The Tape
Was Hakeem Olajuwon better than Joel Embiid?
Hakeem Olajuwon, 1984-2002, against Joel Embiid, 2016-present. The numbers levelled to one league, then the call.
Method, stated plainly: scoring is adjusted to a league averaging 114 points per team per game. Rebounds and assists are printed as they were recorded, with the league scoring rate beside them, because a rebound in 1962 came out of a different number of missed shots and we will not pretend one multiplier fixes that. Career lines for active players run through 2024-25.
What the numbers say
Adjusted to a league averaging 114 points a game, Joel Embiid is the bigger scorer: 32.9 a game in 2022-23 against 30.7 for Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993-94. That is a real gap of 2.2 points, not an era illusion — Joel Embiid's league averaged 114.7 and Hakeem Olajuwon's averaged 101.5.
Away from scoring they are nearly the same player on paper: 11.9 and 10.2 rebounds, 3.6 and 4.2 assists. The separation is in what their teams asked of them, not what they could do.
Hakeem Olajuwon: The only player to win MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP in one season, and the all-time leader in blocks. Joel Embiid: The highest scoring average by a center since Chamberlain, attached to the shortest availability of any MVP.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
13 Dossiers, every Dispatch ever sent, and the Tape. One payment, $39, yours for good. The archive keeps growing every morning after you have paid.
Every pairing in the file makes the call in writing, and pass holders read all of them.
5 Dispatches in the archive so far, and one more every morning. 14-day refund, no questions asked.
Read the file: Hakeem Olajuwon
The next argument
Get the Dispatch
One email a day: what happened last night, and the game, player or era from history it rhymes with. Four minutes at breakfast, free forever.
Free forever. One tap to leave.