The Most Impressive Championship season in NBA History


https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1DTlNZfecNMsqNBQgRZcNxoEQtx8CwtqP
When we talk about The Greatest Players in NBA History, we must talk about championships. Championships are what separates legendary players from just great players. The Goal is to win at all costs. However, not all championships are created equal. When we evaluate a players championships against others players we must take into consideration how impressive or “unimpressive” their titles are. And when it comes to the most impressive championship ever; that belongs to a man by the name of Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon, in the year 1994.

If you don’t already know, you’re about to. You may ask yourself, “why Hakeem in 94?”. The answer is simple. When it comes to actually carrying a team to a championship, there’s virtually no such thing…… with the exception of Dream back in 94’. For starters, not one teammate of Hakeem made the All Star team. Not one was selected to the All NBA Team, and not one was even selected to an All Defensive team. In fact, not even one of his teammates would ever be a Hall of famer. If I asked you to name me the starting 5 of that team, you might never guess. You might not even be able to tell me the second best player on that team, yet this team somehow finished with a record of 58-24. Now this isn’t to diminish Hakeem’s teammates whatsoever. This team was filled with role players and guys with low egos (except Vernon Maxwell haha) who were hard workers and content with doing their jobs. Guys like Kenny Smith, who could handle the ball, but was primarily tasked with being a sharpshooter. Robert Horry, one of the big time clutch shooters in NBA History and others who were scrappy defenders or great free throw shooters. The Rockets were the second best defensive team in the NBA this season. But no big names, star help or lethal scorers on this roster outside of Hakeem. In fact the second leading scorer on the team for the regular season was Otis Thorpe at 14 PPG. And aside from Hakeem, only three players cracked double digit scoring. The team was ranked 15th offensively. However, Hakeem was determined. He was at the peak of his powers and hadn’t enjoyed much playoff success outside of his Finals trip in 1986. Many first round disappointments. A lot of this however did have to do with the lack of help. But this season, Hakeem wasn’t gonna allow his team to fall short again. 

In the 94’ NBA Season, we saw Hakeem, dominate the Center position in ways few players ever had. Despite playing in the golden era of big men, he stood the tallest among them. This season, he would capture league MVP, average 27.3 PPG, 12 boards and 3.7 Blocks and also win Defensive player of the Year. But that wasn’t enough. In the playoffs, Hakeem would turn it up and perform even better when the games got even more important. He upped his scoring to about 29 PPG, his assists up to around 4.3 which is very good for a big, and his steals and blocks would also see an increase. During this playoff run, he would also lead his team in ALL 5 Major categories; Points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks for the entirety of the playoffs, something LeBron James gets super high praise for, but only did this for the Finals, which is a much smaller sample size. And as far is help is concerned, the second leading scorer on the team for the playoffs was Vernon Maxwell, at about 13 a game.

 https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=17MRjMGP0l-IPXQuuZWY_022hkRQnxzLS

Next up, let’s talk about that competition. Who you face during a title run is extremely important because of your competition is Subpar, that will definitely be held against you. However, with Hakeem’s 94 run: that isn’t the case. The comp was great. Consider this graphic: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1YDeKRVpxLy6uQTakK4uld6wvy5rSS0k5
The Suns that Hakeem and Company beat, we’re in the Finals in 93’ and we’re favored to beat the Rockets but Hakeem had some different plans unfortunately. They would beat the Suns in 7 Games and Hakeem would perform spectacularly.

• 28.7 PPG
• 13.6 RPG
• 56.3 FG%, 72.4 FT%
In the next round, Hakeem and company would face and eliminate the Utah Jazz, led by John Stockton and Karl Malone, who were ranked top 7 in both Offense and defense. Yet Hakeem would send them packing in the WCF in just 5 games. His stats were other Worldy:

• 27.8 PPG
• 10.2 RPG
• 50.0 FG%, 80.4 FT%

And last but certainly not least, the Rockets would match up against the Knicks, led by Patrick Ewing, coached by Pat Riley, and were a stout defensive team, being ranked number 1. But yet again, it didn’t matter. Hakeem was simply on a mission for that series. He completely tortured Ewing and outclassed him, who wasn’t any slouch himself as a player. In this series, Hakeem would put up 27 a night, shooting 50% from the field and 86% from the line. The Rockets led by Hakeem would beat the Knicks in 7, who were once again one of the best defensive teams ever in 93’. He would capture Finals MVP and his first championship. 

So to wrap it up, why was Hakeem’s 94’ title run the greatest ever? Simply because there wasn’t any star talent on the team, Hakeem’s individual performances in the regular season and playoffs, and the competition that he had to beat was excellent as well. 

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