Olajuwon and O'Neal are two of the greatest big men in NBA history. Both giants have incredibly brilliant careers, and their career trajectories are very similar in terms of the time it took them to win their first NBA championship.
Both O'Neill and Olajuwon lost in their first NBA Finals. In the 1986 NBA Finals, Awlaki's Rockets lost to the Boston Celtics, just two seasons after O'Neal entered the league as a draft pick.
As for Shaq O'Neal, he lost his first trip to the Finals of his career three years into the league. O'Neal led the Magic to the NBA Finals and even beat the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan in that year's playoffs. In fact, O'Neal and the Magic are the last team in NBA history to beat Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs, and he's very proud of that. Ironically, he was defeated by Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals.
Both players are considered key players in the history of the league. O'Neill has won 4 NBA championships in his career, while Orakim has won 2 consecutive NBA championships in his career. But the debate over which player is better for both of them has always existed.
According to Gary Payton, he believes Hakim Olajuwon is the better player in the pair. In a recent interview, he mentioned that he thought Hakim-Olajuwon was more skillful and versatile in the pair. And he thinks O'Neill is more dominant among these two men. Payton also mentioned that Shaq O'Neal struggled against Olajuwon and Yao Ming, two players he could not beat.
"I think 'Big Dreams' is better, Shaq has a lot of power. Big dreams are much better. That's my opinion. There are a lot of fake moves in Olajuwon. He may disappear in front of you. He made free throws and was even better. O'Neill is more of a dominant basketball player. Shaq O'Neal can run and we had to wrap him up because he was so strong. However, O'Neal could not defend Olajuwon, nor could he defend Yao Ming. He couldn't handle either of those players. ”
Payton's comments are a bit surprising. He played with O'Neal on the Lakers and Heat, and even teamed up to win a championship in 2006. But it was clear that he was more afraid of Olajuwon. Even Michael Jordan acknowledges his greatness, saying that Olakim's technique is like a small striker playing center. Olajuwon's name has earned a lot of respect in the league, as has O'Neill. Although Payton won the championship with Shaker O'Neal, he has more respect for Olajuwon in terms of historical rankings.
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