so now 28 teams sit looking being as far away as ever, and one team in Cleveland is hand tied with bloated salaries and a perceived complete roster that is unable to compete with GSW.

What does the NBA do now? Who can look forward to nest season now?

I am happy KD has a ring now at least. He has been far too good for too long so, super team, or not, I think he would have gotten one anyhow (Just not with Westbrook though IMO which is a talent, but dead weight)

Too many teams in the league. I thought this finals was really good. Great players going at great players. GSW plays a superior brand of basketball compared to Cavs iso heavy game.

I went to bed before the game ended, and woke up to the disappointing news that GS had won.

It ruined the prediction that I was going to make today:

Golden State blows their three game lead, loses the series, signs LeBron, and loses in the finals next year to Cleveland.

I've always been skeptical about whether the NBA was fixed or not. Now I'm leaning toward fixed, this series felt like a WWE match with the media riding Durants dick. It felt like they were trying to put him over and pander to the larger market.

(06-13-2017 11:11 AM)Number one bummer Wrote:  I've always been skeptical about whether the NBA was fixed or not. Now I'm leaning toward fixed, this series felt like a WWE match with the media riding Durant's dick. It felt like they were trying to put him over and pander to the larger market.

It's because the basketball has been so bad
the media is desperate to double down on the softy "stories". I just watch the games and them turn it off. Media pundits mostly all losers, Paul Peirce is so trash on TV they need to make sure he never returns.

After Cleveland won game 4 everyone knew GSW would just wake back up and take it at home. Media tried to push like this was just like last year when no way in hell the GSW team would drop two strait. When that wasn't working they try and paint the certified asshole and hood n***a in Mr. Durant as some feel good story; Durant will tell the media to get get fucked tomorrow, dude gives zero fucks.

(06-13-2017 09:14 AM)kosko Wrote:  What does the NBA do now? Who can look forward to nest season now?

Before Cleveland, Miami had the East on lockdown. Both were teams with allstars spearheaded by the self proclaimed best player in the world. The lack of parity argument is nothing new.

I think it comes down to people not liking certain players for whatever reason. If you are a fan of Lebron James, you may not mind the lack of real competition in the East. Was kind of the same when Magic and the Lakers dominated the West and the Celtics the East.

Teams will adjust and there will be injuries, trades, new blood and other factors that will always provide a level of uncertainty next year.

Miami still had the Bulls, Pacers, and Celtics all at times as challengers in the East. The Eastern Confrence has been historically weak for a long time though. LeBron would never get to 7 finals in a row having to grind it out in the West playoffs.

West had stacked layers where even GSW had to get squeezed in the vice grip for 2 years before they managed to break out.

This year only 3 teams were viable title contenders, Boston was just as much as pretender as Toronto, just like Houston and the Clippers were frauds out West. We all knew that only 3 teams had a shot and even the Spurs flamed out due to injuries.

(06-13-2017 05:20 PM)kosko Wrote:  Miami still had the Bulls, Pacers, and Celtics all at times as challengers in the East.

Didn't Lebron go to the finals his 1st year with Miami? Those teams were better than the current lot but Lebron got up there and said ... not 1, 2, 3, 4, ... etc because he already knew the comp in the East was subpar

Thankfully we didn't have to witness the Crying Game on ABC this time after the win.