Who Was Better: Shaquille O’Neal Or Hakeem Olajuwon?

With Boston’s average performance in Chicago last night, Shaquille O’Neal might be more important than ever for the Celtics. The team is struggling and the presence of Shaq could turn things around.

O’Neal isn’t the physical freak that he once was. Back then, his best rival was Hakeem Olajuwon. Come to think of it, they are still rivals.

In their prime, who was better? We argue. You decide.

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL
It has become pretty fair to say that Shaq is the best center of all-time. Those who argue against him usually want to give that honor to the historically dominant centers like Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain, which is understandable. However, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that Russell and Wilt-the-Stilt towered over their competition. Shaq didn’t have it as easy. Coming into the League as a rookie in ’92, Shaq was challenged by the likes of Ewing, Robinson and Olajuwon. All of these guys were in their primes. Needless to say, that didn’t intimidate Shaq at all. Averaging 23 points and 14 rebounds in his rookie season, it didn’t take long for the Diesel to prove he had the potential to be better than them all (if he wasn’t already).

During the early years of his career on the Magic, Superman proved he was capable of going toe-to-toe with the best of them. Although his Finals showdown with Olajuwon didn’t go as planned and the Magic got swept, Shaq still proved he was a force to be reckoned with. Olajuwon had the upper hand on Shaq in the Finals. Shaq was still a kid at the time and was overwhelmed by the environment of the big stage. Olajuwon was a seasoned vet, and a defending champion. He was lucky enough to take advantage of Shaq during his early years to get the second of his two rings. But that would mark a peak in Olajuwon’s success.

Once Shaq matured his game, and his frame, he evolved into what is the most dominant player of all-time (Shaq as #34). Regardless of what anybody says, Shaquille O’Neal anchored the Laker dynasty of the 2000s. During his days with the Lakers, there wasn’t a single player in the league who could guard Shaq. His dominance got to a point where it was ridiculous. His drop step was so unguardable that the NBA had to begin calling it an offensive foul. Not to mention the infamous Hack-a-Shaq strategy, which proved to be the only way to attempt to stop the Diesel late in games. As skilled and talented as Hakeem Olajuwon was, I don’t think he could’ve stopped #34 Shaq.

If you compare the numbers, Shaq clearly had the better career: he has more rings, more MVPs and better seasonal statistics. You could argue that Olajuwon’s best statistical year was in 1989-90 averaging 24-14; Shaq averaged that in his first season as a pro. As great as he was, Hakeem Olajuwon never reached the level of dominance attained by #34 Shaq. If you ask me, it’s a no-brainer who was better.
-JAIMIE CANTERBURY

HAKEEM OLAJUWON
Unflappable consistency; constantly imitated; unstoppable. And I’m just talking about Hakeem’s Dream Shake.

Hakeem Olajuwon excelled in every facet of the game. Lets go way back to the early 1980s during his college years at the University of Houston. During his time there, Akeem and the rest of Phi Slamma Jamma helped the Cougars advance to the Final Four three straight years, while Olajuwon earned the NCAA Tournament Player of the Year award despite losing in the championship game. Did Shaq’s LSU Tigers ever even make it to the Sweet Sixteen during his tenure there?

While there is no denying Shaq was a force in the low post and was pure dominance within five feet of the basket, Hakeem could beat you inside and outside. Though the Dream loved going baseline, he could play anywhere from below the basket to just inside three-point range. Given most situations, Hakeem was able to create his own shot with his unparalleled finesse and footwork, the likes of which Shaq could only dream of. “Hakeem has five moves then four countermoves, that gives him 20 moves,” Shaquille O’Neal once said, circa 1995.

There is no question whose hands you’d rather have the ball in down two with 20 seconds left. I mean is Shaq ever on the court with two minutes left, considering his free-throw shooting is as good as a coin toss? In close games, you could always trust the Dream to dig into his vast offensive repertoire and pull out a high-percentage look or get to the line trying (on his career, he is better than 70 percent from the line).

When they faced each other during their primes in the regular season, Hakeem â€“ with a weaker supporting cast than Shaq â€“ always outplayed him on both ends of the floor. And I do seem to recall a 1995 Finals sweep where Olajuwon had Shaq’s number the entire series. Although Shaq has four rings compared to Hakeem’s two, Shaq had sidekicks â€“ D-Wade and Kobe â€“ for his championships whereas Hakeem had Otis Thorpe as the second-best player on his ’94 championship team. Not exactly equal playing grounds.

The level of competition Olajuwon faced in his heyday exceeded the level of talent Shaq ever encountered. Coming in at a time when players entering the NBA were more polished and refined (playing three or four years in college), Olajuwon had to face the likes of Ewing, Malone, Robinson and Parish in their primes. Diesel played at a time when there was an influx of players coming in with limited college experience or coming in directly from high school – an all-around diluted talent pool. With that said, the edge goes to the Nigerian.

I leave you with Shaq’s own admission of defeat when he once said: “I’m the first guy to say that somebody is better than me. I was the first guy to say Hakeem Olajuwon beat me in the [1995] NBA finals. He killed me. He dominated me. I didn’t go, ‘Oh, he’s traveling. They had experience. Wah-wah-wah.’ I’m a man. Hakeem Olajuwon dusted my butt.”