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Would Yao be a top 5 Center ever if healthy?


AboveLegit
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Shaq made a comment yesterday on NBATV stating that Yao Ming would be a top 5 center ever if he had stayed healthy throughout his whole career. I really don't think Yao had that type of potential, I just don't think he could surpass either Russell, Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, or Hakeem, but I do think he'd be on the outside looking in (possible the 6th best ever).

 

What do you guys think? As I said in his retirement thread, Yao is going to go down as one of those unique players that we're all going to constantly think about had he stayed healthy.

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Wilt Chamberlain

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Bill Russell

Shaquille O'Neal

Hakeem Olajuwon

 

There's five.

 

Moses Malone

David Robinson

 

Two more.

 

Maybe he could sneak into the 8th slot, being better than Ewing (eventually), but The Admiral was too good on both ends of the court, and I never saw Yao getting to that level of play...let alone creeping his way into that top five. Not a chance.

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He is closer to not being in the top 10 than he would've been to beign in the top 5.

 

The guy was very good, but you can make the argument, and a very valid one, that even when he was healthy he wasn't better than Dwight Howard. So it Dwight Howard a top 5 center? I don't think anybody would argue that right now and a healthy Yao and Dwight is basically a toss up.

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Considering how coordinated and talented he was for a guy that was 7'6, he could of been so much more. Didn't have many ten rebound seasons and he only had one season where he surpassed 25 PPG. The centers that are consistently on everyone's top 5 centers did both of these things throughout their career, not to mention Yao has never been looked at as an elite defender.

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