Greatest Offensive Center Ever

[Leetonidas]

Thread on RealGM got me thinking about this, and I can't decide between Shaq, Kareem, Wilt, and Hakeem.

Kareem obviously is the all-time leader in points, so he definitely has that going for him. Shaq was so dominant offensively in his heyday but it was mostly due to brute strength, athleticism, and his footwork. Hakeem probably has the most polished overall game and Wilt is definitely in the equation for averaging 50ppg for a season, scoring 100 in a game and being the most dominating offensive force in the history of the NBA (yes I know he played against a bunch of 6'4 honkies).

So who do you take? Kareem because of his unstoppable skyhook and longevity? Shaq for being so large and unstoppable he literally could not be contained? Hakeem for magnificent post game and passing, or Wilt for his unprecedented dominance in a lost era, a true man ahead of his time.

Remember not all offensive ability is solely reliant on scoring, things like passing and FT shooting should be factored in appropriately.

Discuss.

[clambake]

magic johnson

[Leetonidas]

/thread

[DBryant88]

Yao

[Leetonidas]

If he wasn't chronically injured he might have a case, he had a pretty sweet offensive game. I believe he averaged 25 points in 33 minutes one season :wow

[lefty]

Hakeem

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

I take Kareem tbh

[baseline bum]

I'll go with Kareem. People forget how athletic he was in his Milwaukee and his first 5 years or so in LA before Magic got there and they started winning.

[mavs>spurs]

prime hakeem shits on everyone in nba history not named michael jordan, at least in the modern era.

[pass1st]

Kareem for the balance of technique and athleticism he had, but Shaq was just insanely dominant. I'd probably take Kareem if we're strictly talking about offensive centers.

[Leetonidas]

Cross Shaq and Wilt off that list. DRob, Yao, Ewing, Moses all had better moves in the post. Hakeem was the greatest offensive center ever. Kareem is after him. I look at the weaknesses of a player to determine how good they are. Wilt and Shaq had no counter moves, no mid range, and both had poor touch around and away from the basket. Hakeem had absolutely no weakness at the offensive end.

Wilt had a pretty sick turnaround off the glass in the post, he had to have some moves to put up that many points a game

[lefty]

prime hakeem shits on everyone in nba history not named michael jordan, at least in the modern era.
:tu

[stretch]

Kareem is most skilled

Shaq is most physically dominant

Hakeem is a mix of both

pick your poison, any of those 3 are acceptable, IMO

[MR.SILVER&BLack]

Cross Shaq and Wilt off that list. DRob, Yao, Ewing, Moses all had better moves in the post. Hakeem was the greatest offensive center ever. Kareem is after him. I look at the weaknesses of a player to determine how good they are. Wilt and Shaq had no counter moves, no mid range, and both had poor touch around and away from the basket. Hakeem had absolutely no weakness at the offensive end.
:wow a quailty post from laka.

[resistanze]

Cap.

[cantthinkofanything]

I take Kareem tbh

LOL. "you take kareem". LOL
uhhhhhuuhhh

[Trill Clinton]

I vote for Hakeem. Dude had unlimited post moves and was an athletic freak. The "Dream shake" was a thing of beauty. He had the best footwork of any big man and I still remember his game against the Spurs the night DRob won the MVP:depressed. Crazy thing is he only started playing ball at 15, he was just a natural.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

LOL. "you take kareem". LOL
uhhhhhuuhhh
Do you really think this^ kind of stuff is funny?

[stretch]

Do you really think this^ kind of stuff is funny?

i cant lie, i chuckled a bit

[cantthinkofanything]

Do you really think this^ kind of stuff is funny?

I do. I do think it's funny. And it was really difficult not to say something more offensive like "your mom takes lots of kareem" or something. But I'm trying. I'm trying real hard.

[ambchang]

Shaq was great, but you are talking about a guy who only led the league in scoring once in his 2 decades in the league. He is a fantastic passer out of double teams (probably the best out of this bunch), but he have severe limitations in his offensive moves.

Hakeem was great for a few years, but people, for whatever reason, seem to only remember his good games and just forget about the bad. He made some ridiculous plays, have the most and best moves in the post, but people make it sound like he scores 35ppg throughout his career or something. Hakeem never even led the league in scoring (partly due to the Jordan overlap, partly due to the fact that he just isn't a volume shooter). Hakeem became totally unstoppable when he learned to trust his 3-point shooting teammates.

Wilt had more post moves people gave him credit for. He had the ugly finger roll, he had the turnaround, and he is uber athletic. Scoring 50.4ppg, and averaging 30.1 ppg throughout his career is no joke. He racked up assists like nobody's business, either.

Kareem had the skyhook, and that is all he needs, but he also had the reverse dunk, the spin, can shoot well from the line, and can really handle the ball in his younger days. Never thought he was much of a passer though.

Out of the group:
Kareem
Hakeem
Wilt
Shaq

[stretch]

lol wilt

lol most overrated player of all time

[ambchang]

lol acting like you have watched Wilt played.

[DMC]

Hakeem without a doubt.

[baseline bum]

LOL @ people acting like Olajuwon's offensive game was overrated. He may not have been the passer Shaq was, but he had a post game better than McHale and his ability to face up and take his man off the dribble was right on par with Robinson. Add a respectable midrange jumper and a completely unguardable baseline fadeaway (a lot like the one Jordan developed in the second three-peat) and he had one of the most complete offensive arsenals you'll ever see out of a guy 6'10" and up.

[m>s]

hakeem with the best offensive game, with his fascinating movements which had always been his trademark hakeem could beat the opponents who're bigger yet slower, when the opponents were smaller he would just eat them alive. the prime shaq was just too fucking powerful he would beat anyone 1on1 with ease, but his career FT% was poor as fuck which makes hack-the-shaq the most efficient antidote against him

[Ashy Larry]

Kareem's resume matches up with anyone. Number one on my GOAT list ......

[stretch]

lol acting like you have watched Wilt played.

lol acting like your opinion means shit considering you think manu ginobili > kobe

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

lol ambchang
lol retarded gorilla

[namlook]

Cross Hakeem off the list. He may have been the most skilled of the group but he did not impose his will on offense in the same way Wilt, Kareem and Shaq did.

Hakeem never led the league in scoring and only had two seasons over 27 PPG and he never averaged 28 PPG.

Hakeem's highest FG% in a season was 53.8%. Wilt, Kareem and Shaq have all had 60% FG seasons.

[LkrFan]

Kareem and it ain't even close. All time leading scorer. Avg 24.6 ppg for 20 years. Average more than 30 4-times. Avg 26+ppg 9 nine times. And that's regular season. Post season: 30+ppg 4 times. Avg 26+ 10 times (would have been 11: 25.9 once). Avg. 24.3ppg for 20 straight years in the playoffs.

Shaq most dominant? Hardly. Shaq's most unstoppable move: dunk. Kareem: sky hook that is money up to 18 feet and he could shoot the 3.

Perspective: at age 35, he was still giving the Lakers 21.8 ppg (compared to TD - 13.4 :lol).

Kareem would dominate today's NBA the same way he did in the '70s and '80s. If I'm picking a center the only one I even think about taking over Kareem is the Dream. And that would be at gun point.

Kareem is MDE, not Shaq.

[Koolaid_Man]

Thread on RealGM got me thinking about this, and I can't decide between Shaq, Kareem, Wilt, and Hakeem.

Kareem obviously is the all-time leader in points, so he definitely has that going for him. Shaq was so dominant offensively in his heyday but it was mostly due to brute strength, athleticism, and his footwork. Hakeem probably has the most polished overall game and Wilt is definitely in the equation for averaging 50ppg for a season, scoring 100 in a game and being the most dominating offensive force in the history of the NBA (yes I know he played against a bunch of 6'4 honkies).

So who do you take? Kareem because of his unstoppable skyhook and longevity? Shaq for being so large and unstoppable he literally could not be contained? Hakeem for magnificent post game and passing, or Wilt for his unprecedented dominance in a lost era, a true man ahead of his time.

Remember not all offensive ability is solely reliant on scoring, things like passing and FT shooting should be factored in appropriately.

Discuss.

:lol you guys still enamored with Shaq's girth when the hooker said his dick was the size of Deepy's....:lol He contained himself....:lmao

[ambchang]

lol acting like your opinion means shit considering you think manu ginobili > kobe

Quote me.

[ambchang]

lol ambchang
lol retarded gorilla

Oh, my pet again!

When I say bark, you say how loud.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

:lol u mad D-Rob cared more about chasing his teammates around with a bible than winning?

[stretch]

lol ambchang

[Giuseppe]

:lol u mad D-Rob cared more about chasing his teammates around with a bible than winning?

Meet me at the Chuckbox this afternoon & I'll chase you around with a 14 incher.

[BlackSwordsMan]

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5422308&postcount=29

[BlackSwordsMan]

Keep it up Cully.

[Giuseppe]

Show it to me & I may be able to keep it up.

[nevitt_&_smrek]

No votes for Gilmore?

[100%duncan]

Hakeem for the teamwork.
Wilt for the shit

[Muser]

Hakeem, obviously.

Would of been Shaq if he laid off the krispy kremes.

[Ashy Larry]

I'll go with Kareem. People forget how athletic he was in his Milwaukee and his first 5 years or so in LA before Magic got there and they started winning.

most people remember old, balding 80s Kareem. Few can remember the dominant player from the 70s that had the league handcuffed. But even as good as he was, he still couldn't do it by himself.

Kareem's resume shits on damn near everyone's and kills Hakeem's......

[Giuseppe]

But even as good as he was, he still couldn't do it by himself.

& MSM nearly ran him insane over it. They had a field day with him.

Magic Johnson is a Godsend.

[Pelicans78]

Healthy Bill Walton was gifted offensively. He pretty much did it all.

I would give the nod to Kareem. He's the best offensive center in history. At least skill wise. He really couldn't be guarded in his prime.

[Giuseppe]

Healthy Bill Walton was gifted offensively. He pretty much did it all.

Yes. He played above the rim on both offense & defense and his foot work was beyond compare.

Arguably the greatest basketball player to ever grace the earth.

[Killakobe81]

Cross Shaq and Wilt off that list. DRob, Yao, Ewing, Moses all had better moves in the post. Hakeem was the greatest offensive center ever. Kareem is after him. I look at the weaknesses of a player to determine how good they are. Wilt and Shaq had no counter moves, no mid range, and both had poor touch around and away from the basket. Hakeem had absolutely no weakness at the offensive end.

Close call between these two, but I would lean towards Kareem. As amazing as the dream shake was, it was NOT as money as the "sky-hook". Both were good passers but Karem came in to the pros as a offensive force and a solid passer. Hakeem had to develop both of those. early on Hakeem was a defensive center with huge amount of athleticism. Kareem had that and a much more complete offensive game. On second thought it's clearly Kareem unless we talking only "primes" than it's closer.

[Spur_Fanatic]

I'd say Hakeem.

[Giuseppe]

Hakeem squared the bell curve, fell off the earth and humiliated himself, sorta like Ewing.

Jabbar was like tempted, but, wisely walked away before that happened to him.

[DMC]

Hakeem squared the bell curve, fell off the earth and humiliated himself, sorta like Ewing.

Jabbar was like tempted, but, wisely walked away before that happened to him.
Yeah, and subsequently cried about not getting a statue.

Plus, Hakeem didn't play 20 years like Kareem did. Jabbar averaged 10pts a game in his last season on 22 minutes a game. So yeah, they both dwindled in their waning years.

[Killakobe81]

Hakeem, obviously.

Would of been Shaq if he laid off the krispy kremes.

agreed. but he also needed to develop more moves or at least perfect one.

[baseline bum]

Walton could do it all. He was a go getter. His rebound off the board and outlet pass was insane, and I have no idea why it isnt being taught.

Not to mention his ability to use the glass on his shot. Walton's so much fun to watch in old game tape, even when he was past his prime in Boston.

[Giuseppe]

Plus, Hakeem didn't play 20 years like Kareem did.

That's the point, Hakeem couldn't play 20 without further humiliating himself.

[DMC]

That's the point, Hakeem couldn't play 20 without further humiliating himself.

So you have this looking glass to other parallel universes where the hypothetical you pull from your ass goes to prove itself?