NBA: Should Hakeem Olajuwon be recognized as the second greatest player ever?

Not #2, but very high! I have him 4th all-time!

1. Wilt Chamberlain- The best scorer and rebounder of all-time is obviously the GOAT!

2. Kareem - 6 MVP'S 6 RINGS, ALL TIME LEADING scorer.

3. Larry Bird- the best all round player ever, Bird could do it all at the highest level.

4. Dream- World class post moves with better defence.

5. Bill Russell- 11 rings, 2nd best rebounder ever, great defender and leader

Dream did 2 rings with a weak cast, but the NBA in the 90's was full of weak teams and no great teams.

No. He sure was a dirty player though, constantly bring his knees up to knock guys away when he took the ball up, and his hand slaps were notorious. He would not had been able to play nearly as well in todays Non-contact NBA. I'd have to say Duncan is better, he has more shots and is much more consistant with his bank shots, plus he has become a better free throw shooter than Malone. As for your arguement that Duncan has faced weaker opponent, that is NOT true. The oppsoing center is usually on Duncan when the Spurs are on the offensive end, Malone was hardly ever covered by the opposing center. In addition Duncan makes his team mates better than Malone made his team mates, the main reason is once Malone got the ball, it usually stiopped there with him and he took the shot, mainly offmpick and roll situations. Duncan does a lot more passing and gets many more assist and gets more of his team into the flow of the game. Then of course you have to look at the number of titles and MVP awards and other records, plus the longevity of their careers. When you consider all these things it is appearant that Duncan is the better PF out of the two. Also comparing teams from different eras is really not like comparing apple to apples, the style of play and what is allowed is vastly different. You know as well as I do things were much more physical in the 80s, and even the 90s compared to how the NBA operates today. Many things that weren't fouls prevuiously, now are caled fouls and any sort of physical behavior now will get you suspended. I doubt Malone would be nearly as effective in todays NBA and what Duncan has had to deal with most of his career, it really hampers what a big man can do on the court. There is no doubt the Bulls teams you wrote of were great, but comparing them to todays teams or the teams the Spurs beat is like comparing those Bulls to the great Celtic teams of the 60s, the league at each time was different. Back when the Bulls were winning those titles in a dominant fashion, the really good teams usualy had 2 superstars to get it done, in the Bulls case Jordan and Pippen. The NBA changed quite a bit since then, now to be a very good team you need at least 3 superstars, or you are undergunned. I would take the 07 Spurs against the Bulls teams you mentioned, their bench is much deeper than the Bulls and there is no way Toni Kukouch(spelling) or any other bench player for the Bulls would had handled Ginobli and the Bull's Cartwright would had been too slow to Handle Duncan which means Pippen would have had to double on him causing all sorts of problems for the rest of the role players since Jordan would had been running after Parker. If Pippen or Jordan would had gotten in foul trouble, which is a real possibility in todays NBA, the Bulls would had lost that game.

Are you kidding? He's not even one of the top 2 CENTERS ever! The fact that the Rockets won back to back titles, despite having an average roster, just goes to show how pitiful the quality of teams were in the 90's.

And I'm assuming you consider Michael Jordan the greatest player ever, which just goes to prove that you're a dumb Jordan jocker who probably started waching basketball in the 90's, and you know next to nothing about NBA history.

Hope this helps

No

Michael Jordan is first

Kobe is second

Kareem, Bill Russ, Wilt, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Robertson, West??? WHAT ABOUT THEM

Kenny Smith was not the 2nd best player on that first team. Maxwell was then came Hory, Thorpe and rookie Sam Cassel

No Michael Jordan is second.