Hakeem Olajuwon vs David Robinson: who was better?

[Somebody]

Obviously a majority of fans would say Hakeem due to his one playoff series against the Admiral, but I think Robinson was better than he's currently being given credit for, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on this topic.

[slamtheking]

saw both of their careers.  It's Hakeem all day, every day.  that's not a knock on Robinson who was a great player but Hakeem was better on offense and defense.

[Somebody]

saw both of their careers.  It's Hakeem all day, every day.  that's not a knock on Robinson who was a great player but Hakeem was better on offense and defense.

Interesting, I wasn't old enough to witness their careers but from the tape I watched Hakeem was the flashier one, while Robinson had more substance to his play imo. Hakeem had some games where he scored 9 or 10 due to his flashy moves not working, but Robinson kept pouring in 20 point bombs with his simple but devastatingly effective and low-key aesthetically pleasing offensive game. That jumper was a work of art for a lefty 7'1 behemoth lol. On defense I thought Robinson was clear cut better and more versatile, not a significant difference but it was pretty to clear to me.

[Roy H.]

Hakeem was better. He won a championship while surrounded by role players, and followed it up the next year with another title.  He had a more versatile game, better stats, dominated in their H2H matchup in the playoffs, etc.

But, Robinson was a remarkable player, too. His stats are similar, and he was the same type of elite scorer/rebounder/defender.  His team won 30 out of 42 regular season matchups against Hakeem. I think he unfairly gets knocked down for needing Duncan to win. That’s true if almost everyone, though, including Jordan, Russell, Lebron, etc. Hakeem winning without a great player beside him is a rarity in NBA history, not an expectation anybody should be held to.

[slamtheking]

saw both of their careers.  It's Hakeem all day, every day.  that's not a knock on Robinson who was a great player but Hakeem was better on offense and defense.

Interesting, I wasn't old enough to witness their careers but from the tape I watched Hakeem was the flashier one, while Robinson had more substance to his play imo. Hakeem had some games where he scored 9 or 10 due to his flashy moves not working, but Robinson kept pouring in 20 point bombs with his simple but devastatingly effective and low-key aesthetically pleasing offensive game. That jumper was a work of art for a lefty 7'1 behemoth lol. On defense I thought Robinson was clear cut better and more versatile, not a significant difference but it was pretty to clear to me.

watching tapes aren't the same as seeing them first hand.  like I said, Robinson was a great player, Hakeem was better though.

[Roy H.]

saw both of their careers.  It's Hakeem all day, every day.  that's not a knock on Robinson who was a great player but Hakeem was better on offense and defense.

Interesting, I wasn't old enough to witness their careers but from the tape I watched Hakeem was the flashier one, while Robinson had more substance to his play imo. Hakeem had some games where he scored 9 or 10 due to his flashy moves not working, but Robinson kept pouring in 20 point bombs with his simple but devastatingly effective and low-key aesthetically pleasing offensive game. That jumper was a work of art for a lefty 7'1 behemoth lol. On defense I thought Robinson was clear cut better and more versatile, not a significant difference but it was pretty to clear to me.

I think that tape is portraying an inaccurate picture, especially if it’s making Robinson look head and shoulders better on defense.

[Androslav]

Robinson would be the most athletic center in the league right now.
He also had an accurate lefty jumper.
His defensive presence and the space he covered was amazing.
He was a good human being and an excellent teammate too.
Sounds perfect? He basically was.

Still, he is a clear full tier below Hakeem IMO.
Hakeem, one of those (maybe 10) players that had no weakness.
His sportsmanship, his aesthetically pleasing, but result oriented game was something to behold.

[mobilija]

Watching them I always thought Hakeem was amazing, just so agile and graceful. Robinson, Uber athletic and more bully ball. Hakeem, my aesthetic choice.

More importantly, Hakeem carried teams to playoff wins and championships. Robinson seemed to shrink in the playoffs and never met up w expectations until Duncan arrived. They shared the load initially until Duncan early on started carrying Robinson.

For me it’s Hakeem. Loved watching him destroy young Shaq, constantly juking shaq out of his shorts. Hahaha

Btw this is all from memory and have no idea what stats bear out or if the numbers support my memories of playoff performances.

[Somebody]

saw both of their careers.  It's Hakeem all day, every day.  that's not a knock on Robinson who was a great player but Hakeem was better on offense and defense.

Interesting, I wasn't old enough to witness their careers but from the tape I watched Hakeem was the flashier one, while Robinson had more substance to his play imo. Hakeem had some games where he scored 9 or 10 due to his flashy moves not working, but Robinson kept pouring in 20 point bombs with his simple but devastatingly effective and low-key aesthetically pleasing offensive game. That jumper was a work of art for a lefty 7'1 behemoth lol. On defense I thought Robinson was clear cut better and more versatile, not a significant difference but it was pretty to clear to me.

watching tapes aren't the same as seeing them first hand.  like I said, Robinson was a great player, Hakeem was better though.

I mean no disrespect, but how is it different? It's still a digital show of basketball game, and from what I've seen I think both are close, with David holding a slight edge. Contrary to popular opinion, I think seeing the games firsthand might make people more subjective as the "playoff factor" bias could be stronger. It's still one series and it doesn't define a career, and David actually holds a head to head advantage against Hakeem (30-12) in the RS.

[Somebody]

saw both of their careers.  It's Hakeem all day, every day.  that's not a knock on Robinson who was a great player but Hakeem was better on offense and defense.

Interesting, I wasn't old enough to witness their careers but from the tape I watched Hakeem was the flashier one, while Robinson had more substance to his play imo. Hakeem had some games where he scored 9 or 10 due to his flashy moves not working, but Robinson kept pouring in 20 point bombs with his simple but devastatingly effective and low-key aesthetically pleasing offensive game. That jumper was a work of art for a lefty 7'1 behemoth lol. On defense I thought Robinson was clear cut better and more versatile, not a significant difference but it was pretty to clear to me.

I think that tape is portraying an inaccurate picture, especially if it’s making Robinson look head and shoulders better on defense.

I stated not a significant difference, it's not head and shoulders but I think Robinson was better than Hakeem on defense.

[Somebody]

Hakeem was better. He won a championship while surrounded by role players, and followed it up the next year with another title.  He had a more versatile game, better stats, dominated in their H2H matchup in the playoffs, etc.

But, Robinson was a remarkable player, too. His stats are similar, and he was the same type of elite scorer/rebounder/defender.  His team won 30 out of 42 regular season matchups against Hakeem. I think he unfairly gets knocked down for needing Duncan to win. That’s true if almost everyone, though, including Jordan, Russell, Lebron, etc. Hakeem winning without a great player beside him is a rarity in NBA history, not an expectation anybody should be held to.

I disagree on a more versatile game really. I think Robinson had a playstyle ahead of his time, his skillset would've suited him best as a floor runner and a face up center who could bang down low when needed. Aside from a better post game, in which aspects was Hakeem really clearly better than him? Robinson could stretch the floor with his jumper in a way Hakeem never could, and had a better face up game with his speed and athleticism imo. As for better stats, iirc Robinson has Hakeem beat in a lot of advanced stats, and it wasn't like their H2H matchup in the playoffs was akin to Magic/Bird, Wilt/Russell lol, it was one series.

[gift]

David Robinson was one of my favorite players, but I always considered Hakeem just a little bit better.

[Big333223]

I agree with the OP that Robinson is underrated. I think he gets lost because his prime was a bit truncated and he happened to play at the same time as Hakeem, Ewing, and Shaq who were all bigger personalities or had more interesting narratives.

But Hakeem definitely had a better career and, by reputation, a bit more of the killer instinct than Robinson.

[Androslav]

Hakeem was better. He won a championship while surrounded by role players, and followed it up the next year with another title.  He had a more versatile game, better stats, dominated in their H2H matchup in the playoffs, etc.

But, Robinson was a remarkable player, too. His stats are similar, and he was the same type of elite scorer/rebounder/defender.  His team won 30 out of 42 regular season matchups against Hakeem. I think he unfairly gets knocked down for needing Duncan to win. That’s true if almost everyone, though, including Jordan, Russell, Lebron, etc. Hakeem winning without a great player beside him is a rarity in NBA history, not an expectation anybody should be held to.

Only Dirk and Hakeem accomplished this feat in the modern NBA (merger).
That alone does it for me.
And then, to prove that it wasn't all just an accident, he repeated it without having HC adv. in any of the 4 series they won.
Barkley & KJ (59W), Malone & Stockton (60W), Robinson & Rodman (62W), Shaq & Penny (57W) - nice scalps

48-34 and a championship, I hope we repeat it this year.

On Dirks and Hakeems titles:
https://qr.ae/TWTTF9

[Donoghus]

Hakeem.

I just think he was just a little bit better both offensively & defensively.  That post game, in its prime, was absolutely devastating & that's always stayed with me.

Also, I just can't get over '95.  Hakeem absolutely destroyed Robinson.   When all things are relatively equal, I can't look past something like that.

Hakeem also more than held his own & took down Ewing & Shaq in back to back Finals which was darn impressive.

-(Guy who had an Admiral poster in his bedroom in the early '90s)