Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Hakeem Olajuwon - who is the better player?

rim213221 · Post #1 » by **rim213221** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 11:31 am

These are 2 of the most dominant peak big men the game has ever seen with 2 of the most dominant iconic one man carry jobs in NBA history (‘94 Hakeem & ‘21 Giannis). They also did it the OG way without forming a stacked superteam, though some luck was certainly involved in Jordan’s retirement and Nets injuries.

1 of only 3 players in history to also win MVP & DPOY in the same year.

Question is regarding peak vs peak at their best only as Giannis obviously doesn’t have the longevity yet.

Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Hakeem Olajuwon - who is the better player?

henshao · Post #2 » by **henshao** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 12:31 pm

ask this again in 3 years

No-more-rings · Post #3 » by **No-more-rings** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 12:36 pm

What’s with all these premature comparisons? If you’re asking peak, it’s Hakeem. If you’re asking career, it’s Hakeem in a landslide but not really fair since Giannis is still in the middle of his prime more or less.

eminence · Post #4 » by **eminence** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 1:08 pm

I don’t really have ‘21 as a carry job (Jrue is awesome), but I do like the comp well enough overall. I probably go Hakeem by a narrow margin overall and on each side of the ball. I think Giannis still has an offensive game that can be notably hamstrung in certain matchups in a way Hakeem couldn’t (each in their own era). Both likely in my top 10 big man peaks.

rim213221 · Post #5 » by **rim213221** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 2:06 pm

“Question is regarding peak vs peak at their best only as Giannis obviously doesn’t have the longevity yet.“

Colbinii · Post #6 » by **Colbinii** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 2:09 pm

One man carry job is not how I would describe the 2021 run.

Middleton ECF: 24/8/6 on 54 TS%
Holiday ECF: 22/5/10/1.7/1 on 55 TS%

Middleton Finals: 24/6/5 on 54 TS%
Holiday Finals: 16/6/9/2.2 on 44 TS%

Holiday wasn't all that efficient but he was a good table settler, good playmaker and excellent defender.

Is Middleton/Holiday/Lopez worse than Kyrie/J.R. Smith/Thompson in 2016? I don't think so.

They aren't comparable to Maxwell/Horry/Cassell.

Colbinii · Post #7 » by **Colbinii** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 2:10 pm

In terms of how they played in their era, relative to their own era, Hakeem is comfortably better than Giannis.

I have Hakeem as the clear-cut best guy in 1994 and 1995 while Giannis is in a bag with a couple other players for best in class.

70sFan · Post #8 » by **70sFan** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:14 pm

Colbinii wrote:One man carry job is not how I would describe the 2021 run.

Middleton ECF: 24/8/6 on 54 TS%
Holiday ECF: 22/5/10/1.7/1 on 55 TS%

Middleton Finals: 24/6/5 on 54 TS%
Holiday Finals: 16/6/9/2.2 on 44 TS%

Holiday wasn't all that efficient but he was a good table settler, good playmaker and excellent defender.

Is Middleton/Holiday/Lopez worse than Kyrie/J.R. Smith/Thompson in 2016? I don't think so.

They aren't comparable to Maxwell/Horry/Cassell.

Not to mention that Bucks had very solid rotation with Lopez, Connaughton and Portis next to them as well.

I think people underestimate Bucks roster for years in general. It's one of the most talented team in the league since 2019 and they only keep getting better.

70sFan · Post #9 » by **70sFan** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:16 pm

I have Hakeem comfortably ahead of Giannis for peaks, though I start to see the Greek Freak in a very positive light recently. I just think that Hakeem's limited, but very resilient offense gives his team more value than anything Giannis can give the Bucks - and I have Hakeem as a better defender as well.

GSP · Post #10 » by **GSP** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 4:09 pm

Bucks had one of the best rosters in the league with 2 all star level players in Jrue (best 2way guard whole league) and Khris, one of the best twoway centers in Brook and great role players with Pj elite defender, Connaghton and Portus. They won Ecf games and headed into the finals without Giannis.... 1 man carryjob? WTF are you talking about lmaoooo.. Comparing it to Hakeems carryjob as in an actual carryjob is asinine

Read on Twitter

Hakeem also beat great teams like Charles Kj Suns, Stockton Malone Jazz and one of Goat defenses in Riley Ewing Knicks. Bucks didnt beat.any great teams. A Heat team that ran out of gas making playoffs after a short turnaround from bubble like the other teams that made it far in bubble with short turnaround and constant injuries all season (us, Lakers, Nuggets). Nets team that was Kd and scrubs for half the series where Bucks looked badly outmatched and wouldve lost if Kyrie didnt go down. Cinderella run Hawks team who they went 2-0 WITHOUT Giannis then an unproven Suns team who wouldnt have even been near finals if Ad and Kawhi didnt get injured during their series.

This is a laughable and forced comparison. Giannis isnt close to Hakeem on either end of the floor. He is far closer and comparable to David Robinson who he's prolly not better than either

dygaction · Post #11 » by **dygaction** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:01 pm

Giannis' 5 year prime including this year is probably better than Dream's peak 5 years. Better regular season performer. We don't know his peak yet and he is certainly on a higher projection than Dream at 28 yr old.

bigboi · Post #12 » by **bigboi** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:31 pm

Very close tbh. Could go either way tbh

bigboi · Post #13 » by **bigboi** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:34 pm

Colbinii wrote:In terms of how they played in their era, relative to their own era, Hakeem is comfortably better than Giannis.

I have Hakeem as the clear-cut best guy in 1994 and 1995 while Giannis is in a bag with a couple other players for best in class.

Giannis has clearly been the best player in the league since at least 2020. Saying otherwise is denial at this point. Even this year, never made sense. People ranking Jokic over Giannis simply never made sense

thebigbird · Post #14 » by **thebigbird** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:36 pm

Can we stop with the “one man carry job” takes? It’s complete nonsense. Middleton averaged 24/8/5 in the 2021 playoffs and the Bucks won the ECF without him.

1993Playoffs · Post #15 » by **1993Playoffs** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:40 pm

May be a hot take but I feel this is close.

I feel Giannis may end up higher on the all time list.

Hakeem was in his 30s by the time he won his first ring Plenty of first round exits.

bigboi · Post #16 » by **bigboi** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:41 pm

GSP wrote:Bucks had one of the best rosters in the league with 2 all star level players in Jrue (best 2way guard whole league) and Khris, one of the best twoway centers in Brook and great role players with Pj elite defender, Connaghton and Portus. They won Ecf games and headed into the finals without Giannis.... 1 man carryjob? WTF are you talking about lmaoooo.. Comparing it to Hakeems carryjob as in an actual carryjob is asinine

Read on Twitter

Hakeem also beat great teams like Charles Kj Suns, Stockton Malone Jazz and one of Goat defenses in Riley Ewing Knicks. Bucks didnt beat.any great teams. A Heat team that ran out of gas making playoffs after a short turnaround from bubble like the other teams that made it far in bubble with short turnaround and constant injuries all season (us, Lakers, Nuggets). Nets team that was Kd and scrubs for half the series where Bucks looked badly outmatched and wouldve lost if Kyrie didnt go down. Cinderella run Hawks team who they went 2-0 WITHOUT Giannis then an unproven Suns team who wouldnt have even been near finals if Ad and Kawhi didnt get injured during their series.

This is a laughable and forced comparison. Giannis isnt close to Hakeem on either end of the floor. He is far closer and comparable to David Robinson who he's prolly not better than either

Now, the Bucks magically had the best roster in the league? Straight up lying. Giannis clearly elevates his teammates. If you put Giannis on ANY team in the NBA rn, the team would be top 3 in the league and the narrative would be you and other silly posters saying that he has “all star” level talent with him. Literally choose any crappy team you want: Blazers become number 1 team with Giannis, Pacers become a top team with Giannis, Pels become the top team with Giannis. So and so forth. Giannis is simply that good. And Giannis is much better than DRob, not even close. DRob couldn’t even sniff a chip until Duncan came into the league.

Giannis is realistically on pace to be top 5 all time and some of you are just going to have to accept it

GSP · Post #17 » by **GSP** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:51 pm

1993Playoffs wrote:May be a hot take but I feel this is close.

I feel Giannis may end up higher on the all time list.

Hakeem was in his 30s by the time he won his first ring Plenty of first round exits.

Hakeem went to the finals in his 2nd year when he had a star teammate with Ralph Sampson and upset Showtime Lakers. Then Ralphs lost his leg the next season and Hakeem had bums for most of the rest of his prime with one of the worst front offices. He didn't have a teammate close to Middleton until they traded for a declining Clyde Drexler. Jrue this season and last is prolly better than that version of Clyde too.

Giannis has had far better teammate and coaching situation than Hakeem did in his prime already. Hakeem didnt even have a good coach until Rudy T. Giannis got one of the best coaches in Bud from his 5th season to current. A coach who made a 60 win Ecf team out of Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Demare Carroll and Kyle Korver lmaooooo. He's turned Brook Lopez into one of the best twoway bigs in the league too. It wouldve been considered trolling to suggest Brook would be one of the best floor spacing bigs and a Dpoy favorite pre Bud and here we are.

Some of you sound ignorant on the horrific team situations Hakeem was on. He was far better than Giannis.

Colbinii · Post #18 » by **Colbinii** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:02 pm

bigboi wrote:
Colbinii wrote:In terms of how they played in their era, relative to their own era, Hakeem is comfortably better than Giannis.

I have Hakeem as the clear-cut best guy in 1994 and 1995 while Giannis is in a bag with a couple other players for best in class.

Giannis has clearly been the best player in the league since at least 2020. Saying otherwise is denial at this point. Even this year, never made sense. People ranking Jokic over Giannis simply never made sense

I Disagree with this.

I have LeBron, Curry and Jokic all having seasons with arguments over Giannis in certain seasons from 2018-2022.

70sFan · Post #19 » by **70sFan** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:10 pm

dygaction wrote:Giannis' 5 year prime including this year is probably better than Dream's peak 5 years. Better regular season performer. We don't know his peak yet and he is certainly on a higher projection than Dream at 28 yr old.

I don't see why 2019-23 should be ranked higher than Hakeem's best 5 seasons.

I also don't know why you assume Giannis didn't already peak. I don't ser any reason to believe that he's better this season than in 2021 or 2022. Of course it's possible he'll make another leap, but it's far from given.

70sFan · Post #20 » by **70sFan** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:12 pm

bigboi wrote:
GSP wrote:Bucks had one of the best rosters in the league with 2 all star level players in Jrue (best 2way guard whole league) and Khris, one of the best twoway centers in Brook and great role players with Pj elite defender, Connaghton and Portus. They won Ecf games and headed into the finals without Giannis.... 1 man carryjob? WTF are you talking about lmaoooo.. Comparing it to Hakeems carryjob as in an actual carryjob is asinine

Read on Twitter

Hakeem also beat great teams like Charles Kj Suns, Stockton Malone Jazz and one of Goat defenses in Riley Ewing Knicks. Bucks didnt beat.any great teams. A Heat team that ran out of gas making playoffs after a short turnaround from bubble like the other teams that made it far in bubble with short turnaround and constant injuries all season (us, Lakers, Nuggets). Nets team that was Kd and scrubs for half the series where Bucks looked badly outmatched and wouldve lost if Kyrie didnt go down. Cinderella run Hawks team who they went 2-0 WITHOUT Giannis then an unproven Suns team who wouldnt have even been near finals if Ad and Kawhi didnt get injured during their series.

This is a laughable and forced comparison. Giannis isnt close to Hakeem on either end of the floor. He is far closer and comparable to David Robinson who he's prolly not better than either

Now, the Bucks magically had the best roster in the league? Straight up lying. Giannis clearly elevates his teammates. If you put Giannis on ANY team in the NBA rn, the team would be top 3 in the league and the narrative would be you and other silly posters saying that he has “all star” level talent with him. Literally choose any crappy team you want: Blazers become number 1 team with Giannis, Pacers become a top team with Giannis, Pels become the top team with Giannis. So and so forth. Giannis is simply that good. And Giannis is much better than DRob, not even close. DRob couldn’t even sniff a chip until Duncan came into the league.

Giannis is realistically on pace to be top 5 all time and some of you are just going to have to accept it

We have more than enough evidence to believe that Bucks are quite good without Giannis. We also have enough evidences to believe that Bucks players aren't reliant on Giannis, though he's obviously a great player.

I also don't see any reason to project Giannis to reach top 5 all-time. Is it possible? Probably, but I don't find it likely.