Hakeem Olajuwon should have won 3 MVP awards in a row!

I've always argured the 93 season was there Dream got screwed out the MVP when people start talking about the 95 season. Dream had a way better season the team didn't make the playoffs the season before and they were a 2nd seed in the 93 playoffs. In 95 Dream along with Mas Max missed a bunch of games because of some misterious illness which I still have no idea what they had and the team came into the playoffs as a 6th seed.

 

Well, he was our MVP no doubt.


And I'm just fine with history's record. But nice thread, dshay7...

You get's repped.

 

He won 2 FINALS MVP in a row.

And in 94, he won, the MVP, finals MVP, and DPOY. That's a clean sweep.

No Rocket WILL EVER do that again or will even come close to touching that.

 

It's good ppl still point the '93 season out like this b/c Hakeem did deserve it that year. After Hakeem won the DPY that year my dad called it out, "they gave Olajuwon a bone to chew on so they could give the MVP to Charles!" We knew it was coming. Everyone, including Jordan fans, knew Hakeem was the best player that season. Now in '95, Robinson did deserve the MVP for that season. It's just really funny (to Rox fans anyway) that Hakeem watched David receive the award then made an ass out of him.
So he should have gotten 2 MVP's and 2 DPY's in '93 & '94, while getting 2 finals MVP's in '94 & '95.
Either way it still worked out. Just think about if he does get that '93 MVP, what if the butterfly effect keeps two banners from hanging in our rafters!?!

 

I am glad Robinson won the '95 MVP.

And I am glad it was handed right before the Rockets/Spurs series.

 

Also Shaq only has ONE MVP and Duncan only has 2 MVP's...even though they have 8 titles and 6 Finals MVP's between them and are easily top 10 5 at their respective positions all time.


Hakeem and Shaq have as many MVP's as:

Drob, Dirk, Barkley, KG, and Allen Iverson,

(None of these guys won as the 1st option...Barkley and AI atleast led their teams to the Finals as 1st options, but Dirk just choked as usual...)

Bob McAdoo (didn't win as a 1st option), and Dave Cowens (not GOAT type of player)



They have less MVP's than:

Karl Malone, Steve Nash


I think that is a travesty...

 

If I was Hakeem I would rather have people question why I didn't get a 3rd MVP than why did I get it.

 

I am buying what the OP is selling.

 

1. Brawl in Detroit.
2. Kobe's legal issues in 04.

 

This is very true. At the time, with Magic and Bird retired, the only player who was remotely close to Jordan in popularity was Charles Barkley on and off the court.

Shaq was just a rookie in 1993, but he was definetily popular as well, but it would take another year or two before that took off (due to team success and Penny). He was robbed in 99 and 01 of the MVP though.

Dream, Clyde, and Drob were all great players at the time, but they all played in relatively small markets at the time and they were quiet, average joe types off the court.

Barkley was loud, colorful, brash and making commercials along with Jordan and had a shoe deal with Nike.

Whether he made headlines for the right or wrong reasons, he was still in the headlines either dunking/blocking players, hitting mascots or reportedly beating up people in bars, and making very true, but blunt statements...if anybody else said some of those things, they would've been scrutinized.

Other MVP caliber players:

Ewing was a good player and he benefitted from playing in NY, but he wasn't marketable like Jordan or Barkley. Ewing's lack of flash in his game didn't help either.

Karl Malone's lack of flash and playing in a small market made it hard for him to be marketed. Also his teams were still on the rise

Dominique Wilkins was marketable on highlights and dunk competitions alone, but he was already 33 and his team wasn't as successful as Jordan, Barkley or Dream.



The point I'm trying to make though is that, in the early 90's, if the NBA was going to crown an MVP other than Jordan, it had to be a very popular player on a team that was seen frequently on national TV. The only player that fits that criteria is Barkley.

The NBA wouldn't dare think of giving the MVP to anybody other than Bird, Magic, or Barkley from 87-93, Jordan's physical peak.

The one time they did, it was an absolute mistake...Karl Malone. The NBA didn't hear the end of it, especially considering Jordan had a better season and team success.


Drexler only got that by making the Finals twice, otherwise it wouldn't have happened.

The only way guys like Dream, Drexler, Robinson, Malone, etc. had a chance was to be the leader of a top team in the NBA, or to be ignored more than once before...

(Except for Drexler...he just happened to peak at the same time Jordan did individually and as a team, thats what hurt his chances more than anything else.)

Dream won in 94, because he was a top 3 candidate the year before, his team was the 2nd best in the league, and he had no other all star next to him. Plus, his stats were amazing. Also, MJ wasn't playing.

Drob won in 95 because he was a top MVP candidate throughout the early 90's, and his team had the best record and his statline was very impressive. Also, Jordan only played in 17 games this season.

Malone won in 97 because he was ignored for many years, and he was getting old. However, the Jazz did have a franchise-record year with 64 wins, and Malone was the leader of that team. But he had a pretty average year though, except for FG%. He barely averaged 10 rpg as a PF.

The NBA then made the same mistake once again in 99, by giving it to Malone over Shaq AND Duncan.

I call this a sympathy MVP...similar to Kobe in 08. Not saying Kobe didn't have an MVP caliber season, but he was robbed in 2006, so the NBA made sure he wouldn't retire without an MVP...

but CP3 could've easily won the MVP that year as well...had much less talent around him, but won only 1 less game than the Lakers, and had an equally impressive statline, if not more impressive.

I'm sure Wade and CP3 will both end up with a sympathy MVP before its all said and done, unless Lebron continues to dominate individually and team-wise, the way Jordan did in the 90's.

Hell, if Tmac and Yao stayed healthy in 07 or 08 and we won 60 games, I bet Tmac would've had an MVP, since he wasn't given one in 2003.

 

What about the brawl in Detroit? I don't understand what you are trying to say... The NBA trying to change it's image?



I'm sure Kobe's legal issues were a small factor by 2006...I think he had already signed a new shoe deal with Nike by then, and his scoring output was making headlines every week, so I don't know if ppl still payed much attention to something that happened 3 years before...and something that he wasn't found guilty for.

 

I said it before. And I am saying it again. The MVP, and most other individual awards, is as objectively valid as a beauty queen contest. In fact, I believe beauty pageants are more objective because they have a set of criteria for the judges to score. MVP voting has no criteria at all.

The MVP award means next to nothing when it comes to who the best player is in that particular season. It means even less when it comes to measuring GOAT.

 

Well, Jordan had 5, Kareem had 6, Magic and Bird each have 3, Russell has 3 or 4, and Wilt has 4 I believe, so the NBA doesn't always mess up.

I'm guessing Lebron will join that list of multi-MVP winners...but he better get a ring, or else he'll be the new Steve Nash.

 

haha! me too

 

What blows my mind is that in 89-90, Dream led the NBA in rebounds (averaging a full 2 more per game than second place Admiral) and blocks (averaging .6 more than Ewing) and was 7th in steals while scoring 24 ppg.

So, what does he get for this monster year?

2nd Team All-NBA behind Ewing, who scored more but was behind in every other category.

1st Team All Defensive Team, but DPOY goes to Rodman who didn't even reach double figures in rebounding and had zero stats anywhere close to Dream. And to add insult to injury, he only started half of Detroit's games.

And... 7th in MVP voting.

It's a travesty I tell you.

 

Rodman was an AMAZING defensive player and similar to Battier and Bowen, stats wouldn't tell the entire story, but since he only started 1/2 their games, that was wrong...and he played on one of the greatest defenses ever (Bad Boys). But he definetily deserved atleast 1 DPOY award.

Problem is, Jordan, Eaton, Robinson, Mutombo, Rodman, and Alvin Robertson all deserved the award.

To me, Michael Cooper is kind of like Ariza...he was a glorified hustle/role player, who was allowed to gamble with Kareem behind him to clean up anything he missed on D, so I disagree with that.

I think in 95, Dream could've won a 3rd DPOY, since he averaged 3.4 bpg, 1.8 spg, but only averaged 10.8 rpg.

Deke averaged 3.9 bpg, 0.5 spg, and 12.5 rpg.

I think its more impressive for a center to be top 10 in steals for so many years, but the voters thought rebounds and blocks were more impressive...so the award went to Deke.

By 96, Dream's #'s were declining on defense understandably at his age.



But Rodman and Ewing also benefited from bigger markets and national exposure. Plus, Hakeem's teams were struggling at that point as well.

In 90, Jordan, Barkley, Magic, and Karl Malone were the MVP candidates that year (Malone to a lesser degree since Stockton did spoon feed all his points).

But Hakeem being 2nd team was a joke...but NY> Hou in the NBA's eyes.

It is a travesty...

 

Dream one of a kind.

 

Anemia

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1995_1311234

"Sometimes, you get an infection where you're real weak," Horry said. "It affected me totally (against Utah). It's been bothering me for the last three games. Hopefully, I can get it out of my system. But I could see it limiting me a lot in the next game."

Perhaps even keeping him from playing until results from the other blood tests are received.

Horry said he has been told by doctors his condition is not as serious as those of Hakeem Olajuwon and Vernon Maxwell late last season, when both suffered from iron-deficiency anemia.

 

you think that sucks. in 88-89, hakeem led the league in rebounding AND became the only player to ever have 200 blocks and 200 steals in the same season. about as impressive and all-around as you can be in the big 3 defensive categories. so did he win DPOY for these accomplishments? of course not. oh, but he at least got 1st team at center right? nope. well then 2nd team, had to have gotten that. nope.

eaton wins DPOY and 1st team with .4 more blocks but 3 less rebounds and 2 less steals per game. ewing gets 2nd team by beating hakeem 3.5 to 3.4 in blocks but losing rebounding 13.5 to 9.3 and steals 2.6 to 1.5. un****ingbelievable. and hakeem played in all 82 games, so it wasn't like they had an excuse. one of the great statistical defensive seasons ever and he can't even catch an all-defensive 2nd team.