Read Tuck's takes on 1990s greats Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Shawn Kemp
Saturday 18 April 2020 08:52, UK
BBL legend Mike Tuck picks his greatest NBA players of the 1990s with iconic Chicago Bulls tandem Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen topping his list.
MJ was the best ever, what more can you say? The dominance he had on that Chicago Bulls team and over the league as a whole was truly immense - and I think the Bulls front office did a good job of building a team around him.
In the 1980s we saw Jordan develop into the league's biggest superstar but he wasn't able to get the championships. But when the 1990s hit, he patted Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on the shoulder and basically said: "Now it's my time."
Jordan's game was incredible… the turnaround jumpshot, the athleticism, the defense, the attitude on the court - demanding the very best of himself and his team-mates. There was a fear around him, from opponents and his own team-mates that no other player could instill. We had never seen a guy inspire fear in other teams to that extent.
I don't think he would have been the easiest guy to play with. He was so demanding. I can easily picture him throwing a ball at someone's head in practice for messing up a play or not making the extra pass to him!
Phil Jackson came in to coach the Bulls at exactly the right time. He was a player's coach. He played in the league for a long time and he had good mentors. He was really good at managing egos and getting guys to buy into his system. Being able to manage Michael Jordan's ego, that must have been a huge task but he found the way to make it work.
My favourite era of MJ? It's a great question... I think I prefer the older Jordan (1996-98). The one moment that sticks in my mind is the end-of-the-clock play in Salt Lake City versus Utah, where he crosses up Bryon Russell and hits the 18-footer in his face to clinch the Bulls' sixth and final title. That's the Jordan I will always remember, on the road in an extremely hostile environment, demanding the ball and being able to take over in the last 20 seconds of a game.
Growing up in the 1990s, I was always the tall kid in the class and the tallest guy on my teams. Hakeem was one of my favourite players to watch - I was a 'big' and, like a lot of young players, I tried to emulate Hakeem's game because he was so fluid. Everyone wanted to imitate his pump-fakes and his style on the block. He was unstoppable in the post - the 'Dream Shake', his spin moves, his turnaround jumpers. When I was an 11-12 year-old kid, he was one of the first big influences on me.
Could a modern-day star like Joel Embiid take things from Hakeem's game? 100 per cent. I think we do see Embiid use elements of Hakeem's game when he goes to work close to the basket and I have seen interviews with Embiid where he has expressed his desire to emulate Olajuwon.
The art of the post-move is slowly fading out of the game but it is still a skillset that players need to work on, regardless of size. Once you're down there on the block, everyone is a post player. Hakeem remains the guy who set the standard for all those post moves.
Olajuwon ranks seventh all-time in points scored but he was so much more than an offensive player, though. He was an amazing defender, an elite rebounder (11th all-time) and the NBA leader in career blocked shots. You have to put him up there as one of the greats.
The 'Robin' to Jordan's 'Batman'. Pippen showed us the best way to play that complementary role to a superstar, being able to sacrifice his ego to play second fiddle to MJ. He was the best ever to play that role and reaped the rewards.
Scottie could do everything. He could score, he could rebound, he could give you assists and, without a shadow of a doubt, he could lock down an opponent on defense. You could put him on the other team's best player, you could stick him on an opposition guard, forward, big man in the middle, he could guard every position. He made the NBA All-Defensive team every year in the 1990s, including eight first-team selections.
When Jordan stepped away from the NBA after the 1993 Finals, Pippen showed he had the ability to take over a game and put a team on his shoulders. Obviously, the Bulls didn't go all the way to the title in MJ's absence but Pippen flourished in that time. He finished third in 1994 MVP voting and was MVP in the 1994 All-Star Game.
My favourite image of Pippen? I used to love watching him get out on the break and finish at the rim. He was so athletic. I grew up a Knicks fan and the Bulls were always in our way. There's a play where Scottie dunks over Patrick Ewing, pushes him over and walks over him! It's such an iconic 90s basketball moment.
Pippen would have thrived in today's game, 100 per cent. He was 6ft 7in but he had handles, he could shoot the ball, he could slash to the rim, he could finish above the rim, and he had the defense too. Before players like Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill hit the scene, then fast-forwarding to guys like Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, Pippen was a pioneering presence on the wing. He didn't need to score to impact the game. Not many players can do that. He filled in the gaps, wherever they needed to be filled.
'Chuck' was one of those guys who, if your team was going up against him, you hated him because of his flair, his attitude and the way he played. He was so dominant for a player of his size (6ft 6in) and his natural rebounding ability and athleticism were off the charts. He was outrebounding guys who had 6-12 inches on him! And dunking on bigger guys too!
Barkley's biggest attribute was his personality. You always looked out for his post-game interviews. The way he carried himself on and off the court, the way he conducted himself with referees and fellow players… he was such a supremely confident guy.
I remember seeing a TV interview where the host was trying to get him to admit Michael Jordan was better than him. 'Chuck' just wouldn't do it. He said: "How can I admit that? I won't say that I'm better than Michael Jordan but I'm never going to say he is better than me." That's how Barkley approached the game. He willed himself to be the best player, even if he was eating pizzas off the court! He was 'the round mound of rebound!'
How did he consistently get the better of bigger players on the boards? Strength and natural ability. He was so quick to gauge how a missed shot would come off the rim and where to position himself. But when you are 6ft 6in and going up against seven-footers, you have to be strong. He was heavy-set, not top-heavy. He was a bull out there.
Are there elements of Barkley's game in Zion Williamson? I think that is a great comparison. In Barkley's early years, he could take a defensive rebound then go coast-to-coast to finish over anybody. It's not hard to picture Zion doing that too.
When I was a kid, Shawn Kemp was my favourite player because of the way he could finish above the rim. His highlight reel was insane. There are so many highlight clips and posters out there of Kemp dunking on people! I had one of those posters in my room back then.
When I first started watching basketball in the early 90s, Kemp was good but he was raw… just so athletic. But he developed year-on-year into the mid-1990s. By the time he met Jordan and the Bulls in the 1996 Finals, he was a pretty polished player. What he did, he did very well.
The combination of Kemp and Gary Payton together was beautiful. Seeing them run pick-and-rolls or fast breaks, there were not many better duos than them at that time.
Kemp made six All-Star teams in the 1990s. He was the Reign Man and he was iconic for the Seattle Supersonics. Don't sleep on his performance in the 1994 Dunk Contest where he threw down some monster slams, including a huge one from the free-throw line.
The 1990s was the era of the big man. The contrast to today's NBA is huge. You had guys like David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Shaq, Hakeem, Karl Malone and that speaks to the size of the impact Kemp made. The big man played such a pivotal role back then.
