Ralph Sampson Vs Akeem Olajuwon
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2013
- On December 12, 1987 The Golden State Warriors Traded Center Joe Barry Carroll And Guard Eric "Sleepy" Floyd To The Houston Rockets For Center Ralph Sampson And Guard Steve Harris. This Is The First Meeting Between The Former "Twin Towers" Sampson And (H)Akeem Olajuwon.
Game Played On Thursday, Jan 7, 1988 - กีฬา
Ralph could have been the greatest. Most people today never heard of him.
That's how life goes.
Very skillful big man. Shame his body let him down.
Definitely, but unfortunately he was damaged goods by the time the Warriors traded for him.😕
@@jeremycrandall2899 I say all the time if hadn’t got hurt he would have been a top 5 or 3 centers of all time
@@andrejones3562 having an healthy and durable body is also an talent/gift.
Sampson was ahead of his time & would fit perfectly in today's NBA...Hakeem gave EVERYBODY the business, from Kareem to Shaq...best footwork I've ever seen!
all except for the fact that his knees were trash before he even stepped onto an NBA court. kind of like porzingis is unlikely to hop to action and play 82 games and be durable. sabonis, fused immobile man that he was had a longer and more effective career than sampson. so many times sampson would make turnovers trying to show off his 7-4 handle. nobody who is 7-4 in the modern in NBA is running the ball up the floor. i'm sure they'll get it to it soon enough as there may be some centers who can dribble better than your average 6-6 modern day NBA dingbat
And he was a helluva a shot blocker.
Akeem with 30 pts, 20 rebs, 5 blks. A fantasy league dream.
He put up big numbers of playing basketball.
He’s in my top five greatest centers to play the game. Olojuwan had the most athletic ability after Wilt Chamberlain. Sampson was also a beast but not as gifted.
@@pjugglethanks. im akeem olajuwon.
Had Sampson's knees not given out on him, he would have been the greatest center in NBA history. 7'4'' with the skills and quickness of a guard.
Hakeem’s footwork is one of a kind. He’s smart, strong, quick. Raph was good, but Hakeem was great. Arguably the greatest center ever. The guy was 6’11”/ 7’0” or so and could run like a deer. What great times in the NBA.
Akeem was 6'10'' I know, my brother ( who is 6'11'') and I met him and my brother had a clear inch on Akeem. Sampson was a legit 7'4'' with the skills of a guard. At this point in Sampson's career, his knees were in the first stages of being blown out. If you look closely, he is limping in the 1st half. Had his knees not given out, he would have been the best center in NBA history.
Sampson is not 7'4
There are photos of him standing next to Kareem and they are the same height or Kareem is possibly a tiny bit taller. The photos of Sampson next to Hakeem do not show a 6 inch difference either. It's closer to 4 inches.
@@cfx5000Hakeem was definitely 6’10-6’11 nowhere near 7’0 though
@@nastypiglosi1788 Sampson shrank a lot. Kareem has lost a few inches but, if you look at when they played against each other, Sampson was definitely taller. There was an old Sports Illustrated cover with Sampson and Kareem reaching for a rebound (or a jump ball) and the heading said, "How Does It Feel To Be 7"2"" and a Little Bit Too Short?
"
@@andresdelportillo9917 That is what I just said.
When talking about great competitors in the history of the NBA, Olajuwon doesnt get his due. The man used to take his personal matchups pretty serious againts the top big men in the league, and usually delivered some nasty performances.
Thanks for the upload, this battle of the twin towers was great stuff.
AKEEM WAS SO GREAT HE JUST CAN DEFEND ANYONE IN THE NBA, AND NO ONE REALLY CAN DEFEND HIM.
His name was Hakeem... are all of these people legit retarded? Everyone is commenting Akeem because the uploader spelled his name wrong.. sounds to me people are trying to speak on someone they clearly know nothing about. You can't even spell his name right. And this goes for the rest of the pretenders commenting Akeem.
Sampson way ahead of his time
Olajuwon way ahead of all
Watched ball since 74 no one like Hakeem
Olajuwon had Moses Malone’s relentlessness
and James athletic ability and was a center!!!!
wow the difference between dream and the centres or power forwards today is ridiculous!
2 giants who were hobbled by lower limb problems....Ralph Sampson and Yao Ming...both coulda/woulda been even more monsters had their careers been longer!!
This Akeem guy looks pretty good
Hakeem is the real GOAT and I'm sure y'all know it.
Olajuwon one of best centers in NBA history, he was quick as a cat..... while other centers were getting ready to go up again, akeem already got the rebound n dunked he was one man wrecking crew and had a deadly Fall away shot......did everything on the basketball court, best center in my opinion n i didn't even mentioned his defense.
I know thats right ..and he was the best defensive player to ever live and i didn't even mention his superior offensive???😁
One of the best giants battle in Bball history. Both super competitive, athletic, quick and smart. Imagine facing a paint that is guarded by these two titans...
They could probably beat an all great team like perhaps the showtime lakers
It was late but Ralph came into his own when he play with the Warriors!
Listen, Ralph Sampson was a great great basketbal player, but injuries and maybe some poor coaching led to a fast decline. Anyhow, very very impressed with his court awareness, @7:41 challenges back then Akeem then blocks Carrol and tips it to a guart to start the fast break. That's Bill Walton type stuff right there, I´m telling you Ralph had game.
3:51 if Ralph could use that move why didn't he use it as a main weapon like Kareem? That way he could have stayed healthy can stuff up the stat sheet for a long career!
THE ORIGINAL TWIN TOWERS TOE TO TOE WITH EACH OTHER.
Today's GS fans still love Sampson being once a part of the warriors team
Not sure which Warriors fans you’re talking about. I started being a Warriors fan in 1979. Sampson was a huge bust as Warrior. Basically turned out to be damaged goods by the time they traded for him in 87. Didn’t do much on a sucky 87-88 Warriors team, barely played for the 88-89 team that made it to the second round of the playoffs, then he was done. Plus, the Warriors had to give up fan favorite Sleepy Floyd to get him. The only good thing that came out of that trade for the Warriors was kind of addition by subtraction: Sleepy and Chris Mullin didn’t get along very well, and Mullin was never gonna flourish as long as Sleepy was around. I guess it’s possible that today’s fans who weren’t even born yet at that time might think it’s cool that Samson was once a Warrior, I don’t know, but us longtime Warriors fans who were actually around back then have MUCH fonder memories of Manute Bol than Ralph Sampson.
Hakeem was one of the greatest ever. Ralph should have been his fall in Boston that they were afraid crippled him messed up his confidence and started the repeated knee injuries. Plus he was vilified in the press thanks to Fitch.
Sleepy Floyd is very underrated
As a Warriors fan for over 40 years, it still just feels wrong watching Sleepy, J.B. and Purvis playing for Houston against the Warriors.
Great Ralph Sampson, word is Coach Nelly didn't allow Sampson's knees to fully heal. Big Ralph suffered chronic knees problems as a result.
Just felt that ralphs knee problem is something inevitable because of his height. Atleast ralph got a good few years before it gave in while guys like oden never had chance to show anything in the big leagues because his leg problems appeared early.
@@zenmar84
His knee problems weren't necessarily inevitable; he started to incur knee problems after taking a HORRIBLE fall on his back while playing against Boston. He returned too early to competitive play, and his bad back lead to his knees failing, as the body is a whole mechanism that works in concert.
@@zenmar84 Sam Bowie too
@@camaradiop3731 sampson's knees were widely known to be in terrible condition when coming out of virginia. he was washed by 1988 and bankrupt 10-15 yrs ago with baby momma issues. i'm not even sure modern medical technology could have helped. look at porzingis- 7 foot 3 and knees and other things a mess. wrong body size for a "runner"
@@postaltraining
I've never heard that, but if it was indeed widely known, it doesn't make sense for the Rockets to have drafted Sampson; I still maintain that the Bulls & the NBA generally are fortunate that Sampson incurred misfortune. If he hadn't, the Twin Towers would have obliterated everyone in their wake.
Thanks a lot for upload ...
just freaked out, the twin towers against each other!!! Wow ;)
Thanks. I thought this game was amusing. My favorite part of this video is the Ralph Sampson behind the back pass at 2:13.
Then Otis Smith blew the layup. 🤦♂️
7:26. That's how you run a break!🏀🏀
Them 80's cheerleaders
I wish Ralph was 30 years younger. He would be a beast in today's game with the spacing and against today's more athletic centers. Centers in the 80's were just beasts of men weighing alot more than Ralph. I think that constant battling against bigger guys just took its toll prematurely on him.
I'll never forget Ralph or Dream but I had forgotten Joe Barry Carroll aka Joe Barely Cares 😂
Hi do you have the 1984 NBA playoff series between the Nets and 76ers?
Awesome players here
Ralph was beast great hands
it's no question, who was better - hakeem was one of the best of all time
Sampson had more potential and was the better player when they were teammates but injuries derailed his career
Bob Jones wrong buddy! Sampson was a no show for the Rockets in the 86' Finals and Olajuwon took them to game 6 virtually himself!
So what? Anyone can have a bad game
Bob Jones no, Ralph Sampson had a bad series and Olajuwon was the one who carried them past the Lakers and against the Celtics! I blame Sampson not showing up to play for the Rockets loss in the 86' Finals! He wasn't injured yet!
a u fuckin serious, havent u seen sampson miracle shot to win the game vs lakers
Ralphs senior year of college UVA played Houston with Hakeem as a sophomore for Phi Slamma Jamma. But the game was pkayed in Japan and Ralph didnt play due to injury or illness. UVA won the game without Sampson. Because this game was played in Japan nobody remembers it. It was Houstons second loss of the year and their last loss untill the loss to NC State in the NCAA finals.
I remember
I think leaping ability, dribbling, and flashy passing were the only things Sampson had over the Dream. Olajuwon trumped him in just about everything else.
Like two good knees. Sampson at this point was suffering.
GRyan
Not sure Sampson was a better leaper (how do you define "leaping").
Not sure he was a "better Dribbler". Ralph could go "Coast To Coast", yes. However, Olajuwon could do that, plus dribble to get his shot off vs the defense in the half court (via cross over, or driving by someone, and post up). Sampson rarely faced up, and dribbled to score in the half court compared to Dream.
Not sure Sampson was a more "flashy passer" than Dream either. Did you not see the highlights!? LOL
Nonetheless, I digress. LOL
This is like a different sport
Remember that game perfectly as a kid. I was heart broken cause the twin towers separated but Lets get these height measures right
Olajuwon is 6'10 not a 7 foot
Sampson 7'2 at most, not even close to 7'4
If Samson could have stayed healthy he would have been a hall of famer to say the least.
Sampson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. th-cam.com/video/_jDOmRzx8yA/w-d-xo.html
He is a hall of famer
nowadays, when there are no good centers, only a few good power forwards and the rule of 3 seconds on defense - Olajuwon would crush the current league
@ 2:13 Great pass.
if not for the jerry sichting incident in boston, sampson would've been hailed as one of the greats. he was the pioneer of the now accepted "stretch 4" concept in houston. his touch and penchant to shoot from the outside was also one of the things w/c made basketball "experts" crucify him.
yall are talking bout hakeem but when do i get to see akeem olajuwon play i heard hes a god....?
Still remember this game as a Warriors fan and the great hope we had of finally having a potentially great center but it was not to be for all the other comments the Rockets traded him to the Warriors because they knew how bad his knees were and they wanted to get something for him while they could. Now years later we should have known that is the only way the Warriors could have got Sampson at the time. Oh well those brief moments were nice but just wish there could have been more imagine a healthy Sampson with Run TMC, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin wow....
canicas7 cough cough bandwagon fan cough cough
Chris Webber also, that would have been a nasty team
@@azathoth0820 you need to remember about salary cup too;) Sarunas was not bad too in Warriors in that time ☆☆☆
sampson never averaged 20 min/game for GSW. was his knee already gone by then?
Friends fighting each other...
I don't really know this Sampson dude but he's tough..
What took Ralph out of the NBA early? Was it his knees?
Was this post " Twin Tower" Era?
Well, since they are playing against each other, then the answer is "yes".
Ralph Sampson could play and would have been even better had it not been for his knees. His Professional Career was cut a little short because of his knees. Both Hakeem and Ewing had the better Pro careers obviously.
Olajuwon is the greatest center of all time, period.
No
@@lucanick1974 good reply... Idiot haha
@@IronMan_thno Go back to school, if you're able to.
@@lucanick1974 IM going to continue to reply so I can see what else you come up with. You're very creative for an idiot 🤪🤪🤪
@@IronMan_thno
Are you only able to respond by offending or are you also capable of logical and complex reasoning?
grew up watching the twin towers. always felt bad about Ralph after his knee injuries. rememberthe day when he was traded to GS, a sad moment because I knew that was the beginning of the end for him
He was done because of his knees.
Ralph looked sad
I feel bad for Ralph. He looked jealous and hurt. He was the guy they were going to build the franchise around, and they traded him because Hakeem was better, and his production was declining due to injuries. Twin towers could have worked if Ralph stayed healthy. The Rockets should have traded him just for a better guard, and used the draft to add more front court depth, instead of Joe Barely Cares. The Rockets weren't the smartest franchise.
i couldn't agree more though i wish they would have moved hakeem to 4 and left samson at the 5
I've always been thinking the Rockets could have been an unstoppable force had they put Hakeem at PF and Ralph at C for the long run.
I agree @futureicon23, and i think it's a great "what if." What's interesting to me, though, is that Sampson, pretty much from (H)Akeem's first game was no longer the center, even though he was a good 5 inches taller. Sampson had many gifts, but Akeem even in '87 was still the only true center of the two. Watching Sampson beat down Joe Barry Carroll is impressive, but I don't see quite the same potential that the writers and coaches of that time claimed to have seen--it's like watching any good big guy beat down some nobody like Duane Causwell, Michael Olowokandi, or Jim McIlvaine.
When Akeem arrived after the '84 draft, everyone in Houston, from what I have read, knew that the boss had arrived. Just my take. One more thing though--as I watch these clips, it is marvelous to ponder how they would have succeeded or failed over a career together, but really the most salient point from this video for me is that, HOLY SH*T Akeem didn't even have the Dreamshake yet, and all of the concomitant moves, countermoves, and variations that the 'Shake could set up. Now THAT to me is scary. Loving watching a nascent basketball genius still figuring out the footwork. Cheers!
+scarbron magnler That's a great insight. I always considered them a true center and a very tall (VERY tall) small forward. I never thought specifically about how high Ralph's waist was relative tot he rest of his body. Stronger players who weren't half as skilled were often able to get under him and push him out another 3 or 4 feet, or bump him low and hard as he would come off screens. That's a really eye-opening observation that was right there the whole time, as I think back on clips I've watched of him. Thanks!
sorry, scarbro, spelled your handle wrong
2 giants
Sampson wasn't for real - Akeem has two rings.
Samson couldn't stay healthy.Check your history.Be informed before you comment.
The dream
So who tf won the tip?
RALPH SAMSON WAS LIKE A 7 FOOT 4 DR JAY WITH KAREEM SKY HOOK AND HAKEEMS JUMP SHOTS ALL AT THE SAME TIME' I KNOW HAKEEM AND SAMSON USE TO LOOK AT EACH OTHER AND SAY W.T.F LOL '''''''''''
HAKEEM THE NIGERIAN NIGHTMARE
Yea I hear them calling him Hakeem the dream but in reality he was really a nightmare for opposing teams
I thought that nickname would catch on better than it that..that is the best nickname of all time the Nigerian. Nightmare...But Hakeem the Dream wad pretty cool also..i really miss those days basketball was great in the 80s and 90s. Now its just a bunch of wimps running around looking fot a foul with no more great centers..what happened
D robinson
P Ewing
Shaq
Kareem
M malone
Motombo
Mourning
Sabonis
Gillmor
Walton
Parris
Sikma
Hays
This game speaks volumes. Hakeem is rumoured to be 6'9-6'10 and Sampson was damn near 8 feet 😂 Hakeem treated him like a small forward SMH
Hakeem was 6'10
@DSG
Hakeem, had repeatedly said he's 6'11". More importantly, he has a purported near 7'7" wingspan, and he's a very quick/explosive leaper. In addition he was about 260 lbs with a very strong lower base (shorter legs for a man his size). So, that explains how he could play so effective against 7'7" guys; 6'9" guys (along with his cunning) and every one in between.
If Sampson and Olajuwon were as healthy as Stockon and Malone, the would have beaten Will Russell's 11 championship record.
Sal Amander no way that would've happened my brother, Sampson was selfish n anyways the dream won without him.
After '86, they were derailed by injuries and drug suspensions/bans to their smaller players. add to that Sampson getting hurt. Hakeem finally had a supporting cast again in the 90's. But they were scary in '86.
Otelio Garcia Who ever was responsible for rockets player Personnel general manager what have you in the mid to late 80s was suspect in their thinking. Hakeem was getting double teamed from day one as a rookie so why not get some SHOOTERS on the outside? Instead they seemed to want to be the biggest team on earth, they had Hakeem & Peterson yet when they traded Sampson what do they ask for in return? Joe Barry Carroll, now eventually in the 90s their thick heads realized they needed shooters from the outside, Sam Cassel, Mario Elle, Robert Horry amongst others. Still I think someone could do an entire documentary on the mystery of rockets judgement on player personal in the mid to late 80s.
Bill Russell bro, not Will. To be honest the centers of the 1980's had more offensive skills then Bill Russell ( who only shot 44% FG/ 56% FT) Bill was a great defender and rebounder, and his run of titles will never be matched 11/13, only MJ came a little close winning 6 NBA titles in 7 playoffs.
@@averydaymond1560 Hell they could do a documentary through the 90s to current with player personnel hahahahahahaa
If Ralph had played "big" he may have lasted longer. But being so athletic at his height was a thing to see!!
Who is Akeem, you mean Hakeem right
the H was supposed to be silent, so for some reasons, maybe his own, it was written as Akeem during college and early pro years. I remember reading a magazine article where he is even referred to as Akeem Abdul-Olajuwon. In later years, he put the H back.
Sampson never really did anything special in 4years of college, and even in the NBA, and there are several others who could have been great and are only great for whatever reason a short time, so I could never consider him great. There are too many people in sports who use the word great on almost anyone
Ralph knees already busted
red auerbach conducted one of the best BS propaganda games ever in the early 1980s claiming he was going to get sampson one way or another. all the teams who touched him sank because of it
Ralph Sampson was better than Hakeem
Ralph Sampson's weak career numbers don't belong in the Hall of Fame.
Art Boston Ralph Sampson is regarded as one of the greatest collegiate players of all time. It's that reputation that carried him into the Hall. His pro career wasn't that great due to injuries, but he accomplished a great deal in a short period of time ('84 ROY, 4x All-Star and '85 All-Star Game MVP, '86 NBA Finals appearance). Believe it or not, Sampson's numbers are comparable to those of Bill Walton, ironically another Hall of Fame center whose pro career was cut short due to injuries after a legendary college career.
He was a awesome player who was ahead of his time..the man was 7ft 4in and could dribble the ball behind the back coast to coast in many ways sampson was a early version of Gainnis. But never really got to perfect his talent cause of several devastating injuries..but together the Dream and Olajuwon were dominating playing. On the same front court wow it was great memory
This hakeem has no chance against wilt... his stats are only great with 2 season.. wilt retired with a moses malone numbers.
dota leavers that’s the stupidest comment I’ve ever heard. Olajuwon had 2 great seasons lol? Are you nuts!!!! Did you ever watch ball or watch Olajuwon? Lol
Mabie he's confused With Sampson's 2 great seasons.
Alex Murdock I’m sure he must be confused. Listen Hakeem dominated Kareem, Shaq, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing ... need I go on. I’m not even gonna argue Hakeem and Wilt because it’s stupid. Wilt only had to face one other dominate big man ... Russell. Hakeem killed everyone in his Path when it mattered. I would also add he badly outplayed Parish and Walton. The Celtics went on to win because they were the greatest team by far in the history of league
what you talking about 39 years old kareem was dropping 33-36 points on hakeem,get real dude,hakeem was great but no way he was beter then jabbar. or wilt.
jebo te nejm they both could score at will. Kareem NEVER HAD THE FOOTWORK OR SPEED OF OLAJUWON
..Sampson, with his injuries, had to battle to 7 footers.