If Olajuwon won in both 1986 and 1997, where would he rank for all-time?

SelakStreet · Post #1 » by **SelakStreet** » Thu May 11, 2023 9:03 pm

If Hakeem was able to beat the Boston Celtics in the ‘86 NBA Finals with Ralph Sampson, as well as being able to defeat the Utah Jazz in the ‘97 WCF and subsequently defeating the Chicago Bulls in the Finals with Charles Barkley and Clyde Drexler.

In addition to his ‘94 and ‘95 championship wins, where would a ‘86 and ‘97 championship win put him for all-time rankings?

Cavsfansince84 · Post #2 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Thu May 11, 2023 9:10 pm

Knocking on the door of goat contention most likely. If we assume he played even better in both playoffs to somehow get all those wins.

psman2 · Post #3 » by **psman2** » Thu May 11, 2023 9:18 pm

Top five versus top 9-15 range now.

prolific passer · Post #4 » by **prolific passer** » Thu May 11, 2023 10:05 pm

GOAT Convo. Beating prime and MVP Bird's 67-15 Celtics and prime MJs 69-13 bulls while his teams won 51 and 57 games would be a quite an accomplishment.

1993Playoffs · Post #5 » by **1993Playoffs** » Thu May 11, 2023 10:37 pm

Top 4 in the mix with MJ Lebron and Kareem

OhayoKD · Post #6 » by **OhayoKD** » Thu May 11, 2023 11:40 pm

SelakStreet wrote:If Hakeem was able to beat the Boston Celtics in the ‘86 NBA Finals with Ralph Sampson, as well as being able to defeat the Utah Jazz in the ‘97 WCF and subsequently defeating the Chicago Bulls in the Finals with Charles Barkley and Clyde Drexler.

In addition to his ‘94 and ‘95 championship wins, where would a ‘86 and ‘97 championship win put him for all-time rankings?

In terms of how he's viewed by the general populace he might be seen as his era's lebron while mj is viewed as his era' steph.

For my rankings, loosely guessing the degree his play improves in order for those two victories to happen, Hakeem gets a clear step ahead of duncan, wilt, and mj and I'd have to consider having 4 players at my top tier instead of 3.

The 86 win in patciular would be about as impressive as anything lebron or kareem have ever done

OhayoKD · Post #7 » by **OhayoKD** » Thu May 11, 2023 11:41 pm

1993Playoffs wrote:Top 4 in the mix with MJ Lebron and Kareem

Did you already not have russell there or is hakeem moving russell out?

1993Playoffs · Post #8 » by **1993Playoffs** » Thu May 11, 2023 11:59 pm

OhayoKD wrote:
1993Playoffs wrote:Top 4 in the mix with MJ Lebron and Kareem

Did you already not have russell there or is hakeem moving russell out?

Yeah in this hypothetical he’d probably be above all of the “Bigs” he’d probably have a good case vs Kareem due to the large defensive gap.

Clipsz 4 Life · Post #9 » by **Tim Lehrbach** » Fri May 12, 2023 12:11 am

Not to totally discount the value of winning a championship, especially in the storybook fashion of these hypothetical rings, but it has to be kept in mind that we're talking about a few extra games played. Even really high-quality performances in service of legendary titles can only move the needle so much over his actual resume.

henshao · Post #10 » by **henshao** » Fri May 12, 2023 2:05 am

In the case of 86 it could even be fewer games but at the same time crushing the 86 Celtics in such a fashion has its own merits, the Rockets already upset the Showtime Lakers enroute