Houston Rockets: Argument for Hakeem Olajuwon as best center all-time

The best at blocks and steals

Hakeem Olajuwon is the all-time shots blocked leader. But it’s not even close. He leads the category over second place holder Dikembe Mutombo, a man whose whole career was best defined by being a great shot blocker with his patented finger wag, by 441 blocks.

Hakeem didn’t just dominate the game on the defensive end by blocking shots however. That is to be expected of a center. He also dominated defensively swiping the ball from the opponent, not just swatting their shot from the hoop.

Many of you may be surprised to find out that Hakeem is eighth all-time in steals. Not amongst centers. Out of everyone. He is ahead of players like Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Isiah Thomas.

He played every part of the defensive side of the court. His all-around complete game, as evidenced in the previous slide being the only player with two quadruple doubles, makes him a strong candidate for the best center of all-time.

Now to be fair, blocks and steals didn’t start getting recorded until 1972, so we don’t know what Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell’s career blocks and steals would be. But since 1972, there has not been a better defensive center.

Hakeem is by far and away the best defensive center since these stats started being recorded. The closest to him in steals at center is David Robinson, ranking 55th on the list with 1,388 steals compared to Hakeem’s 2,162.

It makes it hard to compare him to Russell based on these numbers, but Russell would be the one who would give Hakeem a run for his money statistically. But let’s examine why I think Hakeem is better than Russell, Chamberlain and Kareem based on a different criteria that doesn’t really involve stats.