Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem Olajuwon possessed the most complete skill set of any center in basketball history. His 'Dream Shake' — a series of post moves involving fakes, spins, and counter-moves — was a basketball symphony that left defenders grasping at air. He was also the most dominant defensive center of his era, winning back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995 while Jordan was playing baseball. Those titles proved that Hakeem, at his peak, was the best player on the planet.

Hakeem is the only player in NBA history to win the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP in the same season (1994). His footwork — developed through years of playing soccer in Nigeria before discovering basketball at age 15 — was so refined that NBA players still fly to Houston to train with him decades after his retirement. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard all sought out the Dream Shake tutorials.

The 1995 playoff run is one of the great individual performances in postseason history. Hakeem led the Rockets through four rounds, defeating Shaq's Magic in the Finals and sweeping the series. His head-to-head dominance of other elite centers — Ewing, Robinson, Shaq — throughout the 1990s established him as the most skilled big man the game has ever produced.